Back then the diversity of textures, flavours [...]]]> As we know, history repeats itself and when it comes to food there is no exception. Culinary habits are becoming more interesting with the reintroduction of ancient grains in to the diet along with salad herbs that haven’t been seen since the sixteenth century.

Back then the diversity of textures, flavours and colours might have come from 50 or more different flowers, leaves, seeds, buds, blanched stems, and even pickled roots.

Following is a list of unusual but delicious salad ingredients you might like to experiment with.

Borage Flowers (Borago officinalis) – Use these pretty star shaped blue flowers to add colour to salads.

Calendula petals (Calendula officinalis) – Sprinkle the petals through a salad to add a mild flavour and vibrant colour.

Chickweed (Stellaria media) – The tender leaves of this lovely herb add a lovely texture to salad greens.

Chive flowers (Allium schoenoprasum) – For a mild onion flavour gently toss the flower petals of chives through salads. Add a mild garlic flavour by using the white flowers of  Chinese chives.

Endive (Cichorium endivia) – A lovely salad green but best blanched or picked young to avoid its bitter flavour.

Garden cress (Lepidium sativum) – In its early stage of growth this herb is usually considered to be “mustard and cress” but if it’s let to grow it becomes a pretty salad green, especially if you want to add a little heat.

Garden pansy (Viola x Wittrockiana) – The pretty flowers of this plant can be used to add vibrant colour to most salads.

Jack-by-the-hedge (Alliara petiolata) – This wild plant has a very mild garlic flavour – chop young tender leaves and add to salad.

Lawn Daisy (Bellis perennis) – Young leaves and flowers can be added to salads; small flowers can be used whole or the petals can be separated.

Meadow crane’s bill (Geranium pratense) – This is a delightful plant that has mild flavoured crimson-veined blue or blue flowers that bloom most of the summer. Add the flowers to salads for colour and flavour.

Mizuna mustard greens (Brassica japonica) – Grows all year when re-sown. The stalk is tasty and both the stalk and leaves have a fresh mild flavour that makes them very useful as a salad green.

Orach (Atriplex hortensis) – Leaves are purple or gold and should be harvested when young and tender to add colour and a mild flavour to salads.

Rape cabbage (Brassica napus) – Grow as a seedling crop and use young leaves to add a mustard/cabbage flavour to salads.

Rose Petals (Rosa species) – Any scented rose petals can be used to add flavour and colour to a salad but remove the white heel at the base of the flower because it is bitter.

Salad rocket (Eruca vesicaria) – Most of us are quite familiar with this herb with its hot spicy flavour. The flowers can be tossed in a salad but be sure to use young leaves as those that are older become quite bitter.

Summer purslane (Portulaca oleracea) – A prolific herb with leaves that add a delicious crunchy and nutty flavour to salads.

Variegated nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) – This is another well-known salad herb with leaves that add a sharp peppery flavour to salads. The flowers and buds can also be used but have a milder flavour.

Viper’s bugloss (Echium vulgare) – The flowers of this herb are small and are either blue or pink. They contain a sweet nectar and although they have a very mild taste they are an attractive addition to many types of salads.

Winter purslane (Montia perfoliata) – You can cut this herb and it will grow again to give you an almost constant supply of an ideal salad green.

Begin a salad by making the base with leaves that have a mild flavour such as chickweed, summer purslane, lettuce, and dandelion. Next, add small amounts of shredded leaves with sharp or pungent flavours such as nasturtium and basil then add flowers choosing those that have colours that go well together – blue and yellow, orange and yellow, pink and white, or yellow, blue and white. Finally, add small amounts of other culinary herbs such as chervil, thyme, tarragon, parsley, and lemon balm.

Apart from adding flavour and colour to food herbs also have health benefits when used regularly.

Food and medicine can be found right under our noses in our gardens if we only take the time to identify some weeds.

Recently I had to relocate my vegetable and herb garden to make room to build our house. It was a huge task but thanks [...]]]>

Green Amaranth (A. Viridus)

Food and medicine can be found right under our noses in our gardens if we only take the time to identify some weeds.

Recently I had to relocate my vegetable and herb garden to make room to build our house. It was a huge task but thanks to my husband’s help everything was transplanted beautifully apart from several small rhubarb plants.

They failed to grow but in their place a very healthy crop of green amaranth (A. viridus) sprang up. My husband almost pulled them out because he thought they were weeds. Thankfully he checked with me first (as he has learned to do over the years!).

We may not have all of the rhubarb plants from the original garden but in their place we have a plentiful supply of a green pot herb that is also a medicinal herb.

Other edible amaranths include A. caudatus, a. cruentus, a. lividus, and A. powelli. The young stems of these amaranths can be boiled or steamed as a vegetable and while tender they lack fibre. Green amaranth leaves are an excellent substitute for spinach and can successfully replace it in most dishes. They can also be added to salads, stews, soups, and casseroles. Apart from the plant’s use as a vegetable or pot herb, the clusters of nutty edible seeds are certainly worth eating as a raw snack or added to biscuits to give them a mild flavour and crunch. The seeds can be easily harvested by scraping the ripe (reddish-brown) spikes and boiled in a little water to make a simple but healthy porridge.

As for green amaranth’s medicinal properties, the leaves are emollient and have traditionally been used to treat scorpion sting and snake bite, tumours, and to help rid the body of intestinal worms. Many cultures have different uses for the plant but they are not well documented. However, the leaves can be used as a poultice to treat bruises, boils, and wounds.

Weeds can be a nuisance but those I’ve identified have mostly been beneficial to man and animals and well worth allowing to grow in my garden, which isn’t difficult to do if they are kept in control.

A Rose and an Amaranth blossomed side by side in a garden,

and the Amaranth said to her neighbour,

“How I envy you your beauty and your sweet scent!

No wonder you are such a universal favourite.”

But the Rose replied with a shade of sadness in her voice,

“Ah, my dear friend, I bloom but for a time:

my petals soon wither and fall, and then I die.

But your flowers never fade, even if they are cut;

for they are everlasting.”

Aesop’s Fables

Sida Retusa

(Bidens pilosa)

Also known as pitchforks and beggar’s ticks, cobbler’s pegs is naturalized in the tropical and  warmer temperate areas of the world. It grows in [...]]]> Recent research has shown this herb has the potential to treat the early stages of conditions such as malaria, and diabetes.

(Bidens pilosa)

Also known as pitchforks and beggar’s ticks, cobbler’s pegs is naturalized in the tropical and  warmer temperate areas of the world. It grows in many areas of Australia and I have seen it growing in both temperate and tropical parts of Queensland including the Atherton Tableland and southeast Queensland. In fact it is growing on the property where my husband and I now live and it also grew on a property we had on the Atherton Tablelands. On the tableland property we bred sheep for wool and the seeds that give the plant its name became attached to their wool, which made it difficult when combing it for spinning. Apart from wool and animal fur the seeds become attached to clothing and socks, and can be a real nuisance.

Looking at the structure of the seeds it’s easy to understand why they are so adept at attaching themselves. The tiny seeds are dark grey with two paler grey prongs that have tiny barbs. Cobbler’s pegs is an annual herb that grows to about one metre and has spreading branches. The thin, hairy, and soft leaves are in opposite pairs and the tiny white flowers with orange centres appear at the end of all branches and branchlets from summer to autumn.

Found in the cracks of walls and pavements, roadsides, and any waste or disturbed ground, the herb is thought to have originated in the Americas from where it has spread to other continents possibly preceding European exploration.

Culinary Uses
Cobbler’s pegs’ culinary uses are minimal. The young shoots are edible and are sometimes used as a green vegetable, however, the volatile oils  create such a strong flavour that most people tend to find the plant more agreeable as a medicinal herb.

Medicinal Properties and Uses
The herb doesn’t have any notable aromatic oils but an infusion  of the plant, sometimes using the flower heads only, has been used as a tonic and stimulant in domestic medicine as well as for conditions including coughs, diarrhoea and dysentery. In some countries the flowers, roots, or shoots were chewed for toothache, young shoots were chewed to treat rheumatism, the juice of the leaves were dropped in to the eyes as a treatment for conjunctivitis and to treat earache, and a strong decoction of the leaves was taken to treat any type of inflammation.

B. pilosa has also been used traditionally to treat other conditions including wounds, flu, colds, fever, neuralgia, smallpox, snake bite, pain, aneamia, rectal prolapse, hepatitis, jaundice, and colic.

Recent Research: There are several varieties of B. pilosa and one of them, B. pilosa Linn var. radiata, found in Japan and tropical America, has been analyzed. The results have shown that it contains active constituents including phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, flavone glycosides, polyacetylenes, aurones, and chalcones as well as beta-carotene, iron, zinc, and calcium.

There are a number of research papers that have observed significant health benefits of B. pilosa as a herbal medicine. While there  is still much research to be done the health potential of this herb is certainly very promising.

Research on this herb first began to substantiate its traditional uses but in doing so it was discovered that it has the potential to treat the early stages of malaria, inflammation, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and allergies; it also has antimicrobial action.

Note: Before locating and making use of this plant as a medicine it’s important to note that B. pilosa takes up cadmium. A study has shown that the herb is very useful in helping to remedy the environment of cadmium pollution but has no known chelation effect on humans. Because of this it would be very wise to know the area when harvesting the plant for medicinal use.

Although cobbler’s pegs can be a nuisance because its seeds attach themselves to clothing and wool, it is harmless to grazing animals apart from possibly tainting  the taste of milk, most probably because of the volatile oil. These are minor details though when the herb provides humans and animals with a valuable medicine for a wide range of ailments.

Also known as coast morning glory, purple beach convolvulus, and goat’s-foot morning glory this plant has fascinated me since I was a little girl. Its medicinal properties substantiate the ancient and modern herbalists’ belief that Mother Nature ensures that medicinal herbs grow where mankind will need them.This plant is a prime [...]]]> (Ipomoea pes-caprae)

Also known as coast morning glory, purple beach convolvulus, and goat’s-foot morning glory this plant has fascinated me since I was a little girl. Its medicinal properties substantiate the ancient and modern herbalists’ belief that Mother Nature ensures that medicinal herbs grow where mankind will need them.This plant is a prime example of the philosophy because it grows on beaches where it’s available to treat stings from marine creatures. Australian aborigines heated beach convolvulus leaves and placed them against the stings of stonefish and stingrays. Some say that the juice of the leaves also worked well. They also used the heated leaves the same way to treat other conditions such as boils, headaches, sores, swellings, and ant stings. Decoctions made from the leaves were drunk to treat colds and also were used as a wash for scabies. The Australian aborigines weren’t the only people to use the plant for treating these conditions, those from Latin America, India, Africa, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and Torres Strait also used the plant for similar purposes.

It is interesting to note here that although beach convolvulus is popularly believed to have a powerful constituent that counters stings, two American studies have found that the plant has no medicinal effect.  However, a study done in Thailand has discovered a substance in the plant that is mildly antihistaminic and it does counter the poison from jellyfish.

The seeds of beach convolvulus have been spread around vast regions of the Indian and Pacific oceans by ocean currents and wherever the plant is found growing it is known as a strong medicine.

Beach convolvulus is a trailing creeper that grows vigorously on sandy beaches and coastal sand dunes. The leathery heart-shaped leaves have a cleft at the tip and are shaped like a goat’s footprint hence its Latin name pes-caprae, meaning ‘foot of goat’. Pink or lavender trumpet flowers appear in autumn and the seeds are found inside capsules at the end of long stalks.

While the plant is native to Africa and Asia it has spread throughout the India-Pacific region including northern and eastern Australia and is found on beaches as far south as Sydney.

Closely related to sweet potato, beach convolvulus has a similar starchy root that has an irritant taste and fibrous texture so Aborigines only ate it in times of famine. In other areas the leaves have been boiled as a vegetable.The tough, flexible stems have been used to make cord, and the leaves were used to provide shade for fish traps.

Balloon Cotton-Bush

(Asclepias fruticosa)

Originating in southern African, balloon cotton-bush is now widely naturalized in northern New Zealand, Australia, and other subtropical parts of the world. This evergreen shrub has star-shaped white flowers that appear in summer and pale green narrow leaves. It’s a short-lived shrub that was used in [...]]]>

Balloon Cotton-Bush

(Asclepias fruticosa)

Originating in southern African, balloon cotton-bush is now widely naturalized in northern New Zealand, Australia, and other subtropical parts of the world. This evergreen shrub has star-shaped white flowers that appear in summer and pale green narrow leaves. It’s a short-lived shrub that was used in African medicine as a purgative and for intestinal conditions in children. Europeans living in Africa powdered the leaves to use as a snuff to help treat lung diseases. However, the plant is known to be poisonous so using it as a medicine is not recommended at all. There have been cases of animals being poisoned after consuming the plant although fatalities have been rare.

Apart from medicinal uses a fibre is made from the stems and the soft seed-hairs inside the inflated fruits have been used instead of kapok to stuff cushions.

A member of the soapberry family (sapindacea), balloon vine or heartseed is a common climber found growing in many tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Thought to be native to Africa, the Americas, and Asia the plant probably evolved in South America.

It is a fast-growing [...]]]> (Cardiospermum halicacabum)

A member of the soapberry family (sapindacea), balloon vine or heartseed is a common climber found growing in many tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Thought to be native to Africa, the Americas, and Asia the plant probably evolved in South America.

It is a fast-growing weedy, tendril-climber with three cornered bladder type fruits formed from scented white flowers that bloom in summer. Its common name, balloon vine, was derived from the shape of the fruit. However, Linnaeus, who gave the plant its botanical name Cardiospermum from the Greek kardia, heart, and, sperma, seed named it after the heart-like shape of the fruit.

The vine grows to a height of about six metres and has alternating ferny leaves growing from slender, hairy stems.  The two centimetre wide bell-shaped flowers have four petals and are in short racemes that terminate at the end of long stalks. The greenish-white pendulous three angled fruits are up to five centimeters long and have three compartments containing a single black spherical seed in each one.This attractive so-called weed can be found growing wild in waste places and roadsides. It often grows in a dense mass that has the potential to smother native plants so is sometimes regarded as a pest, which is a shame because it has very useful medicinal properties.

Balloon vine is a traditional medicinal plant in Asian countries and can be found in the Ayurvedic medicine pharmacopoeia of Sri Lanka and India. This attests to the age-old use of the plant in these countries because the pharmacopoeia originated thousands of years ago.

The leaves, root, and seeds are used. If you are fortunate enough to have the vine growing close by you can make a poultice from the leaves to treat wounds, skin infections, swellings, sprains, and arthritis. Inhale crushed leaves to relieve headache and make eardrops from the juice of the leaves to treat earache. To treat bronchitis and nervous disorders make an infusion of the leaves. Taking a decoction of the roots can stop bleeding from haemorrhoids and a decoction from the crushed seeds can relieve fevers and rheumatism. This is a valuable plant that should be taken on board in the west as a medicinal plant rather than being viewed as a weed.

Native to tropical America and naturalized in Northern Australia, India, and other tropical and subtropical regions, asthma plant can be found growing on river flats, waste places, and roadsides.  Also commonly known as pill-bearing spurge, the plant is a semi-prostrate annual with spreading stems that grow up [...]]]> (Chamaesyce hirta – formerly Euphorbia pilulifera)

Native to tropical America and naturalized in Northern Australia, India, and other tropical and subtropical regions, asthma plant can be found growing on river flats, waste places, and roadsides.  Also commonly known as pill-bearing spurge, the plant is a semi-prostrate annual with spreading stems that grow up to 40 centimetres (19”) long. It has opposite pairs of purplish-green, ovate leaves that are up to 4 centimetres (6/8”) in length. The tiny flowers, consisting of small reddish heads, are borne in the leaf-axils and produce tiny globe shaped fruit.

Historically used for coryza (profuse discharge from the mucous membranes of the nose), hayfever, and emphysema, it is now used by professional herbalists to treat asthma, spasms of the larynx, upper respiratory catarrh, bronchitis, and anti-amoebic activity.

During the 1800s and well in to the 1900s the herb played a major role in the treatment of asthma in the former British colonies including Australia.  Named after the condition that it was mostly used for the herb was prepared as a decoction or made in to a tincture. Used as folk medicine in other parts of the world including Africa and Asia for the treatment of respiratory and intestinal conditions, asthma plant also has other uses.  All parts of the plant secrete large amounts of white latex (sap) when broken and is used by the Australian aborigines to remove warts.  The Malaysians used the latex to treat eye conditions and they pounded the whole plant to make a poultice to treat bruises.

Much of the plants healing virtues were written about in the late 1800s and the early 1900s and it was listed in the British Pharmacopoeia until the 1950s if not later.  Apart from making decoctions and tinctures from the herb, another way of obtaining its medicinal action for respiratory conditions was to smoke it or burn it and inhale the smoke.  It is a strong herb so compared to many medicinal plants, the adult dose should be very small: 0.12 – 0.30 grams of the dried herb three times daily.

Harvest the plant during flowering, in late spring to autumn.

Many commercial hot chillies may have originated from Capsicum frutescense which some believe was introduced from India to the West in 1548. Back then it was known as Ginnie pepper and was recommended by Gerard for scrofula, a prevalent lymphatic throat and skin infection that was called King’s Evil. [...]]]> (Capsicum frutescens)

Many commercial hot chillies may have originated from Capsicum frutescense which some believe was introduced from India to the West in 1548. Back then it was known as Ginnie pepper and was recommended by Gerard for scrofula, a prevalent lymphatic throat and skin infection that was called King’s Evil. Others believe that the plant originated in the equatorial Americas where its seeds have been found in Mexican caves that date back to 7000BC. Whatever its origins the plant has become a popular culinary and medicinal herb in many parts of the world  including the Mediterranean, China, southeast Asia, India, United  Kingdom, Australia, and the USA. Because of its warming properties cayenne was used by nineteenth century Physiomedicalists to treat such conditions as depression, chills and rheumatism.

Medicinal Uses
Hot chillies stimulate the salivary glands and have a cleansing action on the digestive tract, helping to rid it of intestinal parasites. Cayenne’s character is drying, pungent, and very hot. Its properties give it the actions of circulatory stimulant, carminative, antibacterial, stimulating nerve tonic, antiseptic, gastric stimulant, and it also promotes sweating. Applied topically it’s a counter-irritant because it helps to increase blood flow to the area of application so it’s helpful for treating conditions such as arthritic joints and rheumatism. When I treat a patient who is suffering from a spur on the heel I make a cayenne ointment and get them to apply it to the spur (using gloves of course) and have them cover the area with a sock. By doing this the increased blood flow helps to break up the spur over time.

To treat chills, colds, shock, cold feet and hands, make an infusion by pouring a cup of boiling water over half a teaspoon of fresh herb. Let it steep for at least ten minutes then dilute 20 ml of the infusion with a cup of hot water and sip as needed. Sluggish digestion can be stimulated by taking several drops of the undiluted infusion before meals. The infusion can also be used to treat tonsillitis and to ease the severe pain of migraines and shingles. To treat bruising, sprains, and rheumatic pains make a compress by soaking a pad in the infusion. Apply to the affected area.

Cautions
Don’t consume the seeds as they can be toxic.
Too much cayenne can lead to liver damage and enteritis so always take the recommended dosage.
Always use gloves when handling fresh chillies to avoid irritating the eyes or cuts.
If using the herb in a compress don’t ever leave it on the skin for a long time, especially if it’s sensitive, as it can cause blistering.
Medicinal doses must be avoided during pregnancy or when breastfeeding.
The dreadful distress caused by excess doses of cayenne can be fatal to humans.