My oldest son is a forager; for a time he was a raw foodist which made me crazy, but that's another topic. He studied botany for years and each new place he lived gave him a whole new range of studies. He has lived everywhere from Texas to Saudi Arabia to Hawaii to Oregon and many places in between. When he spends time with us, he's often out in the nearby woods, scoping out the flora; there's not much to forage in our yard.
When I moved here, I wanted to learn about foraging. Heck, there is a farm literally right across the street from me that gives classes in this stuff! One of these days... I took a botany class years ago and we went on various field trips. We went to the Winkler Botanical Preserves in Alexandria VA, and the guide picked leaves and flowers off of plants and handed them to us to eat. I remember eating nasturtium petals.
That's funny because I was thinking of doing the same thing. Rather than using the ones that grow wild, I was going to buy some. I did some shopping but I never did buy any.
Are you saying that you can find the plantago plant in your grocery store ? It is basically considered a weed, and people mow it or weed eater it when they see it in the yard. We have some of the lance leaf plantago in the yard, too, so if this batch actually grows in the container, then I am going to transplant some of the other type, too. maybe even some dandelions, but they need a deeper container.
So, it is ! Since it grows almost everywhere, I wonder if those people ever sell any of it ? Plus, I think that what I find in my own yard and can just dig up and transplant is bound to be healthier than what someone ships to me.
Well, lettuce grows everywhere, too, although not generally wild, and people buy it all the time. You could probably grow lettuce, kale, and all kinds of other stuff year 'round in Alabama.
Great for drying and making tea. When I was in the mountains I harvested camas and bitterroots as well as dandelions. You may have done the same when in Idaho. I also harvested rose hips for making tea. The only thing I have down here is dandelions and camomile.
I occasionally teach a wild foods class and we have a wild foods dinner in the fall. Everyone brings a dish to pass. If not wild, it must be home grown. You are all invited My daughter and I always see a smorgasbord in every ditch along the road. My favorite edible is cattails the second week of June. For lymes disease, I have used first year teasel root gathered in July. I threw some Jerusalem artichokes into my 'mulch' pile so they grow wild. Favorite book: Stalking the wild Asparagus. It will teach you everything you need to know for the US plants.
Oh my, am I sore! I was weeding and replanting in the garden yesterday. I do not get down and up easily. I brought a kneeler but I still needed my cane to get up. I found muscles I didn't think I had anymore. Generally, I put down a weed barrier and don't weed too much. Not sure what happened. But it better not happen again! Lots of wild edibles: lambs quarters, purslane, amaranth...
Jerusalem artichokes happen to be a small splinter in my backside. Yvonne planted a few at the front of our lawn about 5 years ago and since then they’re all over the place which, when they are in the wrong place they get mowed down. Not a problem and the flowers are pretty around late September but……. the derned things reminded me that I had to clean out the gutters on the house because one day I looked up and saw a two footer growing in a gutter. Hmmmph! It’s a bad day when I have to decide whether to clean out or farm or weed eat the gutters.
That is very funny! I brought home four tubers home that I had BOUGHT in a natural food store in Vermont. I was so excited and careful and put them in my new stone bordered garden area. They quickly took over. I lamented to that fact and was adivsed to lay down a barrier, covering the whole garden for a season to kill all the chokes. Weed eating does not generally work BTW. They spread by tubers more than seeds. But maybe you could win some money on Funniest Home Videos weed eating your gutters? I was told by another to whom I recommended J A's that rototilling just makes them spread faster. But they are really good if you dig and clean the tubers and forget them in the fridge for a month or so till they get crispy and sweet. Unfortunately later I planted some lovely red monarda (bee balm), in their place, which took over the garden I replanted...
Yup, I know about the tubers. Yvonne dug up a bunch of the artichokes along with about a bushel of mint and gave them to our neighbor.
Gutters make ideal raised beds with minimal work. Put the weed eater away and get up there and harvest Yvuonne some artichokes for your dinner salad.