Henbit and Chickweed

A couple of weeks ago in the blog entry "Transplanting Asparagus" , I showed a picture of my work glove next to an asparagus root.  If you missed it, here it is again.

Notice all those green "weeds" that are growing in the cracks between the concrete blocks that form the raised beds and the paving stones that form the walkways.  They are pretty unsightly, so I've been pulling them up every chance I get.  I thought these were "chickweed" and it occurred to me that maybe, as the name implies, the chickens would eat them.  So, I started feeding them to the chickens who enjoy them very much.

Another thing I noticed about the weeds is that they have square stems.  This is a sure sign that they are a member of the mint family, although they certainly do not smell like mint.  So, I decided to do a Google search and find out more about them.  As it turns out, these are not chickweed at all.  They are another plant called "henbit".   Here is a good website about it henbit.

http://www.eattheweeds.com/henbit-top-of-the-pecking-order/

Chickweed, on the other hand, looks very different.  Here is a description of chickweed from the same site:

http://www.eattheweeds.com/chickweed-connoisseurs-2/

As it turns out, both weeds are edible.  The chickweed link even contains a recipe using chickweed.  

This "Eat the Weeds" website is just one of many that are dedicated to "foraging".   Here is another one that has an entry dedicated to the best edible weeds.

http://www.motherearthliving.com/food-for-health/eat-your-weeds-best-edible-weeds.aspx

And, here is another one that is dedicated to foraging in Oklahoma.

http://www.oklahomawildcrafting.com/#

I have just become aware of this trend.  Maybe it has been going on a long time and I just haven't noticed.  But, I wonder, with all the food contamination scares and meat recalls of the past few years, if this is a reaction to our industrialized food supply where people no longer know where their food comes from and they are becoming concerned about food safety.  

Plus, we have all witnessed how the drought in the mid-west has caused food prices to skyrocket.  So, maybe people are becoming more interested in foraging and growing their own food to save money.  Whatever the case, I think it is a good thing.  

Oh, by the way, I did taste the henbit.  The leaves are kind of "fuzzy" and I didn't like the texture very much.  The taste was so-so.  I got the idea from the "Eat the Weeds" website that the chickweed tastes a lot better.  So, I think I'll pass on the henbit and give the chickweed a try when it starts growing.