For those of you that are open to eating wild plants, you might want to check out a few tasty greens in your yard before you crank up that mower. Unless you have one of those highly managed lawns, free of pesky weeds, many of our common yard plants are edible. And spring is a great time to try some out. I have written about a couple of my favorites before, but as I am seeing many pop up this spring, this is a good time to promote a few.
One of the first greens to pop up in March are plantains (not the banana-like fruit), a leafy green that has a bit of a peppery bite to them, that I am told taste like arugula. As I cannot recall every eating arugula, I cannot confirm, nor deny, but I do like the taste, especially of young tender leaves. There are a couple of species that can occur, but all are edible. (https://ourmshome.com/plantains-edible-greens-in-your-lawn/) Add your favorite salad dressing or a bit of salt and pepper.
Another of my favorite spring greens is wild onion/wild garlic, that becomes very apparent when you do cut the grass. The odor of this plant is as strong as any onion and fills the air. The juicy leaves and small underground bulbs can be used as you would any onion, but beware when cutting the bulbs, as they will make you tear up! A bonus with this plant are the small bulblets that form from the flower heads, if you let them grow out. Moist or dried bulblets taste just like garlic. Both the underground bulbs and the bulblets can be soaked in vinegar to make tasty dressings. https://www.ourmshome.com/eating-greens-from-your-yard/
Not to be left out, you can also enjoy the young, tender shoots of those greenbrier vines that give many of us fits in our landscapes. On mature plants, with large and numerous underground tubers, nice, large shoots, resembling asparagus, grow out from the tubers in spring. Eat them raw or sautéed for a tasty snack or side dish. I love to make a green veggie chowder with these, wild onions, and cubed potatoes. https://ourmshome.com/eating-greenbriers-before-they-eat-you/
But you don’t have to stop there, a couple of other tasty green treats are also quite common. The fresh flower heads of white clover can be eaten raw or used to make tea. Dandelion flowers, leaves, and stems make a great salad. Thistles are also juicy, once you fight your way through the spiny leaves. And for a those of you that love cooked greens, there is nothing better than pokeweed – using young leaves, cooked, drained, and cooked again – but YUM!
Be adventurous this spring and try some of the tasty treats from your yard and delay the noise of that mower for just a bit longer.
Hope to see you in our great backyard!