Eat Your Weeds — Athena Rhodes

A trip to the supermarket nowadays will see you fork out $6.50 for a bag of spinach, $1.49 for a single parsnip, and $5.49 for a bunch of silverbeet. In other words, leafy greens and roots are becoming a rich man’s game.

This lead me to attend an edible weed workshop on the weekend, where we learned all about what weeds taste good, what weeds taste kind of bitter but are still edible, and what weeds you should avoid at all costs because they may incite death.

I invited my mum along. She likes to learn about nature like me, but she is also my social anxiety wingman. Or wingmum if I may. The workshop was being hosted by Go Eco, a charitable trust with a vision of healthy environments supported by thriving communities. They have been hosting a range of ‘kai workshops’ which aim to teach communities to source their own food, from sowing seeds and learning about soil to pruning trees. And for those who are like me and do not really have room for a garden, find weeds and eat them.

The workshop was run by Michael Heiler at the Kukutaaruhe Community Garden. A trust-owned piece of land that has been turned into a community garden, where people can own their have their own individual plots and grow their own gardens. Even though I have lived in Hamilton most of my life, this was the first time I have ever seen this community garden. And it is such a great use of space. People are growing tomatoes, silverbeet, pumpkins, and kumara.

But we weren't here to learn about traditional crops, we were here to learn about the plants that grow on the outskirts, in the crevices, and covering the berms, the plants labelled as ‘weeds’. Weeds are a human construct. A label that signifies that it is unwanted, aptly reflected in the dictionary definition, a ‘plant not valued for use or beauty. Something to pull out from the garden when spotted, ignored on your daily walks, and sprayed with chemicals.

Enter Mike. Weed connoisseur.

Standing on a small patch of grass, Mike told us he could spot numerous edible weeds in this small space. First, he introduced dandelions because of their abundance and because it is perhaps one of our more recognisable weeds. And the great thing is, all of the plant is edible. From the leaves making a delicious salad to the flowers being great lightly battered and fried to the roots, making the perfect coffee substitute once dried and ground up.

Plantain was the next one pointed out. The young leaves can be eaten raw, the older leaves steamed and then eaten. Though Mike said he personally would not enjoy a whole big bowl of plantain, comparing it to eating a big bowl of parsley. Good as an added extra in a salad or a dish, but not the main event. Plantain is also great a salve. Chew a little and slap it on a bug bite and it will relieve the itchiness or sting. Cut yourself, bruise the leave a little and wrap the entire leave around the cut. It is nature’s bandaid.

Chickweed is up next. A sprawling and hardy weed that is often the bane of a gardener but turns out to be a delight to the forager. The leaves can be pulled out and used in salads and in sandwiches, or boiled and eaten. They also make a great pesto, as one lady in the group explained when she was strapped for cash she would use this as an alternative to basil. The kids loved it. Chickweed is packed full of nutrients and also great for boosting immunity. They grow tiny little white flowers.

Finding wild carrots blew my mind. Mike using his special tool known as a diggy diggy, a fancy trowel, dug out a carrot. This did not look like the neon orange ones we find in the supermarket produce aisle, they are white. Mike scratched the surface of the carrot and passed it around telling us to give it a sniff. And lo and behold, it smelled like a carrot. Pretty crazy you can find carrots in the middle of a field.

Acorns when properly prepared can be made into coffee and bread.

Unfortunately, hemlock, the highly poisonous plant that killed Socrates, and wild carrot look awfully similar. They have the same bushy leafy look up top. And you really don’t want to mix a carrot with hemlock for your next salad. The good thing is there are some differences. That being the stems of hemlock are not furry like the carrot.

Walking around the field, Mike pointed out Hawthorne the berries which are great for sauces, acorns, which can be roasted and ground up to make bread and coffee, and onion weed, which smell pungent and make a mean fritter. A common field or backyard can turn into a gourmet wonderland when you have the right knowledge. But remember to ID whatever you are going to put in your mouth one hundred percent because poisoning yourself is not fun.

To find out more about Go Eco Workshops check out their Facebook.