by Julia | Feb 22, 2022 | General
The beauty and fragrance of flowers have always drawn humans in nourishing our senses. Increasingly we see a trend to use colourful flowers to brighten and make food very attractive. This though is far from a new idea. Ancient Greek, Roman and Chinese herbalists...
by Julia | Jan 28, 2022 | General
I’ve only just learned that this month’s feature ‘weed’ is edible. Ivy leaved toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis) has a number of other names such as Kenilworth Ivy (because it covered the walls of Kenilworth Castle in the UK), Oxford Ivy, Mother of Thousands or Wandering...
by Julia | Oct 24, 2021 | General
I have a lovely young wwoofer (willing worker on organic farms) called Luisa who grew up in England but has a NZ mother and so NZ citizenship. She is a made keen horticulturalist and has been a wonderful help in the garden. We decided to go on a...
by Julia | Sep 4, 2021 | General
Gorse or Furze Ulex europaeus is right now covered in golden-yellow flowers adding colour to our wintery landscape. Not a sight many appreciate due to the bad rap gorse gets as a noxious weed. However, this plant is very important to bees during early spring providing...
by Julia | Jul 16, 2021 | General
Prickly pear cactus Opuntia stricta though not a weed on our shores of Aotearoa, in Australia has ruined the livelihoods of many farmers. It was unstoppable in spreading for a decade until the 1920s, when its natural enemy the cactoblastis moth was introduced....
by Julia | Jul 6, 2021 | General
I’ve had a lovely little patch of this on a walkway over summer and I enjoyed seeing and even walking over part of it every day! It stays low to the ground but the stems rise up when not disturbed. It’s botanical name is Chenopodium pumilio. Chenopodium Greek =...
by Julia | Apr 3, 2021 | General
I’ve watched this documentary and was astounded at the inventions happening around the world that we have never heard about – inventions for healing, free energy, ways of living – it was just so exciting and inspiring. The quest that Foster Gamble...
by Julia | Mar 24, 2021 | General
Don’t you love it when you solve a mystery. I have an intriguing pretty plant in my garden that I couldn’t identify. Finally a person with the App ‘Picture This’ revealed it as‘Jewels-of-Opar or Talinum paniculatum. I was totally delighted to learn this. It is also...
by Julia | Mar 10, 2021 | General
I had a big surprise in my garden this summer – a squash that grows like a ‘weed’. Zucchini rampicante (Cucurbita moschata) is an Italian heirloom zucchini also known as Zucchetta Rampicante or Tromboncino squash. I thought I was sowing the Chinese pumpkin or...
by Julia | Dec 2, 2020 | General
Kaye is a very dear friend of mine who I met through edible weeds! I asked her if I could interview her to share with you how we first connected and what wild edibles mean in Kaye’s life. How did we meet? The truth of it is I saw a photo of you on your website...
