you can eat this

Nina Beier, Female Nude, 2015

Huacatay (Tagetes minuta) - a marigold that stands taller than me - is the ‘black mint’ of black mint paste, which is the green sauce in the Peruvian potato dish called ‘ocopa’. Please share your recipes! I’ve got this growing in abundance at Roughwood and would love to try cooking with its fragrant and potent leaves. #Huacatay #tagetesminuta #ocopa #roughwoodseedcollection #peruvianfood #wakatay (at Devon, Pennsylvania)

Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) fruit. Considered invasive by many, this tree fixes atmospheric nitrogen in the soil and bears a massive amount of tart sweet fruit that has up to 18 times more lycopene than tomatoes. It’s a superfood in our own backyard! Glad to see it growing at Mill Hollow near one of the fields where we are growing Roughwood Seed Collection tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes, etc., etc. #autumnolive #autumnberries #Elaeagnusumbellata #superfood #roughwoodseedcollection #edibleinvasives (at Newtown Square, Pennsylvania)

Potawatomi Pole Lima (Phaseolus lunatus) was given to William Woys Weaver by Andrew Bucienski from the Potawatomi Nation in Wisconsin. Lima Beans were domesticated first in the Andes around 2000BC and then a smaller type was bred in Mesoamerica around 800AD. They travelled north of the Rio Grande around 1300AD. (Thanks Wikipedia - please correct me if I’m wrong). Potawatomi are Anishinaabe people from the Great Plains, Upper Mississippi River, and Western Great Lakes. And their Lima Bean is so beautiful. If you are Potawatomi and want this bean - contact me! We only grew about this much, but I can try to increase it next year for you. #potawatomi #potawatomilima #potawatomipolelima #phaseoluslunatus #limabean #roughwoodseedcollection #williamwoysweaver #seedkeeping #seedsaving

photo credit: magnus manske / noma (rené redzepi) / ditte isager

Amir wearing Capsella bursa-pastoris on a necklace and looking like a goth Harry Potter.

Fuschia plants and their edible fruit. Most fuschia berries taste “meh”, with peculiar combinations of berry-sweetness, leafy-green flavors, and black pepper flavors. Certain species and hybrids have reliably tasty fruit, and niche farmers have even gone as far as to breed commercially viable Fuschia fruit! 

Crosnes (pronounced “crones”) are a tuberous perennial vegetable in the mint family. Also called Chinese Artichoke, they taste a bit like Water Chestnuts or Jerusalem Artichokes and can be eaten raw, steamed, or stir-fried - and are often pickled, dyed pink with Red Shiso and served for the Japanese New Year. They look like grubs or tiny Michelin men. In this photo I am planting them right by the valerian patch. #choragi #stachysaffinis #crosnes #chineseartichokes #tuberousmint #lamaceae #perennialvegetables #roughwoodseedcollection #michelinman

Kelly makes the Tartar Bread Plant look even sexier than it already is as she weeds the purple Plantain out from under its new leaves. The leaves and stems are used very similarly to its cousin the Seakale (blanched), but it also has a thick, fleshy, sweet root that can be eaten raw in salads, cooked as a vegetable, or dried and powdered and mixed with grain flours to make breads (similar to making potato breads). #crambetatarica #tartarbreadplant #crambe

Heartnuts to crack! Cultivars of Japanese Walnut (Juglans ailantifolia), Heartnuts are native to Japan and Sakhalin (a large Russian island off the coast of Russia and Japan, both of whom have claimed ownership of the island in the last couple centuries). This species is resistant to canker disease and so in North America, it is now being planted instead of (and often bred with) its very close relative, the North American Butternut, which is more susceptible to the fungal disease. Many Heartnut varieties have been selected to be easier to crack than other Japanese Walnuts, and to yield a good amount of meat. These were shared with the farmers at Tobacco Road Farm in Lebanon, CT by one of their market customers. #heartnut #japanesewalnut #Juglans #ailantifolia #juglansailanthifolia #tobaccoroadfarm #hardnuttocrack #sakhalin