MyHerbCorner

Posts Tagged ‘onionweed’

There are still frosty mornings but after a short winter we feel spring coming.

Everywhere camellias and rhododendrons are blooming in pink, violet and purple.

My part shade garden shows leaves of orange mint, lemon balm, gotu kola and nettle.

Beside the shed we can still find basket fungi popping out

They taste good stir fried in butter or in a soup with potatoes. But you must know for sure what you collect. Mostly an older basket fungi is growing beside.
I know mine since I have observed them for a while and know now exactly where they will pop out

Beside this spot grows onion weed.
Oh I just love this herb and think I couldn’t live with out it anymore.
Onion weed goes onto most every meal as garnish or I add them to soup, salad and herb butter.
At the moment it is very strong in colour, taste and smell and I guess this is a good reason to use it on a daily basis as a green healthy, blood cleansing and nourishing herb.

Beside the onion weed is also honesty blooming which I also add to my diet (please click here for a honesty post with all it’s uses)

Maybe you like this herb maybe not, but let me say I am really crazy about onion weed (Allium triquetum)
Like in spring you can find it now all over wet places or at the forest edge or even as ‘weed’ in your garden

Personally I still miss ramsons also called bears leek (Aillium ursinum) which I was collecting every spring in my home country Austria. My friend even sold them on the market (still does :- )

For me onion weed is a ramsons substitute here in New Zealand and I use it everywhere you may use chive or spring onions. You can chop the leaves and use as decoration or make yummy ‘Mac & cheese & onionweeds’ (click here for the recipe)

For winter storage I dry or freeze chopped onion weed.

Once I also mixed it with a lot of salt which I used in soups. The salt kept it fresh for over half a year!
This is also a method to preserve other soup herbs like lovage (Levisticum officinale)
I mix it one part herb to one part salt and fill into a glass-jar with a tight lid. For soup I even mixed the lovage with grated carrots and it kept wonderfully fresh (that was in Austria, because there you can’t grow carrots in winter…)

By the way I love our new raised bed!
Now the cabbage whites don’t get close to my broccoli or other veggies from the cabbage or mustard family!

At one side of the tunnel I sow carrots and on the other parsnips so they can be ready for winter soups

Oops! Gonna go! Mac and cheese is ready

Being a herb woman is such a fulfilling thing.
Wherever you go you automatically search for herbs.
To know a place means to look who lives there (in this case plants and animals) They tell you a lot of environmental stories and how the people are who walk around there.

Now since Spring arrived in New Zealand looking for herbs is even more enjoyable

Today I came home with a full bag of goodies (some for our rabbit and some for us)
Here is a small example of onion weed, dandelion blossoms and plantain. I even brought home a red clover (Trifolium pratense) with roots to plant in the garden.

The yellow flower petals of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) went into olive oil for an infusion which I will use as skin cell repair (click here for a link if you like to know more)
I love my yellow coloured fingers and the smell of the pollen!
This time of year dandelion is really bitter and makes a super bitter herb in salads. Even one leaf before a meal or after is enough to give your body a digestive aid.

Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) makes a super cough syrup and my little ones love it. You can use plantain syrup also for baking or in a yogurt. Plantain combined with pine buds which are also ready now is the most best cough syrup in my opinion. Click here for the recipe.

Onion weed (Allium triquetrum) can be used instead of leek, onions or garlic (if you harvest them with the bulbs) It is so invasive that you don’t need to worry if you collect the whole plant. But keep in mind to leave enough ‘Mother plants’ for reproduction. Onion weed will reproduce generous through bulb building and seeds.
I love to chop it and give it on all my savory dishes like this soup

A bunch of onion weed flowers is not only decorative, it is also convenience to have on the table so you can snip off some flowers by your self and eat them.
My Mac and cheese (click here for the recipe) are sure delicious with a decoration of onion weed, parsley and dandelion leaves

So, now I am really hungry and will enjoy my springtime meal
Happy Spring to all my New Zealand friends!

Today David and I had a full program in processing chickweed pesto, onion weed pesto and making herb butter.

David especially liked to sprinkle around with the salt.

Since I had a lot onion weed I decided to dry a bunch. With my special dryer it turned out great! The colour is amazing and the green is easy to crush and smells delicious! Now I have a great herb to use for herb salt (my next project : -)