Wild Winnipeg: See the feast of edible weeds growing in the West End

In the back lanes, parking lots and abandoned yards of Winnipeg, a durable and diverse community of edible weeds is thriving.

To Joel Penner, a timelapse filmmaker and leader of interpretive plant walks, the weeds are beautiful, in a nuanced way. They're tenacious and sometimes tasty, but they're often invasive species. They're a living legacy of waves of immigration, but some aretied up in complicated colonial history.

"It gives you an insight into how humanity is part of the web of life and how we do our own thing, but intentionally or unintentionally, we spread life around," Penner said.

"For me, that's like a microcosm into how life functions as a whole. When I see weeds, I see big truths about life in general being displayed."

Penner has been leading a variety of interpretive plant walks in Winnipeg for the past few years. This year, his theme is edible plants or, more specifically, edible weeds.

From his starting point at St. Matthews Anglican Church, at the corner of St. Matthews and Maryland, Penner planned an hour-long circuit through the back lanes of the West End.

His route passes roughly 30 different species, but he says what grows varies based on the area, the year and the season.

"You can think that you know about an area of the city that you've done walks in before, but there are always these new things that are surprising and fascinating," he said.

One of his favourites is lamb's quarters, a close relative of quinoa he says was once cultivated on a large scale by Indigenous Peoples on the east coast of North America. Its leaves can be used like any leafy green and have a buttery flavour, he said.

Penner's tours come with an important disclaimer, he says. Although many edible plants grow in city limits, he warns that inexperienced foragers should be cautious about consuming what they find.

As a rule of thumb, he says you shouldn't eat what you find in the city, due to potential contamination and the fact some plants could be harmful.

Instead, take what you learn and harvest somewhere you know is safe and clean, he said, andconsult an experienced forager or reputable resource to learn about safe ways to eat what you find and then wash everything thoroughly.

The fact that fresh, edible plants grow in the city but potential pollution makes eatingthem unwiseis "incredibly sad," he said.

It's easy to feel pessimistic when learning about humans' impacts on the planet, he said, including climate change or industrial agriculture.

That's not what his tours are about, though.

"I find that understandably, a great understanding of those issues can often lead to a sense of cynicism or despair, rightly so," he said.

"But I think that learning about the visual beauty of plants and also the concepts associated with foraging helps to bring a sense of joy, in terms of seeing beauty in the midst of depressing realities."

Other plants on his tour include silverweed a silver-backed leafy plant with blossoms like tiny buttercups and pineapple weed, a prolific plant that smells uncannily like pineapple if you rub its small yellow flowers between your fingers. The leaves of both plants can be made into tea, he said.

Penner said his interest in plants grew from his long-time passion for film and photography. He started taking photos of garden plants, then weeds, in the West End, where he grew up. Since then, his film work has been shared in festivals and was included in a National Geographic project featuring Will Smith.

He said sharing his love for plants was a natural progression from his love for art.

"For me, photography and film and art the personal aspect of your own story with those things is important, but to me, it's equally important to share those experiences with other people."

Penner says he wants to build appreciation for the diversity and beauty in plants that are usually seen as undesirable.

Even invasive species, which he says can wreak havoc on ecosystems, shouldn't be understood in a simplistic way, he said.

"I want to do these walks to combat the notion that natural beauty can only be found in secluded, pristine areasand also challenging the human-nature dichotomy, I guess," he said.

"A lot of people think that people are bad, and nature is good, maybe. But I think the reality is a lot more complicated than that."