Purslane, Portulaca oleracea, is known as pursley in Maine. The stems and leaves are edible. The seeds can also be used for flour. Purslane can be cooked like spinach. Like spinach, it is rich in iron. We like to use it fresh in salads and smoothies. Unlike many wild plants, Purslane is not bitter and the leaves have a wonderful texture.

WARNING: Purslane can be confused with the poisonous hairy-stemmed spurge. As the name suggests, this plant has a hairy stem. A milky saps is discharged when a stem cutting is squeezed. It is important to refer to guidebooks or local foraging experts to identify plants. Please look at our posts as starting points, not as definitive references on plants.

It is important to refer to guidebooks or local foraging experts to identify plants. Please look at our posts as starting points, not as definitive references on plants.
Yarrow, Achillea millefolium, is well known as a medicinal herb. The leaves are bitter, but can be eaten raw or cooked; we put young leaves in a smoothies with other greens. We use the flowers to make tea as well as a vodka tincture we add to tea. For bug bites and cuts, we make a tincture with the flowers and leaves.

It is important to refer to guidebooks or local foraging experts to identify plants. Please look at our posts as starting points, not as definitive references on plants. Some medical conditions can be complicated by wild plants.
Lamb’s-quarters, Chenopodium album, also known as pigweed, goose foot, and wild spinach, has edible leaves and seeds. While the leaves can be eaten raw, it is not recommend to eat large quantities as the leaves contain saponins. Cooking reduces these. Cooking also reduces the oxalic acid content. The leaves can be harvested from mid-spring into the fall.

The leaves are a good spinach substitute. We add fresh leaves to salads and smoothies. We dry or freeze the leaves for winter to add to smoothies. Like spinach, we steam and sauté the stems and leaves, or add them to soups. In Japan, lamb’s-quarter is also recognized as an edible wild plant. The young leaves are boiled and marinated with sesame seed or peanut butter dressings.

The seeds are very nutritious and can be ground into flour. We have found the seeds to be really small and difficult to harvest. The seeds aren’t wasted: our population of wild birds love them.

White clover, Trifolium repens, has its flowering head on separate stalks from its leaves. We make tea from the flowers of a variety of clover in our garden. We have found the white clover to be the sweetest. We also add the flower to salads and smoothies.

Before the clover flowers, the young leaves can be used in salads and soups, but we find them too bitter. We have heard that the dried leaves can be used as a vanilla substitute for baking—something we wish to try this summer.

Rabbit-foot clover, Trifolium ravens, is one of the five varieties we have found in our garden. It can grow to a height of around 18 in/45 cm. Like many clover, rabbit foot clover is edible. The young leaves and flowers can be used in salads, as cooked greens, dried as tea, or ground into flour. Clover is rich in protein. We have never found the leaves to be that appetizing. We use dried or raw flowers for tea or add them to muffins or bread for a richer flavor. The dried flowers and seeds can be ground into flour, but we simply find mixing them into whole-wheat flour easier.

Common Blue Violet (viola sororia), the most common violet in the North America. The flowers and young leaves are edible. The roots are poisonous. The violet comes out in early spring.

The flowers are edible and I have seen them candied and used on cakes. The flowers are a source for vitamin C and can be dried for tea.

What I found surprising is the young leaves (the snails love the leaves too). They have a mild nutty flavor and are a source of vitamin A and C—mature leaves are bitter. We eat the leaves raw in the spring and fall in salads or smoothies. We also add them to omelets, quiche, soup, and pasta.