This is part of a series of posts where we ask one of our volunteers or visitors to say a few words. Sam is beginning his third week here as a volunteer and has kindly allowed us to share his online thoughts. Here, Sam gets creative with the prettiest of salads.
A Visitor’s Perspective: Sam’s Diary – A Foraged Salad
An aspect of permaculture Casalinho embodies is utilizing what the surrounding land has to provide. They have an excellent understanding of all the weeds, plants, and herbs that grow here naturally. Many of these plants are healthy and delicious for both their animals and for us! Andrea helped me identify some of her favourite plants to forage for salad.
Depicted in the picture above are the five main plants they use for salads. Starting from the bottom left and moving clockwise the names of these plants are: mallow, calendula, chickweed, plantain, and sheep’s sorrel. I walked around the grassy fields with scissors and a bowl and collected a bunch of these weeds. Plantain and chickweed are some of the most nutritious weeds in the world. It took quite a bit of time to finally fill the bowl. At the end I decided to add a few chopped collards, fresh raspberries, and thyme. With a bit of homemade goats cheese and a sweet salad dressing the foraged salad was scrumptious. I know sheep’s sorrel and mallow grow in my garden at home, so might as well start eating them 🙂
You can see the original of Sam’s article, and read more about his adventures here.
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