catsears

This next edible weed only occurs in one small area here - down where the old house was that we initially lived in when we moved to Chandler in 1988. Plantain occurs there as well but nowhere else on our property. This is interesting to me and one possible reason I found was that it this plant prefers low phosphate and potash soils - so maybe the soil in that area is low in these nutrients.

Binomial name: Hypochaeris glabra
Common name : Catsears, flatweed, false dandelion

catsear name because the tip of the leaf is a bit like the feline ear

Identification:

Catsears is also called flatweed - indicating it's growth habit. The rosette is about 500mm diameter. There is a tap root but it pulls out readily. It has long narrow leaves 200-250mm x 50mmwide ,with smooth or wavy margins and rounded end (compared to dandelion which is much more irregular) It is way more common than dandelion, as well, here. One variety is hairy, another is smooth. The leaves on the variety I have, feel bumpy to touch and have sparse fine hairs along the leaf margin and the midrib, this indicates that they are H. glabra. The flower stem is 700mm long , hollow and hard to break. About half way up it branches 4 or 5 times and bears a dandelion type flower.

History :

This plant has probably been eaten by humans for a longtime and is eaten in the Mediterranean area today, especially in Sicily and Crete, where it is seasoned with oil and fried with garlic and other ingredients. The pollen is an important food source for bees although it is somewhat deficient in certain amino acids.

Nutrition :

Nothing much definite - John Kallis (ref below) reports that it probably contains high levels of Calcium, Phosphorus, and Copper. The flowers contain lutein and carotenoids. The leaves also would have carotenoids and polyphenols with high antioxidant activity. The phosphorus report is a little surprising as elsewhere on the net I found a report that it tends to grow on low phosphorus and potash soils.

What parts to eat:

Cut young leaves with a pair of scissors - a little sap exudes that discolors the end - trim this off before cooking. Blanch to remove any bitterness and treat as a spinach substitute . The young flower stalks and flowers are edible as well although we have not tried them. Similarly the tap root can be dried,ground and used as a coffee substitute. Once again we have not done this either.


Pubmed search :

Catsears is associated with a disorder in horses called stringhalt. Horses affected by it have evidence of nerve damage in the hind legs. However the quantities eaten by a horse would of course be way more than humans would eat, but nonetheless it is a consideration, I guess. Otherwise not much else found.

Conclusion :

Another of the edible weeds - there are some gaps in knowledge, but I think it is safe enough to eat on a regular basis. We find the taste a bit bitter with some aftertaste, whereas Tim Low and John Kallis, in the reference books I use
report that it is tasty and palatable - we need to experiment more with harvesting this plant and be more selective of very young leaves.

ref :
Kallis , J Edible Wild Plants Wild Foods from Dirt to Plate Gibbs Smith 2010
Low ,Tim Wild Herbs of Australia and New Zealand revised ed Angus and Robertson 1991
Multiple web sites and Pubmed

garden - general

As I am working fulltime for the next few weeks I have less time to prepare my blog items as per usual - I have a few almost ready that need further workup.

Here's a few photos from around our yard, some of which I plan on explaining later especially the lessons learnt constructing them.

The first is a general backyard view - the south of our house with my workshop and 2 of the aquaponics systems with vegetable garden beside.

Another photo is of the root cellar made to look like an old mine site.
Beside that is a container that has had a facade painted by our daughter (who is really talented with art things) to make it look like an old Maori Whare (house)

The other photo is of the backyard dunny -story about this later. 12 mm of rain overnight here and more today - most welcome.

Shepherd's purse

Binomial name: Capsella bursa-pastoris
Common name : Shepherd's purse

Identification:

It occurs in autumn and winter on our property (SE Queensland). The basal rosette is like dandelion and sowthistle, but the leaves are quite narrow with some shallow regular serrations and with sparse, in number, very fine hairs along the edge of the leaf. There is a core string like dandelion
and catsears if you try and pull a leaf
apart. The seed spikes are quite distinctive with seed pods that look like small hearts.


History:

Originally from Eurasia but now cosmopolitan. Probably it has been used by humans for a long period - seeds were found in an archaeological site in Turkey dating from 5800B.C. In ancient Greece it was used as a laxative and in the middle ages as a haemostatic agent (to stop bleeding). In a certain part of China it is used as a substitute for bok choy in wontons. It is sold in Asia as a vegetable and a larger variety has been developed.

Nutritional:

(per 100gm leaves)
omega 3 fatty acids 233 mg
RAE (retinal A equivalent) 433mg
B carotene 5,200IU Vit C 104mg (an orange is about 80mg) + some minerals.
These levels are very similar to Spinach (Spinacea oleracea) , apart from the omega 3 fatty acids which is 138mg for spinach.

ref : Kallas,J Edible Wild Plants - Wild foods from Dirt to Plate Gibbs Smith 2010

What parts to eat:

young leaves in a salad, older leaves as a potherb ( reduces alot when boiled) taste is reported as peppery - it is really only mildly so, in the plants we have growing.

Medical: (Pubmed - search term Shepherd's purse)

Not much to report - undoubtedly though it has excellent anti-oxidant activity by virtue of the RAE and carotenoid content. There was a report of several pigs dying from nitrite poisoning from eating weeds with Shepherd's purse implicated ( abstract 60). Not medically related, but interesting, was a use of Shepherd's Purse for bioremediation of contaminated soil (it worked well). Another abstract indicated that it inhibited melanocyte activity and thus may have a skin whitening effect (abstract 26).

Conclusion:

Another quite nutritious edible weed, however there are lots of questions - if it stops bleeding externally what effect does it really have internally. I would like to see some proper trials on this, especially with regard to blood pressure if it does indeed cause vasoconstriction. John Kallis, in his book, indicated that a serve of this weed gave him a slight headache for 5 hours - I would be concerned that this was related to an increase in blood pressure.
So - just eat a few leaves mixed in with other greens would be my advice until there is some decent evidence available.


Tom

Photos once again from google images - still haven't had digital camera fixed- I need to see one of our tech savvy daughters to see if it is simply a setting that needs adjusting!

Stinking Passionfruit

Binomial name : Passiflora foetida
Common name : Small passionfruit or stinking passionfruit

the foetida part of the binomial name refers to the smell of the foliage when it is crushed.


This is another weed in my property that I leave now as the small yellow fruit are quite sweet to eat ( the pulp part). It is a seasonal weed, being present in summer and is not too invasive on my property. It seems quite happy growing in a couple of quite dry areas.

Identification:

It is a vine, like normal passionfruit, with soft pale green velvety leaves.
The fruit is enclosed in 3 small spidery bracts – the ripe fruit is yellow
with a thin skin and drops to the ground. I have found some chewed fruit
on the ground so no doubt some furry friends like it as well. The bracts exude a sticky substance with digestive enzymes that can trap small insects.It is considered to be a protocarnivorous plant because of this ability but it is uncertain if the plant derives any benefit
from it.

History and Uses:

The leaves are eaten in Asia - cooked or steamed with rice
The Vietnamese use the leaves to make a tea for insomnia.

Parts to use

pulp from ripe seeds as substitute for normal passionfruit.
leaves - do contain cyanide and thus should to be cooked.


Medical (pubmed and Scirus) reports:

One scientific article of interest I found was a report of an extract of the stem being used as a skin whitening agent.

An extract of this plant inhibited 2 enzymes (MMP-2 and MMP-9) involved tumour growth and spread thus it many have an anticancer effect.

It may also have an insect repellant effect (ermanin -a flavonoid component was found to do this).

A leaf extract also was found to have considerable antibacteral action against Strep viridans and 3 other important human pathogens.


Conclusion:

The pulp of the fruits as mentioned is sweet to eat. We have not used the leaves at all but it seems they can be utilised as a potherb.

Lesser Swinecress

This weed is prolific, at present, mainly in an area of our lawn that died back, after grass grubs proliferated after a wet spell towards the end of summer.

binomial name : Coronopus didymus
common name : Lesser Swinecress

Identification:

This is an annual plant that I mainly see in winter. It belongs to the brassica family, which is not surprising, as it has a really pungent mustard taste that I find not unpleasant. It forms a dense mat about 0.5m radius and about 10cm high with small leaves a little like carrot. The distinctive feature is the flowering stem which protrudes from the leaf stalks , which are hairy, and has multiple tiny bilobed seeds arranged in a linear fashion.






History :

Not much to report apart from it being used in Brazil as a traditional medicine for illnesses characterised by inflammation and pain. Cows that eat pasture with Coronopus apparently have tainted milk.

Nutritional :

Not much information but it would have flavonoids, saponins, tanins and mustard oils. No doubt other phytochemicals as well.


Uses:

The pungent raw leaves add real bite to salads and sandwiches or as a garnish. It can be cooked as a potherb. We have only nibbled on this weed when out in our yard. A chef into spicy foods would find this weed most interesting probably.

Medical (pubmed) reports :

1.An extract of Lesser swinecress was found to a have an anti-inflammatory effect in the mouse paw and pleural models ( the tissues are "irritated" by exposure to noxious chemicals and the effect of Coronopus was to reduce this inflammation).
2.Another study used an extract of Coronopus in gamma irradiated mice- it was found to have a protective effect against radiation.
3.Finally a study from 2005 showed that an extract of Coronopus had significant antiallergy, antipyretic, hypoglycemic and hepatoprotective effects.


Conclusion:

Another interesting edible weed that is usually overlooked and simply pulled out.

Tom

one of these photos is from google images this time as I was unable to get a good shot of the seeds (camera problems)

orchard update

Cleared (mowed) orchard.
Spread sulphate of potash, fertiliser pellets, nutritech gold ( trace elements) around each fruit tree.
Mulched with hay (the round bales we bought during the week).

Ate some cumquat off the tree -they have become really sweet again after being quite sour last year -probably due to more diligent fertilising. Picked 1 papaya for further ripening inside to beat the possums/fruit bats.
Almost ready - tamarillos and a bunch of bananas.
Collected about 8 chokos from vine as well -such a prolific plant.

Tropical peach and nectarine in blossom with lots of bees around them. The peach even has some small fruit already.

Tom

Decommissioning a Swimming Pool

We have a large inground swimming pool that is rarely used now that our children are grown and have left home. The pool has become a bit of a "bugbear" - requiring ongoing maintainence and expense that we would like to avoid. The pump for example probably uses upwards of $80/month of electricity.
My solution has been this:

Parts - 100 pvc stormwater pipe, elbows and T fittings
75x38 treated pine timber
galvanised bugle head timber screws
Roll of Bird Wire
Heavy duty tarpaulin

My pool shape is like a large clover so it made things difficult
Using the PVC pipe a lattice was made - at about 900mm centres - lengths of pipe ("arms") were cut , t sections inserted and elbows fitted at each end . These arms were then laid across 2 planks and when the right position was determined, the length of the each leg was calculated using a measuring stick to the bottom of the pool. When these were fitted , I also screwed the pine rails on to hold everything together before gently removing the planks to let it all settle into place. ( It took 2 times - the first I didn't lock it together enough and it all twisted, fell over and sank! I actually didn't fit all the " feet" and rails before removing the planks)
With the lattice in place it was simply a matter of attaching a few infill rails and a border of timber around the outside
Completion was a layer of bird wire and a heavy duty tarpaulin to exclude any light. Pool pump is now turned off , Anne doesn't need to clean the chlorinator anymore and we will reduce our electricity consumption.
This leaves the pool in a state whereby it can be quickly recommissioned by someone down the track if we decide to move. We can also use this now as a rainwater tank with a bit more modification - inflow pipework etc.
Cost: $1230

Tom