Who knew there was such a thing as Weed Appreciation Day? Well, there is. And it’s tomorrow. And I, for one, am excited!

Too many people consider valuable plants to be weeds and purposely try to eradicate them. It’s time we educated ourselves and realized we can benefit from plants growing all around us, while being kind to the environment. After all, God created everything living thing for a purpose, right down to weeds and the thorns on roses.

Today I’m going to touch on a few wild plants / weeds that I know are available in most areas of our country. Poke, for instance. These are a nuisance in flower beds where they send down taproots that go clear to China. But the good thing is that when you know what poke looks like, you can find the leaves when they are young and tender. Early spring is the perfect time to keep your eyes open for these highly nutritious greens. Keep in mind that the stems and berries are toxic, and you only want leaves from a plant that is 6–12 inches tall.

However, don’t believe that eating properly cooked poke “sallet” is going to kill you. Right up to the year 2000, Allen Canning (in the nearby town of Siloam Springs, AR) used to pay local folks by the pound for poke leaves, which they would can for grocery stores.

The internet is full of recipes—like this one—for classic Southern ways to cook up poke, and they are well worth a try for anyone who appreciates a good mess of mustard or turnip greens.

Wild violets are a personal favorite for me; just looking at them can give you joy. Most yards and green spaces will naturally have wild violets, unless they have been subjected to herbicides. Wild violets emerge in the spring and are identified by their heart shaped leaves followed by small flowers of blue, white, or purple. I use the flowers to make Wild Violet Jam. You can also paint them with a thin layer of egg white, dust them with superfine sugar, and dry to make beautiful decorations for cakes and cookies. They will last for months in an airtight container. Violets are also a great edible flower you could toss willy-nilly into salads for a little beautification.

Watercress is a wonderful plant that grows in clean, flowing water. We have mats of it in our spring. This green is delicious to eat in salads, but my favorite way to have it is on egg salad sandwiches. Its peppery tang is perfect with the slightly sweet mayo and creamy eggs. But the spicy heat of this plant grows as the temperature goes up; for milder watercress, harvest early in the spring.

Elderberry is one of my favorite wild plants and I use it in many ways. The stems and leaves are toxic and the berries mildly so until cooked. I use the flower heads to make elderflower syrup, and dip them in batter for a fried fritter that is much like a funnel cake. You can also make elderflower cordial. Later in the year, I pick the heads of inky-colored berries to juice for elderberry syrups and jellies that taste a bit like wild blackberry, but so much better.

One of the naturally-occurring compounds in elderberries has also been scientifically proven to lessen the symptoms of colds and flu. You can buy it as Sambucol, or use the juice sweetened with honey to make a tonic for your family in the winter months.  

Sumac is a word that causes some people to instantly scratch. The sumac I am talking about is the non-poisonous variety and the two cannot be mistaken. Poison Sumac has drooping white berries, while the edible sumac has bright red berry heads that stand straight up like beautiful scarlet brushes. You can find the large bushes lining many fence rows and dirt roads. They will have ripe berries near the end of July through the beginning of September.

The first settlers learned to use this plant by watching the Native Americans boil the fruit to make a sour drink that they dubbed “Indian Lemonaide.” I love this drink so much that I keep gallon jugs in the fridge for us all through the season of ripe berries. The fruits will ripen at different times according to rain and temperature, so you will have to keep your eyes open. The ripe berries are red, firm, and will feel slightly sticky/oily to the touch. Taste a berry; if it tastes bitter, it is not ripe. If it tastes like nothing, it is too old and dry, or washed out by rain. The berry should taste just like biting a lemon.

Gather about 12 large heads of berries and rinse them gently under the faucet. Press them firmly down into a heat proof gallon jug or container. Pour hot—but not boiling—water over till they are just covered. Let sit for 15 minutes or until the water has turned a pink color. Strain the mixture through multiple layers of cheesecloth (I use my honey comb strainer) into a pitcher. Sweeten with sugar or honey as you desire. Just be sure to leave some of that wonderful tartness from all the vitamin C that you’re drinking! (A warning: sumac is related to both cashews and mangoes, so avoid it if you allergic to either of those.)

Have you ever watched any of those fancy cooking shows where they make a passionfruit sorbet, or scatter passionfruit seeds over an incredible salad? Well, I don’t know about you, but I have never seen a passionfruit in any of my grocery stores. Where I have seen them is the fence rows on our farm and along our country roads. Surely you have seen the flower before; it is simply stunning. How could anyone call something so incredible a weed?

When the flower is spent, it swells to make a small green fruit the size, shape, and color of a lime. Near the end of summer you can crack them open to find seeds covered in a tart flesh, much like a pomegranate. Those fancy chefs have nothing on you … just keep your eyes open to find a vine, and soon you will be blessed with your very own free passionfruit! My boys and I would simply eat them as we went on our evening walks, spitting the seeds at anything and everything. But these would make a very impressive addition to any special dish where you might use pomegranate seeds.

Last, but not least, are the wild roses. Aptly called Floribunda (the name means “abundant flowering”), in early summer the woods are filled with these bushes—and their razor-sharp thorns! You can smell them from afar, and it is the scent that makes these roses worth the work (and peril) of collecting them. When making rose petal syrup or jam, or rose sugar, you want to use the most strongly-scented flowers you can find. These flowers are perfect and they are naturally a clear pink that will give a lovely tint to your jams or sugar. (Visit my personal blog, Ms. Sam Wears Dresses, to learn how you can make both rose petal sugar and rose petal syrup.)

The weather is warming, the earth is beginning to cover itself again in verdant hues. Take a walk with your family and see what weeds you can discover. Do your research and see the many ways you might use them. Kids love to be included in finding natural things to eat and drink; just remind them that nothing should be used until it is examined, positively identified, and prepared by an adult. And adults would do well to remember that wild plants should never be harvested from areas where sprays or poisons have been used.

Here’s hoping that this growing season fills you with a new appreciation for “weeds” — even if they do nothing more than fill a bouquet for the table!