Welcome to the 2024 edition of the LITFM blog. This blog is the text-based complement to my weekly posts on Nextdoor.com and the gardening channel on YouTube. In 2023, this blog took on a more formal instructional tone with jokes dispersed within to serve as a hub for conveying information that might not work in a video or weekly update format. The subject matter here is always the wide variety of plant-based foods that you can find growing around you in nature or as some call it ‘Forage Foods’. This ties in with local bartering, and indirectly now we will be including mycology. The primary reason for the change in the blog’s tone and topic came about due to the events of the pandemic, the resulting economic turmoil and other factors. The reality is that we are surrounded with perfectly edible plants that can fill at least some of the void in our dietary needs. There is no reason not to be educated in what is and is not safe and how to prepare it into a nutritious meal. With that said I also realized that in my own way by keeping this blog running I might be butting heads with a billion-dollar pesticide/herbicide/fertilizer industry at times. It has always been in the interest of that industry to label certain things ‘weeds’ so they can sell you product that as time goes by we find out is worse for your health than the weeds are. Coupled with an Agricultural-Education system that peddles the myths of the industry and the old myth that if you can afford a nice lawn you must have wealth we have a population that has been fooled for a long time. So, here we are in 2024, and the forage foods series will continue. I hope all of you who read this blog find the information useful or at least thought provoking. The ‘weeds’ I am listing a certainly found in Zone 8A in North Carolina and should certainly be easy to find in the Southeast regions of America. Thank you for sticking with LITFM and stay tuned for a year of forage foods.
Note the foliage of Lesser Pepperwort, you want stuff closer to the top for milder flavor. 
While not the best picture, the number of seed pods from just one plant is worthy of note, forage seasonings are very important. 
Here is a good idea of how big the Lesser Pepperwort can get.
Common Name: Least Pepperwort
Other Common Names: Virginia Pepperweed, Peppergrass
Botanical Family: Brassicaceae (The Cabbage Family)
Botanical Latin Name: Lepidum virginicum
Description & Habitat: Lesser Pepperwort is native to North and Central America; it is considered an introduced species anywhere else. This plant is a herbaceous annual or biennial depending on the climate in which it is growing. It can be found on roadsides, waste areas, and vacant lots, pastures, in yards and in and around urban areas in general. In terms of appearance Lesser Pepperwort can be up to twenty inches tall, the leaves on its stem are sessile and tend to be oval or lanceolate shaped. The leaves get larger the closer they are to the base of the plant but it’s most identifiable feature is its flower stalks. Lesser Pepperwort’s Flowers are borne in a structure called a raceme, which looks a bit like a bottle brush. The flowers are small and white while the seedpods are bright green, flattened and round in shape somewhat like a discus.
When & What to Harvest: The entire plant is edible however the central stems may be a bit fibrous and less desirable, so stick to the softer parts of the stems for ease of consumption. Ideally you want to harvest young shoots and leaves in the spring before anything has truly hardened off and are harder to deal with. You can use the greens of this plant sparingly in a salad if you want a good peppery flavor. When using it as a potherb I suggest boiling it in at least one change of water to diminish any bitterness present. This plant will work in any Mustard greens styled recipe in general and can be used to boost flavor. The seeds of this plant can be used as an almost 1:1 black pepper substitute if dried and ground. The seeds and seedpods while green are more like green peppercorns and can be used as straight seasoning or dried and ground as a milder seasoning. The leaves themselves are of particular note as according to several sources they are high in A and C vitamins, which would be essential in a foraging survival situation.
Poisonous Lookalikes: None known.
Related Edible Species: Field Cress (Lepidium campestre), Fremont’s Peppergrass (L. fremontii).
Recipe: Since this particular forage plant is often associated with another member of the Cabbage family, Mustard today’s recipe is a forage version of stewed mustard greens.
Ingredients:
4 Cups of Water
4 pounds of Mustard Greens (any Pepperwort you add is included in this)
2 medium sized Onions
5 Tablespoons of Bullion (or any flavoring bases you choose)
4 Cloves of garlic (or 1-1.5 Tablespoons of dried garlic)
Salt to taste (if you are using Pepperwort in this actual pepper may not be needed)
- Put water and seasonings in large pot and heat until you can see steam but the water is not boiling.
- Peel and chop Onions and Garlic then add to pot.
-Wash greens thoroughly and chop to the level of coarseness you prefer.
- Add greens to pot, depending on the size of your pot you may have to pack them or add a bit every ten minutes or so, greens tend to float and shrink a bit once cooked.
-Ideally cooking should take about15-30 minutes depending on how bulky the greens are but you want to cook until everything is tender.
With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but by booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog. In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the Hours of 8:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.
For those of you wondering what plants are going to be at the market this weekend here is the list.
Fresh Food:
Garlic Bulbs
Soup Kits – Parsnip
Soup Kits – Turnip
House Plants
>All house plants are on sale!<
Arrowhead Plant ‘Regina Red’
Ficus ‘Yellow Gem’
Haworthia ‘Chocolate’
Miniature Cyclamen
Miniature Ox-Tongue
Begonia – ‘Sindbad’
Cuban Oregano – Large Leaf
Hoan Ngoc
Coming Soon:
More stuff TBA!
How to stay in Contact with Us!
Our group’s online presence has migrated to Nextdoor.com. All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.
Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville
Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:
The Videos: Look Here
>Newest videos (1): Swallowtail Butterfly Caterpillar
Meetings are still going on! We now meet at LeClair’s General Store on the First and Third Thursday of every month. Our next meeting is on February 15th between 5:30pm and 7:00pm. We are in the back room so come on in and join us for a fun garden chat.
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