IF you see this plant in your backyard, don’t step on it

Vaso Fatourou writes

1. Dandelion

Identity: Perennial native plant, reaches a height of 25 cm. Dandelion is usually found rooted in fields as a weed or in uncultivated places. Its root and leaves fight gallstones. It is also a diuretic, but without reducing potassium from the body.

Here are some glimpse the forager guides to wild foods

Season: From winter to spring.

In our kitchen: Raw in salads or boiled. We also put its leaves in cabbage pies.

2. Slider

Identity: Annual plant that reaches 20 cm. It is famous for the vitamin C and iron it contains. The people say that if you put a few leaves of gussola under your tongue, you will quench your thirst (perhaps this is how the phrase for the talker came about, because feeling relieved of thirst, he starts a non-stop monologue)!

Season: From early summer to autumn.

In our kitchen: It is eaten raw in a salad and can replace lettuce as a green vegetable.

3. Bitterly

Identity: Perennial plants reaching 1 meter. We find them almost everywhere in untended and uncultivated fields.

Season: From autumn with the first rains to the end of spring.

In our kitchen: Boiled with lemon oil or cooked with meat.

4. Thistle - whistling

Identity: Biennial native, thorny plant that reaches 1.5 meters in height. Its green leaves differ from the white lines. It thrives near drylands.

Season: Autumn and winter (withstands up to -15 degrees Celsius).

In our kitchen: If we remove its thorns, we can cook its root and its fresh leaves, which resemble spinach.

Here are some glimpse the forager guides to wild foods

5. Radish

Identity: Annual plant that reaches 60 cm. It spreads like a weed in various places. It stands out for its long, green leaves.

Season: From autumn to spring.

In our kitchen: Very tasty greens boiled as a salad with olive oil vinegar.

6. Partridge claw

Identity: Annual plant that reaches 60 cm. It is found in large quantities in the Greek mountains, but also in fields.

Season: From winter to spring, before flowering.

In our kitchen: Parsley is used in omelettes and various pies.

7. Kavkalithra

Identity: Annual plant that reaches 20 cm. It is also known as kavkalida, moskaki, agrio kotsounada, merulithra, and muskolahano. Its aroma is intense and full of freshness.

Season: From winter to spring, before flowering.

In our kitchen: In addition to pies, it is used as a spice in beans.

8. Sorrel

Identity: Herbaceous plant with yellow flowers. Sorrel is used as a substitute for salt and vinegar, but in large quantities it can be poisonous.

Season: In almost all seasons, we find it everywhere, because it spreads very easily.

In our kitchen: We use it in soups, sauces and vegetable pies in careful, small quantities, to give a sour taste.

9. Rocket – Unsalted

Identity: Annual plant that reaches 60-80 cm. It collects bees with its flowers, which are long and white.

Season: Blooms from spring to summer.

In our kitchen: We often cut its leaves to prevent flowering. It is eaten plain as a vinegary salad or with lettuce, cabbage, tomato.

10. Mustard – Vrubes

Identity: Annual plant that reaches 80 cm. In Greece, we meet it very often, which justifies the phrase "let's go for boobies"! Its ground seeds are used to make mustard.

Season: The leaves are collected in autumn to spring.

In our kitchen: Their fresh tender leaves are eaten boiled alone or with other greens and used with other greens in herb pies