Elder locally has many different names. Bush and berries are quite well known. But regularly someone heard sometimes elder is toxic. Is that right?

The branches have a soft marrow, so the wood can be used for whistles and blowpipes. Twigs and leaves repel moles and aphids. Of blossom we can make lemonade, wine, tea and fritters. The ripe berries deliver us sweets and (cough) syrup, jams, fruit juice, wine and elderberry gin.
The berries are slightly toxic by sambunigrin, which rendered harmless by boiling. But the berries of the elderberry herb are toxic. So still be a little careful.

The common species here

vlierThe (black)elder(berry) (Sambucus nigra) with black berries is the most common. The leaves are dark green and are cross-wise with each other. The top consists of 5-7 short-stemmed leaves that have a sharply serrated edge. The pith is white. (A naturally occurring variety of the common elder, the Cut-Leaved Elder (Sambucus nigra var. Laciniata), has deeply cut leaves.)

The red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) grows in the colder parts of the northern hemisphere (here in South Limburg and Achterhoek) and has not black but bright red berries. The inflorescences contain 3 to 6 seeds. He is smaller than the common elder. The inflorescences with in April-May yellow-white flowers are rather bunches than screens. The leaves are narrow with a pointed top. The edges are roughly serrated. The berries have a laxative effect. The raw seeds in the berries are poisonous. The pith colors cinnamon.

The dwarf elderberry (Sambucus ebulus) is a rare species that is found on calcareous soils in arable and forest edges. It is a perennial that dies in the autumn and regrows in spring weather. The stems therefore never become woody branches. This shrub is at most one and a half meters. The leaves have seven to eleven parts, and the shrub blooms a bit later (July and August) than regular Black Elderberry. All parts are (more)poisonous (then  elder).

Scientists have identified a chemical compound in elderberries that immediately immobilizes the flu virus.

Elderberry extract can relieve flu symptoms and shorten the duration of the disease.

With preventive intake during the flu season, the phytochemicals in elderberries would prevent the virus from entering or attaching to our healthy cells and causing the virus to multiply. Proteins that ensure viral attachment and access to host cells would be blocked. Already infected cells would be stimulated to coordinate a more efficient response.

Many -even annoying- weeds are edible. You do not need to sow them, and still find them in abundance.
Make stew, use them in salads, soups, pesto, omelets, quiche, pizza, etc.
Some weeds as nettle and dandelion is widely known to be suitable for consumption. Others are often surprising discoveries.

Edible does not necessarily mean good. But tastes differ. Are chicory, syringes, spinach, radishes ... a delicacy, or rather bweuk ....? Great, here is some stuff ...

Basically, you can eat the stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) and small nettle (Urtica urens) also raw if you roll up the leaves frequently to break the fire hairs. A risky and time consuming task. So rather (use gloves) put them briefly in boiling water. Use the terminal bud and the (four) upper leaves. The other leaves are also edible, but some older and tougher. And you will find there is more than enough. Fits well in pesto, cheese and bread.
Nettle seeds contain 10% oil. They can be dryed and pressed. Fibers are useful for muslin.
The leaves and flowers of all kinds are edible. Including non stinging Deadnettles (Lamium) and purple (Lamium purpureum), white (album L.), spotted (L. maculatum) and the yellow archangel (L. galeobdolon).

duizendknoopJapanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica, synonym: Polygonum cuspidatum) is an invasive species that is now rampant here. Goats, cattle and pigs feast of it. And for us it is edible. They taste like rhubarb, a vegetable from the same plant family. And you can also prepare so. Harvest shoots between 15 and 25 centimeters. The slightly thicker you better peel first.

Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) is a strong, rampant groundcover, with beautiful round leaves and purple flowers. If you find one, you will find many. Little bitter, but good on a cheese sandwich. Formerly used instead of hops to brew beer. (Like gale.)

Hairy (Galinsoga quadriradiata) and bald galinsoga (G. parviflora) can be found almost everywhere, especially in the garden. Young leaves and stems (before flowering) taste well in soups, stew, salad and as spinach.

Sorrel (Rumex, multiple species, most of which are edible) has large, oblong leaves, like spinach to use in salads, quiche, soups and sauces. A famous dish made with sorrel (Rumex acetosa) is eel in green sauce.

Bulrush or cattail (Typha latifolia L.) grows along the waterfront, recognizable by the reed cigars. Young shoots of bulrush have inside a white stem that is even raw edible. The rhizomes (underwater) are very nutritious. Harvest only in clean water. Wash and heat the roots (due to possible bacteria). The starchy inside you can eat after cooking or baking.
Young buds of the bulrush, you can eat like asparagus. The pollen of the flower is used as flour.
Seeds can also be eaten (burn off the fluffy part , dry or roast the seeds).

The young shoots of the cleavers (Galium aparine), you can eat after a short dip in boiling water to remove the adhesive strength of the leaves.  With the roasted seeds you can make coffee. And tea from the leaves and stems. (Also useful as a cheese starter and to clean.)

The Romans used to eat common mallow (Malva sylvestris and M. neglecta, now a common roadside plant) as a vegetable: braising or steaming. Seeds, seed pods and flowers are also edible.
Of silverweed (Potentilla anserina) you can dig out the roots and eat them.

Plantain (Plantago media ruige-, narrower P. lanceolata and larger P. major) is raw edible and contains many vitamins. It can be used in stead of lettuce or spinach. The seeds may be ground into powder and added to flour in order to serve as a flour.

Angelica (Angelica archangelica) has sweet stems and leaves. The stem is used as candied fruit (also in cakes, puddings, jam and liqueur ..). Fresh leaf and stem may be harvested in the spring and summer before flowering. You can also dry them. Just like the seeds.
If the plant is cultivated for the roots you can cut away flowering stems so the nutrients go as much as possible to the root system. Harvesting the roots is done in the autumn of the second year.
Sweet essential oil is extracted by steam distillation from the roots or from the fruits and seeds as the basis for perfume and liqueur (Vermouth).

Edible as spinach or lettuce: the goosefoot family (Chenopodium) lambsquarters (Ch. album) and Good King Henry (Ch. bonus henricus.) (Even (flour  of) the seeds). Also saltbush (Atriplex): orache (A. hortenis).

Chickweed (Stellaria media) is an excellent edible ground cover.
Elder: see edible ornamental plants.
Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) has edible leaves, flowers, seeds and roots.
Bindweed (Calystegia sepium) and field bindweed (C. arvensis) have edible leaf, flower, seed and root (washing and steaming).
Sow thistle (Sonchus) use the young leaves, the yellow flowers of gorse.
Evening primrose (Oenothera Biennis) has edible roots, leaves, seeds and flowers.
Young leaves of tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) are traditionally in Diest baked in pancakes.
Of redshank (Persicaria maculosa) the leaves are used like spinach, or in quiche.

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinalis): roast the root for coffee and eat young leaves as lettuce (possibly bleaching). Flowers are used to make (before seed production) marmalade. The stem is toxic.
Ripe rowan (Sorbus aucuparia L.) is edible. Also suitable for coffee.
Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) is coming soon after the winter. Young leaves and flower buds are usable.
(Butterbur (Petasites hybridus) is toxic.)
From common hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) the cooked roots would be edible. The young leaves and shoots are edible. Not to be confused with giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum), which can cause burning blisters! (The young shoots and leaves are still harmless.)

Lots of seeds of berries and fruit are poisonous. Degradability and accumulation of the poison are important, and the dose. This also applies to the toxic potatoes and tomatoes we eat a lot and often. Cooking helps.
You can best due to parasites first heat all plant parts from the water before you eat them.

Just pick which you are sure that it is edible. Otherwise, prefer yaking a photograph of a plant for determination. Learn to identify (and read) well. Use reliable and recent sources. Base your knollage never just a photo. Nor on one single source on the web (anyone can publish anything on it.)

Need for more seed ??

Some common ornamental plants are edible. They are usually not put on the menu, because we do not know that they are food. Just because we have made a separation between vegetable garden and ornamental. And now usually only have an ornamental garden. However there were formerly known flowers in and around the garden. As in the typical English cottage garden. And you see now, by the influence of permaculture, often even vegetables in the ornamental garden. This merger is also called 'edible garden'.

Edible does not necessarily mean good. But tastes differ. Chicory, syringes, spinach, radishes ... what one sees as a delicacy, is for others rather dirty.

mahonieObvious plants and flowers that are grown in any ornamental garden are of course some edible flowers and herbs. But also many plants from the garden bringing color and shape in the ornamental garden, the large flowers and fruits of twining plants like squash and others, curly endive, eggplant, tomato, purple broccoli, artichoke (Cynara scolymus), cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) .... Cardoon has a large, oblong leaf, which is also very deeply incised.
Actually, there are no unsightly plants or vegetables.

But if we start looking for real 'ornamentals' which are edible we find a nice list too.

That rose petals are suitable for tea is a little bit known. They may also go in salads. The hips are rich in vitamin C and you can make jam with them. However, even the hard seeds in them are surprisingly useful. (For erzats coffee.)

The purple magnolia in my front garden not only has beautiful flowers, they are also edible. A hearty, thick, little chicory-like petal.

Of yew everything is toxic, except the bright red pulp of the berry appearance. Yew is also toxic to pets and livestock. So give them enough food, so that they are not tempted (or given the opportunity) to nibble on it.

Of hawthorn, there are about 200 species. The Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna is the most common, and has one pit. The midland hawthorn Crataegus laevigata) has usually 2 or 3. Hawthorn is often used to make thorn hedges. Not only the young leaves and the blossoms are edible, even the corny, red currant (processed into jam, syrup, chutney). They are sweeter after frost (or freezing). There are varieties with larger and sweeter berries (e.g. Quebec hawthorn (Crataegus submollis, Canadian fruit hawthorn), Altai mountain thorn (Crataegus wattiana, Kyrgyz hawthorn fruit)). 

In parts of Great Britain, the young leaf is known as 'bread and cheese', which was greatly nibbled by children and the less fortunate. Much earlier, just after the winter (February), this was the first new, edible green and therefore often a lifesaver. That is why our ancestors worshiped hawthorn.

Mahogany (Berberis aquifolium or Mahonia aquifolium) is an evergreen shrub with yellow flowers and pointed leaves. The root and bark are poisonous. The mahogany berrie is edible. Remove the seeds, because they are slightly toxic. A child must have eaten 50 (acid) berries to be sick. If the kernel is not chewed, they will disappear without damage to the stool. The juice of this berry is also used for the color of red wine.

Many berries are of course edible: blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, Amelanchier (Amelanchier), the red blueberry or cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), Goji berry (Lycium), sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) ...

Of Solomon's seal (polygonatum commutatum) you can eat the young shoots in spring as a kind of asparagus (also family). Harvest them when they are about 30 cm long. The berries are not edible but even toxic.
The berries of the false Solomon's seal (Smilacena racemosa) are edible (like the young shoots). This plant also has ornate white flower panicles in May / June and beautiful yellow leaves in the autumn.

You can here, just like in Japan (Urui or Oobagibooshi) also eat hostas. Young shoots like asparagus (same family). After the summer, you better get cooking the leaves. The flower is edible too.

Ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria, bischop’s goutweed) is a perennial with creeping underground rhizome shoots which easy break down and are difficult to remove. It is a beautiful ground cover that is also sold as an ornamental plant. And is in the top three of the most annoying weeds. The leaf stalk has three leaves at the top and 2x2 lower sheets. Keep picking green leaves until the plant is exhausted, seems to help to get rid of it. Especially at the end of the season, when food is stored in the rhizome to survive. So think it over before planting them (possibly in a pot).
The Romans already used the herb as a vegetable (braising, browning, pesto, salad, tea, soup, stew).

Suppress ground elder (UK) or bishop's goutweed (USA) (Aegopodium podagraria) with Geranium macrorrhizum.

The usury weed can be successfully suppressed by planting Geranium macrorrhizum in the same place.

Remove as many weeds as possible (mow and remove as many rhizomes as possible) before planting the geranium. (There is also a purple version.) Eventually, put some goutweed in a pesto pot. The remaining rhizomes are displaced by the geranium. Yellow dead nettle helps even faster but is a tough usury.

 


The young leaves of columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris) go in early spring (April, May) in the lettuce. The flowers are edible. They sow themselves smoothly into the garden.
Tree Spinach (Chenopodium giganteum) is up to 2.5 meters high. The young leaves are delicious in salad. Cooked like spinach.
Bergamot (Monarda didyma) is an edible ornamental plant! Flowers and leaves fit in salads, garnishes, tea, syrup and liqueur.
The young leaves and tops of the Purple Emperor (sedum telephium) fit also in lettuce (and are useful in wounds).

Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) is one of the rare fern species known to be safe to eat them. The young shoots are called because of their shape 'fiddleheads’. You need a minimum of 15 minutes of cooking, otherwise you can get stomachache.

The common salsify or oyster plant (Tragopogon porrifolius) is also called oat root and vegetarian oyster. The roots are a delicacy. They look like black salsify. Beautiful purple morning flowers are also edible. The large brown seed pods too.

Fuchsia ( +100 species) berries are soft edible and decorative. They are harvested when they are very dark purple. The flowers are edible. The leaves can be used for tea. (Black paint is made from the wood). Fuchsia magellanica is the hardiest species.

The berries of yellow dogwood (Cornus mas) are processed into jellies, compotes, juice, jam and wine.
Chinese or Japanese dogwood (Cornus kousa) you can see in many parks and gardens. Strawberry-like fruit can deliver delicious jams.

The yellow, fragrant fruits of Japanese Quince (Chaenomeles japonica, Ch. Species) are very suitable for making juice and jam. Remove the seeds, which contain traces of (toxic) prussic acid glycosides and give a bitter taste.

Young leaf of white clover (Trifolium repens) is edible before the plant flowers. The flowers can be used in fresh lettuce as a garnish or in soups. Of dried flowers you can make tea. (Also used in bread.)

Bladder campion or maidenstears (Silence inflata) are in Italy sold as vegetable seed (stridolo). Here they grow also in the wild. In early spring, the shoots (and leaves, possibly bleached) edible untill the stem flowers.

The lablab or hyacinth bean (Dolichos lablab purpurea) is a climber (and green manure): roots, leaves, flowers and (immature) beans are edible.
Flowers raw or steamed. The starchy roots steamed or grilled.
Raw ripe and dry beans are poisonous (trypsin inhibitor and cyanogenic glycosides). The pods of young, immature and multicolored beans are soft boiled at least 10 minutes in which at least two times the water is changed.

The fruits of the evergreen strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo 'Rubra') are edible. Un-edo means eat one, to avoid stomach pain.
Blue Sausage Fruits (Decaisnea fargesii, 'Dead Man's Fingers') are edible. The seeds you eat raw, the skins can be stir-fryed.

Marigolds are used in salads and teas (Tagetes lucidus, T. tenuifolia 'orange gem', T. tenuifolia 'Lemon Gem', ..) Leaf, flower and buds are edible.
There are many species of amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus). They have an edible leaf and seed and sowing easily themselves.
Carnation (Lactuca alpina) is a wild plant with edible flowers.
The Bergamot (Monarda didyma) also belongs to the edible herbs.
Borage (Starflower) has edible flowers.
The yellow flowers of forsythia (F. suspena) and broom (Cytisus scoparius) are also edible.
Honesty (Lunaria annua) has purple, edible flowers (April-May), before the 'silver' medals.
Opium poppy (Papaver sp.) has an edible leaf, flower and seed, like the common poppy (Papaver rhoeas).
The ordinary, real daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare, 60 cm high, perennial) has white edible flowers with yellow heart. Also, young leaves are edible. That includes the little sister: daisy (Bellis perennis).
Common salsify or oyster plant (oat root, Tragopogon porrifolius) has nice, soft purple flowers and an edible root.
Primrose (Primula) can be used as a garnish in salads, cakes and pancakes.
Turkish Rocket (Bunias orientalis) is perennial in the garden, as are some other edible plants.

Of mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum, Tropaeolum tuberosum) can be eaten anything: leaves, flowers, tubers (10-15 cm). They have a high content of isothiocyanates (also known as mustard oil), a very strong peppery taste like radish or mustard. Cooking eliminates the cyanide and improves the taste.

Dahlia surprises: the whole plant is edible, root, leaf, flower. The tubers were originally eaten by the Aztecs as potatoes. They called them 'Acocotli' or 'cocoxochitl. They need to cook long (30 to 50 min).
Dahlias are not hardy. You can dig up the tubers in autumn, wrap them in newspaper and store them frost-free until spring.

The thickened roots and flowers of runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) are edible. Pods also, but they have a tough, parchment-like membrane. The beans can also de dryed.

All components of the locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) are poisonous, but the locust blossoms are still eaten. Strikethrough flour and fry lightly.

Do you know any more appetizing ornamentals? Let us know.

Houseplants are exotic plants that usually do not tolerate frost, but can survive in the house in a pot. They will also remain a lot smaller than their counterparts in open ground and in a climate where they have evolved. Some of them are edible, or have edible fruit. For enthusiasts so sometimes worth a try.

Around (the juice of) Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis (Miller)) is a whole industry created with care and nutritional supplements. The juice can be used as a wound agent in (burn) wounds and sunburn. It is extracted from the cut off leaves, to collect the juice and let it dry in the air. From the bottom part is thicker resin harvested. From the higher part a gel. There is a list of medicinal properties attributed to it.
The plant has a laxative effect. The skin is very tough and difficult to digest. You can better first steam, boil or bake the leaves before you eat them.

Coffee, tea and cocoa are massively imported to make a drink. They are to grow as a houseplant. (Caffeinated plants do not grow here, so we have some surrogate (or import).)
Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica) is the most widely grown coffee. After three or four years you can harvest coffee berries.
Also suitable are canephora Coffea Robusta, Coffea arabica and Coffea arabica 'Catura' that remains smaller. Coffea arabica 'nana' is a compact dwarf variety and therefore even more suitable as a houseplant.

The tea plant (Camellia sinensis) should not be too wet. You reap the leathery leaves. Here unsuccessful due to lack of sun.

Cacao beans (Theobroma cacao) as a raw material for chocolate is in fruits (with a refreshing pulp) that grow throughout the year at the trunk of the cacao tree. The plant nees heat, moisture, fertile soil and shade.

Ginger is a spice extracted from the rhizome of Zingiber officinale. From a piece of rhizome you can grow a new plant. It’s about the root, use preferably a long flat tray, because ginger grows horizontally.

The dried inner bark of 1.5-year-old shoots of the cinnamon tree (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) can be ground to cinnamon.

The leaves of the curry tree (Murraya koenigii) are (fresh) used to make curries.

Capsicum chinense 'Bhut Jolokia is the hottest pepper in the world.

Eucalyptus gunnii could also be a houseplant. Of leaf essential oil is extracted, mostly known and used for the respiratory tract.

kamerCitroengrasLemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) is an aromatic herb to be cooked or stewed in dishes, and is removed before eating. Get in the spring also the old stalks away. The plant is frost-free.

Lemon is generally propagated by cuttings. From a (peeled) pit you get a plant, but if there come flowers, it takes at least 10 years. But it's still a nice house plant. You can also try other citrus fruits (tangerine, grapefruit, lime). Fruits ripen from autumn to next spring, but are here barely edible.

After eating the miracle berrie (synsepalum dulcificum) sour and bitter things taste deliciously sweet. Lemon juice then tastes like sweet lemonade.

Other (room) plants with edible fruits

Annona conica has yellow, cone-shaped fruit, the annona edulis yellow-green fruit with white edible flesh and Annona squamosa or sweetsop has scaly fruit with white, sweet flesh with a texture like yogurt.
At sour cucumber tree grow the green juicy and tart fruit on the stem of this tropical Averrhoa bilimbi.

Peanut butter plant (Bunchosia argentea) has red-orange fruits that taste as peanut butter.
The whitish-yellow noni fruit (Morinda citrifolia Noni) are known from the noni juice that would be very healthy.

Sweet and sour sea grapes (Coccoloba uvifera) grow in bunches and color red when ripe.

Musa x paradisiaca (a natural hybrid between M. acuminata and M. balbisiana) produces banana.
Musa bauensis is a very rare species that is only discovered in 2002 on Borneo. The few white inflorescence is followed by bright yellow bananas.

The small remaining winged passionflower (Passiflora alata) has winged stems, red-purple flowers and bright orange passion fruit. The red passionflower (P. auranti) remains small.
Giant Passion (P. quadrangularis) with purple flowers is the largest. They can grow to 15 meters per year. The sweet fruits can be 4 kg heavy.
Also Passiflora ambigua Injo is a big one. Oenocarpus bataua Patawa is a tropical palm tree in the Amazon with purple fruits that taste like sweet chocolate and oil similar to olive oil.

Some plants that you can keep indoors here provide edible seeds.

Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) has pods with sweet-sour pulp that contains many sugars, vitamin B and calcium.

Rice (Oryza sativa) grows in a container on a damp, sunny spot indoors or in a greenhouse.

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) grows as potato under the ground, on the stems of flowers. You see that nicely in a glass jar.

The somewhat toxic and bitter Candlenut (Aleurites moluccana Kemiri) is popped for use (as a binder in sauce ed.). The nuts are very oily. They can burn like a candle. The candle nuts are then tied together.

From the seeds of the little creeper Sacha Inchi (Plukenetia volubilis) oil is pressed full of omega fatty acids and vitamins A and E.

Valuable harvests you should not expect. But it is a nice hobby.

Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a fast grower that here can become max. 10 (instead of 70)meter high. The leaves are very thick and heavy. The essential oil is distilled at low pressure from freshly picked leaves. From 30 kg is gained about 1 kg of oil. Medical use is not for everyone safe (babies!). Some species are poisonous. Of some species is said they are (virtually) hardy.
Eucalyptus 'debeuzevillei' niphophila Eucalyptus and Eucalyptus species are the hardest.
Archeri Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus gunnii 'Divaricata' perriniana eucalyptus, Eucalyptus and Eucalyptus parvifolia neglecta are almost completely hardy species. Protect them in winter.
Eucalyptus gunnii Silver Tropfen is also kept as a houseplant.
To pluck the leaves, the trees can be pollarded.

In the garden and around the house, I try to be quite practical and pragmatic. It may be beautiful, but preferably also edible. The maple in the front yard I have given to a lover (although the leaves can be fried) to put a beautiful flowering cherry tree in place. I've no regrets of this yet.
Ornamental shrubs have largely been replaced by a Amelanchier, low stem cherry tree, thornless blackberries and gooseberries.

Lavender can stay. I also have some tansy put between. Part of the pachysandra is replaced by clover (also edible and used in Ireland in bread), but that does not remain with green leaves all year, so get there other weeds. And a part of the periwinkle has been replaced by wild strawberries. In between I plant every year some sunflower and maize. All useful and / or edible.

Examples of other edible nearly perennial  or self-sowing plants are:
Anthemis arvensis (Chamomile)
Bellis Perennis (Daisy)
Borago officinalis (Borage)
Calendula (Marigold)
Hemerocallis (Daylily)
Monarda didyma (bergamot)
Stellaria media (chickweed)
Tagetes (tenuifolia 'Lemon Gem' (Tagetes)
Taraxacum officinale (Dandelion)
Tropaeolum majus (Nasturtium, Indian cress)
Viola odorata (Sweet violet)

Interesting groundcovers that produce something edible are purslane, parsley, potatoes ... but remain just as clover that is not permanent covering the soil to prevent the (many) advocating other plants.
Good ground cover protects the soil as much as possible against heat, sunlight, wind, heavy rain, cold and weeds. They prevent erosion and drying out of the soil and keep the soil and life therein healthy.
They are low, long-term (or even sowing on) and densely leafy. Like classic groundcover they have some years to dominate. And then again it is quicly too much, or even a pest.

If they shopuld also be edible, this is a bonus. Examples of edible ground cover:

Fragaria vesca (Wild Strawberry)bodemb bosaardbeiGalium odoratum (Woodruff)
Pulmonaria officinalis (Lungwort)
Sedum acre (Stonecrop)
Thymus vulgaris (Thyme)
Ramsons (Allium ursinum)
Several different bells (Campanula) have edible flowers of C. glomerata (clustered bellflower), C. rapunculoides (field bellflower), C. cochleariifolia, C. versicolor, C. fenestrellata, C. punctata, C. and C. takesimana porscharsyana.
Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) can be very invasive. Rather try to keep it under control. It was formerly also (instead of hops, which has also edible shoots) used as a bitter substance to brew beer. But it can also be used in salads, on bread and in soups and savory dishes.

I sow or plant a little of what I would like to have, the other part it is a matter of selective weeding, and just leave what you want to keep. Or pick what you want to serve.