Wisdom from foragers needed please?

[Jessiebean]

Hi there, I have found rather a lot of wild amaranth growing in the backyard- is it worth my while eating it- I know I can eat it but I also can eat a nasty weed called cobbler's pegs which I used to grow (accidently) when I lived further north. I would not eat cobblers pegs unless I had to as it is strong flavoured and stringy.. what is wild amaranth like? I also have dock and dandelion and what would appear to be millet- is there anything I can do with a wee bit of millet?

[Hedgehogpie]

It's difficult because they're plants we don't have here in the UK. Do you have the latin name for your plant cobbler's pegs? Certainly amaranth and millet are both edible, mainly in the form of their grains or flour. There seem to be a lot of recipes on the web utilising both but I can't comment on flavour. These two might help to get you started:

http://cgi.fatfree.com/cgi-bin/fatfree/ ... ing=millet

http://www.prodigalgardens.info/july%20 ... 20Amaranth

[Jessiebean]

Thanks for your reply. Cobbler's pegs are Bidens pilosa and there is a link to a fact sheet here...http://www.strathfield.nsw.gov.au/syste ... 20Pegs.pdf
I forgot about the recipes about the place. I will have a search and test them on my children who have just started on black tahini with great gusto much to my astonishment so they might go any weird thing I give them!

[Hedgehogpie]

Kids are a never ending souce of unpredictability! Mine is always keeping me on my toes. Thanks for the info, I've never heard of cobbler's pegs before but as I said, I'm in the UK so I'm curious to see if it matches anything we have here - the latin name isn't familiar though.

Enjoy your experimenting, and let us know how you get on!

[Millymollymandy]

That's interesting as I have a perennial in my garden called Bidens (something) which I don't think has nasty burrs on it but is just a tall autumn flowering herbaceous plant for flower beds. I see your one is also called 'Hairy Beggarticks'! Yup mine has completely different leaves and is much taller, about 4- 5 foot tall!

[Jessiebean]

Yes hairy Beggarticks is a good name for them and they constantly get caught in socks and trouser cuffs so I I can think of a few more unlisted names which for decency's sake would include characters such as @#*!.
I am glad you don't know the nasty little blighters. We don't seem to have them here. A whole new world of weed but most of would appear to be edible.. dandelion, dock, chickweed, blackberries, wild amaranth and some strange previously domesticated garden plants which have taken to the climate a little too well. Apart from a little tuber device that grows a single leaf, an insipid flower and then orange berries I seem to be able to cope with most of the weeds around here.
I should start eating them (the identified ones!) as I have no leafy greens at the moment and am dependent on sprouts.
(edited to add I have just managed to identify my troublesome weed in my garden it is Arum italicum... I don't think it is attractive and I can't eat it ... it is also hard to get rid of... grrrr)

[Millymollymandy]

I don't think of that Arum as a weed, I have the less fancy looking wild version in my woodland and it's really welcome as it is one of the first things to pop up in spring. I suppose if it is coming up in your veg patch it might be a nuisance though. Their common name is 'Lords and Ladies'.

I think I have that amaranth in my veg patch but I'm not 100% sure. Loads of the weeds that come up in the veg garden are edible, only they appear at the time that I've already got veggies galore to eat, so I don't want them (especially as my veggies generally taste a lot better)!

[Jessiebean]

Unfortunately the Arum is very weedlike in my garden and I will do my darndest to remove it- my whole front garden was covered in it last Autumn! I would much rather edible weeds!