10 neat things from 2024: tasty tidbits to savour
Gardening isn’t just about growing, it’s about discovering. Whether you’re cultivating succulents for your plate or pondering the poetic history of apples, the stories behind our food deepen our connection to it. And so, as the year winds down, let’s take a bite out of 2024 with a collection of fascinating food-related facts from our gardening adventures. From surprising edible plants to the deeper stories behind everydayfavourites, here’s a deliciously diverse list that promises to satisfy your curiosity. Who knew the garden could be such a feast?
1. Succulents: A bite of wild nutrition.
Not all succulents are just for show! Purslane, a succulent likely growing wild near you, is both nutritious and delicious. Packed with omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants, it can be eaten raw in salads or cooked like spinach.
2. Creeping bellflower: A salad surprise.
While often considered invasive, creeping bellflower offers unexpected culinary value. Its pretty flowers brighten salads, its leaves can be cooked or eaten raw, and its fleshy rhizomes star in traditional Korean dishes like dorajinamul.
3. Hostas: The gourmet of spring.
Those ornamental hostas in your garden? They’re also a delicacy! Known as urui in Japan, young hosta shoots can be sautéed, pickled, or blanched. Harvest them early in the morning in spring when they’re tender and juicy.
4. Sweet potatoes: More than just tubers.
Sweet potato leaves are an overlooked treasure in Canada. Popular in Asia and Africa, these spinach-like greens are packed with nutrients and easy to harvest young for stir-fries or salads.
5. Seeds: Nature’s dispersal masters.
Seeds have ingenious ways of getting around. From berries to tomatoes, many attract animals to eat them, dispersing the seeds through their droppings. Tomato seeds even have a coating to prevent sprouting until digestion is complete!
6. Apples: A forbidden misunderstanding.
The apple’s link to the Garden of Eden is a historical mix-up. The Bible never specifies the fruit; the connection likely stems from a Latin pun on malum (apple) and malum (evil).
7. Food security: Gardening’s real impact.
Does growing your own food reduce food insecurity? Not always, according to studies. Yet growing even 33% of your household’s vegetables—like in a 2016 New York study—can still save money and add fresh produce to your meals.
8. Hornets: Sweet tooth in late summer.
Hornets become more aggressive in late summer, craving sugary foods as their dietary needs shift. That’s why they buzz around your picnic snacks—they’re stocking up for the queen’s winter hibernation.
9. Petunias: Beauty with a bite.
Petunias attract pollinators with their fragrant nectar but deter pests with their sticky trichomes. These hairs deliver metabolites that make them an unappetising snack, helping to protect your garden.
10. Plant nutrients: The ultimate DIY food.
Plants don’t just feed us; they’re the original chefs of the ecosystem! Using sunlight, carbon dioxide, and soil minerals, they create their own sustenance through the process of autotrophism, a neat trick we can all appreciate.
