Wild Weeds - Edible Plants

It has been raining for a while, the backyard garden is so wet, but it is looking so green, and the wild weeds are growing well among the grass and everywhere.  This is the time to forage the edible plants, the wild weeds, such as dandelions, thistle, rockets and could be spinach-warrigal green. To get to know the right edible wild weed is very important.
I love to forage these wild weeds at the right time to get the best of the greens.  And I tell you what, they are so tasty and yummy.  The first thing to remember, clean and wash these greens thoroughly.

Washed, cleaned the Wild Greens and Wrap in a Cloth

These wild greens grow just about any place, a backyard garden, footpaths and so forth.

 September to October is the right time to look for the wild weeds particularly with good rains we have,  but the dandelions are not yet here, however, the sow thistle is everywhere in my yards, they are so good, and so green.  I have foraged quite a lot since last week, and we have been enjoying them.  They are so tender cooked, and soft but crips to eat raw for salads.

Fresh, smooth sow thistle was sauteed, deliciously tender but crunchy.
The young thistle is so good to add to mixed leafy salad.

young smooth sow thistle 

Salad Greens is always at our table almost daily, it is necessary to have a vegetable patch.
Planted edible greens, the vegetable patch was at its best (pictured), the plants were mainly herbs, spinach, sorrel, silver beets, and nasturtium. Pictures were taken a few years ago.
The patch is still here, but there are not enough greens, it is almost empty, but the herbs-mints, lemon balms, fennels, parsley, and sorrel are growing back, it is spring after all.

Picking the edible herbs and flowers is my favourite pass time, it is fun.

Fresh herbs for cooking

Spring is the time collecting all the greens and edible flowers from the garden.

Leafy Salad from the Backyard Garden

Wild plants, the dandelions are excellent to add to a salad.  It is delicious to saute or served as salad greens, particularly the young leaves, garnished with fried bacon.

The things I do with Edible Flowers.  

Roses -Rose Petals
One of the Edible Flowers
Preparing rose petals jam, trimming the end of each petal to avoid the bitter taste.

Leafy Salad with Edible Flowers

Using flowers for garnishes, edible flowers for salads and dressing the cake, are the things I do, and it is almost my signature in my cooking.

The fresh herbs and nasturtium are pretty garnishing for a sweet or savoury platter.

Red rose petals to add to a salad.

harvested of edible plant-lettuce, radicchio, rocket, sorrel.

Rose Petals - Sugared Rose Petals

Using sugared rose petal for cakes decoration is easy to prepare.

Dressing the cake with  sugared rose petal 

Mini Rose Petal Cake

Rose petals, nasturtium flower, other flowers of herbs-borage, rosemary, rockets, chives are useful for garnishes, and for salads.

I am very comfortable with using edible flowers or even common herbs to garnish my cooking dishes.
Christmas time at our place.  A platter of roast Turkey garnished with fresh red roses and hydrangea flower it looks grand and festive.  Or garnished Turkey with a bunch of fresh herbs and scattered with rose petals, very vibrant and beautiful.  I know it is untraditional, but it is so right for us.

Roast Turkey with Rose Petal and Herbs



These pictures from the older post, of our Christmas Turkeys, and it is good to see them again. You may also like to get the recipes of the dishes,  please enjoy and explore the blog posts.

Edible Flowers and Herbs

Using this beautiful flower and herbs are easy enough, we know, and it is common herbs, we plant them in any garden.   But using wild edible weeds is very important that you understand them for sure.

How to identify the wild weed, my suggestion is to do a lot of research, reading books about plants, herbs and wild weed.  Ask a question to the experts, I love to go to the local Nursery for such advice, and they are accommodating.  There are a lot of ways to learn about this subject.  Another suggestion from me is if you are not sure about specific wild weed, even though they look very healthy, please, just leave it.

From books, I learned a lot, and these books are among them, one is cooking with flowers by Zack Hanle.
Flowers enhance the presentation of the dishes and also make the cooking more enjoyable.

Herbs from the Garden to the Cooking Pot by Robert Quince and Eugene Bossard was my first book about herbs which has influenced my cooking since the seventies.

I will type for you from this book, of the introduction page:

ONCE   UPON  A  TIME

. . . . Long, long ago, men ate to appease their hunger.  It is really so long ago?  Today we sit down to table more out of habit than because we are hungry.  We enjoy our meal as refreshing intervals in the daily round, moment of relaxation and social intercourse.  When we are called to the table, we are soothed by the appetising aromas and when we gather around a steaming saucepan, the cares of the working day fade away.  And if we have sat down in a worried frame of mind, we will now find our burden lighter.
How does this miracle happen? Is it caused by an attractively laid the table, or by the appetising appearance of the dish?  Probably both play a part.
(from the book: Herbs from Garden to the Cooking Pot)

Knowing how to identify the herbs and how to use them is essential in cooking.  By saying that it is so useful if you are familiar with herbs/greens to learn other new plants, flowers and wild weed. Learn More and Eat More!

This is the wild weed 'Dandelions' from cooking with flowers book by Zack Hanle

This lowly and prolific little herb is loathed by lawn builders and adored by children, who delight in 'making a wish' as they blow off the fluffy heads of the seedling flowers in the autumn

Initially a European weed, the dandelion grows in the most wretched soil.  Every part of the plant is edible from root to flower head, and today, its tender inner leaves are cultivated and sold all summer long by greengrocers for use in detectable salads or as a cooked, spinach-like vegetable.  Only the mature outer leaves should be discarded, simply because they are too harsh and somewhat bitter.

The roots have been used for soups; the bud-like whorls at the centres, as the plant forms, are a new vegetable when cooked and served like baby artichokes. The golden blossoms have been beloved for centuries in the making of the brew called Dandelion Wine.  Under cultivation, the hearts or centres of the dandelion plant,  before it shoots up its flowers, maybe bleached by covering.
Cooked in butter, they have a flavour reminiscent of the bleached French asparagus.

*******

So far, I have been using the dandelion leaves and the buds for salads, no, I have not been using the roots.  I will do it eventually.  At present, I don't see enough dandelions in my backyard; hopefully, next month some plants will appear a lot more.


I do enjoy cooking and collecting the wild weeds, and I am very positive to share it with my family because I know that it is OK, and the family is not allergic to them.

My Warm Dandelion Salad
Prepared for My Family

Use the young leaf of the wild weed dandelions, wash them thoroughly.  Sauteed very quickly to stay fresh and crisp.  Recipe: look at the older post under Dandelion.  Type Dandelion salad to search.

young dandelion leaves

Warm Dandelion Salad with Fried Bacon

Hope this post is useful for you all, it is only a reminder that it is the time to forage the wild weeds, you would get them at their best.  Have fun foraging and Have fun cooking them and happy eating!

A few wild weeds and edible plant I know for sure, but only two wild weeds-dandelion and smooth sow thistle to forage and to cook them this time.  Love the wild weeds!


Until Next Post
Susy