Watercress Is Not A Weed

Watercress may look like a weed to most people, but brings back those memories of a crunchy salads with a bit of a peppery bite to it confirming that it is definitely a salad herb. This was something I enjoyed immensely when I was younger, but alas it seems to have gone out of fashion as an outright salad nowadays. I used to gather watercress for the side of small streams where it grew wild, even in the centre of London. The health benefits from this water dwelling herb are far reaching like many other herbs; it's not just the taste and texture that appeals.

Watercress can be cultivated quite easily in your garden. It is well-suited to water that is slightly alkaline which is why it thrives in chalk streams in the south of England. Cress leaves can't be dried and has to be consumed within a short period. Storage life is only 1 - 2 days in refrigerated condition.

Watercress can grow to over one metre in height. The foliage of turns bitter when the plants begin producing flowers. An interesting piece of trivia is that watercress is one of the main ingredients in the mass produced V8 Vegetable Juice and used in many commercially made sandwiches.

This distinctive herb has major benefits when eaten as it contains iron, calcium and folic acid as well as vitamins A and C. It can act as a stimulant an antioxidant, a diuretic, an expectorant and a digestive aid. Treatment for suppressing cancer has also been shown to be positive and specifically helps defend against lung cancer.

Strangely enough many regions consider watercress as a weed as mention earlier and are totally unaware of its potential as a food source. What a shame that education fails in some regions where it grows.

So if you are in a region where watercress grows, give it a try, or try growing it in your garden. It doesn’t take much maintenance grow very quickly and also acts as a great water filter in ponds. As long as you crop and eat it regularly it will be a great addition to the dinner table with health benefits written all over it.

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America's Weed - Hogwort

J. K. Rowling and the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from her Harry Potter series of books must spring to mind with this name. Hogwort was apparently seen in Kew Gardens by the author and the name had remained part of her subconscious when writing.

Hogwort is also called the Woolly Croton or dove weed and grows in sandy prairies, openings and waste places in the USA mainly from New Jersey to Iowa and southward to Georgia and Texas. It is an upright, multi-branched annual herb and can reach a height of 1 metre. It has greyish-green stems with tiny hairs. The leaves are a thin lance shape and vary from 2 to 9 centimetres long. The green male flowers are situated above the female flowers on a stalk.

The fruit consists of a three-seeded pod. There is a system of distributing the seed by quails, mourning dove (hence the name doveweed) and turkeys who consume and spread the seed. Hogwort flowers from summer to autumn (July to October) and is a source of food for caterpillars from the Leafwing and Starred Skipper butterflies.

Hogwort thrives on open uplands and bottomlands and grows best in sandy soils. It also grows on recently ploughed fields, along roadsides and in big grazed pasturelands.

It has a reputation for being a troublesome weed in the southern part of the USA particularly in the Gulf States. Although considered a weed, the benefits of hogwort are in the croton oil it produces, this makes a powerful laxative. And of course fodder for grazing, especially wild deer.

Dandelion - A Very Useful Weed

Dandelion is the scourge of gardeners from what I remember but what kind of gardener tries to get rid of a herb that is delicious and good for you? I've been there trying to achieve a garden that has manicured lawns and boarders and the sight of dandelions or any other weed raised my blood pressure. But this was a long time ago and fighting against nature now seems absolutely pointless.

Dandelions still remain a simply a garden pest hard to eradicate without chemicals or backbreaking work. However, dandelion's roots and leaves have been used as medicines for countless years past to treat digestive disorders, painful joints, temperatures and fevers along with skin disorders. The salad leaves of the plant are rich in natural health giving vitamins A, C, D, and B-complex. Dandelion has many natural minerals in its compounds including iron something which many people lack in their modern diets.

Dandelion leaves make good supplements for elderly or pregnant women or elderly women. The dandelion root can be an appetite stimulant with many herbalists using dandelion to detoxify the liver and gallbladder. Alongside this dandelion can treat pneumonia, bronchitis, and other aliments associated with respiratory disorders. As a natural tonic for general health dandelion is a good remedy and benefits the kidneys, stomach and other organs.

With many other positive effects that that dandelion gives the dandelion root has been pushed forward as a healthier alternative to drinking coffee.

The dandelion provides a lovely addition to salads with its strong, sometimes bitter taste, I have found it an addictive herb and often use it a stand-alone salad dressed with a little oil, vinegar and salt. It can be boiled and used like spinach or even used as a base for roast meats, this is delicious with the dandelion being cooked in the meat juices!

Dandelion Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp vinegar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 paprika
• 1 pepper
• 4 slices of thick bacon
• 1 dandelion

Method:

1. Carefully wash and prepare the dandelion as you would lettuce. Roll in cloth and pat dry.
2. Then put into a salad bowl and place in warm place.
3. Cut bacon in small pieces, fry quickly and drop over the dandelions.
4. Put the butter and cream into a skillet and melt over a slow heat.
5. Beat eggs, add salt, pepper, sugar and vinegar and mix with slightly warm cream mixture.
6. Pour into skillet and under increased heat, stir until dressing becomes thick like custard.
7. Take off and pour piping hot over dandelion. Stir thoroughly.

(Source: Pennsylvania Dutch Cook Book - Fine Old Recipes, Culinary Arts Press, 1936.)

The dandelion flowers are a great source of pollen for bees but they have uses for us as well. Dandelion is a favourite ingredient to home made dandelion wine.

Why not try some dandelion, it grow everywhere and is best in the spring and early summer months. I even have my own dandelion cultivated area on my farm, that technically means it's not a weed!

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