The Amazing Dandelion - Harvesting and Cooking Nutritious Greens in Spring

The dreaded Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), for which we spend tremendous amounts of weed killer money to eradicate, has been prized over the years for its medicinal and nutritious properties. In fact, dandelion roots, flowers and "dandelion greens" (leaves) are all edible!

• Dandelion roots can be roasted as a coffee-substitute, or boiled and stir-fried as a cooked vegetable.

• Dandelion flowers can be made into a wine.

• Dandelion greens can be boiled, as you would spinach, and served as a vegetable or can be inserted in sandwiches or used as a salad green (it has a little "bite.")

 Dandelion greens are high in vitamins A and C, and iron!  The French even  have a well-known soup called creme de pissenlits (cream of dandelion soup), which is easy to make.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/eating-dandelions.html 

 from Embracing My Health blog

Harvesting the greens (the leaves)  is the most popular way to eat Dandelions. The best time to harvest the greens is in early spring, before the flowers appear, when they are the tenderest and least bitter. Boiling them or stir frying them will further reduce their bitterness.

from the Herbwife's Kitchen website

So why pay pay extra to purchase foods with similar (or even inferior) nutritional value, when you have a free source of leafy greens in your neighborhood? 
 
 Dandelions are a rich source of vitamins A, B complex, C, and D, as well as minerals such as iron, potassium, and zinc. And in traditional medicine, dandelion roots and leaves were used to treat liver problems. Native Americans used dandelion decoctions (liquid made by boiling down the herb in water) to treat kidney disease, swelling, skin problems, heartburn, and stomach upset.
 
 

 

My musings:  It makes sense that, at the end of winter, when our ancestors were probably hungry and vitamin deficient, that Nature would see to it that they had a great source of vitamins proliferating all around them! No one had to seed them or turn over the soil...the Dandelions appeared just for the picking! and today we spend so much money just to make them go away....something is wrong here....

Just make sure to avoid harvesting near roads, since road salt and/or toxins may be present. Likewise, you obviously shouldn't harvest from a lawn where herbicides have been used.

Here is a great medical reference book for all health practitioners:



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Best 30 Plant and Seed Companies

courtesy : Green Jean blog

Now is the time in the northern hemisphere when we itch to go out and start to turn the soil...

Birds are chirping and we peek out to see if the robins have arrived....

Green Jean talks about this in her great garden blog, Green Jean.

 The website, Dave's Garden,  keeps a list of the top rated companies (by their readers) in their large database. If you are looking to buy garden plants these are some great sites to check out.

And I want to add a favorite of mine: Comstock, Ferre and Co. to the list

(The Dave's Garden site has them all with their websites linked in.)

A Nearly Native Nursery
Almost Eden Plants

Annie's Annuals and Perennials

Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co.

Bluestone Perennials

Brent & Becky's Bulbs

Brushwood Nursery

Chamblee's Rose Nursery

Classy Groundcovers

Diane's Flower Seeds

Easy to Grow Bulbs
Forestfarm

Garden Crossings LLC

Garden Harvest Supply

Gardensoyvey.com

Hallson Gardens

High Country Gardens

J.L. Hudson, Seedsman

Lazy S'S Farm & Nursery

Made in the Shade Gardens

Nourse Farms Inc.

Oakes Daylilies

Old House Gardens - Heirloom Bulbs

Onalee's Home-Grown Seeds & Plants

Pedricks Corner

Premium Plant Plugs (premiumplantplugs.com)

Santa Rosa Gardens

 

Sooner Plant Farm (Shop Smarter Shop Sooner)

St. Clare Heirloom Seeds

Summer Hill Seeds

The Glorious Sunflower

In one of my earlier blog posts I wrote about the Native Americans' Three Sisters Garden (corn, beans and squash ) but I neglected to tell you of the Fourth Sister...a very important member of this family!

This is from Hubpages: 

"Fourth Sister, didn't look anything like her other sisters, although she was as tall and as slender as First Sister (corn) . That seemed fair to all, because Third Sister and Second Sister shared similar but different features. They could climb and run, while their other two sisters were forced to stand tall and proud."

Mother Sun explained that each sister had her job and each had to benefit and protect one another and nourish the rest of the family but Fourth Sister's job was most important of all -- for she was the guardian of the North, planted firmly, to protect others from the robbers who soon would come."

The fourth sister was the elegant sunflower.

The Sisters are known to the Native Americans as the “mothers of life”  but they all need each other to survive.  Corn uses the nitrogen supplied by the nitrogen fixing roots of the beans and provides a place for the beans to climb. The squash suppresses weeds and keeps the soil shaded and moist. The prickly leaves of the squash provide a deterrent from four legged raiders of corn.

So what does the Sunflower do?

Taiyo Sunflower (click here)

The sunflowers keep the birds from devouring the corn. How? Well, true sunflowers exhibit the heliotropic habit of following the sun through the day but when they are full of sunflower seeds they stay facing the east. Thus when sunflowers are planted to the north of the garden patch, the birds see the sunflowers first thing in the morning sun and dine on the sunflower seeds rather than the corn kernels....

from Rainy Side Gardens

The FOUR SISTERS celebrate the harmony of nature and bring abundance to farmers and happiness to the well fed home.

By the way, the true giant sunflower is used as an emblem of the philosophy of Spiritualism. They see the sunflower as forever looking to the light and applaud its unique arithmetic: supposedly each sunflower has 12 sets of leaves ( months in a year) , 52 yellow petals (52 weeks in a year) and 365 seeds (365 days in a year). I cannot verify this but that is the story..... I hope it is true.

Here is a wonderful farmer talking about his sunflower field - the birds are very happy here!

 

 

The Magnificent Purslane - Edible Landscaping at its best!

What was one of Mahatma Gandhi's favorite foods?  and what did Henry Thoreau eat while residing at Walden Pond?  PURSLANE.

Purslane, long considered an obnoxious weed in the U.S., is, in fact, full of vitamins, minerals and fatty acids!  And now this overlooked gem - considered 'one of the most nutritious greens in the world' -  is receiving the attention it is due.

Usha Palaniswamy of the Department of Plant Science, University of Connecticut, reports that,

"Purslane is receiving much attention for cultivation by the United States Department of Agriculture as part of their effort to bring about a modification in the western diet with increased intake of fresh fruits and vegetables."

Purslane contains a high concentration of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), one of the highly sought-after Omega-3 fatty acids. It has several times the concentration of ALA than is found in spinach.  So throw away those fish oil capsules and grow your own Omega-3 fatty acids! It literally grows like a weed.

from Family Food  - click here

Addiitonally, Purslane stems are high in vitamins A and C.  And it provides all of this wellness with only 15 calories in a 100-gram portion (as compared with 76 in a boiled potato).

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is a member of the Portulacaceae Family and is also known as wild portulaca and verdolaga. It grows all over the world, often in disturbed soil in sunny areas.

This low growing, fleshy leaved plant is native to Persia and India and was said to have been introduced into Europe by Arabs in the 15th century as a salad herb. But it was actually widely used in ancient Greece where Theophrastus (in the 4th century BC) named purslane, (called andrákhne) as one of the several summer pot herbs that must be sown in April.  In traditional Chinese Medicine, it is used to treat infections or bleeding of the genito-urinary tract as well as dysentery. And the Japanese use Purslane as one of the seven herbs in their symbolic New Year's ritual dish called nanakusa-no-sekku (七草の節句). Purslane has been eaten for generations as a treatment for arthritis, inflammation and heart disease and to promote general good health.

WOW! and you always pull it up and toss it away, yes?

Purslane is a tender annual and a perennial in USDA zones Zone 9 -11. It has prostrate reddish stems and succulent leaves that are smooth, paddle shaped and about a half inch long.  It has tiny yellow flowers about 3/16 of an inch open when the sun shines, followed by small dark colored seeds. When foraging for purslane, watch out for spurge, a poisonous plant that grows in similar conditions to purslane. Snap a stem to confirm your identification. If there’s white, milky sap inside the stem, you might have picked spurge – discard it. Purslane stems are filled with clear water. Purslane stems are also thick, while spurge has a wiry stem.

Always check with someone who knows before you pull weeds and eat them.

Waterconscious gardeners will love its drought and salt tolerant qualities. Purslane has little to no disease problems in well-drained soil. You can pinch it back as it grows to maintain a bushy low plant.

Purslane provides cover to create a humid microclimate for nearby plants. Its deep roots bring up ground moisture that other plants can use, and some, including corn, will "follow" purslane roots down through the hard soil. Deep rooted 'weeds' like Purslane are extremely beneficial because they bring up needed minerals and nutrients from the depths of the ground.

This edible plant has a refreshing tart taste and grows from late spring to fall. I just pulled some up yesterday. You can eat Purslane raw in salads (it has a crispy texture and a peppery taste). It can also be sauteed as a side dish or boiled  - boiling will remove the tartness.

Bake it with breadcrumbs as a casserole. Use it in place of okra in recipes. Add it to omelets. Purslane is eaten extensively in soups and salads throughout the Mediterranean area. The Russians dry it and can it for the winter. In Mexico it is called VERDOLAGA. Star chef Steve Johnson has a Purslane cooking recipe for cucumber-yogurt salad (you can view his recipe for purslane at the Star Chefs Web site).

The wild Purslane is best for eating as the new cultivars are bred for flowers rather than taste and nutrition. But if you want to use the snazzy flowers of cultivated Purslane in your edible landscape try the new flowering series from Israel - Purlsane Pazazz. 

 Pazazz Purslane makes a great long lived spiller in combination planters for hot sunny spots. It is very forgiving, tough and needs little water. It comes in a variety of fabulous bright colors - Red Flare, Salmon Glow, Pink Glow and Ultra Pink. They all glow in an iridescent manner. But I wouldn't eat them.....

Thoreau wrote of Purslane:

 "I have made a satisfactory dinner off a dish of purslane which I gathered and boiled. Yet men have come to such a pass that they frequently starve, not from want of necessaries, but for want of luxuries."

 

 (so eat that Purslane!) - Jan

Here is a great video about Purslane from Green Deane (Eattheweeds -click here)

 

Muhammad Ali Center Peace Gardens - a Model for Multicultural Gardens

photo courtesy of business wire

The Muhammad Ali Center of Lexington, Ky and Yum! Brands Foundation launched the global Muhammad Ali Center Peace Gardens project on September 21, 2010.  This coincided with the United Nations International Day of Peace.

Peace gardens focus on using edible plants from different cultures to teach youth about the world through culinary delights. They also teach children how to "nurture and care for other living things" and remind them about the importance of fruits and vegetables  in their diets.  

Yum! Brands Foundation is underwriting this initiative as an extension of its World Hunger Relief effort. They are providing educational tools and materials including a free, downloadable teacher curriculum guide translated into six languages, plus $100,000 in grants to build multicultural gardens in underprivileged schools around the world over the next four years. They will provide 50 youth programs with the basic tools and supplies needed to begin a vegetable garden.

Through the process of growing food students learn about nature's processes and increase their access to fresh fruits and vegetables. What better way to create awareness about hunger than to have them actively involved in growing a garden, taking food home to their families, and giving to the community?

The model for this  idea came from the John F. Kennedy Montessori school.  Children participated in all aspects of the garden including planting, nurturing, harvesting, cooking and donating food to the hungry. The model garden consisted of different vegetable beds representing the different countries and the diverse cultures of the school.

 

• Squash and beans were grown in the United States/Native American garden and were used to make “3 Sisters Harvest Soup”.
• Tomatoes, peppers and onions were grown in a Salsa Garden representing Mexico.
• Sweet potatoes and black beans were grown in the Cuban garden bed
• Edamame was grown in the Asian bed
• Potatoes and cucumbers represented Russia.

“The ‘Muhammad Ali Center Peace Gardens’ program will sow the seeds of cultural respect by teaching children how to build gardens with plants from different countries,” said Greg Roberts, President of the Muhammad Ali Center.

To be eligible for the 2011 Muhammad Ali Center Peace Garden, a school or organization (in any country) must plan to garden in 2011 with at least 15 children between the ages of 3 and 18.

Schools within the United States must have a student body eligible for 50% or more reduced or free lunches.

The selection of winners is based on the demonstrated relationship between the garden program and peace studies, and nutrition and hunger issues.

The grant application is available in six different languages with a deadline of January 5, 2011. Go to My Peace Garden (Click here) for more details.

 

A Circular Vegetable Garden - An Edible Landscape

This is not my vegie garden - it belongs to Martha Stewart, literally down the road from my office.

A day ago I attended a cocktail party at the New York Botanical Garden celebrating Martha Stewart and her Edible Garden there. As usual, it was a gracious event, much as all Martha's endeavors are.

Martha Stewart's Herb Garden at NYBG  in spring

Martha Stewart's Herb Garden at NYBG in summer - cynara (CARDOON) in the center

I walked through her Culinary Herb Garden, a display of the finest culinary herbs personally selected by Martha. The three tuteurs  (I call them metal obelisks but what do I know?) in the garden were the lovely feature of the herb beds.....

The tuteur in Martha's Herb Garden

This herb garden is referred to as an edible garden. I call it an herb garden..this leads me to ask - How is an edible garden different from an herb or vegetable garden?  The contents? The layout? The location? The intent?

Garden to the left is also Martha's...

Whatever the answer to that question I would like to share my circular 'edible garden' with you ...or what I call a great design for a vegie garden....

It derives from my opinion that edible plants prefer to grow in circle (biodynamic principles appeal to me). It also makes it more manageable and easy to maintain - and I am a veteran of the straight row vegie gardens - I know what I am talking about here. Circles win every time.

Charles Hubbard Garden in Nova Scotia

So won't you follow me into a circular edible garden? I made this video yesterday - please ignore the overhead airplane noise..

Colocasia  ( an edible aroid) in my edible garden

The Greening of the Champs Elysees

The busiest, most trafficked avenue in the French capital, Paris, was transformed overnight recently into a bucolic, country setting that celebrated France's tradition of farming and highlighting an agricultural sector in peril. The Champs Elysees - or Elysian Fields - became a true elysian field for several days in late May, 2010.

The cars that speed through the tree lined boulevard were diverted and three-quarters of a mile of the thoroughfare (from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde) was covered with 8,000 'plots of earth' and 150,000 plants. Sheep, pigs and cattle were also on hand.

This event, staged by the young farmers' union and Gad Weil, an outdoor events planner, was called Nature Capitale. It is a biodiversity project conceived by Weil who called it, "the biggest plant sale in the world."

The horticultural and agricultural spectacle attracted hordes of people and featured truckloads of produce from all over France and a vast array of flora symbolizing France's biodiversity.

 Much like a Christo undertaking, 152,009 tree seedlings were planted to create the forest display of Nature Capitale. Also, visitors could buy plants and produce and taste regional specialities. One day they had a mass barbecue organised by Paris butchers.

For the 55,000 members of the young farmers' union, the event had a serious purpose. Their revenue has fallen steeply and they want to make people aware of their plight and appreciate the heritage of France's remarkable fresh produce and meats.

Bonne chance!