Fresh salad ideas as teacher gives weeds chop

Margi Keys will teach students how to find their own food. Photo/Stuart Munro

Throw away your weedkiller - it's time to learn about the edible properties of common weeds.

Forager Margi Keys said weeds such as purslane, fat hen, chickweed and nasturtium are all edible, and all grow freely.

"If you know what weeds can be eaten, just think how much money you could save by foraging in your own back yard. Chopped up weeds can be jazzed up with juicy raw vegetables to make tasty salads."

Ms Keys is teaching a two-session workshop through the Whanganui Community Education Service on how to use weeds in cooking.

In the first session, students are invited to bring along a tomato, cucumber, carrot or avocado and Ms Keys will make a salad from weeds found in her own garden. She'll also show how to make herbal teas from fresh herbs in the garden such as rosemary, lemon verbena, sage, thyme, pineapple sage and peppermint.

In the second session she will lead students on an outdoor walk on Whanganui, so they can learn to forage themselves.

Ms Keys has been growing and using herbs for tea and culinary purposes since her years on the East Coast in the 1970s. Her garden always contains useful weeds which she nurtures and she also dries and stores many herbs for use in winter.

The Wild about Weeds course is on two consecutive Sunday afternoons, starting on April 30. Contact Community Education Whanganui on 06 3454717 or visit their website at http://communityeducation.nz.