"survival food"

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by paradisi, Aug 25, 2008.

  1. paradisi

    paradisi Junior Member

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    saw on another garden site that the young greens from sweet potato are survival food.

    One WA member of that site said things had got so bad she had to use the greens until the pay cheques started again, and then the wonderful people over there started poo pooing sweet potato greens as survival food and how they'd never lower themselves to use it.

    Needless to say, before I started deleting my posts I told them I would try it.

    Thanks to the unknown Sandgroper who mentioned sweet potato leaves. excellent food well worth growing just for themselves.

    they are absolutely bloody brilliant. Will do me as a replacement for silverbeet anytime (never did like silverbeet - well over rated).

    Picked tea tonight - some sweet potato shoots - the new ones at the end of the vine, some parsley, onion green (stopped trying to grow onions as a bulb crop, only use the greens now), beans, snow peas.....

    delicious. mind you a lot had to do with She Who Must Be Obeyed's cooking skills, but the sweet potato leaves have well and truely gone beyond "survival food"

    Again - good onya Sandrgroper - who ever you were - and for those who cried it's only survival food and not to be taken seriously - I gave you the finger weeks back when I deleted all of my posts.

    OK - some dictionary:

    Sandrgroper - slang for west australian
    silverbeet - swiss chard is the only other name I know it by
    the site - aussies living simply - a joyful place (and that is sarcasm)
     
  2. pebble

    pebble Junior Member

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    Re: "survival food"

    Got the botanical name? "Sweet potato" means different things in different parts of the world.

    Nothing wrong with survival food :D
     
  3. paradisi

    paradisi Junior Member

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  4. JoanVL

    JoanVL Junior Member

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    Re: "survival food"

    Another survival food is purslane (pigweed). You can eat it in salads or stews, and it is extremely good for you, being high in Omega 3. I use it in pumpkin soup, and also feed it to the chooks. I've never planted purslane - it is just a weed really, it pops up everywhere. Come to think of it, the pumpkin pops up everywhere too - it just sort of seeds itself.

    I also put the cauli and brocolli stalks in the pumpkin soup - another survival mechanism. 'Waste not, want not' as my old Mum used to say.
     
  5. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Re: "survival food"

    I am told that a lot of Australian POW in WW2 ate dandelions which helped a lot .
    I have no evidence to support this.
     
  6. IntensiveGardener

    IntensiveGardener Junior Member

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    Re: "survival food"

    dandelions were commonly used by European peasants as a spinach substitute. It is (according to my old gardening books) best lightly steamed or cooked with garlic and lemmon juice.
    The root can be roasted for a coffee substitute which is good for the liver.
    Some other common edible weeds and survival foods are:
    Fat Hen (spinach substitute)
    Plantain
    Comfrey (in small amounts)
    Sorrell

    While there is nothing wrong with preparing for the worst or eating "survival plants" when necessary it is often better to aim to have enough vegies.
    I have many friends who are frantically planting "survival plants" and who rave about "staple vegetables". They end up eating copious amounts of jerusalem artichoke, Yacon and silverbeat. (nothing wrong with these vegies in small doses)
    I plant more conventional stuff and end up eating potatoes, carrots and spinach.
    Its just my preference but i'd much rather live on spuds than J.As
    There are literally douzens of plants which can be used instead of spinach.
    I am always amazed though at the lengths people go to to avoid growing real spinach. Its fair enough in the tropics (where its hard to grow) but spinach is a wonderfull plant to grow in temporate and cold areas. Its very hardy and grows through winter, it has 10 times more iron than silverbeet and 3 times the vitamin C content.
    cheers IG
     
  7. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Re: "survival food"

    New Zealand Spinach?

    Grows everywhere along the coast.

    Isn't there a book about this?

    What happened to Maj. Gttons? (Bush Tucker Man)
    Bring him back ABC!!
     
  8. kanintalagaeh

    kanintalagaeh Junior Member

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