Food for Free garden?

[mountainm]

Given Chelsea flower show isn't far away I've always thought a garden based on Richard Mabey's "food for free" book would be good. But as it's in May we'd miss out on all the great things that are available in the Autumn.

How many people are actively doing this in there own gardens? Wild plants and herbs - not cultivated ones.

My personal favourite is Sweet Cicely. But given it likes damp dark places I'm not sure I'd ever get it to grow in our sunny patch.

What's wild and tasty in your plot?

 

[British Red]

Hmmm

Sloe, ramsom, pignut, blackberry, sorrel, wood sorrel, bullace, hawthorn, welsh onion, soapwort, horse radish, Himilayan balsam

 

[mountainm]

Hmmm

Sloe, ramsom, pignut, blackberry, sorrel, wood sorrel, bullace, hawthorn, welsh onion, soapwort, horse radish, Himilayan balsam

Himilayan balsam? What can you do with that - it's a smelly invasive weed isn't it?

 

[slowworm]

You can grow sweet cicely in dry soil, I have done so for several years and it self seeds freely - just been nibbling the first seed pods of the year this morning.

There's plenty of other spring plants, small and large leaf limes are rather tasty, there's plenty of other herbs such as mint. Wild asparagus, hop shoots, rose petals, etc. There's some good spring fungi, currently I've got some morels growing in the front garden and chicken-of-the-woods can be commercially grown and I think would be ideal for a 'flower' show.

 

[Manacles]

We have a really good recurrant, an apple tree and blackberries

 

[Runestone]

l'll follow this thread with interest. Going to spend Friday digging over the vegetable patch.... could use some ideas.

Ive told SWMBO not to weed out any nettles in the garden as Ill use them for nettle beer. Certainly not cultivated by any means but grow without any encouragement.

Chris

 

[British Red]

Himilayan balsam? What can you do with that - it's a smelly invasive weed isn't it?

So is ramsom!

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Impatiens glandulifera

Red

 

[shaggystu]

i moved to a new house a few months ago and i've been really enjoying seeing what kind of edible wild plants pop up in my garden, so far we have: lesser celandine, ribwort, strawberries (maybe wild, maybe cultivars, time will tell) some kind of currant (again time will tell what variety), ramsons. i'm sure there are others too but memory/plant ID skills aren't as good as they could be.

stuart

 

[decorum]

Thistles .

Himilayan balsam? What can you do with that - it's a smelly invasive weed isn't it?

Good for cordage as well

 

[_scorpio_]

stinging nettles, rowan, wild strawberries (and normal big ones), potatoes(we didnt plant them so im calling them wild ) crab apples, hawthorn, elder, mint growing in the pond, goosegrass (i thought it was called sticky weed...) chickweed, dandelions, could be loads of other edible plants in my garden i dont know about...

 

[Geoff Dann]

goosegrass (i thought it was called sticky weed...)

It has a traditional English common name of "Sticky Willy".