Eating weeds from your backyard may sound strange, but it turns out there are many benefits to it.
Locals can learn how to safely identify and eat weeds at a free edible weed walking workshop this weekend, hosted by Kororoit Creek Neighbourhood House and Very Edible Gardens (VEG).
Adam Grubb, director of VEG, will run the event.
He said he has a “soft spot for weeds.”
“There’s a wildness to [weeds] that resists our containment and obviously there’s a negative side to that as well… but I can’t help but feel a little respect for the rebels of the world,” he said.
Mr Grubb said edible weeds make a great addition to salads, but can also be cooked and used in side dishes, soups and green smoothies.
“[The weeds] tend to be more nutritiously dense than cultivated plants…Quite a few of them are bitter, but not all of them,” he said.
“…[the flavours] are associated with Mediterranean cooking.”
He said there is a long history of humans eating edible weeds with many cultures still doing it today.
“The process of foraging is one which all of our ancestors did up to the agricultural revolution. It’s a natural thing to do, to tune into your natural landscape and get to know it,” said Adam.
However, he also warns of the dangers of eating weeds without proper knowledge and training.
“There are toxic plants in the environment of course. Identifying plants to this species level is something where coming along to a walk and doing it in-person is a really great part of learning those skills.”
Co-coordinator of Kororoit Creek Neighbourhood House, Danielle Whelan, said the workshop falls into the organisation’s focus of food security and resilience.
“We’re really hoping that people can get out and develop their knowledge about the kinds of plants that are around us and their uses,” she said.
The free workshop will take place on Saturday, July 5 from 1 to 3pm.
Participants will be guided along a section of Kororoit Creek where they will learn about free, edible weed species in the area.
Registration and more info: https://events.humanitix.com/edible-weed-walk-and-workshop?hxchl=hex-col
