Eat Your Yard

Adventures in foraging around the grounds for wild edibles.

I’ve always enjoyed the excitement of finding wild vegetables and fruit. Most of what we see around us in our yard is taken for granted. Those pesky Dandelions popping up in the middle of our perfect yards. All that Purslane winding its way along the ground in your vegetable and flower gardens. The Goosefoot or Lamb’s quarter popping up to amazing heights next to the mailbox. Or the more advanced mycology and collecting of mushrooms…plentiful in this part of the world.

I thought I might share some of the more abundant ones. Many of these are much more nutritious that what you might find in the produce department of your local grocer. The first one I’d like to share is Garlic Mustard (alliaria petiolata) - a biennial flowering plant in the mustard family. This incredibly invasive plant was brought to America by early settlers from Europe. You can tear it out of the ground and put it in bags and throw it away or pick it in early spring and make some amazing pesto. All parts of the plant are edible, but it is the incredible seed production that makes this plant the scourge of habitats everywhere.

"Garlic mustard greens are extremely nutritious. They have substantial amounts of vitamins A, C, E and some of the B vitamins. It also contains potassium, calcium, magnesium, selenium, copper, iron and manganese and is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids."

Early medicinal uses of the plants included the treatment of ulcers and even gangrene. Some of the health benefits touted by its use are weight control, blood thinning, immune system boosting and lowering of cholesterol.

I just think it’s delicious.

Here’s my recipe for Garlic Mustard Pesto:

Ingredients

11 cups lightly packed garlic mustard leaves and tips, loosely chopped

1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts

1 garlic clove

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

2 squeezes lemon juice

1. In a blender or food processor, grind the garlic, pine nuts and parmesan.

2. Add the garlic mustard.

3. While blending, pour in a steady stream of the olive oil for 1 minutes, or until smooth.

4. Add salt, sugar, lemon juice and pulse until mixed.