Nikki Brighton brings a special sparkle to the Midlands. She is a beloved resident of Howick (a place she believes is the centre of the universe), a “locavore”, an “invasivore”, a food activist, a writer, a teacher and the author of her latest book, Wild About Weeds: An Introduction to Uncultivated Food. The book is a product of her deeply-rooted love of and connection to nature, slow food living, foraging and their important interrelations. It is filled with recipes and information that take foraging to the next level, debunking the often negatively held beliefs about weeds, which are often dismissed as “poor people’s food”.
Nikki always loved plants, since she was a child, which included weeds. “I remember saying I wanted a garden full of weeds when I grew up just because they were pretty) – a statement greeted in horror by my aunt who was wandering around our garden with me.” Living on a farm for many years, she further developed her keen affinity for foliage and learnt much of what she knows about weeds from two Basotho women, Alina Mofokeng and Nombuizelo Mokhoakhoa, who lived on the same farm. Interestingly, weeds are commonly used in Lesotho and packed with nutrients.
Nikki’s new book grew from its germination as simple social media posts about edible weeds that she shared during the pandemic, encouraging people to connect with their immediate environment. “We also tried out new foods as access to our usual favourites was restricted. We can forage everywhere – on the edges of sports fields, at the back of a car park, on walks around the suburbs, at the beach, and on cultivated farmlands, she shares.
She also sowed the seeds for Wild About Weeds: An Introduction to Uncultivated Food through her Weed Walks and Wild Lunches that she has hosted for numerous years. These events focused on the identification of weeds, or uncultivated food, which cultivated people’s curiosity and expanded their palates beyond the known edible plants. “Humans now rely on just 15 plant species for 90% of their diet. This is crazy on many levels. Adding freely available uncultivated food increases one’s micronutrient intake enormously,” she shared.
Her wild-about-weeds attitude should not be mistaken as mere foliage folly but an earnest effort to raise awareness of our connection to nature and what is around us, immerse ourselves in it, lighten our load on the planet, and simultaneously help control the spread of more invasive weed varieties. We will leave you with a small taste of what Nikki shared: “It is utterly delightful to try a leaf and discover it delicious. Some of my favourite surprises have been red mallow, fleabane and slender celery. Every day is a taste adventure that is accessible to anyone.” So, we encourage you: go wild!
Words by Alicia Du Plessis
Opening image by Keran ElahÂ