Dutch: Zevenblad  -  French: Egopode podagraire -  German: Giersch

A few years ago, I was writing another blog about my herbal adventures back then. One of the things I wrote about was how I got rid of ground elder - without even wanting it. Surprisingly, 'Ground elder - beating it by eating it' became my most popular post. Here it is for you to enjoy!

Ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria) was once introduced here by the Romans, to supply their soldiers with fresh vegetables along the roadside. Of course they used a plant that knows how to survive in all circumstances, one that cannot be conquered. A vegetable that invented the slogan ‘all you can eat’. The Romans continued their travels, but ground elder stayed. To invade all possible places in the countryside, forest and city: in lawns, under trees, in hedges.
This made the herb famous and well known by different names: rampant champion, gardener’s sadness. Bishop’s Weed (as this plant was used by monks to treat gout). Jack-jump-about. Or the poetic the expanding green hell. In other words: hard to exterminate. Even pesticide manufacturers risk a nervous breakdown, dealing with ground elder.

I know I’m risking my credibility here, but: I seem to have eaten so much of it in the parental garden over the past few years, that it disappeared.

Feel free to reread that sentence.

Yes, indeed, ground elder. Gone. Only by preparing and eating it, in vegetable pies, soups, salades, mashed potatoes, pancakes, bread, pesto,… Not one milligram of poison was needed, on the contrary: I was nourished by all the good things that it has to offer: vitamin C, iron, calcium, magnesium, carotene (especially when eaten young).

It’s very versatile, the young tender leaves are delicious eaten raw, the older leaves can be juiced/vinegared/pickled/dried/cooked and have a parsley-like taste.

I know other gardeners would start an extatic dance of joy, but I am not so sure if there’s a reason to be so happy about this. Even more: I miss my trusted ground elder. I hope I can re-introduce it. What could be easier than a vegetable of which you can continually harvest without having to worry about diseases or special plant needs? Those Romans weren’t so stupid after all…

And as it turns out, I am not the only one: Goethe was also an enthousiastic ground elder collector. His collection of weeds can still be admired in the Goethe museum in Weimar.

Yesterday we filled our basket with these wild edible plants:

• Lamb's quarters, aka fat-hen (Dutch: Melganzevoet  -  French: Chénopode blanc  -  German: Weisse Gänsefuss)
• Redshank (Dutch: Perzikkruid  -  French: Renouée persicaire  -  German: Floh-Knöterich)
• Ground elder (Dutch: Zevenblad  -  French: Egopode podagraire  -  German: Giersch)
• Stinging nettle (Dutch: Brandnetel  -  French: Ortie  -  German: Brennessel)
• Chickweed (Dutch: Vogelmuur  -  French: Mouron des oiseaux  -  German: Vogelmiere)
• Gallant soldier (aka potato weed) (Dutch: Kaal knopkruid  -  French: galinsoga  à petites fleurs  -  German: Franzosenkraut)

And what did we do? We juiced the whole basket and then blended it up with some melon. This resulted in a tasty afternoon snack.

I've already mentioned the excellent nutritional value of wild edible plants; usually they are a lot more nutrient dense than cultivated plant foods, in some cases even  a hundred times more! Not only is their vitamin and mineral content higher, they also contain some important phytochemicals that have been bred out in most of our food. These phytochemicals are important antioxidants, antimicrobials and boost our immunity.

Here are some vitamin-content examples:

• spinach (a cultivated crop) contains 1800 UI of provitamin A per 100 g
• violets (a wild edible plant) contains 20 000 UI of provitamin A per 100 

• oranges (cultivated fruits) contain 50 to 72 mg of vitamin C per 100 g
• rosehips (wild edible fruits) contain 2700 mg of vitamin C per 100 g
  

But apart from that, there's another factor that makes them so interesting to add to your diet: you'll get more variation. Usually Western people eat high amounts of a few species (corn, wheat, soy, sugarbeets, to name a few). I may be more interesting to eat small amounts of a wide variety of species. How many different species of plant foods have you eaten today? 5? 25? 50?

Variation not only offers nutritional profits, it'll also add more flavors to your meals. Nowadays, a lot of our food is sweet tasting, but our taste buds are made for a so much wider range of flavors, and wild edibles cover all of these, from the bitter dandelion root to the sweet himalayan balsam flower.

Usually you forage right before you eat, so wild edibles are as fresh as possible. We all know fresh is best, don't we? Well, bear in mind that a lot of the store-bought fruits and vegetables are cultivated in a way that they look fresh for a longer period of time, during transport and while they're in the store, waiting to be bought. They may even be chemically treated or genetically modified for this purpose. Nutrition is no longer a priority for these crops, as the average consumer rather judges them by their looks. Wild superfoods have all their power on the inside. They may wilt quickly or not be beauty contest candidates, but their freshness and nutritional value rocks!

Wild edible plants are foods that are real. You prepare them at home, with love, or graze as you go, but either way: they're not the processed foods of which we all know they are better to avoid (For those who've done a bit of research, you'll know there are countless theories about what we should or shouldn't eat - but the one thing all of these theories have in common is that they tell us to stay away from processed foods).

And there's another detail: wild edible plants are picked outdoors. Which means your exposure to sunlight (think vitamine D) and fresh air expands. If I get to choose between a crowded supermarket with artificial lights and airconditioning/heating or a walk amongst trees and bushes and fresh greens, with birds singing in the background, that's never a hard choice to make.

A wild probiotic that's a Summer Solstice delight for all your senses! Time to celebrate summer with edible flowers.

How to make it? Just make water kefir the regular way, but add some wildflowers to the brew.
I used elderflowers (Sambucus nigra)
Dutch: Vlierbloesem - French: Fleur de sureau - German: Holunderblüten
and a few aromatic roses (Rosa sp.)
Dutch: Roos - French: Rose - German: Ros.

I so wish I could let you taste this, it's devine!

You may wonder why we are so crazy about herbal vinegar making. Vinegar is the number one way to extract minerals from plants in a very absorbable way. And minerals, that's what wild edible plants are full of!

First, pick your edible wild greens. We used (pictured from left to right, top to bottom)

• Ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria) Dutch: Zevenblad - French: Egopode podagraire - German: Giersch
  
• Woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) Dutch: Bosaardbei - French: Fraisier des bois - German: Wald-Erdbeere
  
• Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) Dutch: Look-zonder-look - French: Alliaire officinale - German: Knoblauchsrauke
• Violet (Viola riviniana)  Dutch: Bosviooltje - French: Violette de Rivinus - German: Hain-Veilchen
• Common daisy (Bellis perennis) Dutch: Madeliefje  -  French: Pâquerette  -  German: Gänseblümchen
• Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) Dutch: Paardenbloem - French: Pissenlit - German: Löwenzahn

By the way: don't you love the heart-shaped violet leaves?

Then, tear up the plants (or chop them, but this was a sunny day and we prefered to do this in the field as we wanted the leaves as fresh as possible) and place them in a glass jar.

Pour apple cider vinegar on the plant material...

...until all is covered.

Put on the lid. Done for now!

And now the hard part: you need to let this steep for six weeks, shaking regularly . After six weeks, you can strain it and pour in a labeled glass bottle with cork. The strained out plant parts can be eaten as an unique addition to salads.

As always with making herbal vinegars: avoid jars with metal lids, as the vinegar acid will eat the metal. My favorite jars for herbal vinegars are canning jars with glass lids. Another option is to cover the metal lid on the inside with some parchment paper.

We were aired two days ago on TV (watch it here), foraging in Belgium's capital. Right after the filming was done, I got a bit worried about safety. It's wonderful if more people start doing this, but we don't want anyone to get sick. I have a personal limit as to where it is acceptable to forage, but I know other people are more or less careful; it's a thin line.

And it is a remark we get a lot:
"There is so much trash in the city, would you really eat what grows there?"
(And usually the answer is to use common sense, and wash everything thoroughly, and that the invisible trash of pesticides in non-urban environments may be even more harmful).

But let's face it: that's not the real question. Let's turn it around:
"There are so much edibles in the city, would you really throw trash on them?"

First, gather your edible wild fowers. We used flowers of

• Common daisy (Bellis perennis) Dutch: Madeliefje - French: Pâquerette - German: Gänseblümchen
  
• Bear's garlic (Allium ursinum) Dutch: Daslook - French: Ail des ours - German: Bärlauch
  
• Sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum) Dutch: Lievevrouwebedstro - French: Aspérule odorante - German: Waldmeister
  
• Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) Dutch: Robertskruid - French: Géranium Herbe à Robert - German: Ruprechtskraut
  
• Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) Dutch: Look-zonder-look - French: Herbe à ail - German: Knoblauchsrauke
• One late dandelion :) (Taraxacum officinale) Dutch: Paardenbloem - French: Pissenlit - German: Löwenzahn
  

Place them in a glass jar.

Yes, we can add some more. 

Pour the apple cider vinegar over the plants...

... until all the flowers are covered.

There you have it: wild flower vinegar. Doesn't that look amazing?
Let steep for six weeks and enjoy!

Dutch: Klaproos  -  French: Coquelicot  -  German: Klatschmohn

Poppies (Papaver rhoeas) are special. Their vibrant color that lifts up the whole area to a new level, their vulnerability that reminds us of butterflies, their edible petals, and their hidden talent: they make great flower dolls. No special tools needed!

Here's how you make a poppy flower doll:

First, pick a poppy with a tall stem.

Bend down the petals and tie with a fine string. Traditionally, you pull out one single hair of your own scalp to do this. And yes, I did it the traditional way :)

Break off a piece of the stem and place it though the dress to make arms.

And then another piece of the stem makes a second leg. There you have her, don't you love her dress?

I love how they all look like different individuals. They don't last for long, as poppies never do once they are picked, but they make a great decoration on cakes.

And as mentioned above, the petals are edible as well. Great in (fruit) salads, or even muesli.
And once they are done flowering, they form the poppy seed that is used on bread. In Turkey they grind the seed to make a paste (pretty much like tahin, made from sesame seed), that is used as a bread spread or as a base for pasty, often mixed with honey. And take it from me, that is really good!

Dutch: Vlier  -  French: Sureau  -  German: Holunder

The elder flower (Sambucus nigra) harvest has been quite a challenge this year, with the frequent rainfall... flowers are always harvested on a sunny day, for more flavor. But we made it! My friend Veerle and I gathered some and went home with a bag full of delight. We had a great talk about dyeing with wild plants, which is one of Veerle's current projects, and about wild edibles of course.

I made some tea right away (pictured above: tea of elder flower, water mint and thyme). But I'm also trying to reanimate my water kefir grains (they have been frozen for a while) and want to do a elder flower kefir experiment.

And then I wanted to dry some. If you have done this before, you'll have noticed two things: the taste of dried elder flower is completely different than the fresh one, and during the drying process, elder flowers spread the scent of cat pee. Which is catching me every year again, and making me laugh, and fascinating our two feline family members.

Dutch: Daslook  -  French: Ail des ours  -  German: Bärlauch

Pictured above is one of my favorite wild edibles: bear's garlic, also known as ramsons. It's a wild garlic species (Allium ursinum) of which you can eat the leaves, stems, flowers and bulbs. But let's take a closer look at that picture. On this particular spot (but mind you, this is a quite common situation, as both plants are typical spring plants that love to grow in shady areas like forest soil) a culinary delight shares its space with the very toxic lilly of the valley (even if you put it in a vase, drinking the water can be lethally poisonous, that's how toxic it is). It's even worse: the leaves have a similar look and are hard to tell apart if you don't know what you're dealing with.

Now here's my point: I don't believe in fear as a good ally for foraging. I believe in trust. Trust that grows and develops by getting to know plants really well, and checking and double checking. Trust that increases through practice and using the right identification keys. This is why I encourage people to start small, one plant at a time. Take one plant that you've known since childhood (for many people these will be easy to identify plants like stinging nettle, dandelion, common daisy or elderberry) and that grows near you.

If you think you know this plant well, you can always get to know it better. Trust me.

And when you really know it like a good friend that you'll recognize from far distance, then get more intimate and put it in your mouth.