Watercress

Today the kids and I set out to see about collecting watercress for dinner, see about a bit of water mint and to see how the nettles were coming along.  They seemed to be about a week away from my plate.

Below is water mint growing through watercress

Notice the purple veins.

Among all the mints we grow and collect- this would fall into our top 3.  

Since it is usually found easily on riverbanks and around most streams- it makes for an easy harvest.

Below is watercress

(A spicy, arugula flavored plant)

The root system is very easy to separate through in order to take what you need

About 3 gallons of edibles

[Below]

Seeing Stinging Nettles out and this tall already makes me SO happy.

If you don't already include nettles in your diet- you have no idea what you are missing.  Not only do they stand in perfectly for any steamed green, but the nutrients this plant provides could change your life.   It has one of the best medicinal rankings!  I find endless uses and benefits of nettle and believe it is only second to alfalfa when it comes to benefit rich plants.  I will have to talk about it in length soon.

 At our home we consume nettles about once a day- whether that be in the form of food or tea.

If you plan to harvest nettle- be sure to wear gloves.  They have sharp spines that are "supposed" to only give its victim painful rash/sore that lasts for 10 minutes...unless you are allergic to it.

 Last year- I was in a situation where I found the biggest patch I have ever seen... I had no gloves, but had scissors to cut with.  I did it...and paid for it dearly.  After 48 hours of not being able to use my hands properly- the pain finally let me go.

never. again.

You can see the little spines in the photo below- 

what it doesn't show you are ALL of the spines on the underside of every leaf.