100% Free February Homestead Smoothie - with weeds and acorns!
There are so many free weeds for making great smoothies - even with all our snow and cold weather last week. Adding acorns and frozen homegrown fruit makes for a tasty and filling smoothie!
It's a #FruitandVeggiesMonday and time to #makeithealthy! :D
We had 3 inches of snow last week. And temperatures got down to 21F! But weeds are tough! Here are some late winter and early spring weeds that you may already know. They are common in many parts of the world.
I like having some protein in my smoothie, too. For this smoothie, I made a protein powder out of acorns.
I have lots of wild blackberries in my freezer, that I foraged in the summer. And so many frozen Japanese persimmons, too, from a tree in my yard. Both fruits are so easy to preserve -- just put them in a bag in the freezer.
1. Acorn meal. 2. Purple deadnettle. 3. Cleavers. 4. Spearmint. 5. Dandelion greens. 6. Wild arugula. 7. Hop shoots. 8. Chickweed. 9. Fuyu Japanese Persimmons. 10. Wild Himalayan Blackberries. Here are 5 more ways to eat hop shoots.
It looks purple, but it's a green smoothie at heart! I could taste the arugula and chickweed the most, with a clear spearmint finish.
What a great smoothie! Thanks, little plants, for being so hardy in the cold and snow!
Do you have any wild plants around you to use in your smoothies?
Thanks to @lenasveganliving for her FruitandVeggiesMonday, and @woman-onthe-wing for her MakeItHealthy Project. Thanks for @gringalicious, @progressivechef, and @englishtcherivy for their sponsorship.
1 JB Jenkins. 2015. Are Acorns a Superfood? University of Utah and USDA National Nutrient database
Plant List
- English Oak Quercus robur acorns
- Purple deadnettle - Lamium purpureum leaves fall through early spring
- Cleavers Galium aparine leaves fall through spring
- Spearmint Mentha spicata leaves
- Dandelion – Taraxacum officinale – tender leaves
- Wild arugula Diplotaxis tenuifolia leaves
- Hops – Humulus lupulus tender spring stems and leaves
- Chickweed - Stellaria media from fall through spring
- Japanese persimmon Diospyros kaki
- Himalayan blackberries Rubus armeniacus
You are so inspiring! I love the clear pictures. I need to be on the lookout for some of those greens. I never knew what that "tag me" plant was called, or that it was edible!
Thanks, @allforthegood! It's amazing how many common names some plants have. "Tag me" is a new one for my list, for the Cleavers. When they are young and tender, they are good. I eat a lot of them. But they are better mixed in -- chopped fine in a salad, or in cooked greens, or in smoothies -- than on a plate all by themselves, with their little hairs. They do have a nice, mild taste. And like so many weeds, the plants growing in the shade or tall grass are usually better eating than the ones in stressed conditions.
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Oh yes! This is a healthy smoothie! And delicious too!
Thanks, @pusteblume!
💝
Love this. Our ground still has permafrost, and about a foot and a half of snow maybe in a month I can get back to my plantaine. Thanks. I also store acorns.
Thanks, @gardengirlcanada! I'm always happy to know another acorn eater! I wonder what kind of acorns you find in your area? Wow -- that's a lot of snow, still. We had snow here last week, finally. So now I have a bunch of snowballs in my freezer for drinks. With all your snow, at least you don't have to do that, lol!
I bet this smoothie tastes so delicious and healthy.
Hey, good to see you back, @hanamana! I remember all your jokes! I hope you've been well.
I figured that I wouldn't have any of these weeds in my yard, but I think I do! especially the chickweed! I have never thought to use them in a smoothie...looks like im going to do some experimenting. I know people eat dandelions even though ive never tried them before :)
Chickweed grows in so many places. It's a good plant to mix in with others. I think most of the weeds taste better in a mix, where one flavor doesn't dominate. Except good quality dandelion greens. I like plain salads just of their leaves. But there's a world of difference between a good quality plant with lush, tender leaves, and plants that are stressed and scraggly! I hope you can get to know your local edible plants! :D
Most of the wild plants you've used grow in my area but I did not know they were edible! I should try it too! 🙂
So many of these weeds grow in many places around the world. The European settlers brought them to North America as food plants. So they are real food for regular people. But they are not so economical to harvest and sell in markets - and people lost touch with these plants. It is worth getting to know these plants, for sure!
That looks delicious! sad to say I don't have any plants to try something like this out, I'd have to go to a supermarket and it just wouldn't taste the same.
You are right that fresh-picked plants do taste better than many in the supermarkets! I would have a hard time not being around wild plants. They are kind of like old friends that I see whenever I take a walk outdoors.
We have everything covered with a thick layer of snow and very cold, then you will not find anything edible in the forest.
Not yet, I guess. Maybe snowballs to use for drinks. Stay warm and think of spring, @yetaras! It's good that you have mushrooms from the autumn!
So, we have dried, pickled and even frozen mushrooms. Yesterday my mother cooked Shepard pie with mushrooms, it was very tasty!
Now you have me all hungry! I like a Shepard pie -- and with mushrooms it would be wonderful! You harvest so many good mushrooms from your forests.
:)) Thanks!
Looks great! Our fresh mint and lemon balm is starting to come back, so I end up using those in my smoothies a lot. Not quite full on foraging, but I suppose "garden" foraging counts? ;)
hoho -- that's nice when the mint and lemon balm are out! And definitely, garden foraging counts -- for easy and good eating! There are so many garden weeds. And then there are the 'garden escape artists' like lemon balm. And even perennial garden plants that take care of themselves. It's amazing how many plants worth eating can be all around us. Happy foraging -- in and out of your garden! :D
It's interesting what you can use that's growing in your backyard when you you know how to.
Didn't know you could use this in a smoothie, also didn't know you could turn acorns into meal.
There are so many good weeds and other wild plants worth eating, all around us. It really is amazing how much real food is out there.