By Mark Czarnota
University of
Georgia
One common fall weed is wild garlic (Allium vineale). This plant begins to come alive when things start cooling off. During the fall, many people see it emerging in their lawns and gardens.
Wild garlic has been used much the same as the domesticated garlic. Minced cloves flavor meats and soups, and the greens and flower heads (before they open) are eaten fresh.
Be careful not to confuse this with the poisonous star-of-Bethlehem. If it doesn't smell of garlic or onion, don't eat it.
One of the world's worst weeds, yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus), can give us a food considered a delicacy in the Middle East. The species name, esculentus, actually means eatable.
Also known as chufa, yellow nutsedge (or nut grass) produces tubers that can be eaten fresh or roasted. Roasted tubers can be ground and soaked in hot water, too, to make a coffee-like drink known as horchata.
Game birds find this plant a delicacy, too. Many people are beginning to plant chufa on game reserves as a source of food for wildlife.
Kudzu (Pueraria lobata) is almost entirely edible.
The leaves are a preferred forage by grazing wildlife. We can enjoy them, too, battered and fried. Young leaves and shoots can be eaten raw, boiled, fried, sauteed or pickled.
Kudzu flowers are good boiled or pickled. They produce a wonderful nectar, too, that bees turn into a delectable honey.
Probably the most-used parts of the plant are the large tubers. These can be eaten steamed or boiled but are probably most used for their starch.
Ground, fresh tubers release a flour when boiled, and this flour (starch) is harvested from the liquid and dried. This kudzu flour can then be used in many aspects of cooking. May the vine taking over the South be turned into a marketable crop?
The well-known dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) can provide many dining delights. All parts of the plant can be eaten, although some might not be so palatable. The taproots can be boiled or pickled, and some consider them the plant's best part.
The leaves are eaten fresh, but some can be very bitter if not doctored up with salad dressing. Young tender leaves, however, may not be so bitter if harvested from unstressed plants.
The flowers can be used to make a delicious wine, a process my great-grandfather lovingly performed.
Common blue violet (Viola papilionacea), if you don't want it, can be very hard to control in the landscape. However, like most other violets, many parts of the plant are edible.
You can eat the flowers fresh in salads and use them to flavor jellies and vinegars. I've been to parties where the flowers have been frozen in ice cubes.
The foliage can be cooked and served like spinach. It's reported to contain high amounts of salicylic acid (aspirin) and beta-carotene (vitamin B).
The list of edible weeds goes on and on. But be forewarned: many people have food allergies and should avoid certain plants. For example, if you're allergic to onions, you wouldn't want to eat wild garlic.
If you're sensitive to many allergens, you probably don't want to sample wild vegetation at all. Plants produce many secondary products that can cause somebody, somewhere, to have a fatal allergic reaction.
If you decide to sample edible weeds, try small samples to test your reactions. Sample at your own risk!
If you're interested in edible plants, many books are available on the topic. Here are a few:
- Handbook of Edible Weeds, by J. A. Duke.
- Field Guide to Edible Plants, by B. Angier.
- Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants, by S. Facciola.
- Eat the Weeds, by B. C. Harris.
