Kenna Morton's Journal, 26 October 2021

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and if you decide to harvest all the greens growing in your yard, they stop growing. true story. they're also great for dogs in limited dog size quantities. 

Thanks for the great info! Who knew?! 

Think about it. Virtually all medications started as foraged plants by indigenous peoples. Science/medicine has taken that basic knowledge and refined it and mass produced it. I am somewhat of a mini prepper and have taken a few classes on edibles that grow in my area. Purslane is one of those edibles that grows in the cracks of every sidewalk and asphalt parking lot in America but most people just spray it with weed killer. Tremendous nutritional and medicinal properties. I so envy those of you who live in areas where you can gather mushrooms. I would be in heaven.  

"There are no weeds, only unwanted plants." I don't know who said it, but I remember reading it years ago. Mullein (Gordo Lobo) grows abundantly here and both leaf and flower are harvested for lung health. Excellent information you're sharing Kenna, as always. Thank you. ❣  

I love to fry dandelions in the deep frier. Although fried foods aren't really good for you. I've always wondered if you could air fry them instead. 

Dent-de-lion, lion tooth because of the shape of the leaves. Its more common name on France is pissenlit (piss in bed) because of its diuretic properties. I think my grandma said it had iron and vitamin C. Only really eaten young because it gets too bitter when the leaves become dark, it goes well as a salad with hot bacon and poached egg. 

I totally agree ... as Socrates stated "Let food be your medicine" and I have eaten dandelions and they make a great salad green and surprisingly have a very pleasant and mild flavor.  

Im surprised! They are not bitter? We were told the story that in Europe during WW2 ppl made jam out of flowers, I had no idea the leaves are eatable . 

Oh yah - you can pick them green and eat them right there or use them as salad greens - but like Erual66 stated ... when they are young leaves they are not bitter but picked as aged they have a bitter taste...they are quite mild and that was also a surprise to me. 

ACBelle— I eat a lot of purslane but was nervous about my plant identification skills so I bought the plant at the local nursery. Now I can easily tell the difference so I encourage it’s growth around my own house.  

Nasturtiums are also entirely edible, including the flowers. They grow wild in many areas I hike and walk in. Wonderful in salads. Same with cactus. Incredible nutritional value especially for people who have diabetes and hypertension. Same with the flowering hibiscus plant. Entirely edible. I make an ice tea with the dried flowers that I buy at my local Mediterranean market. I learned about cactus and hibiscus from my Mexican patients who use it because they didn’t have access to insulin or BP meds. I just love the taste and drink it for breakfast and dinner every day. Nutrition and natural medicine is a fascinating subject  

Wow, I never knew. I wonder why we never see them for sale in the grocery store? 

Whole Foods and Sprouts both carry as do a lot of smaller stores that specialize in produce.  

A million years ago when I was a college student in Minnesota, my English professor introduced me to her garden. Located on the cliffs above the Mississippi River, the place was a wild mess of weeds. She saw my surprise and laughed. She told me about the neighbors who had complained about her mess of weeds and her refusal to cut the grasses that she propagated. And then she explained her strategy -- "Learn all the botanical names and uses for the "weeds" -- no court will ever hassle you!" Now, well into my retirement, I'm telling you that was some of the best advice I ever got from those years. Just recently, I read an article that said dandelion is found in every country of the world because the people who emigrated brought the dandelions with them as an immediate, easy to grow crop.  

Arugala and dandelion are very closely related. As a crop, arugala may be easier to contain and manage. 

Love both arugala and dandelion greens. Hey, makes good wine, too! 😁 

I like dandelion tea. :-P 

Thanks ACBelle and Katsolo!!! I should have said that I have never seen it in stores. One of the things I love about FS is that I get introduced and sometimes reintroduced to foods that work for me. I love greens. Greens or Salads are usually a mixture of leafy vegetables.  

We ate dandelion salads when we were kids