[Sca-cooks] Eating wild plants (was Re: honey bees)

[Johnna Holloway]

The book Invasive Plants: a guide to identification says

"Probably introduced by European settlers in the early 1800's as food  
because
of its availability in early spring and high vitamin A and C content.  
Leaves were boiled in soups and  eaten in salads. It was first  
recorded by a botanist in 1868 on Long Island, New York." page 279

Wild Flowers and where to Find Them in Northern England: Northern  
limestone

  By Laurie Fallows includes it under

  Jack in the Hedge
Garlic Mustard, Hedge garlic

Garlic odor when crushed, a diuretic that kills worms.
Infusion helps bronchitis, eczema and other skin disorders. makes a  
good sauce for fish and the leaves in a salad are garlic flavored  
without making the breath smell.

It's also in Medicinal plants in folk tradition: an ethnobotany of  
Britain & Ireland
  By David Elliston Allen, Gabrielle Hatfield. see page 117 on google  
books

It's included at: http://www.herbvideos.com/globalg.htm
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Garlic_Mustard

Johnnae

On Mar 24, 2010, at 2:15 PM, Robin Carroll-Mann wrote:

> Thank you for the link!  Elsewhere on his site, I found tips for
> eating garlic mustard, an invasive plant that grows all over my
> property.
> http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Garlic%20Mustard.html
>
> The USDA says that it was used as an edible green in Europe, and was
> probably brought to the U.S. by early settlers.  Does anyone know
> anything about its use in period?
>
> Brighid ni Chiarain