Eating Weeds

One of the amazing things about Thais is they will eat almost anything green which grows in the ground. From an early age they seem to be taught what is edible, and most everything is edible, if not tasty.

This morning I went to inspect the hedge surrounding our yard. I look for weeds. Ok, what I think are weeds. My definition of a weed is: Anything that is not the same as what was planted there originally. A reasonable definition. So I picked out a “weed” I encountered and threw it on the street. Then, I walk to the ATM machine to get some spending money, and when I get back, guess what? I was gone maybe 10 minutes and my “weed” is gone.

I suspect an elderly lady who walks the streets. Why her? I have caught her inspecting the neighbors’ plants around their houses. If they see her and talk to her, she seems to be lecturing them on what they have that can be eaten. I don’t understand Thai but it sure looks like that. I have even caught her picking out “weeds” from the neighbor’s yard across the street. I don’t know how these “weeds” get in our yards but I do suspect the old lady.

Why her? When they were remodeling the home across the street, she took over the front hedge area. Not to plant a hedge, but other edible things. I don’t know what they call that stuff, but she’s there every morning, tending her garden and gathering her rewards.

When we have dinner at night in the neighborhood restaurant, I always get some green leaves in my soup. I have often wondered if any of those came from my neighbors’ yards. Now, when you pull those weeds out of your garden, you should stop and pause a minute. Could this be feeding some starving kid in Thailand?

GP