Can I eat the WEEDS in my GARDEN.

I've heard this as well. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has tried this. I can only imagine what my boyfriend would say if i went out and picked a bunch of dandelions and put them in his salad tonight.

I laughed so hard at the idea of what he would say, I might just do it!

Oh yes! The lambs quarters are very tasty. My daughter that does not like greens much really loves this green.

Thanks for this link!

You're welcome! I like all the information there is and the fact that they offer free email and all that!

WOW!!! You really know your weeds!

I love foraging for food! there's something really special about identifying something & making a meal of it. I've got a couple of books, but I can never remember most of the things. These are just the ones from the tip of my tongue.

Wow, you really deserve the best response, GreenMoo. A couple of months ago there were too many dandelions in our allotment and my boyfriend took some young leaves and had me taste. It tastes nice and we even put some in our pasta.
Nettle is also good for tea and I have already proven it. But I like your idea best. There are no more nettles in our allotment but there's some more in our neighbors because they don't clean their lot very well. The next time we make a trip there I will get some dry them like you do. Thanks for sharing this info.

Jemima, apparantly you can scrub then dry the roots of dandelions too. Then roast and grind them and use as a coffee substitute. It sounds like more bother than it's worth to me, I'd rather collect a few herbs and have a tea instead!

Enjoy the nettles. They're really easy to dry as they're so thin. If you're a person who likes using your freezer (a waste of power though), try freezing them in ice cube trays.

I agree that this post is interesting and last night I was watching a programme with that Hugh Frenley whatsisname on it ..and he was trying to explain how you could use dandelion roots....the whole theory is quite fascinating ..I would love to experiment but I dont know where to start!!...the nettles being used interest me too....in fact the whole ethos interests me..not simply because of thrift,but the thought of using what nature has given us is great!!I was looking at a tribe that live in the Amazonian rain forest in my paper..and it was fascinating..they were warding off the plane that was `spying1` on them with bows and arrows...they were a remote and ancient tribe...now they would live from nature,and treat themselves with natures remedies..im interested to see what you think of homeopathic remedies...I used St johns wort once,but it has a high hop content..lol im sure its hops!!and it actually mae me feel a bit woozy!!

The dandelion root things is something that just strikes me as being a little impractical. I mean, you'd have to have an absolute whopper of a dandelion plant to have a root that was big enough to faff about with!

I've never seen any of the River Cottage stuff, but the guy seems to be doing a great job of introducing better food to the country and the Chicken Out campaign was a step in the right direction so he must be a positive influence.

As for homeopathic remedies, the jury is still out as far as that's concerned. I agree that there are thousands of natural substances with healing and medicinal properties, but when you start dosing them in teeny teeny portions I start to lose the plot a little. They're one of those things I'd not turn down the opportunity to try, but I'd not give up mainstream medicine if there was something seriously wrong with me.

Thanks GreenMoo. Actually drying those nettles is quite impossible here in Norwich because it rains all year through. So freezing is the only alternative. Anyway, just curious, do those nettles taste better when dried/frozen or can you use them fresh in your soup?
As with the dandelion roots I read somewhere that they are good to cleanse the liver.

Jemima, I use nettles both dried and fresh, bot normally dried. When the nettles are at their best there are normally plenty of other green things about! However, I made a nice nettle soup the other day from fresh ones.

Nettles actually dry really easily as they are so thin. I normally dry mine indoors as outdoors they tend to blow away! I cover a baking tray with newspaper and spread a thin layer on it. Then I just leave it somewhere warmish and shift them around each day.