When foraging, you want to avoid places that may have been sprayed with herbicide or where the soil is otherwise likely to be polluted. Avoid busy road verges and industrial areas.
The beliefs of some interviewed in the research were that ‘women and children gather imifino and not men. Women do not belong near the kraal. That is where men gather. And that eating imifino makes men weak’. Imifinos picked by the kraal could have high levels of nitrogen from cattle manure which could in any case make them bitter and unfit to eat.
When picking imifino in the garden, don’t uproot the whole plant but harvest the young leaves along with your vegetables. Harvesting this free food doubles the benefits of your garden! Most species should be harvested before they start to flower. You can encourage new plants to grow around your vegetable plants by picking the younger leaves then letting the plants go to seed and scattering them by hand before removal.
The cultural Xhosa proverb:
“Umlibo wethanga awutsitywa ngumntwana ngakumbi ochamayo”
A child must not jump over the vine of a pumpkin, because the plant will wilt and the child will wet its bed. You must be careful when you walk in the garden – many valuable plants grow there.
