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Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookI have been concerned about money lately. I’ve been juicing too which is expensive… I have a house with a large yard and I don’t use any pesticides so my grass is mostly dandelions :) so I thought why not and started juicing them! I also started juicing chick weed and fireweed ( edible, I checked) and they taste amazing!!! I tried juicing rhubarb too since I have soooo much and it is wonderful!!! I have never felt so much joy! This produce is free and I feel so connected to nature going outside and gathering this wonderful abundance of fresh, living foods~ I feel so blessed and wanted to share with every one how wonderful this is!
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I want to try this so bad but I feel like it so overwhelming trying to identify things. I have so much growing around me.
Raven~ Lucky for us, I too have been enjoying the “free” yard produce… Life is good!!! Until the seasons change to fall and winter and then I fear that we all will be struggling to find affordable produce… To prepare, I blended poke, dandelions, plantain and froze it in ice trays to use in my smoothies… Wow YOU have rhubarb, I’m green with envy!!! Lucky YOU!!!
lol thanks ;) it grows well up north~
where did you find out what these look like? can you send a link? i’m up north too and there is growth EVERYWHERE. i feel a little silly not taking advantage. =)
Pianissima~ I grew up around people who showed me that poke comes up every spring and that the “old people” would use it as a tonic to clean out their system… Pick it while it is small and be careful to cut it an inch above the ground… Wash it, boil it, pour off the water twice and then bring it to a boil with bacon grease and onions… OMG!!! Can you imagine??? Anyway I never did THEIR way of eating it…
My way is to pick it wash it and cut it before throwing it in the blender with spinach & other ingredients… According to the “OLD FOLKS” I should be DEAD!!! Back to your question… I just bought a book “Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants” in Wild and Not so Wild Places by “Wildman” Steve Brill with Evelyn Dean illustrations…
I was disappointed with the illustrations, I wish they were photos, but I have been able to make sure what I thought was edible was…
ah. steve brill. he is around my area, i’ve been meaning to go on a hike. i think he’s doing another one near me this summer. probably be better than the book cuz of the pictures… i need to get on this!
YUCK! that recipe would have made me go white. they would have been like “you’re vegetarian, aren’t you?” =)
Yes, you are correct about the “your vegetarian” aren’t you… Yesterday I picked about 5 gallon of strawberries and my dear sweet friend said,”Come on let’s go get something GOOD to eat”. “How about Wok & Go, YOU can get veggies there”.... OMG!!! Smiling sweetly I said, I’ll take you but I have my dinner with me, do you want to eat there or at your house??? It is so amazing to me that no matter how many times you explain, they still don’t get it!!! The smell of that grease nearly knocked me down when I went in to get her Moogoo s*t… My stomach was churning and very queezie before her meal was ready!!! We went to her home and I enjoyed my green smoothie and bowl of strawberries and watermelon… She couldn’t eat raw strawberries but did have some of my watermelon… AMAZING* I should also tell you she has a pacemaker and defibulator inplanted in her chest and her legs look like tree trunks sitting on top of water balloon ankles & feet… Can you say Congested Heart Failure??? Soooooo Sooooo SAD!!!
Raven – We have rhubarb, but I never thought of juicing it – great idea; I have wanted to use it raw :)
waterbaby12347 – What are the numbers in your name for? Anyway, great idea to freeze! I’m thinking of freezing rhubarb juice so I can add tartness to things without spending so much money on lemons…
Angie, glad you like the idea:) my favorite combo is rhubarb/apple or rhubarb/grapefuit. Rhubarb also goes well with greens, but add apple for sweetness:) By the way, great idea about freezing rhubarb juice!
Pianissima, I have a book on my area (Alaska) that is a medicinal/wild food gathering book- maybe your state has one of these? This book is where I get all my info. – Its also has info. on kelp harvesting and drying- that’s something else I’d like to try :) Cheers
i am glad you mentioned the rhubarb. i got one stalk or rhubarb at the farmer’s market and juiced it with a watermelon. yum! just a little zing to it. i hope to get more this week. it’s pretty cheap.
I know I’m super paranoid, but make sure you don’t eat the rhubarb leaves, poisonous!! But the stems are great and I’m loving the Strawberry Rhubarb Shake recipe on this site.
I too have discovered the abundance in my backyard, lol. I had been wondering where I was gonna find burdock since it grows wild in my state and there it is, rite in my back yard, lol. And of course dandelions, chives and plantain. I’m sure I’ll be adding these to my harvest when I start collecting from my herb garden!
I made a rhubarb cheesecake! Rhubarb juice, cashews, & agave for the filling, with a nutty crust. Yum!
kevin – Plantain is the thing that looks like a banana only bigger and more starchy, right? That grows in your yard?
No, it’s a broadleaf plant. There are a number of varieties. The one I’m most familiar with is known as “buckwheat” in my area. It’s a good substitute for comfrey. The seeds are also what psyllium comes from, as I understand it. Don’t quote me on that one though, lol.
Here is a link that gives a good description:
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/p/placo…
My dandelions have white fly or something on them. It’s white and powdery looking. That’s the only reason I don’t eat them.
I’ll love to be able to pick some wild edible but I don’t know much about them, the only ones I can recognize are the plantain and dandelion.
Raven do you think it might be posible to take some pictures of your yard weed (the edible ones) and post them here? This goes for any one interested.
Lamb’s Quarters are brilliant in salads or juices and grow like crazy here. I was weeding them out until I realised that they were edible! Now I’ve got a free supply of greens.
There’s a cultivated one called ‘Magenta Spreen’ and I’ve just ordered some seeds. Apparently if you let them flower and go to seed you get hundreds of little pink seedlings everywhere, so that could be a blessing or a curse depending on how you see it!