Re: Amer. Gardener article/Wild Greens

> From: "Pamela J. Evans" <gardenqueen@gbronline.com>
> But  what really made me giggle was that Marge's (and other
Easterners I'm
>  sure) nemesis, the ubiquitous garlic mustard was spoken of quite
highly
>  as a culinary ingredient. 

------
Actually, Pam, that's why the early settlers brought that pernicious
weed over here with them.  It is notably high in vitamins C, A and
something else and was used as an early potherb as it is green before
a lot of things.   In colonial days, people prized anything remotely
edible that was green since they mostly lived on dried or salted
stuff all winter; diet must have been very dull for most people and
I'm sure it had a lot to do with why they were generally considerably
smaller than people are today, had much shorter life spans and why
rickets and scurvy were prevalent.

I find it has a faint scent of garlic when handled a lot that sort of
envelopes you and by the time you've pulled 4 or 5 wheelbarrows full,
you're ready to gag, and I actually like garlic; use a lot of it. 
But, garlic mustard's garlic scent is somehow also cloying...hard to
explain; guess you hafta pull a few million to understand what I
mean:-)

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@hort.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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