Summer Salad
Here's a salad you can make without going shopping for the ingredients- although you might need to take a walk. As always, be careful and be sure of your plant identification:
Lettuce- grow this in an ice-cream bucket of compost or potting soil. Sprinkle with lettuce seeds, sprinkle with dirt, keep damp and set in a sunny window or outside on your deck or patio. Water regularly. Harvest by pulling off outside leaves rather than pulling up the entire plant.
Purslane: it should NOT have a milky sap (milky sap is a different plant). The leaves are succulent and I think delicious. Purslane grows just about everywhere and is easy to find- make sure the purslane you picke has not been sprayed for weeds.
Day Lilies: NOT tiger lilies, but day lilies, the plain orange ones. Snip the buds into rounds, tear the petals into ribbons, or have the petals inside your sandwiches instead of lettuce.
Viola or Johnny-Jump-Up petals
Sprouts you've grown yourself (all you need is a jar, water, and a bit of old nylon or cheesecloth, and seeds- lentils, mung, alfalfa)
Lambsquarter leaves (young ones are better)
Toss with lemon juice, vinegar, and herbs, or salad dressing of your own making.
Serve with croutons of your own making (dice leftover bread slices into squares, toss with oil and herbs, toast in the oven)
Add other vegetables as you choose- from the garden, farmer's market, or store.
Choose a book on edible weeds for further explorations in wildcrafting
Do you eat from your flower garden or consider weeding the garden harvesting dinner? What's your favorite edible weed?
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2 Responses to “Summer Salad”
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:26 pm
i graze my yard all the time…we have blueberries, blackberries, persimmons, pears, three different kinds of cherries, dandelions, raspberries, mint,…..so on and so forth. i can go outside my kitchen door thinking to gather a salad and by the time i return i have already had my meal……the trick is knowing what that plant is, and when should it be harvested for food and when and what should just be ignored. i did not know about the day lilies though…and i have a whole lotta them blooming right now…
July 16th, 2010 at 11:19 am
I love purslane! You can also cook with it – I frequently use it instead of spinach in soups, dips, etc.
Another favorite is oxalis – the “shamrocks” or “clovers” with heart-shaped leaves. They taste kind of lemony.
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