FIGHTING WEED INVASION BY EATING ALLIUM TRIQUETRUM

Allium triquetrum. Angled onion, onion weed, three-cornered leek or garlic. You might notice it growing beside Melbourne creeks or popping up by the roadside – either by the garlicky smell, or by the distinctive clusters of white, bell-shaped flowers nodding in the breeze. It’s very pretty (looks a little like snowdrops), but it’s an extremely invasive weed (in Australia), and authorities are fighting a constant battle to contain and eradicate it.



And . . . it’s edible, so grabbing yourself some for the kitchen (if you do it correctly) means you’re doing the local environment a favour! The flavour of the leaves has been variously likened to garlic, onion, spring onion, leek and garlic chives. The bulbs are described as being slightly milder than most garlic. The flowers are also edible.

Today I decided to try it out for the first time. I thought others might be interested in this, too.

Identification:

This plant looks like a number of others, some of which are poisonous. If you’re unable to make a positive identification, don’t eat it.



Make sure that the flowers have stripes down the middle of the petals, NOT dots on the edges. Make sure the flowers are white, NOT tinged with pink. Make sure the leaves have the tell-tale ‘keel’ on one side and. Make sure that when you crush the leaves you get a garlicky/oniony scent.

Click here for a little video on identifying the weed and suggested recipes (from the UK).

Harvesting:

You will need: a plastic bag, a trowel, identification aide if you’re not sure, gloves if you want. Also a sense of adventure and righteousness, so that when people look at you strangely you can just smile at them and get on with your work.

In Australia, this is a weed. Make sure that the council hasn’t sprayed it with weedkiller before you touch it – and don’t eat it if you’re not sure (in Melbourne the weedkiller is often coloured blue-green or pink so you can see it, but rain could wash the colour off).

Find a patch (easy to identify by the flowers), and disentangle it from the surrounding vegetation until you can see around the base of the patch.



As it is a weed, it’s ideal that you take not only the leaves and flowers, but also the bulbs and roots. It is almost impossible to get the bulbs simply by pulling the stems of the plant - see following picture:



Your best bet is to loosen the earth around the base of the plant with a small trowel (you might find you have to dig right underneath it) before pulling it up. Grasp close to the roots and jiggle it gently if you need to.





Shake off excess dirt, but keep an eye out for any tiny bulbs that might try to escape. Put the lot (plus any other bulbs you can see stuck in the soil – remember, it’s a weed) into a plastic bag.

If you are mainly after the leaves (used like chives or spring onion), you probably don’t need a huge amount. I took three small patches, which was plenty in the leaf department. If, however, you’re also keen on the bulbs, you might need to harvest more.

Cleaning:

Again, Allium triquetrum is a weed, so it’s important that you don’t let any bits get away to infest new places. Keep a strong plastic bag handy for all offcuts and seal it well before throwing it out.



Pop everything into a big colander and rinse (into a sink with the plug in to catch runaway bits). You want to make sure that there’s no dirt, bugs or dog piss on that stuff! You might need to do it in batches. Here is how I cleaned and separated the various parts of the plant:

1. General rinse to remove most of the dirt, plucked off discoloured leaves and put into the plastic bag as I went along.





2. Pinched the bulbs off the end of the stalks, then rinsed the bulbs (and peeled them in some cases) in a fresh bowl of water before putting aside.



3. Pinched the flowers off the other end of the stalks, discarding any discoloured ones into the plastic bag. Rinsed the flowers under running water, shook off excess water, put aside.



4. Rinsed the leaves a second time to make sure there was no dirt left on them.

A word from the wise: this stuff smells. REALLY smells. I actually felt a little ill when I was cleaning it. My advice to you (which I will try to follow next time) is to crush the leaves as little as possible when harvesting and cleaning, and to make sure that the window by the sink is right open! My illness faded when the smell from next-door’s lunch wafted through the window, so perhaps the other option is to have something on the stove that matches well with the garlicky/oniony scent!

Cooking:

The leaves can be used fresh as you would garlic chives or spring onion (chop them into salads, use as garnish, pop into garlic butter), or you can cook them very lightly (toss through a stir fry just before serving, or stir into a soup just before plating). I had some angled onion freshly chopped onto a gorgeous sandwich made on fresh sourdough, with perfectly ripe avocado, a big squeeze of lemon, and a couple of coarse grinds of salt and pepper. The rest I chopped and put into little tubs to freeze – I will use them in soups, stews, and perhaps veggie patties later on (my guess is that they’ll be too slimy for salads after being frozen).





The bulbs are tiny at this time of year, but apparently grow bigger and may be harvested when the leaves die down in summer. I might see what I can find in a few months! As it is, I have half a tiny jar of tiny bulbs! I crunched on one and discovered that slightly milder garlic flavour, with a bit of acidity to boot. I decided to make a simple pickle with them: I popped them into a sterile glass jar with a couple of bay leaves (from my parents!) and a big teaspoon each of black peppercorns and brown mustard seeds, then covered it with white vinegar. I’ll keep it in the fridge for a week or so before trying them out.

Edit: A month later I tried the onions and realised that they also needed a bit of sugar in the pickling mix. I added it then, and a couple of weeks later they were tasting much better.







The flowers can be used as garnish, but might also be tossed through salads. This website suggests making tempura with them (it's is a great post, actually). When I was doing the prep I didn’t know if the flowers were OK to eat, so I shoved them all into a sterile glass jar and covered them with vinegar. If they don’t discolour completely, they might be mixed with the bulbs as a side/condiment or sandwich topping.

Edit: The flowers didn't discolour too much, but they are not as pretty as they were. I probably wouldn't bother with these again.



So that’s that! A real suburban foraging adventure - with the added bonus of doing a good deed for the Australian environment!



And as a disclaimer: everything we do (or don’t do) carries a degree of risk. It’s up to you to assess those risks for yourself. As I’ve said, if you’re not sure you’ve made a correct identification of Allium triquetrum, don’t eat it. If you think it’s been sprayed, don’t eat it. Make sure you clean it properly. Don’t eat a huge quantity on your first try in case it makes you ill. I am really, really not responsible if something goes wrong for you!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The direction doesn't matter; it's about the shape of the path.

WALKING OUT OF THE CITY: DAY FIVE

Tuesday 27 July 2010
Lilydale to Woori Yallock
26km / Approx 7 hours
Map
My photos

Dear Diary,

Today we walked out of the city.

This is the entry I jokingly suggested I should write after the fifth day of our walk, which took us from Lilydale station through outer suburbia and remnants of bushland, over a filled-in aqueduct, past the place my mum went to school as a kid, around the other side of Mt Dandenong, along great stretches of rail trail, through a tunnel of early-spring wattle blossoms, squeezed us down the valley at the foot of the Warramate Hills, and then spat us out into the fertile river flats and gently rolling vineyards of the Yarra Valley near Woori Yallock. After all of my philosophising about what 'the city' might mean or be, it seemed clear enough (as the honey light from the setting sun warmed our backs, and a gentle breeze wafted the fresh smells of damp earth and cow shit around us) that we were no longer in it.



Because it was going to be a long walk (the longest day on our walk out of the city), and because there was a lot of transport to coordinate (especially on the return journey), D, M and I took the train out to Lilydale early-ish in the morning. We started walking at about 10am after finding some coffee and pastries (including an ENORMOUS custard tart). The plan was to follow the Lilydale-Warburton Rail Trail most of the day, with one detour around a small section of the Mount Evelyn Aqueduct Walk, and to arrive in Woori Yallock before sunset!


D and J at the start of the rail trail at the end of Lilydale Station carpark


As we approached Mount Evelyn, Mount Dandenong was in full view - odd to see it from the 'side' rather than the 'front'!

Walking the rail trail was a very informative experience. Most (if not all) of the old stations exist as the outlines of platforms, grass overrunning them, with a large sign proclaiming the station name, and often a few picnic benches nearby. There are many information points along the way, too, telling you about the history of particular areas and buildings.


Mount Evelyn Station has a great display of historical information.


First Aid Post Reserve - they used to have first aid 'competitions' here!

One of the personally significant aspects of this walk for me was getting the chance to explore the area where my mum lived as a kid (after her family migrated from the Netherlands). I remember hearing stories about her childhood, and walking through the area gave me more of an appreciation of that family history. For one thing, since I grew up in the bush, I've always thought of Mount Evelyn as being suburban - and it is, but barely! It is on the very outskirts of town, backing onto farmland. I wonder if it felt more isolated in the 1950s and 1960s, or if there is a feeling of community there that is not possible to observe when you're just passing through.


Mount Evelyn Aqueduct Walk: the aqueduct has been filled in, but this is still a lovely tunnel of tranquillity!


Morning tea, just the other side of Mount Evelyn.

From here, the trail runs to Wandin North, hemmed in on both sides with rural acreages, scraps of bushland, and hillside paddocks.





At Wandin North we stopped for a small break and to use the toilets at the cafe. We would pass back through here on the bus later in the evening and decide that this might be a good spot to bring visitors for a nice walk - Wandin North to Woori Yallock is around 12km. Not only would it be an easy walk that takes in some of the most contrasting bits of the trail, you would also get to see the pigs outside the hardware store at WN and visit Carriage Cafe in Seville.









Despite the fact we had our lunch with us, we had to pop in to Carriage Cafe for a hot chocolate. It is exactly my sort of thing - seemingly randomly situated next to the rail trail, and obviously catering for trail users. There's even a place to tether your horse!

It was after Seville that we walked out of the valley and into the wide expanse of the Yarra River flats. The following few pictures give an idea of the contrast:






(Impressionist!)





We definitely felt as though we'd left the city, and a sign for the RURAL code of conduct proved us right! Apart from the obvious visuals, the scents and sounds seemed to provide the different atmosphere - grass and farm smells, the sounds of breezes across the valley and of cattle in the distance. We admired the vineyards, the Yarra Ranges in the background, the sunlight streaming past us, the horses crossing the long bridge, the creek burbling alongside us. . .











. . . and trudged onwards to Woori Yallock, to collapse in the bus shelter and wait to be taken back to Lilydale Station. Apparently, there had been chaos on Melbourne public transport that day, but we had missed it all. We felt a little smug about that!





Today we totally did walk out of the city!

VIDEOS TO WATCH

There are several videos to watch on Victoria Walks. Here's one that gives a very simple (simplistic?) view on something close to my heart (or, rather, far from my heart): urban sprawl.



When I have time, I will check out this 'New Urbanism' business a bit more.

FAME! AN UPDATE!

my photo of a sea kayaker in a big sea is now up as part of a matador trips photo essay, collated by hal amen.

i feel i should warn you that the first image in that essay is of people climbing uluru. yes, he says under the photo "despite pleas from local indigenous groups", but the article he links to is of the "they're gonna stop us climbing the roooock!" persuaion (though most of the comments are ok). i have left a comment detailing why it is NOT OK, SO JUST DON'T DO IT, so i hope that people take note.

in other news, does australia have a government yet?

FAME! FAME ON THE INTERNET!

Ooh, one of my photos is on the RSPB page for Fen Drayton (near Cambridge in the UK).

And another one is soon to be in a photo essay by the guy who does these collections. (I'm sure I'll let you know when it actually goes up!)

*

Also, we've completed our walk to Warburton! Pics can be found here (day 5) and here (day 6). A brief selection, in lieu of a proper post (which hopefully I'll get done at some stage, but at the moment I'm sick and stressed with other things, alas):

BELGRAVE - EMERALD - MENZIES CREEK, JULY 2010

It’s about time I shared some photos from our lovely anniversary (8 years!) walk, since it was a week and a half ago now! I really can’t be bothered writing up a big report (famous last words! I bet this will end up huge!), so maybe I’ll just post photos and have a ramble about them underneath each one. It was a nice two-day trip, and reminded us that walking for more than one day in a row is so excellent – waking up on that morning with nothing to organise except packing our bags and setting off was a truly relaxing feeling . . . not to mention that we only had a short day of walking ahead of us so we could take our time getting up and lounging around over breakfast (on which note, I do recommend Glenview Retreat B&B if you’re in the area).

Anyway, here is the map of our 2 day walk: click for map. I wouldn’t recommend people try to follow it exactly as we walked down roads that don’t actually exist on the ground and found ourselves having to cut through people’s paddocks and back yards a few too many times for our liking!

All our photos of the 2 days can be found here, or you can see just day one here or day two here. Now, on with the show!



After our previous adventure and soaking, we'd come prepared for drenching rain, but apart from a few patches of drizzle on the first day, we didn't encounter much precipitation.



We said hello to Puffing Billy, knowing we would meet up with it again at the end of the next day . . .





. . . and headed into Sherbrooke Forest. It was quite spectacular with the morning light filtering through the trees and the bird calls echoing through the tree tops.



In fact, just after this photo was taken, a lyrebird strolled across the path not three metres in front of us! Then, five minutes down the track I said, "That sounds like another lyrebird" (you can often tell because it repeats the same half a dozen bird calls all at the same volume) . . . and then D spotted it up a tree! We stood and watched it singing for about ten minutes! Here are some little videos of it, taken with our photo camera:





Out of Sherbrooke Forest, we decided to brave Ward Road again - we weren't sure how much of it actually existed, but we knew the first bit could be walked and were hoping that we could cut through to the next road.



The view is so great from there. It is actually kind of annoying that it's a view only property owners (and devious walkers) get to enjoy!



This photo shows D on Ward Road - that straight blue line on the map is meant to be it. You can see the path behind him . . . not particularly road-y, is it?! Somewhat predictably, we scrambled along for a while and at some point decided that we should have hit the first road by now. With my super map-reading skillz, I led us down the hill to the tops of the gardens, and we stepped over a low fence (strange how much of a psychological barrier a flimsy fence can be: you are now DEFINITELY trespassing!) . . .



. . . and into a vacant block. We then traipsed down to William Road, walked for another kilometre or so, and then sat down by the side of a quiet road to enjoy the view and have 'morning tea' (at about midday, if I recall correctly). A couple of goats looked on from a shed above us as we picked out which house we would live in and debated whether or not we'd have to also buy a car to get around.





After a bit more roadside walking - and more mysterious non-existent roads on the map - we headed onto the track beside Sassafras Creek (called the Sassafras Creek Forest Trail, the Dandenong Tourist Trail or Track and other names).



It was beautiful, but hard(er than expected) going in patches because there were some trees down across the path - one huge one that we had to caterpillar over in stages, throwing our bags across and digging our fingers into the bark as we scrambled across - and the winter rains had turned parts of the track into slippery mudslides and mini-waterfalls. We saw some cool mushrooms and fungi, though.





We sat down for a quick bite to eat at around 2 or 2:30, a bit rushed because rain threatened, and also because we were aware that due to a late-ish start, some dawdling (the lyrebird!) and some slow going (Ward Rd!) we were going to have to make up some time in order to get to our B&B before dark.



Also, I had a headache. The stretch along the creek before lunch had unfortunately just seemed to go forever, but now we were on Woori Yallock Creek (of which Sassafras Creek is a tributary) we made good time, and soon we were emerging onto the outer fringes of Emerald. We climbed the steep hill onto Prince St and followed roads into the town itself.



Back yard alpacas!



Us in Emerald! D used the facilities near the library, then we toddled down into Emerald Lake Park - highly recommended for a picnic and a stroll, and conveniently located next to a Puffing Billy stop (maybe it's actually the other way round)!



The park is a lot bigger and the lake a bit smaller than I'd imagined, and I could easily spend a day exploring. In peak season it must get busy, what with the train, a little swimming pool, lots of waterfowl, an outdoor gym, paddle boats and various picnic areas to draw the crowds.



We crossed the bridge over the lake, got a little bit mixed up with unsignposted walking tracks, and ended up (once again) sneaking through a back yard in order to get onto Bower Ct. A few corners later and we arrived at our B&B to be greeted by our friendly host (Jenny), a bottle of red wine, a bowl of chocolates, and a wonderful suite.





We had a long soak in a hot bath - actually, it was a spa, but we didn't really want to use the spa function - drank our wine, ate the chocolates, watched Legend (haha, I know!) and slept wonderfully. (Some of you will be pleased to know that a little note beside the spa asked us to leave the water in after the last use so that it could be used to water the garden.)

*

The next morning we lazed in bed for a while, having ordered breakfast (from the menu!) for 9/9:30, and sat out on the balcony in the fresh morning air, wrapped in our bathrobes.



As we ate breakfast, Jenny came by our little courtyard and put out some seed . . . and suddenly the yard was full of lorikeets and galahs! It was all very lovely, and what we really wanted to do was STAY FOR LONGER. Instead, we slowly got ourselves together, settled our bill, said goodbye and headed back down to the lake . . .



. . . up to town, where we caught a few glimpses of wonderful views across the hills . . .



. . . through some vacant land, and back down to the creek.



Heading up along Ridge Road, we were less concerned by the 'no through road' and 'private access only' signs (the map clearly stated that there was a walking track!), and more concerned with the size of the hill looming before us! We were aiming for the trig point and picnic area marked on our map as having 'excellent views', so we knew there was going to be at least a bit of a climb!





As we toiled up the hill, though, we reaped immediate rewards - the views seemed to unfold around us. First we could see just the next hill, then the next, then all the way across to Mount Donna Buang near Warburton!



From the top, the view was absolutely stunning. We could see the Yarra Valley, Donna Buang, Mount Beenak, and Silvan Reservior.





And that's just showing you the vista to the north-east! As we sat at our picnic table with the sun on our backs, we drank tea, ate chocolate, and soaked in the view to the south and south-east. From here we could see Cardinia Reservoir, Western Port Bay and French Island, Arthur's Seat on the Mornington Peninsula, and glimpses of Port Phillip Bay to the south-west. We also wondered if the hills in the distance might be Wilson's Prom - they were definitely South Gippsland, anyway!



This was pretty much as good as it was going to get! We would have been happy to stay until sunset, but we needed to get back down to Menzies Creek and catch Puffing Billy back to Belgrave.



Yeah, I'm a peak bagger! ;)



I should take a moment to point out that we had, for some reason or another, found the word 'Trumpington' very amusing the previous day. We thought it sounded like a euphemism for farting, and so we'd devised various phrases - the ones that caught on were all about Little Lord Trumpington: "Little Lord Trumpington has come out to play!" and, "Did you invite Little Lord Trumpington along to dinner?" and suchlike. Hopefully this explains D's pose in the previous photo! You might also notice the big sign saying "LOCAL TRAFFIC ONLY". There was also one saying "No through road". Having walked along so many roads marked as such, and having found them at least a little walkable, we ignored the signs.



It started off fine . . .



. . . and continued to be more than adequate for quite a while. But then it simply disappeared, and we were faced with the prospect of climbing all the way back up the hill and continuing mapless to Menzies Creek via another route (we hadn't photocopied an alternative). Or, we figured, we could just continue where the map said the road was meant to be and get to Menzies Creek that way - after all, we were so close! We could pretty much see the town. And so . . . we pushed on. First on the outside of the fence, and then, when it got too steep and scrambly, over the fence and into the paddock we went.



We weren't too happy about this turn of events. Particularly as some of the fences looked like they might have been electric (I tested them with a blade of grass, they weren't on), and then even more so when a young bull started running at us! Luckily it was just curious, not angry, but we scarpered into the next paddock! By this stage we were well and truly concerned, and wondered how lost we might actually get.

If you look at the map linked at the start of the post, you will see that Trumpington Grove is meant to curve west to meet Belgrave Gembrook Rd, and we hoped that there would be some kind of bridge or ford across the creek at that point. There wasn't. There was, instead, a large, wet swamp. We considered our options. We could wade across the swamp? After all, it was the very end of our walk, so we wouldn't be uncomfortable for long. It didn't seem appealing, though, so we decided to follow the creek around for a bit to see if there was an easier crossing point. After all, we'd trespassed so much by now - in for a penny, in for a pound as they say. And there was! There was a little land-bridge across the creek at the end of the paddock! All we had to do was go through the sheep pen (making sure to close the gates properly behind us) and up through the back yard of the house onto the main road. The sheep were quite happy to see us, and one in particular seemed keen to nibble on whatever we might have to offer (our packs, for instance). We patted them, took a deep breath, and started to climb out of the creek.

Someone came running out of the house, so we called out our apologies and checked with them that we were actually in Menzies Creek (at this point we were just happy to see a person). She said yes, but also said we were lucky she was home, because their dog was "very unfriendly", and who knows what it might have done to us if she'd not been around. She let us hop over the gate and onto the verge of the road, and as soon as we'd gone she let her dog go. It snarled and barked and was generally ferocious, and we were very glad that everything had turned out OK. (I should point out that I had a long-lasting, very intense fear of dogs after being "chased and mauled" - more like "played with and licked on the face" - by one that was bigger than me when I was about three or four years old, and I would actually rather face a bull than a large dog!)

Needless to say, there are no pictures of this.

We power-walked up the road and scampered into Menzies Creek station just as Puffing Billy arrived. A kindly conductor took pity on us when we asked him if we could buy a ticket from him (I think you're meant to pre-purchase - well, now we know) and pointed us to a carriage.





It was with some relief that we sat back to admire the view as the train pulled out of the station. I'd been a bit worried about the trestle bridge, because I remember being terrified when we went over it when I was a kid! However, I think I'd used up my worry for the day! The bridge seemed quite small and solid this time round!





At Belgrave, we noticed our friend's car at her mum's house and we dropped in to say hi. We were treated to cups of tea and slices of delicious home-made lemon tart, and we stayed for an hour or so, patting the cats and chatting. Then E drove us home, and we sang Beatles songs all along the freeway. It was an unexpected and lovely end to our trip.

A+, would walk again. But not along Trumpington Grove!