Wild food garden??

**preppinmomma** · 05-22-2012, 05:47 PM

I live in the burbs with a fairly small yard no woods and my neighbors can all see my yard. So how do I first make my weed garden look nice and where can I get the plants. I'm guessing they aren't for sale at garden center.

**snake35** · 05-22-2012, 06:02 PM

The wife would mutiny if I quit mowing the grass.

**gaLadhon** · 06-09-2012, 07:48 PM

DANG y'all just gave me a great idea. I've got an old fenced in graden off to the side of my yard near a wild wooded area. I used to plant a nice, traditional garden there up until a few years ago when all the trees around and near it grew up so big and lush that the canopy makes very heavy shade all day. Needless to say, nothing grows there now except weeds! Why not encourage the useful ones and discourage the nonuseful ones? Amazing how well the weeds grow when nothing cultured will! Gonna start picking up blackberry transplants and other lil wild things, and adding them in!

**wbroz** · 06-09-2012, 10:07 PM

Ive stopped weeding my garden and with my newly acquired Peterson Field Guide on Edible Wild Plants I can distinguish all the good ones and remove the bad. Along with the Lambs Quarter I also have field Mustard. Its starting to seed out so I'm going to gather them. When the Lambs Quarter seed out I will save them also. I have some areas that would be ideal for seeding that fit into one of my plans if needed to relocate. As my education expands so will my seed count and variety.

**fearpink** · 06-13-2012, 07:30 AM

Brought wild fiddle heads in the spring along the edges of my woods so I don't have to travel to far for them.

**myakka** · 06-13-2012, 10:50 AM

I love portulaca. Also called purslane, and moss rose. You can buy it at walmart in a lot of different colors, but there is also a native strain here in Florida that comes up wild both in the country and in the cracks of city sidewalks. If you google them you will see two distinct leaf shapes, one is thick and straight like a cross between a cactus leaf and a short pine needle this is portulaca grandiflora. The other is called purslane but the latin is portulaca oleracea and has flat leaves that are also juicy.

both are delish. I have eaten the ones from the store, and the ones from the native raw. They can also be cooked, leaves and stem. The best part about them is they are agressive growers, and one plant can be broken apart and stuck in the ground to make several.
The one called purslane can be viewed on eattheweeds.com my favorite wild edibles site.

See also "sea purlane" if you live near the coast. These are the best because they can be bought at walmart, look like decorative flowers and taste GREAT and have a lot of good vitamins.

**gaLadhon** · 06-13-2012, 04:56 PM

Originally Posted by myakka62

I love portulaca. Also called purslane, and moss rose ... See also "sea purlane" if you live near the coast. These ... look like decorative flowers and taste GREAT and have a lot of good vitamins.

That's great! Got any pics to post?

**Oscar Wilde** · 06-13-2012, 05:12 PM

Originally Posted by preppinmomma

.... So how do I first make my weed garden look nice and where can I get the plants.

Momma, I just saw your post .... I'm a day late and a dollar short here. Do you need to be concerned over it's appearance?

Select a spot in the middle of your yard and break ground, say 3x10 and place some inexpensive ornamental fencing around this plot.

Select another plot adjacent to this one, same size, say three foot separation, fence it but don't break the ground and see what grows.

O.W.

**myakka** · 06-13-2012, 05:34 PM

I have 4 versions of purslane which I described above.

The native one to Florida
2012-06-13_10-58-43_128.jpg

The flat leafed one from Walmart

2012-06-13_10-58-32_327.jpg

The fat cactus style leafed one (called portulaca from walmart)

2012-06-13_10-58-50_569.jpg

And "sea purslane" which I have cuttings of, but haven't taken off yet.

Go on eattheweeds and look at sea purslane, in fact there is a cousin called "sea blight"

These are AWESOME. they will live inland, but if you pick them at the beach they taste salty. I can just imagine in a fallen society where luxuries like salt are hard to come by, folks will pick this plant, throw a sprig in the pot to season soups and meats.

BTW, I ate a plate of the above today at lunch, so I am not blowing smoke. It taste great.