Outdoor Edibles » Small Plant

Cattail

Wild Edible — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:54:37 +0000

Cattails is easily recognizable, and commonly grows in full sun areas at the margins of lakes, streams, canals, rivers, and brackish water. Cattails have strap-like, pointed leaves, with parallel veins, resemble other wetland plants, but last year’s stalks provide positive identification, which are white, dense, furry, cigar-shaped overwintered seed heads standing atop very long, stout stalks, even as the young shoots first emerge in early spring. When in doubt, look for the dead cattail plants from the previous year which should be profuse in any enduring stand.

Every part of the Cattail has uses. It ís easy to harvest, very tasty, and highly nutritious. It was a major staple for the American Indians, who found it in such great supply, they didn’t need to cultivate it.

Before the flower forms, the shoots prized as “Cossackís asparagus” in Russia are fantastic. You can peel and eat them raw or cooked well into the summer. When the cattail is immature and still green, you can boil the female portion and eat it like corn on the cob, and in the spring, pollen from the male flowers is often abundant, bright yellow and can be used as a flour substitute.

The rhizome or root, which can be harvest year round (although it is often very tough), is a very rich source of starch. Pulverizing the rhizome is the easiest way to remove the starch and use it as a flour.

Other uses for the Cattail include: Using the dried leaves for weaving material, the cottony seeds can be used for pillow stuffing and insulation, the fluff makes an excellent tinder, the dried Cattails make an effective insect repellent when burned, the stems can be soaked in cold water to remove the starch and then the water rendered to make a starch paste, and the leaves, which swell when wet, can be used for caulking cracks in barrels and boats.

Burdock

Wild Edible — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:53:12 +0000

Burdock Seed Pod

The Burdock is thistle plant native to the Old World, although several species have been widely introduced in temperate climates worldwide. It is often found in disturbed habitats, roadsides, vacant lots, and fields. It is a major wild food source and has long-stalked wedge-shaped, wavy edged, toothless leaves that looks much like Rhubarb. Burdock leaves are roughly two feet long by one foot across and are white and fuzzy underneath (Unlike other similar species, like Rhubarb, which has poisonous leaves).

Burdock Leaf

During the first and the beginning of the second year of growth, the basal rosette of leaves stays close to the ground, then, in mid-spring of the second year, a central flower stalk arises to a height of two to nine feet, topped by flowers that resemble purple or pink shaving brushes. If Burdock is discovered in early spring, before the flowers appear, you can harvest both the immature flower stalk and the large, deep, beige taproot.

You can eat the flower stalk raw or prepare it by first peeling and parboiling it for one minute to get rid of the bitterness, then cooking for another 10 to 15 minutes for tenderness as desired. Burdock flower stalks taste much like Artichoke hearts, and can be used in any Artichoke heart recipe as a substitute.

Flowering Burdock Plant

The Burdock roots can be eaten raw or prepared by boiling, baking, or first thoroughly scrubbing the root with a coarse copper scouring pad, then slicing it thin and simmering or sautéing for 20 minutes until tender. It has a hearty flavor reminiscent of potatoes, although it is related to artichokes.

The fruits that follow the flowers are brown globular burrs that stick to clothing and virtually anything else. The Burdock typically lives for two years, making it a biennial, then, after dispersing its seeds, the plant dies.

Folk herbalists consider dried burdock to be a diuretic, diaphoretic, and a blood purifying agent. The seeds of A. lappa are used in traditional Chinese medicine, under the name niupangzi. Burdock is a traditional medicinal herb that is used for many ailments. Burdock root oil extract, also called Bur oil, is popular in Europe as a scalp treatment applied to improve hair strength, shine and body, help reverse scalp conditions such as dandruff, and combat hair loss.

Burdock Flower

A liquid made from the roots will help to produce sweating and increase urination. Dry the root, simmer it in water, strain the liquid, and then drink the strained liquid. Use the fiber from the dried stalk to weave cordage.

Incidentally, the invention of Velcro is attributed to Burdock’s influence. In the early 1940′s, a Swiss inventor became curious about the seeds that had attached themselves to his clothes and his dog’s fur. When he examined them under a microscope, he found the familiar hook-and-loop system that the seeds use to hitchhike on passing animals, and realized that the same approach could be used to join other things together as well.

Black Eyed Susan

Wild Edible — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:49:36 +0000

Black Eyed Susan

The Black Eyed Susan is an easily recognizable plant native to most of North America. It most often grows in moist thickets or fields. It can reach a height of around 3 feet, and has alternate, mostly basal leaves 4 to 8 inches long, covered by coarse hair. The Black Eyed Susan flowers from June to October. The familiar yellow ray florets circling a brown or black, domed center, makes it a plant that is easily distinguished.

The roots but not seedheads of the Black Eyed Susan can be used much like the related Purple Coneflower. It is an astringent used as in a warm infusion as a wash for sores and swellings.

Black Eyed Susan

The Ojibwa used it as a poultice for snake bites and to make an infusion for treating colds and worms in children. The plant is diuretic and was used by the Menominee and Potawatomi. Juice from the roots had been used as drops for earaches. The spring greens can be cooked and eaten.

Wild Carrot

Wild Edible — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:53:33 +0000

Wild Carrot Plant

The Wild Carrot, otherwise known as Queen Anne’s Lace or Bird’s Nest, is a common plant in the Parsley Family. It’s most distinctive features are the roots, which resemble and smell like carrots, and the flat-topped umbel of white flowers. It is most typically found in dry fields. It grows to 1 to 3 feet in height and has a slightly hairy stem.

The edible root tastes quite a bit like a carrot, and the first year roots have the most flavor. There are other similar species, some of which are deadly poisonous, therefore it is critical to correctly identify this plant before consuming it.

Like the cultivated carrot, the wild carrot root is edible while young, but the wild carrot will quickly becomes too woody to consume with age. Incidentally, its use for the purpose of birth control was first described by Hippocrates over 2,000 years ago in the form of a teaspoon of crushed seeds.

Wild Carrot Flower

Similar species include:

Water Hemlocks (Cicuta) – DEADLY POISONOUS
Fool’s Parsley (Aethusa cynapium) – poisonous
Hemlock Parsley (Conioselinum chinense)
Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum) – DEADLY POISONOUS
Caraway (Carum carvi)
Other members of the Parsley Family

Dandelion

Wild Edible — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:36:44 +0000

This plant can be used as a potherb, in salad, and as a coffee substitute. Young leaves can be picked in early spring before the plant has flowered to add to salads, it can also be used in replace of spinach. The leaves should be boiled in two waters to rid bitterness. The roots can be ground to make a bitter coffee, and eaten for survival during a famine. Dandelion greens also have a tremendous amount of Vitamin A (25 times that of tomato juice and 50 times that of asparagus).

Acorns

Wild Edible — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:30:51 +0000

Acorns are found on oak trees. Oak trees can be identified by the five to eight lobes on each side of their alternate leaves, which turn from yellow to brown in the fall, the bark, which is deeply grooved and grayish in color, and of course, the acorns. Oak trees commonly grow in both hemispheres and flourish in temperate climates. The most common oak, the Live Oak, unfortunately produces the least desirable acorns, mostly because of the difficulty in removing the meat from the shells and the bitter taste. Followed by Red Oaks, White Oaks produce the least bitter nuts, however, even these will need the tannins leached from their acorns. Tannins in acorns are not only bitter, but eating an excessive amount of acorns high in tannic acid can lead to kidney failure.

Tannins can be leached out of the acorns by placing the shelled nuts in a mesh bag, then submersing them in running water for several weeks. A quicker, more modern method would be to grind them into a coarse flour (blenders and food processors work well) then use them like coffee grounds and repeatedly run them through a coffee maker until they no longer taste bitter. Hot water greatly assists in extracing the tannins, so just the acorn flour, any filter, and some hot water will do the trick.

Asparagus

Wild Edible — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:54:38 +0000

Asparagus grows in temperate regions throughout the world, often found in fields, old homesteads, backroads, and along fences. In the spring, the Asparagus plant resembles a cluster of green fingers. The mature plant resembles a small tree (roughly 4 feet tall), and has fernlike, wispy foliage and red berries (berries could be poisonous, DON’T EAT). Its flowers are small and greenish in color. There are several species that have sharp, thorn-like structures.

The best time to harvest Asparagus is in the early spring before the leaves form. Typically, the easiest way to find Asparagus shoots is to locate a mature plant, which is often taller than the surrounding grass and easy to identify, then searching around the base of it for the short, thick, grass-colored shoots.

You can eat Asparagus raw, however, it may cause nausea or diarrhea. Steaming or boiling them for 10 to 15 minutes is often best. In addition, the fleshy roots are a good source of starch and may be harvested any time of the year.

Arrowroot

Wild Edible — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:52:35 +0000

The arrowroot a plant that thrives in a moist to wet habitat, and is found worldwide in temperate zones and in the tropics. It has arrow-shaped leaves that are approximately 1 foot long and 4 inches wide, few white flowers, and potato-like tubers most often found in mud. The branced stems grow up to 6 feet tall. The jointed, light yellow rhizome roots are typically harvested after one year of growth. The Arrowroot is primarily harvested for its rich, high quality starch. You can simply boil the rootstock and eat it as a vegetable, or harvest the starch by first, soaking the roots in water, which makes their tough, fibrous covering easier to peel off. Once peeled, the remaining starchy tissue is then beaten into a pulp. The pulp is rinsed with water many times to separate the starch from the residual fiber. The liquid pulp is allowed to dry; the powder that remains is starch.

Care should be taken not to confuse this plant with the similar looking Arum, which also sometimes grows in the same environment. The most sure way to tell them apart is the leaves, which in the Arrowroot have parallel venation in each of the 3 lobes. The Arum has pinnate veins in the 3 lobes.