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Edible Species list

Inclusion on this page does not mean that a plant is 'immediately' edible.

For your safety. Do not consume wild plants if you have
ANY medical condition, during pregnancy, or give to minors.
Never eat a plant unless positively identified as safe to eat.

Burdock (Arctium lappa) - cultivated as a vegetable in Japan where it is known as gobo. The stalks are scraped and cooked like celery. The roots can be eaten raw in salads or added to stir fries.

Cattail (Typha latifolia) - the pollen can be used to enrich flour. The unripe flower spikes can be cooked as a vegetable and the young shoots and inner stems are eaten raw or cooked.

Century plant (Agave americana) - the flower stems and leaf bases can be roasted and eaten. Certain species can be made into alcoholic drinks such as tequila.

Chickweed (Stellaria media) - can be added raw to salads or cooked as a vegetable.

Chicory (Cichorium intybus) - the roots of this plant are used as a coffee additive. The sky blue flowers are also edible and make a terrific addition to salads.

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) - the flowers can be made into wine or jelly. The roots are sometimes used as a coffee substitute. The young leaves make a nice addition to salads.

Epazote (Chenopodium ambrosioides) - a tropical American weed commonly used in Mexican cooking to flavor corn, beans, mushrooms, seafood, fish, soups, and sauces.

Garlic mustard (Alliaria officinalis) - the young leaves add a mild garlic flavor to salads, sandwiches, and soups.

Goldenrod (Solidago spp.) - the leaves and flowers can be used for herbal tea.

Horseweed (Conyza canadensis) - the young leaves can be cooked as a vegetable.

Kudzu (Pueraria lobata) - AKA Japanese arrowroot. It is a prolific weed in south Florida. A starch can be made from its roots. This starch can be used to thicken sauces and gravies as you would use cornstarch. The leaves can be battered and fried.

Lamb's quarter (Chenopodium album) - the young leaves can be added to salads.

Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) - the young leaves with the spines removed are eaten raw or cooked as a spinach-like vegetable. The flower buds can be eaten, they are like miniature artichokes.

Plantain (Plantago spp.) - the young leaves are edible if the fibrous midribs and veins are removed. The seeds are also edible.

Prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola) - the young leaves can be eaten raw in salads or cooked as a vegetable.

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) - tastes similar to spinach and the leaves and stems can be eaten raw in salads or cooked or pickled in vinegar. Cooked purslane has a mucilaginous texture similar to okra.

Sheep's sorrel (Rumex acetosella) - the young leaves can be added to salads, sauces, soups, and egg dishes.

Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) - has been used as a food for thousands of years. The seed pods have a peppery flavor and can be used as a seasoning.

Stinging nettle (Urtica diocia) - the cooked young leaves can be eaten like spinach, added to soups and egg and vegetable dishes. Do not consume raw leaves, they are covered with highly irritating hairs thus the name STINGING nettle.

Edible Weed Salad

3 cups mixed greens such as lettuce, spinach, kale, Swiss chard.
1 cup mixed weeds such as:
-dandelion leaves
-chicory leaves and flowers
-chickweed leaves and flowers
-lamb's quarters leaves
-purslane stems and leaves
-shepherd's purse leaves

Toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl along with olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and a few to many crushed garlic cloves depending upon your personal preference. Make sure you use the young, tender leaves of any weeds you will be adding to your salads and other culinary creations. Older leaves tend to turn bitter, tough, and stringy.

Caffeine Free Coffee Substitutes

The roots of both chicory and dandelion can also be used as a caffeine free coffee substitute or coffee additive. Harvest the roots, wash well to remove dirt then cut them into small, thin slices. Place these slices on a cookie sheet on the lowest setting in your oven until they are dry or use a food dehydrator if you own one. If you are using the roots for medicinal purposes once the roots have been dried and have cooled down to room temperature they can be placed in dark glass containers and stored away from direct sunlight.

If you are using the roots as a coffee substitute the dried roots must be oven roasted at approximately 250 degrees for 30-40 minutes so that they obtain a coffee-like appearance and taste. The oven roasted root pieces can then be ground up in a blender or coffee grinder then made into coffee using your favorite method of brewing (i.e. drip coffee maker, French press, etc...) You may also make a coffee blend by mixing around 50% coffee beans with either 50% roasted chicory or roasted dandelion roots.

Medicinal Uses of Weeds

All of the weeds mentioned in this article serve double duty by also exhibiting many medicinal properties. Here are a few medicinal weeds you may want to consider using for their healing properties:

Dandelion is a bitter-sweet, cooling herb with diuretic and laxative effects. It also stimulates liver function and improves digestion.

Horseweed is a slightly aromatic bitter tonic that acts as a diuretic and checks bleeding.

Kudzu is a sweet, cooling, tonic herb that increases perspiration, relieves pain, relaxes spasms, lowers blood pressure, and soothes the digestive system.

Milk thistle is a bitter, diuretic, tonic herb that regenerates liver cells, stimulates bile flow and relaxes spasms.

Plantain (P. psyllium) contains up to 30% mucilage, which swells in the gut, acting as a bulk laxative which also soothes irritated membranes.

Purslane is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids that can help to reduce one's cholesterol levels.

Sheep's sorrel is best known as an ingredient of Essiac, a native American anti-cancer remedy.

Safety Precautions

When using any type of plant material moderation is key. Ingesting too much of even the most benign substance can cause you to become ill.

Never harvest weeds from the side of the road. These plants may be contaminated from vehicle exhaust fumes.

Never harvest weeds in the wild unless you are absolutely certain of their identification and you have the permission of the land owner and you know that the field hasn't been sprayed with any harmful chemicals.

The safest way to harvest weeds is to look in your own yard. I have purslane growing allover my yard but I had to purchase seeds to establish my patches of chicory and dandelion which I planted in my garden next to my other herbs and vegetables.

Always practice organic gardening techniques in your garden especially when it's food you intend to eat.

Edible Weeds

Have you ever wondered why some plants make weeds of themselves?
It's as if this wild vegetation prefers human company to life in the pristine wilderness. Ironically, its because many of these plants were naturalized many centuries ago by our ancestors for food and medicine. The benefits of eating and enjoying beneficial weeds in addition to the more accepted vegetables will be for their flavor, freshness, and nutritional value.

By using edible weeds as food, you will realize a number of benefits:

·  You get an early spring harvest at a time when most gardens are just getting started.

·  You increase the productivity of your garden.

·  As with most other home grown food, you'll save money. This particular food is especially economical as it is totally free.

·  You will expand your own culinary horizons. There are approximately 50,000 edible plant species in the world, but the average family probably eats about 30 of them. Hence, if you only use 3-kinds of weeds as part of your diet, you've probably increased your food choices by 10%.

Purslane, this common garden weed is rich in flavor and nutrients. Many garden seed catalogs now list purslane and dandelion's. Purslane prefers sunny spots in sandy rich soil. It carpets the ground, rarely growing more than 120mm high. The succulent, purplish-green leaves range from 12 to 50mm long. The tender red stems bear tiny, 5-petalled yellow flowers at their tips. The whole plant is edible. Some purslane lovers have found that they can use one plant from June till August, just by snipping off the tips of the stems.

Raw purslane has a pleasant crunch and is a good salad green. An interesting purslane cole slaw can be made by chopping up the raw leaves and stems, mixing with chopped carrots, and other raw vegetables and blending with commercial cole slaw dressing. Purslane's great taste, high level of nutrition and low caloric content (the plant is 92% water, similar to cabbage) makes it a very healthy item.

The dandelion was once considered absolutely essential for survival and was given an honored place in the kitchen gardens of the day, providing food, medicine and wine. Because it is an effective diuretic, it has been used for kidney stones, weight loss, and edema. Its ability to cleanse the system of toxic matter makes it valuable in clearing up disorders.

Every part of the dandelion, with the exception of the seeds and flower stalks, is useful. Eat the young leaves in early spring, either raw or steamed. Dig up the roots anytime, although they will be highest in nutrients in the autumn. Boil them like parsnips. You can also use them as a caffeine free coffee substitute, while enjoying dandelion's health benefits.

Chickweed is quite possibly the most common weed in the world. It, too, is a small plant, rarely reaching more than 120mm in height. Weak stemmed, it seems to spread out horizontally along the ground. It prefers rich soil, a little shelter, and cool weather. The whole plant, above ground, is edible raw or cooked. Raw, it has little flavor. For this reason it can be used like lettuce, as the base for salads. It mixes well with any other more strongly flavored salad items such as watercress, radishes and peppers.

Cook chickweed just like spinach: steamed, it even tastes like a mild spinach. As it cooks down quite a bit, use a lot. Because its flavor does not overpower others vegetables, it's a good thing to add to the green pot to stretch other greens.

When you mow your lawn, does the scent of onion or garlic fill the air? Lucky you! There are a great many species of these two closely related herbs, any plant that smells strongly of onion or garlic is onion or garlic and is edible. Dig the bulb up to see which one you have. Just like their domesticated relatives, onions will be layered and garlic will be made up of cloves. Don't be fooled by their small size, their flavor is often stronger than domesticated varieties. Use the green tops like chives or green onion tops.

Try eating some of the weeds in your backyard. They will add freshness, flavor, and variety to your diet, as well as increasing the productivity of your organic garden. The garden provides a unique habitat for many edible, healthful plants, known as weeds. Long before any cultivated greens are ready, nature provides us with wild edibles, roots and greens, local vital foods, a welcomed gift after a long Vermont winter. Learn to know and appreciate the volunteer vegetables between the rows of cultivated plants, and relish the experience of weeding the garden, greeting green friends and harvesting wild food for your healthful pleasure.

As an herbalist, I appreciate both the wild plants and the cultivated vegetables and herbs of my gardens. As both need to be honored and given time and space, I've learned over the years how to dance between the worlds of wildcrafting and gardening.

One of my first tasks in the early spring is to go through the garden and harvest the root, leaf, and flower of the dandelion, Taraxacum officinale. The tender greens can be nibbled or chopped finely and added to salad greens. My 80 year old mother remembers the woman who came around to her home selling dandelion greens. Young dandelion roots can be washed, chopped, and added to stir fry. Dandelion leaves are particularly high in vitamin A and C, potassium, iron and calcium. These greens can be eaten any time in the season that they are looking vital. I find good greens from early spring into early fall. Don't the greens get bitter after the plant flowers? A bit perhaps, but I encourage you to expand your taste from the ever present sweet our culture offers, to encompass the range of tastes, including bitter. Bitters help digestion, and bring balance into the system.

The dandelion is currently experiencing a wave of popularity. The National Wild Foods Association, in Parksburg, West Virginia, conducts yearly surveys in the US to identify the top ten favorite wild foods. In the 1999 survey, dandelion topped the list!

Dandelion Doings, a delightful newsletter, full of recipes, articles and dandy information, is available by writing Dr. Peter Gail at Goosefoot Acres Center for Resourceful Living, P.O.Box 18016, Cleveland, Ohio 44118, or check out the web site at http://www.edibleweeds.com. Write Goosefoot Acres also for Dr. Gail's directory of over 300 wild food specialists all over the country.