What Can You Eat in Your Own Backyard?
Backyard foraging and how to use what you find.
After last week’s treatise, I find myself unusually short on thoughts and words this week, so I thought I’d shift gears this week. Our mound plantings are starting to take off. Our first round of squash seeds were chomped by squirrels, so we tried again, planting 2 inches deep instead of 1, which seems to be working better. After two years of drought, we have had abundant rain this year, which has been ideal for growth.
There are also volunteer tomatoes growing. Tomatoes and corn are not ideal for companion planting because tomatoes attract pests that also impact corn, and both require a lot of nutrients to grow well, but I’m always so excited by the compost surprises that I’m not sure if I’ll be able to part with them.
We are at the threshold between white, pink, and lavender flowers, and the bright yellow and purple flowers of high summer.
I’m going to be leading a backyard foraging plant walk at our CSA farm. I thought a lot of that information I plan to share could be interesting and useful to many of you. We’ll also talk about Dandelion, Nettles, and Plantain too.
Amaranth
Health Benefits
Amaranth is rich in calcium, folate, zinc, selenium, magnesium, iron, Amaranth leaves contain some of the highest levels of beta-carotene (which is important for vision, healthy skin, and the immune system) and lutein (which also protects eye health, cognitive function, lowers cholesterol, and protects skin.
Amaranth seeds are high in protein that is absorbed into the body almost as well as animal protein. They also contain omega-3 fatty acids. It is gluten free and high in fiber. Seeds contain similar nutrition to the leaves.
The micronutrients and macronutrients in amaranth have been associated with improved pregnancy outcomes, childhood nutrition, lower risk of memory loss, improved vision, reduced risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis.
Food Uses and Recipes
I use the leaves in my wild greens smoothies from this time of year onward. The seeds are edible and used as a grain. I make porridge (this one looks tasty, but is not exactly the same as I’ve used in the past) with it. I like to soak the seeds overnight before making them to reduce cooking time and improve how much nutrition you get from the seeds. If you want to harvest your own seeds, you can follow the instructions here. Seeds are often some of the more difficult plant parts to harvest, so if you’re impatient like me, they are often worth buying.
Lamb’s Quarters
Health Benefits
Lamb’s Quarters are high in protein, fiber, Vitamin A, B1, B2, and C, manganese, calcium, copper, iron, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. It contains more iron and protein than spinach. Of note, raw greens contain oxalic acid, but cooking neutralizing it. I often eat it raw, but would not eat more than 1-2 cups raw per day. People with a history of kidney stones in particular would benefit from eating lamb’s quarters cooked rather than raw.
These nutrients are quite similar to those present in Amaranth, so similar health benefits would be expected.
Food Uses and Recipes
I use the leaves in smoothies and salads. Another nice option is green lemonade, which is from The Wild Wisdom of Weeds. Simply blend a handful of Lamb’s Quarters greens with 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 apple or 1 Tbsp honey, and 1 cup of water. You can serve it as a smoothie or strain it through a mesh strainer to enjoy as a juice. Seeds can be used as a flour to make bread, though I have never tried to do so.
Pineapple Weed
Health Benefits
Pineapple weed is closely related to chamomile and helps with many similar conditions. I don’t see as much about specific nutrients as the above plants, so I suspect it is not as extraordinarily nutritious, but it is known for medicinal effects. It improves digestion, relieves stress, eases menstrual pain, soothes sores, and treats postpartum anemia (low red blood cell counts).
Food Uses and Recipes
Leaves can be added to salads. Flowers make a lovely pineapple-y tea.
Purslane
Health Benefits
Purslane is the richest plant source of alpha linoleic acid (an essential omega-3 fatty acid). It is one of the best overall plant sources of omega-3 fatty acids and when compared with fish has the benefit of containing no cholesterol. It contains the most vitamin A of any green, leafy vegetable. It also contains vitamin C and several B vitamins. It is a great source of potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, and iron.
Purslane may reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, and several other chronic diseases because of high levels of antioxidants. It can also be used on the skin for its wound healing and antimicrobial properties.
Food Uses and Recipes
Purslane is one of my favorite wild edibles. It is juicy and a little peppery like arugula. My two favorite recipes are:
Mediterranean Purslane Salad
1-2 cups purslane greens and thin stems 1 tomato 1-2 cloves garlic Juice of 1/4-1/2 lemon Tahini 1-2 Tbsp Salt Pepper Chop up purslane, tomatoes, garlic and place in medium bowl. Add other ingredients, stir together, adjust seasoning as desired.
Cucumber Cooler
From Wild Remedies:
1 cup fresh purslane (leaves and thin stems) 1/4 cup lime juice (2-3 limes) 1/4 cup honey 4 cups cold water 1 Tbsp chia seeds 1. Combine purslane, lime juice, honey, and water in blender 2. Strain if you don't want any pulp (I usually leave it) 3. Stir in chia seeds. Let sit for 15 minutes. 4. Serve
Red Clover
Health Benefits
Red clover contains calcium, chromium, magnesium, niacin (a B vitamin), phosphorus, potassium, thiamine (another B vitamin), and vitamin C. It is also rich in isoflavones, which are similar in structure to estrogens, which may help manage menopause symptoms and reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis.
Food Uses and Recipes
I typically use the leaves as greens in smoothies or salad or make tea from the flowers.
Wood Sorrel
Health Benefits
Wood sorrel is my daughters favorite plant to eat in our yard. It is sour, a bit sweet. We call them juicies. I’ve heard someone else on Substack call them fairy pickles, which is a delight. It is rich in vitamin C and vitamin A and was even used as a treatment for scurvy. It is rich in oxalic acid, so should be consumed in moderation or avoided by people with kidney stones.
Food Uses and Recipes
You can eat the leaves, flowers, or fruits. The fruits have the most juice and flavor to them. I usually eat them straight up, but you could mix them into salads or smoothies too.
Yellow Dock
Health Benefits
Yellow dock leaves are rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron, potassium, manganese, magnesium, and potassium. Yellow dock seeds are rich in fiber, protein, calcium, and phosphorus. In herbal medicine, Yellow Dock is known the help the liver in its detoxifying efforts and is considered an alterative, which means it is gentle and helps with overall nutrition and well-being.
Food Uses and Recipes
My favorite use for dock greens is as the sour component of the sour, bitter, and neutral greens included in bacon fried greens (found in the recipe section on that page). It’s also really handy for smoothies because often the greens are big enough that 8 or so leaves will give you a good handful of greens and the sour taste is appealing in a smoothie as well. I don’t like it as much as other wild greens in salads because of its larger size and thicker, sometimes stringy texture.
I have never used dock seeds in the past because I had been told it was so tedious to remove the chaff. However, I recently learned that you can make dock seed flour with the chaff still on, so I look forward to making crackers this fall. I use yellow dock root for medicine. I make a tincture, which I highly recommend. It is very rich in iron, but based on how the tincture tastes, I can’t imagine it would be very palatable to eat.
I’d love to hear how many of these plants you have in your neck of the woods or if you have any favorite recipes to add to the mix. Do you have any plants in your backyard that you think everyone should know about?
You have elevated my view of our “lawn!” We stopped calling it grass given the amount of non-grass plants within. I may have to tell Joe to go mow the “salad!”
Interesting! I think there’s something to knowledge passed among kids without being filtered through adults. Children are not likely to eat something that will cause them to get their stomachs pumped. And if it tastes bad, you spit it out, obviously.
The “poverty food” concept is a powerful one. I think of greens cooked in iron pots as one example that brings racism into the mix. I’m sure you know of many more. Such a potent topic, with all kinds of ramifications.