Waste Not, Want Not?

[Czech's_chicks]

I know must of us garden with the goal to be able to feed our families. If any peas make it in the house, they are lucky because I eat them right then and there. Same with Strawberries and I justify it by my doing all the work. However, there is something else that I have been thinking about and it involves the parts of the plants we do not harvest.

Normally I will compost everything. But what if there is something else I can do with it? I'm not talking like making a fru-fru bracelet, like with hemp, I mean like make a tea from it, or truly utilize the entire plant beyond it's traditional use.

I know there are plants out there that most people do not know are edible, like day lilies, gladiola, tulip, etc. I would have grown those in the past so that I would get beneficial insects to do their work in the rest of the garden, but now, I grow lilies for food. In my quest to have my yard self sufficient, I have started rethinking what I grow for maximum consumption.

There are things that still elude me, like, are asparagus ferns edible? It would stand to reason they are, because they are simply the grown spears. But if that is true, why are they called cladodes? Wouldn't that mean they are something entirely different? I know you can make a tea from asparagus, would you be able to with the dried fern?

 

[sourland]

"Waste not, want not". That was my Mom's favorite saying, and it has been passed down through the family. My daughter uses it on her kids. Thanks for the flashback in time.

 

[krcote]

I know you are looking for a more useful answer but I give all of those plant parts to the chickens. Whatever they don't eat goes into the compost. Yes, even the dreaded "poisonous" tomato plants

 

[Life is Good!]

Visit your local library - search both the gardening section and the cooking sections. Ask the librarians. Interlibrary loan books they don't have but can get for you.

Read, read, read! I've got several 'wild edible' type books that sometimes will list more 'cultivated' items and what to do with them. Herbal remedy books might also give you some insights, and those are being published by the minute it seems!

Yes, there are a multitude of items that we simply don't use that our grandmother's knew how to use. Carrot tops in soups and stews for example. Adds flavor and minerals, but you took it out once cooked (as it's not palatable, but adds good stuff in there!)....so much to re-learn!