Eating from my backyard

I have recently begun volunteering at the edible plant project in Gainesville and it is absolutely amazing how much I do not know. For those who do not know, the edible plant project is a non-profit project that promotes planting edible plants throughout the city of Gainesville. They are big advocates of eating locally grown food, and part of the project involves making things available locally. They sell plants and fruit at the local farmers' market as well as planting in sites around town.

I was expecting to see a greenhouse filled entirely with fruit trees. But it looked like one of the greenhouses at UF, with a lot of ordinary plants that I had no idea were edible. Every time I asked someone, they could tell me which part was edible and usually several uses for the plant. And I believe all the plants are either Florida natives or Florida friendly.

Isn't it crazy that all this knowledge is out there and we don't utilize it. I worked in environmental horticulture for seven years and never learned about any edible foods. Not to criticize the department - it just isn't a priority. But when you really think about it, it's so important and it could make the local food diet a lot easier. It's also funny how hard it was for me to eat a piece of lettuce that I pulled off of an Indian lettuce plant. Although I eat fruit from trees all the time, there was something weird about eating he plant itself. I found out that several things that grow in my yard are edible, such as spiderwort and dogfennel, but I haven't dared to take a bite of them yet.

On a local food note, the farmer down the street from my house told me they would have strawberries in December, which is so exciting for me. Apparently the plants start producing before winter and then stop when it gets really cold. If anyone knows more about this, let me know.