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Laura Sheperd, horticulture director of the city's Downtown Greens, collects edible weeds--such as dandelion and chickweed--that she'll use in a variety of recipes.
Aynsleigh Escher, 6, watches Laura Sheperd of Downtown Greens clear weed beds.
Pansies and Day Lilly are just some |
I recently spent an afternoon with Laura Sheperd, horticultural director of Downtown Greens, Fredericksburg's central-city garden haven.
In less than an hour, we had identified a half-dozen edible plants growing outside the confines of the nonprofit's vegetable gardens, and whipped up a salad I'm certain could be called "Rappahannock Wild Green Medley" and sold for eight bucks at some high-end restaurant.
So if you're not one of those people who loads down the lawn with chemicals in an effort to make it a homogeneous sea of half-inch-high grass, you've probably got plenty of edible things growing in your yard.
As Sheperd and I strolled the grounds, the first ingredient we happened upon was plantain. I'm not talking about the tropical fruit that looks like a really big banana.
I immediately recognized the plantain plant as the tuft of leaves that shoots up a green stem with a spiky bud at the top that kids like to wrap around their fingers and shoot at each other at Fourth of July picnics.
This is a ubiquitous weed, but its leaves are edible, and it can even be used as a salve for bee stings, Shepherd said. Just chew it up into a paste and spread it on the sting to remove the venom.
Next we stopped at a plant that's more likely to be found in an actual garden than in cracks in a sidewalk. It turns out daylilies are edible.
This time of year, when the green leaves are up, Shepherd suggests choosing the newest growth closest to the root. Rinse off the dirt and chop it up like you would a scallion. It will add a juicy bit of texture to your mixed greens.
Later on, the flowers will be completely edible as well, and can be battered and fried just like squash blossoms. The long, unopened lily buds are eaten like green beans in some countries, Shepherd said.
The round, bulb-like day-lily roots are also edible, and taste a little like water chestnuts.
We also added lamb's quarters--a plant that's sometimes called wild spinach--to our salad.
The leaves of this plant can be eaten raw, sauteed or steamed.
Also in abundance was chickweed.
This is another common plant that creeps out from a single root and can spread over a wide area. Its spindly stems and small leaves are perfectly edible when it's spread out, but as Shepherd explained, if you cultivate this "weed," you can get it to put out larger leaves that will go better in your salad bowl. Just cut it back periodically so that the leaves form a circle that spreads out just an inch and a half or so around the root.
Finally, we added some violets.
Shephard says it's important to add some flowers to your greens because, "You are what you eat," and both the leaves and flowers of violet plants are edible.
As with most greens, the younger, smaller leaves are the most flavorful.
Then there's always dandelion greens, which are probably the most readily recognizable yard food. The leaves and flowers can both be put in salads. Shepherd has even dipped them in egg batter and fried them up.
There's a lot to learn in branching out from the $4 bag of pre-cut salad for your daily dose of greens.
Cultivating a dish from "yard food" can be a fun way to teach kids about nature, Sheperd said.
"Go out with your family and pick even the littlest handful and chop it up," she said.
Fresh-picked greens are packed with flavor and have more nutrients than bags of lettuce shipped cross-country and stocked on a shelf. As Shepherd said, "There's nothing more healthful than wild, fresh food."
Emily Battle: 540/374-5413
Email: ebattle@freelancestar.com
