Common Sorrel or Garden Sorrel - Rumex acetosa

Location and habitat: Temperate zone, semi, dappled or no shade, meadows, hedgerows, waysides, woodland edges, riverbank.

Characteristics: Sorrel is in leaf all year, in flower from May to June, and the seeds ripen from June to August.

Edible parts identification, nutrition and prep:

Leaves : Eaten in moderation due to them containing oxalic acid which affects the absorption of other nutrients into the body i.e calcium, causing mineral deficiency-raw or cooked as pot herb and added to soups and stews. The leaves can be available all through the winter and can also be dried and stored.

Flowers: Growing in whorls of reddish-green flowers, cooked as a vegetable or used as a garnish

Root: Cooked- dried, ground into a powder

Seed: Brown and shiny. raw or cooked, ground into a powder used as flour

Hogweed- Heracleum sphondylium

Location and habitat: Throughout the temperate northern hemisphere in grass fields, meadows, waysides, hedgerows, mountains, woodlands, riverbanks.

Characteristics: Stalks and stems: Are very hairy, stalks becoming a sheath near the stem. The leaves are up to 60 cm long; they are broad, hairy and usually arranged either side of the stalk(pinnately) divided into up to nine toothed segments. The flowers are unequal in shape, in umbels c 5-15 cm across with no or few lower bracts & several upper bracts.

Edible parts identification, nutrition and prep:

 

Young shoots: The young stems & early young unfurling leaves before fully opened steamed, blanched, suateed or quickly  boiled.

CAUTION 1: Not to be confused with the very toxic, even fatal Water Hemlock, these plants look similar to the untrained eye & it is a case of... if in doubt absolutely don’t eat it.
CAUTION 2: Not to be confused with Giant Hogweed, (Heracleum mantegazziuanum) which could pass as Common Hogweed when it is young. Giant Hogweed grows to 4-5m tall & has darker, silkier leaves. The sap has something in it that increases photo sensitivity on human skin & therefore can cause severe dermatitis, sunburn & blistering in relatively small amounts of sunlight, cover areas of skin exposed to sap immediately.

Nettles Urtica

 

Location and habitat: Throughout temperate zones growing in semi, dappled or no shade in moist  soil, woodland (inc. woodland garden), hedgerows, waysides, meadows & riverbanks.

Edible parts identification, nutrition and prep:
Leaves & stems:  The young leaves found growing oppositely on wiry fibrous stems. The leaves and stems are very hairy with non-stinging hairs and stinging hairs (trichomes), whose toxic tips break off when touched & irritate the skin.Eaten boiled, added to soups & stews (15 minutes to remove the sting)..Rich in minerals especially iron, vit A, vit C. Infused as a tea.

Common Purslane-Portulaca oleracea- (also known as Verdolaga, Pigweed, Little Hogweed or Pusley)

Location and habitat: Warm temperate zones

Characteristics: Branched and spreading, growing to 50 cm

Edible parts identification, nutrition and prep:

Whole young plantlets: Eaten raw, sautéed and cooked in soups, broths and sauces.

Stems: The succulent, reddish stems are branched and spreading, growing to 50 cm.

Leaves: Are oval/paddle shape, growing in whorls/clusters at the ends and joints in the stems measure 0.5 to 3.3 x 0.2 to 1.5 c, eaten raw, sautéed and cooked in soups, broths and sauces.

Flower buds: Eaten raw, sautéed and cooked in soups, broths and sauces.

Seeds: In pods measure 0.6 to 1 mm winnowed and ground into a flour (a favourite of Australian Aborigines)

 

Cleavers - Galium aparine

Location and habitat: World-wide, growing in hedgerows, waysides, woods, farmed fields, meadows & waste land.

Characteristics: The plant is covered with little hooked bristles, that it uses to fasten to & climb up neighbouring plants. Grows to 6 feet.

Edible parts identification, nutrition and prep:

Stems: Are 'squared' and hairy leaves, eaten cooked, added to soups and stews.

Leaves: Grow in whorls (from a single point around the stem) of 6-8 leaves, they are prickly & rough, narrow & lance-shaped.Eaten cooked, added to soups and stews.Flowers: Are small & white, growing on clusters of stems from the base of the leaf whorls.

Flowers: The flowers are small and white, growing in buds/clusters of  6- 8 at the top of the plants and at the  leaf whorls. Erratic flowering means that you will find flowers and seeds in each cluster.Eaten raw, cooked, added to soups and stews.

Seeds: Lightly roasted and dried for a coffee substitute and flour.

Spanish Oyster Thistle-Scolymus hispanicus

(Also known as Scolymus hispanicus/ Spanish salsify / Common Golden Thistle or Spanish Oyster Thistle / Spanish salsify/  Yellow Salsify/ black oyster plant, serpent root, viper's herb, viper's grass/ Scorzonera hispanica: Spanish: cardillo, cardillo de comer, cardillo de olla, cardillo bravío, cardo lecher, cardón lecher, cardón lechal, lechocino, cardo zafranero; Catalan: cardet, cardelina; Basque: kardaberaiakca; Portuguese: cardo de ouro, cangarinha)

Location and habitat: Temperate zones in sandy places, waste ground, rock and/or rubble, way sides, cultivated ground, dry river beds, growing in sun or semi-shade.

Characteristics: Spiky leaves, bright yellow flower heads, can reach heights of two to four feet.

Edible parts identification and prep:

The whole young plant root raw.

Stems: A few inches of a young stem below the unopened flowers can be eaten raw, sautéed or boiled.

Leaves: Are narrow, tapering and spiny, can reach heights of two to four feet, eaten raw (best when young in spring, the most pleasant part of the leaf being the central rib), blanched, steamed, sautéed.

Flowers: flowers from May to July. Petals eaten raw and flower-heads cooked in fritters.

Seeds: sprouted

Root: the thin taproot grows up to one metre long and up to 1 inch in diameter. It has a black skin with white internal flesh – cooked roots  are better scraped/peeled of the tough, black skin (which is easier to do after 20-25 minutes cooking)s. Roots can be harvested until the end of the winter.

Closely related and with similar looks and edible properties are members of the plant genus

 

Tragopogon ; Salsify/ Common Salsify/ Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon/ Vegetable Oyster

Location and habitat: Temperate zones, hedgerows, waysides, meadows, growing in sun or semi-shade.

Edible parts identification and prep:

Leaves: Narrow and tapering, eaten raw (best when young in spring

Flowers: From April/June (the warmer the area  the earlier) to September- Petals eaten raw and flower-heads cooked in fritters.

Seeds: Ripen July –September.

Roots: Baked, steamed, fried,  boiled in soups or stew, roots can be harvested until the end of the winter.

 

Dandelion-Taraxacum officinale

Location and habitat:
Semi or no shade, meadow, waysides, hedgerows,

Characteristics: In flower from April to May, and the seeds ripen from May to June.

Edible parts identification and prep:

Leaves: Eaten raw or cooked they are rather bitter, though less so in the winter. Tender young leaves are considerably less bitter than older leaves, infused as a tea.

Flowers: Raw or cooked –sautéed, frittered, infused as a tea Root - raw or cooked, dried and roasted as coffee substitute (harvested in the autumn, 2 yr old plants are better). Infused as a tea.

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