The mallow family contains several plants we see growing wild. Common mallow is the one most easily found, and was growing all over my friends Adirondack farm. It seems to love disturbed soil and likes to grow along fences, barn walls, curbs, and other obstructions. Relatives include cotton, okra, hibiscus, and durian. The original marshmallows were made from a plant actually called marsh mallow by boiling pieces of the root of the plant in water, adding sugar and whipping. Then, the thick, white confection was dropped in spoon fulls onto waxed paper to dry into candy.

Common mallow, which is shown here, is also called cheeses because the small fruits that form in late summer resemble tiny wheels of cheese. These little cheese wheels can be eaten raw. They don't have a whole lot of flavor, but have a slight resemblance to okra. The leaves can be harvested and cooked like spinach. Mallow leaves are high in calcium and iron, and freeze well. Boil the leaves until wilted, drain, and freeze in large zip lock bags for later use. They have a thickening effect when added to soup (also showing the okra relation). The flowers are also edible, although they don't add much flavor, they are great for appearance. Both the flowers and the cheeses would make any salad look interesting.

I was reading that if you can harvest enough of the small cheeses, you can make old fashioned marshmallows from them like the roots of the large marsh mallow. Boil them in water to cover until the water gets thick. Drain the water out in a strainer into a second pot, and continue to heat adding sugar. Beat with a mixer until light and fluffy and drop onto waxed paper to cool. The remaining cheeses can be saved for dinner. You could add them to a rice dish, or anything else calling for cooked peas.