Plant Abundance

Plant Abundance Immersive experiences focussed on finding & eating uncultivated & local foods.

11/04/2026

I like pizza as much as anyone. But I always feel they could be a little wilder ๐ŸŒฟ I did some foraging while the fire did the crispy thing then added extra toppings ๐Ÿ’š

24/03/2026

"It was SUCH an amazing experience - first of all I was overwhelmed by the COLOUR everywhere, in the flowers and the fabrics and the foods. You are a truly creative person!
I am AMAZED by the food you produced. To start with, the DRINKS were extraordinary; and the individual dishes were from another planet. I have NEVER come across such textures and tastes and colours!"
JOY

Someone asked me this morning -"Any chance you could identify this as purslane to save my marriage! The photo in your w*...
11/03/2026

Someone asked me this morning -

"Any chance you could identify this as purslane to save my marriage! The photo in your w**d book makes it look like it has dense foliage but I know its nice and sparse with the distinctive pink stems?"

A problem with creating a book like mine is that I could really only put on one or two pictures and, of course, I chose the photos of the plants looking their most glamorous.

This IS purslane! Those leaves and seed heads are edible even this late in the season, and the pink stems are fantastic pickled.

Can you feel the seasons shifting? It is time for lunch! Sunday lunch.  I am just back from a few weeks in wild Jozi bea...
06/03/2026

Can you feel the seasons shifting?

It is time for lunch! Sunday lunch.

I am just back from a few weeks in wild Jozi bearing Nigerian yams, Concern beans, shredded cassava, white sorghum and inspiration.

Add the best of the Midlands autumn produce - corn, pumpkin, apple, firethorn - and I think the autumn feast will be a treat.

Let me know if you would like a seat at the table. R460pp ๐Ÿงก

I spent the morning at Bridgemore Academy with enthusiastic learners gathering wild greens and pounding pesto in the pes...
26/02/2026

I spent the morning at Bridgemore Academy with enthusiastic learners gathering wild greens and pounding pesto in the pestle and mortar sets that they had made themselves! How fantastic is that for real learning?

While they were a little apprehensive about tasting the concoction made with nine different leaves found in the feral edges of their garden - once they tried it they pronounced it 'amazing' and 'delicious'.

Edible w**ds for the win!

My last uncultivated food exploration in Jozi included a wild picnic prepared by Siwe and Forest of  . After finding and...
21/02/2026

My last uncultivated food exploration in Jozi included a wild picnic prepared by Siwe and Forest of .

After finding and tasting at least 20 wild edibles on the edges of Melpark in Rustenburg Road, we enjoyed sorghum and cassava foccacia filled with brinjal pakora, coconut salad and blackjack sauce. There were crunchy cassava poppadums to top with pickles - spekboom, purslane and magnolia petals while we sipped tamarind tea.

What a lovely way to end my visit. Thank for the warm hospitality Jozi (and all the free food).

20/02/2026

Pinch the side of the cut stem and drag down towards the leaf to remove the hairy strings from the stalk and the leaf veins.

Thanks Ayanda Dludla for the video.

While much of Diepsloot Farm in Midrand is mowed paddocks, we still found disheveled corners full of edible w**ds. Of pa...
17/02/2026

While much of Diepsloot Farm in Midrand is mowed paddocks, we still found disheveled corners full of edible w**ds.

Of particular interest to me is a different kind of black jack with spindly leaves and yellow flowers - apparently "Spanish black jack" Bidens bipinnata.

The hostess kindly made cakes for tea which I decorated with foraged fruit, flowers and leaves.

"An incredible, insightful morning!" ERWIN

"An amazing morning of tasting, lots of very interesting information, delicious cake and great people. What a special morning." JANI

The grounds of St Teresa High School are carefully maintained,  with very few w**ds in evidence.  Before I spoke to the ...
16/02/2026

The grounds of St Teresa High School are carefully maintained, with very few w**ds in evidence. Before I spoke to the girls about wilder living this morning, I scouted around for edibles. I found plenty of hibiscus and dahlia, some spekboom and oxalis. Enough for a salad, although the Sisters would probably be unimpressed if foraged lunches became the norm!

Driving through the quiet streets on my way there, I picked loads from the gutters, verges and building sites for everyone to taste. Favourites were gallant soldier, lilly pilly, creeping amaranth and oxalis.

I was invited to speak at assembly by the Global Responsibility and Garden Club of the school. Chatting with students in the carpark afterwards was very inspiring. They are knowledgeable, switched on, open to new ideas and committed to change. Our future is in good hands.

Bonus!  The mushroom guys from Afrifungi  joined us again in Emmarentia Park today. While dogs played with abandon, cycl...
15/02/2026

Bonus! The mushroom guys from Afrifungi joined us again in Emmarentia Park today.

While dogs played with abandon, cyclists whizzed by and lyca-clad women drank coffee from the vendor at the entrance, we nibbled on uncultivated food aka w**ds. This is a well used open space.

A security guard hovered on the edges of our group - I assumed she was interested in learning about free food. After everyone left and I was collecting firethorn berries, she came over and told me that it was forbidden to pick anything in the park. She asked me to stop. Of course I did, but honestly.

The park is planted with exotic trees succumbing to the parasitic Ganoderma (sp?) fungi which invade the base of the trees and cause them to collapse, then the saprophytes and detrivores complete the decomposition process

The huge, lumpy piles of silt dredged from the dam are covered in w**ds hard at work restoring the soil.

To be fussing about picking berries from invasive shrubs seems silly to me, but humans are seriously disconnected from their edible landscapes and appear unable to see the natural processes doing all the restoration work that our planet needs.

It was fun.

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