Edible & Medicinal South African Garden Plants

Before you pull that "weed", stop and read this!

I'm learning about plants that we have traditionally discarded as weeds and the amount of beneficial plants that grow naturally in our gardens is astounding. This is a work in progress, so come the list will grow as I find more.

1. Morogo / Pigweed

Twana: Morogo, Afrikaans: Misbredie, English: Pigweed

This plant was pointed out to me by our gardener who calls it "bongwe". It is now considered a superfood and the healthiest of all the wild leafy greens that grow in Africa. We have sprinklers in the garden, so it just grows almost all year round, except for late summer / early autumn.

Use like one would traditionally use spinach in stews, raw in salads, or any way you like. Younger plants are tastier and can be use whole, or just pick the leaves off older plants.

More here.

2. Wild Quinoa / White Goosefoot

Chenopodium album grows from late autumn to late summer, almost the whole year round in the Western Cape of South Africa where we are located. We use the leaves in salads, stews, etc. I find the older leaves sometimes are a little bitter, but not too much to spoil it. They also have a more mineral and green taste than spinach.

The plants become quite large and the stems tree-like if you let them grow.

The plant also produce an abundance of seeds, but the actual grains are tiny, so a large amount is needed to get a meaningful amount of actual grains. Here is a nice write-up of how to harvest the grains are in essence wild quinoa., which are in essence wild quinoa.

More here and here.

3. Common Purslane

Portulaca oleracea is amazing in it's nutrient content and remind me somewhat of the South African spekboom as it is called in Afrikaans. The difference is that it is much smaller and barely lifts its red little stems off the ground. It's very common all through the early winter to late summer.

It's nutritional value is amazing! A 100 gram portion contains:

(Source: USDA National Nutrient data base)

Apart from high levels of Vit A, C and B, it also contains Omega 3 fatty acids. Both ALA and EPA are found in it, albeit that the latter is in trace amounts.

More here.

4. Bulbinella

Bulbine frutescens is also known as Bulbinella, burn jelly plant, Cat's tail or Geelkatstert (Afr), by some, which perfectly describes the amazing properties of this plant. One simply picks a handful of the fleshy leaves and squeezes the jelly out onto a burn wound, sun burn, or damaged skin and it's start working its wonders within minutes. Not only does it vigorously promote healing, it also contains some form of anaesthetic compound, which relieves the pain from a burn wound within minutes.

It is somewhat similar to Aloe Ferox, but it's not bitter to the taste, so it's much more friendly, especially from kids that inadvertently get the Aloe juice on their fingers and into their mouth, causing much wailing and distress!

We have more than once put a few handfuls through the Oscar juicer (simply cut it into short pieces using a pair of scissors) to make a jelly slush to treat over-exposure to the sun and other burn wounds. Actually, as a matter of principle we don't use chemical sunscreen at all and simply apply some bulbonella if necessary after a day in the sun. Even a severe "tan" does not blister or peel with this magic plant.

More here and here.

5. Woodland Waterberry / Magenta lilly pilly

Syzygium guineense (it may likely rather be Syzygium paniculatum) grows into a large tree which bears copious amounts of red berries in Autumn. It's very common and in the Western Cape, but also all over Southern Africa. The seed is spread easily by birds and other animals eating the berries, so little trees pop up frequently in the vicinity of other waterberry trees.

from https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/5442175/

I find on the web that there are a few sites that confuse these with the Syzygium Cordatum, which is similar, but substantially different.

Different berries: Syzygium Guineense (woodland waterberry) on the left and Syzygium Cordatum (waterberry) on the right.

The woodland waterberry tree has small leaves compared to the S. Cordatum and the berries differ substantially. The waterberry is sweeter and darker than the woodland variety, which is spongy and almost pink in colour.

Other South African common names: bergwaterhout; boswaterhout; umDoni-wamanzi; waterpeer. (source)

Some of the woodland waterberry trees in our garden. Compare for size, Lilli, our Jack Russel bitch on the edge of the lawn.

S. Cordatum for comparison, which also grows on the farm. Note the much large leaves. The trees also don't become nearly as large as the S. Guineense.

I'm focusing on the woodland waterberries for the rest of this section.

I have recently started experimenting with ways to preserve the berries, since they are available in volume in season and also because they have high nutritional content.

I firstly dumped a few handfulls into the Oscar juicer, pips and all. The result is a lovely pinkish red juice, quite refreshing and not too sweet. However, the crushes pips give it a tart taste, which is unpleasant to most people.

I then juiced some after de-stoning them, which gives a great result without tartness, but it's a lot of work, so it's not ideal.

Finally I cooked about half a bucket-full until the berries started disintegrating. I strained out the juice and cooked it until it started to become somewhat thick. After cooling in the fridge it became almost like apple mouse in texture, but not like a jelly, which is what I'm really after.

I will now try to extract some pectin from the pips to see if I can get the jelly type consistency from that. (I have no idea if that will work, but I'm going to find out :-) )

6. Narrowleaf Plantain

Plantago lanceolata is a classic weed by anyone's standard I would think, but...

Nikki Brighton wrote on Facebook:

Plantain. Ribwort Plantago lanceolata, Broad leaf Plantain Plantago major.

Ribwort is known as white man’s footprints – because wherever settlers went, they disturbed the land and ribwort soon followed. The leaves are useful for stings, scratches and blisters – a natural plaster. Flower buds have a mushroom-like flavour when sautéed, scrumptious. Adding a few leaves to a soup or stew adds depth and earthiness. Seeds are rich in starch and can be used in biscuits apparently. I don’t have the patience to collect all the tiny seeds but hope that one day I will.

The Broadleaf variety tastes like a combination of asparagus and mushroom. I like them crisped up with a quick fry – like kale chips. Small, young leaves are tasty raw. Older leaves get a bit more bitter and if you have the patience, it is best to remove the fibrous strands that are in the flower stalk. When foraging, pinch the base of the stalk and gently pull the leaf upwards – magically, the strands come out and are left behind.

Many Plantago species are used in traditional medicine all over the world.

Here's another Plantago: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/plantain-weed