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NL: tamme kastanje / F: Marrons Sweet chestnuts are incredibly  nutritious  and offer their fruits abundantly without the need for big human input. All one needs to do is to plant a tree and take some little care of the baby tree (like giving it some water in overly dry seasons) until it reaches a considerable size and from then on, the tree will take care of itself. That puts them among some of the most sustainable foods ever. Consuming grains means large amounts of land being used for growing the crops, large machines are employed in harvest, usually ruining the soil fertility, then they are processed, stored and transported until it gets to the consumer. Chestnut trees, on the other hand, do a great job in the soil, offer shelter and food to wild animals, birds, insects, clean up the air and on the top of that they yield precious foods that can be easily harvested. Sweet chestnuts grow easily in most of the Northern hemisphere. It is hardy from zones 5-7. The skin of sweet ...

This time of the year we can find plenty of sweet chestnuts (Castanea sativa) available in most urban parks or in any little piece of nature where the chestnut trees were allowed to grow and do their job. Chestnuts are highly nutritious and they rank among some of the most ecologically responsible foods you can think of.   The only thing you need to know is how to tell the edible chestnuts from the horse chestnuts, which are usually shedding their fruits at the same period. Here are some pictures of the sweet chestnut to help you identify them. The main features to help you identify the edible sweet chestnuts are the little "tail" on the nuts, their husk and the shape of the leaves. Here are some pictures from the horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastannum) so that you can see how different they are from the sweet chestnuts. Note that this plant and nuts are NOT edible. That is why it is so important to learn the clear difference between the two of them. The nuts of the horse ch...

Typha latifolia NL: Grote lisdodde / F: Massette Cattail is another versatile plant considered as the wonder of survivalists. One can indeed basically survive from this plant only if needed. It can be used as nutritious food, it filters and purifies waters, it offers material for building shelters, boats, baskets, cordage, clothes, hats, beds, mats, pillows, insulation and it can also be used as a fire starter or fire torch. The more creative you are , the more applications you will find for cattails.  Before we get to how nutritious this plant is, it is worth noting that cattail is a wetland plant, growing in swamps, ponds and along rivers and lakes. One of its important ecological functions is to purify and detoxify water, removing even pollutants and heavy metals from the waters where it grows. The thing is that it cannot get rid of those toxic products or neutralize them right away, so it accumulates them. When thinking of harvesting cattails to be used as food, make sure...

Geum urbanum NL: Geel nagelkruid / F: Benoîte Other popular names: herb Bennet, colewort and St. Benedict's herb. Wood avens, as its name suggests, is found in woodlands and other shady places. The young leaves can be eaten, cooked as potherb. Older leaves can be dried and powdered to be added to herbal salt. The roots can be harvested either in spring, when they can be more aromatic, or from september until late in the winter, as long as the soil is not so hard frosted. The root is the most popular part of this plant to be used in culinary creations. It adds an aromatic hint of cinnamon and cloves to dishes, soups or drinks, such as lemonades or chai. Wood avens has a long list of medicinal properties. It is a good astringent herb that can help treat diarrhea, hemorrhoids, vaginal discharges, mouth ulcers, throat inflammation. It relieves irritable bowel syndrome and various other gastro-intestinal disorders. In old folk medicine it was believed to be a remedy against poison and ...

Arctium minus / A. lappa NL: Grote klit / F: Bardane One more amazing plant, with both great nutritional value as well as a long history of use in traditional herbal medicine. The young stalks and leaves are edible, raw or cooked, but the young roots are the most popular part of this plant. The roots should be harvested when they reach up to 60 cm, since they can get “woody” as they grow further. The seeds can be sprouted and used in raw salads or lightly stirred in olive oil. It is a powerful cleansing herb and, similarly to curly dock, it has been traditionally used in the treatment of a wide range of skin illnesses, infections and even cancer. Its blood purifying properties are so effective as in helping the body to get rid of heavy metals and a wide range of toxins. The roots also have antibacterial and anti-fungal action and combining that with its depurative properties, makes it a great herb to help healing eczema, rheumatic conditions, acne, rashes, and several types of inflamma...

Rumex crispus  NL: Zuring / F: Oseille Most plants of the Rumex genus, docks and sorrels, are edible, rich in protein, vitamins A and C, bioflavonoids, iron and magnesium. But most of them also contain varying levels of tannins and oxalates . For that reason, in their raw form, they should be eaten moderately. They can be freely consumed when boiled 2 to 3 times, changing its cooking water.  Curly dock or yellow dock ( Rumex crispus ) has an ancient history as a powerful purifying, cleansing herb, used to help healing a wide range of skin conditions and other chronic illnesses that can benefit from a depurative herb. All parts of the plant can be used but the strongest properties are found in the roots. For that, the root is harvested early in spring - or early autumn - and dried for further use.  The cleansing actions from various Rumex species are partly explained by its stimulation of digestive secretions, which have a mild laxative effect and help to eliminate waste. ...

Lamium purpureum Lamium purpureum NL: Paarse Dovenetel / F: Lamier purpre These pretty flowering plants are to be found at their best shape everywhere at this time of the year. Its aerial parts are edible - raw or cooked.  It is rich in various antioxidants, particularly  flavonoids and vitamin C. Its flowers can be used to decorate salads or desserts and the entire aerial portion is very easy and palatable to be blended into smoothies, for instance with banana, mango or strawberries.  It has been used in traditional herbal medicine to reduce allergic reactions and as anti-inflammatory. Its antibacterial and anti-fungal properties have also been studied, in an attempt to explain its role in reducing allergies.   Its most known medicinal uses in traditional herbalism are as astringent, diuretic, diaphoretic and purgative. Its leaves can be used fresh, squeezed and applied on the skin to help stop bleeding and heal cuts and wounds. For anyone wanting to grow this plant...