Planting·Your Wild Edible Weeds Now you are ready to plant your favorite wild edibles. The easiest way is to transplant seedlings from the wild. Take a kitchen knife and cut an x through the paper layer (the layer should be moist and easy to poke through), place a pocket of loamy compost on the x , and transplant into this pocket. These captured plants easily take root in their new home, even growing · through pockets of raw materials-.being ''weeds," they can take abuse. In fact, many wild edibles-among them lamb's quarters, stinging nettles, amaranth, and chickweed-thrive on high nitrogen. I've even seen them growing while floating on top of liquid manure! (The local dairies clean their barns with a flush of water and collect the slurry in large cisterns. A 12- to 18-inch crust forms, on which I've seen edible weeds thriving. Yet a rock tossed onto the crust makes the entire·surface undulate like ocean waves, and the rock sinks.) Experiment with wild gardens, cut loose the bindings of conventional gardening, and play. No two welllayered, wild edible gardens that I've done have turned out the same.Tve used this technique for five years in a dozen gardens and each one has been a delightful surprise. ' To try out a lot of varieties quickly, start from seed. You have to plan ahead, since the seed of the wild edibles will mature in a different season than you'll want to plant. Observe which wild edibles thrive in your local area in the harshest of conditions: These are the ones to collect seed from. Many wild seeds will keep for years or decades, so you need only collect each variety once in a great while. Blend the seeds collected from the wild and scatter them over the mulched surface. You needn't worry about how much seed to use; a jungle of plants grows. , Water regularly until the seeds germinate. Once the seedlings have some.leaves, start thinning-and don't forget to eat the thinnings! The youngest wild edibles ~O~DER PROTEC.T/ON HOU?~ 11 WlLf? ~nJ WOtJLY11 fOOC> PLANT5 November/December 1984 RAIN Page 13 are the sweetest and the most succulent. Throughout the season, harvest as needed. This garden will take care of itself. Let some of the healthiest plants of each type go to seed every season. Apply compost to cover bare areas and mildly fertilize your "wild and wooly" food garden. Be sure to put the compost down before the seeds ripen so the seeds can scatter themselves over the new mulch. Protecting Your ·Borders Wind-blown seed is a major source of unwanted plants in well-layered gardens. When you choose a spot for your wild garden, keep in mind that your house can act as a wind break, and hedgerows can filter out seeds. Remember, too, that driveways and walks can bar invasive running roots from the garden. A border of straw bales can act as a protective mulch, keeping out nearby plants. Break open the bales closest to the garden and spread the straw as a seasonal mulch. As the bales are used up, the wild edibles will expand to fill the area. (The soil under the bales will have improved by the action of worms and soil bacteria.) The same protective borders contain the potentially rampant seed of the wild edibles garden, helping.prevent their drifting to other areas of the landscape. A little bit of management in this garden will save lots of time elsewhere. Some wild edibles are so persistent and invasive that they may not be worth the risk of future maintenance nightmares. Examples are burdock (Arctium Lappa), pig\J\'.eed (Amaranthus spp.), French sorrel (Rumex spp.), plantain (Plantago major), and nettle (Urtica dioica). An edible weed patch is a great conversation piece, puzzling and intriguing to visitors. If you like the flavors and enjoy laziness, you won'tworry about the perplexed gape of your friends. D D © 1983 Robert Kourik FROM: Designing and Pla11ti11g Your Edible Lalidscape D 1983 RO BERT KO URIK
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