Foreword:
We will fight them in the fields, we will fight them in the gardens, we will fight them in the footpaths. We will fight them why? Because someone told us to. Because someone taught us to react to a word, to a definition. Our immediate conscious action when someone mentions the word weed is a reaction. And this reaction additional vocabulary with the word weed, such an invasive, thus building the siege mentally to the point that weeds have become a war. Weeds have become a win-at-all costs battle that has stepped beyond the boundaries of the rules of war. There is no Geneva Convention when people enter the mindset on the world war on weeds. It's An anything goes barrage. There is no 'below the belt' when it comes to this rumble.
Weeds have been a part of my growing life. Growing up with a Greek heritage, gardening was a given at every residence I ever visited, be they aunts, uncles, great distant relatives, third cousins or just random Greeks for that matter. Growing way a God-given blessing and everyone grew productive or beneficial plants in whatever they could get soil into. And weeds were a day-to-day part of the plant vocabulary, the best being that they were not seen as weeds. I always remember bus trips and picnics, and the coach or car would pull up on the side of the Hume, the Pacific Highway or by the local park and there would be all the old aunts and yiayias (grandmothers) walking along the side of the freeway 'emu Bob' style, pivoted at the hips and collecting every kind of so-called weed you could not imagine.
When the bus stopped at the end of the trip, people lined up to pick up their bags of horta or weeds, call them what you like. These would then be turned into the most incredibly tasty and nutritious hortopita or weed pies (like spinach pie but a weed pie) . Imagine the fresh wild greens, picked only an hour or two earlier being turned into that nights dinner for the family. It sings the song of reduced footprint, resilience and wild diversity in one broad bush example.
Every footpath, park, or highway was not seen as some sort of grass maintenance nightmare. No no. It was seen as one big wild free salad bowl. And this is a good way of looking at this book. It is a crazy big bowl of information on plants you would otherwise be encouraged not to consider edible, or beneficial medicinally or nutritionally. I am so pleased that more and more people are seeking out the knowledge and truths of the village and taking guided weed walks through their local area. This information and experience of the ages is getting the recognition that it duly deserves.
The book looks at the very nuts and bolts of weeds. It is a wonderful combination of scientific description, seasonally applicable take home information, clear photographs and drawings and equally important cultural story telling. It reflects on weeds as coloniser. They are the mongrel street fighters that come along and re-establish life where there is only death and desolation. The capacity of weeds to set up shop and then in essence creat the conditions for the next round of settlers or succession is quite remarkable. They are true pioneers of soil building, bringing life and tolerating the torment that our technology and development inflicts. They adapt to disturbance readily, and given that we humans are such a disturbance, then it stands to reason that we go together with weeds much like a bum goes together with a pair of underpants (kolo kai vraki as we say in Greek).
So cast aside those weed goggles and open up your eyes and your mind to the wonderful world of weeds. As famed organic farmer Joel Salatin would put it, allow the amaranth to express its amaranth-ness. Let all weeds express their specific and unique weed-ness. Allow observation and information to open up a whole new vocabulary of wonder in the world of weeds. Don't react, rather respond to the end the endless possibilities that plants (formerly know as weeds) can offer you. From weekend gardener, school gardener, community and verge builders, foragers and scrumpers, urban guerrilla planters or humble rooftop and balcony farmers, this book is a must for all growers of our future food and health security. In other words if you eat then this book is your essential companion.
-Costa Georgiadis
