It’s a fine, fine week in the McKinley Garden. Lots of rain = lots of growth! And LOTS of weeds. Luckily, my 3rd, 6th, and 8th grade classes are become masterful weeders. They’re getting pretty good at identifying a weed from a little carrot or lettuce shoot. Although, we always make sure to eat a lot of the weeds.
That’s right, you can eat your garden weeds! Purslane, chickweed, goosefoot, Queen Anne’s lace, nettles, and even that darn Japanese knotweed is good for a snack.
Want to learn more about edible weeds? Check out our very own Haley House chef, Didi Emmon’s, radio interview on WBUR. Emmons talks about spending time on a farm in Dartmouth, MA called “Eva’s Garden,” where she tastes and explores and documents many plants in her book Wild Flavors: One Chef’s Transformative Year Cooking from Eva’s Farm.
I’m testing the kids’ knowledge of differentiating between a weed and a non-weed this week by putting some ReVision Farms transplants in the garden. We now have Bing cherry tomatoes, Beef tomatoes, cucumbers, nasturtiums, eggplant, cauliflower, basil, sweet peppers (and a hot one), butterfly weed, and many more looking fresh and promising in their new garden beds.
Teacher Tobin and student planting some Ace Peppers
One of the 3rd graders waters the garlic with gusto!
In addition to the McKinley garden, I’ve also taken on the task of starting our modest rooftop garden at Haley House Soup Kitchen. It is perched atop our favorite chocolatier’s shop, ChocoLee. In collaboration with Lee Napoli, the store’s owner, I am growing edible flowers and herbs that will compliment her artisan chocolate designs. So if you taste a ChocoLee sweet this summer with minty flavor, it may be coming from the chocolate mint growing on the roof!