Duck's food was once used by farmers to feed ducks, now it sells for 10 yuan per jin as a high-calcium wild vegetable

Warm reminder

Hemu Report aims to share and popularize information about various plants and their uses, for reference only. If medicinal use is needed, it is recommended to consult a professional physician to avoid problems!

In rural areas there are all kinds of wild grasses, especially in spring and early summer, which is exactly the season when wild grasses grow. Whether in front of or behind rural houses, by roadsides, in farm fields, by the water, or in mountain forests, all kinds of different wild grasses can be seen everywhere. Most farmer friends are quite fond of these wild grasses; some can be eaten as wild vegetables, some can be used as herbal medicine, and some, even if people cannot eat them, can still be used to feed pigs, ducks and other poultry and livestock.

Below, the author will introduce to everyone one such wild grass, which was once used by farmer friends to feed ducks, yet today has become a first-class wild vegetable.

In the afternoon, the author went near the farm fields to help pull weeds. While the author was weeding, at the foot of a nearby mountain, several old farmer friends were digging up a kind of wild grass. The reason the author noticed these old farmer friends was that after digging up this wild grass, they did not throw it away as a weed, but put it into their back baskets. The author was very curious about what use these old farmer friends had for digging up this wild grass.

After asking the old farmer friends, the author learned that this wild grass is called "mountain lettuce", also known as "duck's food", "wild vegetable" and "earth lettuce".

Speaking of this wild grass, the old farmer friends laughed, because this wild grass is actually a very common wild grass in rural areas, mainly growing in farm fields, by roadsides and under mountain forests. In the past it was not welcomed by farmer friends, because its leaves grow rather oddly, like sawteeth, and it also grows near crop fields, so many farmer friends did not like it and often removed it as a harmful weed. However, because ducks really like to eat this wild grass, after removing it they would take it to feed the ducks, so it is also called "duck's food".

But today, mountain lettuce is not only able to feed ducks, it is also a first-class wild vegetable that people can eat. The author also checked some related information and found that the tender stems and leaves of mountain lettuce are not only edible, but also very high in nutritional value. According to records, every 100 grams of tender stems and leaves of mountain lettuce contains 4.88 mg carotene, 0.63 mg vitamin B2, 29 mg vitamin C, 2.25 g crude protein, 0.74 g crude fat, 2.62 g crude fiber, 700 mg calcium, 300 mg phosphorus and many other nutrients. In particular, its calcium content is very high, 10 to 70 times that of ordinary vegetables (corn calcium content 1 mg/100 g, tomato calcium content 10 mg/100 g), so it has also become a high-calcium wild vegetable among the people.

And mountain lettuce is not only rich in nutritional value, it also has medicinal value. The whole plant used as medicine has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, invigorating blood and removing stasis, and strengthening the stomach. It can be used to treat appendicitis, tonsillitis, sores and boils with swelling and toxin, indigestion from retained food, postpartum blood stasis and other symptoms. Therefore, eating mountain lettuce can also play a role in cooling the blood, reducing internal heat and strengthening the stomach, making it very suitable for eating in summer.

The old farmer friends said it is precisely because mountain lettuce has edible and medicinal value that it is now loved by people, and the reason they dig mountain lettuce at the foot of the mountain is to sell it. It is said that in the city it can sell for about 10 yuan per jin, and in the city it counts as a rare wild vegetable.

Dear friends, do you know about "mountain lettuce"? Have you eaten "mountain lettuce"? Welcome to leave a message and share.

Text/Hemu Report, images/Internet

If you like Hemu's articles, welcome to follow.