Home » Food & Drink » Recipes 1880-1960 » CATTAILS, POKEWEED, AND NETTLES

CATTAILS, POKEWEED, AND NETTLES

© Vaudie E. Harrison

Boy, things have sure changed in the time since Grandma's time! Today we have Supermarkets, Fast Food Places, and all sorts of other places where we can find good--and sometimes not so good--things to eat.

However, back in Grandma's days, things weren't quite so easy. She had to have a garden, raise chickens and other animals and sometimes she just flat ate "weeds"..

Now, that's not as bad as it might sound. If you take the time to think about it for a minute or two, you'll realize that most all of today's vegetables were once wild plants and some, such as the Tomato, were considered to be deadly poisonous. In fact, you could almost say that they were once "weeds".

I remember, back when I was a kid, that my Grandparents and I would take Sunday afternoon excursions to all the neighborhood "vacant lots" in search of things to put on the dinner table.

In the Spring of the year, we usually would be in search of patches of Lamb's Quarter which we considered to be great eating--and it still is. What's more, it's free for the picking!

In fact, there are a number of plants that we, today, consider to be nothing more than "weeds" that, when properly prepared, make for some mighty fine table fare.

There are such things as Cattails, Dandelions, Pokeweed and Stinging Nettles and many others that are not only edible, but delicious.

Another thing, few of us think of food when we look at the Flower Beds around our homes, but you can find a lot of good eating there. Believe it or not!

This week, I'll point you to a couple of places on the Internet where you'll be able to find information about the above, but loads of other plants as well.

The first place to begin looking is a site that has recipes for such things as Nasturtium Salad, Rose Petal Soup, Wilted Dandelion Salad, and even Cheese Stuffed Squash Blossoms. So if you're looking for something different for your table, click your way over to the GHORGANICS web pages and take a look.

Another place on the web that you'll find interesting is THE EDIBLE WILD KITCHEN where you'll find uses for such things as Dandelions, Wild Grapes, Stinging Nettles, Lamb's Quarters, Cattails and Pokeweed.

Just remember, as strange as some of these sound, you just might be pleasantly surprised. Another thing, you'll definitely enjoy the facial expressions of your guests when you tell them that they're really eating "weeds".

The copyright of the article CATTAILS, POKEWEED, AND NETTLES in Recipes 1880-1960 is owned by Vaudie E. Harrison. Permission to republish CATTAILS, POKEWEED, AND NETTLES in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.