April 22, 2011:
EAT LOCAL! In Your Own Backyard
The passion vine boasts edible flowers and fruit, and the leaves can be used for tea.
I recently Googled the term “yardivores” and was happy to see that it was already being tossed around a fair bit. I am a card-carrying yardivore, and I’d like to hear from some others and inspire the skeptics.
I’ve seen the TV show about that lucky gal who tours the U.S. on her Harley Hog, looking for weeds, cattails, and sumac to cook up in her iron cauldron or skillet. Her job looks fabulous, but practical girl that I am, I have planted all the things I need to amend a simple meal in my yard, so all I have to do is simply walk outside, throw some things into a bowl, and get on with it. It’s like having money in the bank, having cultivated herbs, flowers, and plants growing in your yard or garden, to spice up a salad or do a sidedish at a moment’s notice.
A couple of mornings each year, I arise and look around my house, thinking I should deep clean, or worse, Feng Shui it. That sensation soon passes like the wind when I see my garden, waiting expectantly, for a gentle word of thanks and encouragement.
My standard veggie garden gives through fall, winter and spring, and into early summer, with considerable effort on my part. But then there are my backyard edibles that I’ve always grown with very little effort. All are re-seeding, loaded with color and nutrition, and require little or no fertilizer. (Most of these are better started from seed or established seedlings, a few can be grown from cuttings.) You won’t find any of these in the supermarket, and that’s what I love about growing them! The cost of a home garden plot, some will argue: A whopping $59.95 per square foot. The look on your guests faces when they look in their salad bowl: Priceless!
(By the way, you may not know that the elusive Vitamin B12, is found naturally occurring on unwashed, organic produce. These are the yeasts and beneficial bacteria present on wine grapes, for example, before pressing. Further reason to grow your own, since of course, we have to wash store bought produce.)
Here are some easy-to-grow, easy-to-maintain, delicious backyard edibles:
Cranberry Hibiscus
Cranberry hibiscus
These are the hibiscus buds you see mentioned in popular tea blends. Their leaves and gorgeous petals taste lemony and tart. I prefer to use them raw in salad, when the leaves are young and tender. Beautiful color; perennial.
Nasturntium
The cute round leaves pack a peppery punch. The flowers are a bit milder and are pretty in a salad. Multicolored flowers; easy to grow; reseeding annual.
Mustard Greens
Even if the leaves are too hot for your taste, the older ones have stems that are fat, juicy, and succulent—better than celery. Grows in heat or cold; reseeding annual.
Callaloo (Caribbean Spinach)
Callaloo
Callaloo’s seed heads produce the grain amaranth. Keep the seed heads pinched back, and enjoy fresh spinach-like greens in spring, summer and fall. If you want to go into the callaloo business, just let one go to seed. As the old timers used to say, “If you want to get rid of it, just burn it, and watch where you spread the ashes.” It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Better in soup than salad, I think.
Wild Arugula
I got my seeds from Baker Creek Heirlooms, my favorite seed company, since all of their offerings are heirloom. My wild arugula is peppery enough, but not as skunky as the more familiar variety. I forgot to water it most of the winter, never covered it for a freeze, and still, it waits patiently for my picking. This is a classic example of why I adore heirlooms, they just keep on giving.
Goldberger Purslane
This plant is loaded with vitamins A, C, and E, amino acids, and essential fatty acids. I recommend picking up several packets of seeds; you won’t be sorry. They will pop up all over your garden, and you will learn not to pull them as weeds, but add them to every salad instead. Excellent raw; spring, summer and fall; reseeding annual.
Moringa Oleifera
Moringa Oleifera
This is my all-time favorite! The tree, a native of India, is now planted by the hundreds on hospital grounds in developing countries to help treat malnutrition, the first line of defense when pharmaceuticals are not available. It’s off the charts in every single nutrient, even protein! Who knew leaves had protein? I dry the leaves, and sprinkle them on salad. Some folks make tea with it. Moringa Oleifera dies back in winter and needs spring pruning. I bought mine from Echo Farm in Fort Myers.
Sweet Potato Vine
This is a pretty ground cover you can eat. The tender new growth is better in soup than raw, in my opinion.
Hoya Santa (Root Beer Plant)
Hoya Santa
I love this plant, but it’s another for the “burn it and watch where you spread the ashes” category. It needs space to roam. I use the heart-shaped leaves to wrap, then bake chicken or fish instead of using foil. It’s kind of like parchment paper, only edible and very tasty. I also use the leaves instead of cornhusk for tamales; they’re strong enough to hold the shape, edible, and taste like cooked spinach, but they’re much more flavorful. Crush a leaf raw and sniff: root beer. It dies back in winter, but comes back with a vengeance.
Seminole Pumpkin
I plant these in spring in pots indoors, and plant out after the last frost, in early February, out in the free mulch piles that live on what was formerly a standard “lawn.” Folks who enjoy fried foods will deep-fry the pumpkins’ huge, orange blossoms. Personally, I wait for baby pumpkins, because they are more fun to talk with. I got my original seeds from fellow EAT LOCAL! writer and local organic farmer Peter Burkard. I have sewn my seeds in many a friend’s yard and garden, and have weeded out the “pumpkin haters” among my people. Do whatever you would do with squash with these little beauties. I add a piece raw, skin, seeds and all, to my veggie smoothies. Don`t forget to save some seeds for your friends, before you bake!
Passion Vine
I got my favorite new variety of Edulis (edible in Latin) from two of my favorite nursery people, Kathy and Charlie Crowley at Crowley Nursery. Aside from the ridiculously pretty flowers, and edible, egg-shaped fruit, I have found a terrific use for the leaves. They serve as my crazy dream, REM-sleep potion: I steep some leaves, and add a couple fruits, ground in the food chopper, and drink the tea when I’m having trouble sleeping. Old-timers call it “Maypop,” cause it may pop up here, may pop up there.
You should know that hybrid varieties from the home improvement stores, generally produce sterile seeds. Seek out and ask for heirloom varieties when you’re purchasing seeds or plants. These are the varieties our grandparents grew, before genetically altered ones attempted to rob us of the joy of seed-saving and sharing. Many of these varieties would disappear forever, if not for the valiant efforts of seed-savers, seed banks, and home gardeners. I like to support their efforts, and boycott the others.
Have a favorite edible “weed”? Or want to find out more about these delicious backyard edibles and where to get seeds? Feel free to email me at gratefulgardener
gmail
com. I have some of the above mentioned plants for sale for a few dollars and would happily give a tour of my “backyard grocery store.”
Tags: backyard edible, gardening
