Look at your garden with fresh eyes

Why not try something a little different in your garden this year? Let loose a bit, ease up on the continuous war against the weeds and the battle to keep the birds away from your fruit trees. Instead, try looking at your garden with new eyes with these suggestions from food waste management company Earth Probiotic.

Foraging in your natural surroundings for forgotten edibles is a growing trend that some of the greatest chefs in the world are falling in love with. And for good reason. Feel inspired to forage in your garden and find out more about the uses of plants you have growing outside your window with South African gardener turned author, Jane Griffiths’ series of gardening books, Jane’s Delicious Garden as well as her recently launched Jane’s Delicious Super Foods. Here are some of the interesting plants you probably have in your garden that you will want to bring into the kitchen for your next meal:

Spekboom (portulacaria afra): A South African treasure known for its incredible ability to suck in carbon dioxide is also, as it turns out, a super food! Pick the young, small leaves and add them to a summer salad for a fresh, healthy twist to your meal.

Purslane (portulaca oleracea): You almost certainly have this prolific weed growing in your garden and you have probably pulled it out a million times and thrown it into the neighbor’s yard. But, this large, fleshy plant that produces multitudes of seeds and will regrow from a root speck, was not always a weed. This leafy green is actually a vegetable similar to spinach or watercress. Purslane, together with other “weeds” such as dandelions or taraxacum, only got their bad reputation, because they tend to grow quickly and all over the place.

Green plums: Fighting with the birds picking at your green plums or netting fruit trees only to feel terrible because a bird got stuck in the net and was subsequently caught by your cat? Instead, pick the green plums before the birds get them and use them. It is still a plum afterall, even if it isn’t the juicy, sweet plum you are used to. Take inspiration from the Korean maesil-chong (fermented plum syrup) which can be used in cooking and maesil-cha (plum tea). Or make a tart Georgian chutney with coriander, garlic, fresh chili and green plums for a wonderful sourness that goes well with fish or chicken dishes.