{"id":628,"date":"2013-07-15T20:13:14","date_gmt":"2013-07-15T19:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.selfsufficientish.com\/forum\/blog.php\/?p=628"},"modified":"2022-09-14T11:01:34","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T10:01:34","slug":"himalayan-balsam-impatiens-glandulifera-food-for-free-dave-hamilton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.selfsufficientish.com\/main\/himalayan-balsam-impatiens-glandulifera-food-for-free-dave-hamilton\/","title":{"rendered":"Himalayan Balsam – Impatiens glandulifera – food for free"},"content":{"rendered":"

After finding out that Japanese Knotweed was edible<\/a> (use the young shoots as you would rhubarb) I began a quest to find out what other invasive weeds could end up on the dinner plate. I came across a German man called Peter Becker <\/a>who it seems shares some of my passion for eating invasive species.\u00a0 <\/a>Amongst other things he had found some edible uses for Himalayan Balsam<\/a>, a plant which is choking out a lot of the native plants along river banks in Bristol.\u00a0 I emailed him and received this reply \u2013<\/p>\n

\u201cImpatients glandulifera is slightly toxic in all parts but the flowers and seeds; both of which can even be consumed raw. I`m preparing Jelly and brewing Vinegar with the flowers and Marzipan from the seeds.<\/em><\/p>\n

Yet even the young stems are edible after being blanched in a change of water and yield a crispy vegetable; that although it doesn`t have much flavor is a wonderful addition with much plate appeal\u00a0to stirfries or pickles. And since Bachflower #\u00a019 is renowned for it`s calming effects; we who bash Himalyan Balsam with Fork & Knife get rewarded with the nutritional benefits of this wonderful plant.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

This was late June and from observing the plant near my house I knew it was soon to flower.\u00a0 I waited a couple of weeks and in early July I set to work harvesting the flowers and bashing the plant as I went.\u00a0 I found I could pull up the plant root and all quite easily so I yanked on each plant as I removed the flower.\u00a0 By mid-July there was a lot more of the plant in flower and so again I set to work.<\/p>\n

From experimenting I found the flower was rather bland but mixed in with a little dressing and some more flavoursome leaves it made an attractive addition to a salad.\u00a0 However the amount needed in a salad by no means corresponded with the amount available \u2013 I clearly needed a use for it in bulk.<\/p>\n

I found a recipe for Rose petal preserve and adapted it a little for the balsam. I found it also made a bonus by-product of Balsam sweets! This recipe makes one jar but scale up if you\u2019ve found a good source of the plant and don\u2019t forget to bash the balsam as you pick!<\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/p>\n