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Blossoming elderberries are a common sight locally now. Photo by Green Deane.

The deadly water hemlock flower is umbrella shaped and is composed of smaller umbrellas. Photo by Green Deane

Want to find elderberries later on? Look for the blossoms today. Locally elderberries can blossom and fruit any time of year, buy they favor the spring. In damp places, look for shrubs about 10 feet high with large white blossoms on top.Those clusters are comprised of hundreds of small five-petal flowers. Important: the cluster is called a flat-top. It is NOT umbrella shaped. The toxic water hemlock likes the same conditions as the elderberry. It’s blossoms are also five-petaled. However, the blossom is shaped like an umbrella and is comprised of smaller umbrellas. It is deadly and there is no antidote.

Partridgeberry has two dimples where twin blossoms were. Photo by Green Deane

It is the season  for partridgeberries. While they can be found locally they are more a cooler climate species. I used to find them occasionally in Gainesville Fl at Boulware Springs before a hurricane wiped out their habitat. I also saw them often in western North Carolina in the area of Boone. Botanically Michella repens, the species has been used for food and as a diuretic and for the pain associated with menstrual cramps and child birth. M. repens is a vine that does not climb. It does make an excellent ground cover. The berry is favored by the ruffed grouse hence the name Partridgeberry.

Mexican poppy likes dry ground such as railroad tracks. generally considered toxic. Photo by Green Deane.

No, it’s not edible. Depending on the weather I receive numerous emails wanting me to identify a yellow- or white-blossomed extremely prickly plant (right).  It’s almost always Argemone mexicana, the Mexican Poppy. Some years they bloom as early as Christmas or can still be blossoming in May. The species is found in dry areas in much of eastern North America avoiding some north mid-west states and northern New England. Highly toxic, the Mexican Poppy tastes bad and is so well-armed that accidental poisonings amongst man or beast are few. It is a plant that does not want to be eaten. However people have tried to use its seeds for cooking oil resulting in severe edema (water retention.) Herbalists, however, use the plant extensively (which brings up the importance of knowing what you’re doing.)  Toxicity reportedly occurs only when large quantities are ingested and the plant might have primitive uses in treating malaria. In one study it helped three quarters of the patients but did not completely get rid of the parasitic load. The most common places to see the very prickly plant is beside roads and railroad tracks.

Undeveloped seeds in the Norfolk Pine cone. Photo by Green Deane

The Bunya Bunya and Norfolk Pine are closely related. Neither look good in landscaping though the Norfolk Pine is far more common than the Bunya Buyna locally. They both awkwardly stand out. Unlike cones of the Bunya Bunya, which one finds regularly, Norfolk pine cones are more rare. And like their relative they, too, have edible seeds. During a class in Port Charlotte we saw an immature Norfolk Pine cone. The undeveloped seeds were intensely pine flavored.   The Bunya Bunya fruits about every three years. One sees Norfolk Pines regularly but not their cones. Hopefully this tree will drop some dryer more mature edible cones in August which is also about when the champagne mangos in the area ripen (and rot on the ground.)

Foraging classes are held rain or shine, heat or cold. Photo by Nermina Krenata

FORAGING CLASSES: The rainy weather is supposed to hold off until after foraging classes this weekend. 

Saturday, April 20th, Blanchard Park,  2451 Dean Rd, Union Park, FL 32817, meet beside the tennis courts, 9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday, April 21st, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL, meet at the dog park. 9 a.m. to noon.

Saturday, April 27th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. 9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday, April 28th, Colby-Alderman Park: 1099 Massachusetts Street, Cassadaga. Fla. 32706. meet at the bathrooms, 9 a.m. to noon. 

Saturday, May 4th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park. 9 to noon. 

Sunday, May 5th, Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. Meet at the picnic tables next to the pump house. 9 a.m. to noon.

For more information on these classes, to prepay or sign up go here. 

Green Deane Forum

Tired of Facebook and want to identify a plant? The Green Dean Forum is up and running again. Have you come to dislike Facebook, then join us on the forum. Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food. 

You get the USB, not the key.

172-video USB would be a good end of spring present and is now $99. My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  Most of the 172 USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page. That will take you to an order form. 

Finally, a physical copy of the book.

Now in its second printing is EatTheWeeds, the book. It has 275 plants, 367 pages, index, nutrition charts and color photos. It’s available in many locations including Amazon.  Most of the entries include a nutritional profile.  It can also be ordered through AdventureKeen Publishing.

This is weekly newsletter #596. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page.

To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Allium canadense also called Meadow Garlic, the blue blossoms are spiderwort (also edible.) Photo by Green Deane

Wild Garlic usually cloves in April making it easier to spot. Photo by Green Deane

It’s April and locally that means wild garlic month. Allium canadense, starts its annual cycle in December. For several months is looks like grass with a small onion bulb. Then approaching April it puts three or more cloves on top making it quite distinct. One does not find this species often but when you do it is usually prolific. We marveled over them last week during a foraging class at Eagle Lake in Largo. They can be found in several locations near Gainesville, and a few east of Orlando. Email me if you want more specific locations. (GreenDeane@gmail.com)

The cloves can be used like commercial garlic (as can the rest of the plant.) Or they can be used like seeds to grow more garlic. The species like sunny damp spots (roadside ditches is a favored location.) The onion bulb on the bottom end is often about six inches deep in the soil. Further north in the South there is allium carolinianum which is actually native to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, western China, and Mongolia not the carolinas. It is far taller around two feet and has smaller cloves. It is also a prime example of why plant name’s can or cannot be changed. As it is native to western Asia and not the Carolinanas, the specie name cannot be changed because the region is wrong. There has to be a botanical reason to change a name. Pinus palustris has the same problem. Palustris means it likes to grow in swamps whereas it prefers dry soil. Just because the location is wrong the name can’t be changed. You can watch my video on wild garlic here.

These prime Ringless Honey Mushrooms are cespitose, all growing out of one spot. Photo by Green Deane

Maybe it’s about time to make a prediction. Locally we had several inches of chilly rain.  The ground temperature has not greatly warmed up from winter, nights are still cool. It is April. Those are acceptable conditions for a spring flush of edible Ringless Honey Mushroom. They don’t do it every April but the conditions might be right this year. Ground temperature and rain directly affect fungi production. Cool rain and cool ground in April equals Ringless Honey Mushrooms. Warm rain and warm ground in May/June equals Chanterelles.  

Ringless Honey Mushrooms have a good texture and taste. Photo by Green Deane

“Honeys” come with some conditions and warnings. Not all people can eat them. I know at least four folks for whom Honeys give severe gastro-intestinal distress, to put it mildly. This includes cooking them twice such as parboiling them first then frying. So the first time you try Honeys eat only a small amount. Next is method of preparation. Some people can’t eat them just fried, they have to parboil them first then fry them. I just fry them but much longer than store-bought button mushrooms. And parts…. most folks eat just young caps. They use the stems for flavoring. Honeys, in my opinion, is a good stewing mushroom. They holds its flavor and texture in a wet medium though frying the caps is my most common means of cooking them. Once they are cooked then I add other ingredients to the pan. I have a video about them  here  and an article. 

The Eastern Coral Bean is easy to spot this time of year. Photo by Green Denne

Also blossoming this time of year is the Eastern Coral Bean, sometimes called the Cherokee Bean. What is odd about this plant is the edible flowers produce toxic beans.  So we do not eat the red and black beans. A few of the red blossoms are edible raw — with precautions — but they are usually boiled then mixed with other foods notably scrambled eggs. When you boil the blossoms they turn light green. The distinctive uterine shape of the leaves makes the shrub easy to identify. Young leaves are edible boiled but are marginal fare. Like Pawpaws they prefer dry, sunny places. A few raw red blossoms seem okay but if eaten in larger amounts they can be mind altering and approaching dangerous. Boiled they are fine. (Juice from the shrub’s stems, by the way, has been used to treat scorpion stings and the toxic beans have a chemical that is close in structure to the alkaloid curare which can cause breathing paralysis.)  You can see my video about the species here or read more about the Eastern Coral Bean here. 

Marlberries aren’t too edible. Photo by Green Deane

Marlberries and I don’t meet too often, about once or twice a year and then usually while I’m conducting a class so I don’t have the time to get acquainted better. There is also a certain lack of motivation because even at its best marlberry is not a great trailside nibble. A complicating headache is there are several malberries of varying quality. They are also related to the invasive species Coral Berry, Ardisia crenata, which has been implicated in cattle poisoning. Reportedly found mid-Florida and south I have found Marlberries in Dreher Park in West Palm Beach, LaStrange Preserve in Ft. Pierce, and Emerson Point near Sarasota.  Around the same time and in the same habitat you find Marlberries you can also see Rapanea punctata, Colicwood, one of those mystery pants one finds in wet woods this time of year. It looks like a drab cross between a mangrove and a beautyberry and used to be called Myrsine guianensis. Colicwood’s small yellow blossoms and black fruit grow directly on the branches, helping you identify it. There’s not a whole lot of literature on the species so the berries are probably not edible. As it is called “Colicwood” suggest some medicinal uses. To read more about the Marlberry and its strange relatives go here.

Foraging classes are held rain, shine, hot or cold. Photo by Nermina Krenata

Foraging classes: Steady weather prompts more foraging classes:

Saturday, April 13th, Red Bug Slough 5200 S. Beneva Road, Sarasota. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the parking lot.

Sunday, April 14th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Meet at Ganyard Road and Bayshore. 9 a.m. to noon.

Saturday, April 20th, Blanchard Park,  2451 Dean Rd, Union Park, FL 32817, meet beside the tennis courts, 9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday, April 21st, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL, meet at the dog park. 9 a.m. to noon.

Saturday, April 27th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. 9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday, April 28th, Colby-Alderman Park: 1099 Massachusetts Street, Cassadaga. Fla. 32706. meet at the bathrooms, 9 a.m. to noon. 

Saturday, May 4th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park. 9 to noon. 

Sunday, May 5th, Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. Meet at the picnic tables next to the pump house. 9 a.m. to noon.

For more information on these classes, to prepay or sign up go here. 

Pineapple Guava blossoms are always attractive. Photo by Green Deane

Also starting to blossom is the Pineapple guava. Perhaps no ornamental has been championed as much as the Pineapple Guava, aka Feijoa,  Acca sellowiana, Feijoa sellowiana. However the perfect shrub for many places never really caught on. There could be several reasons. It probably didn’t help that the Strawberry Guava is a severe invasive species in some locations.  The shrub also does not get showy. You have to hunt for the extroverted blossoms. While the entire blossom is edible most people only eat the petals. Five or six months from now they will be dark green fruit that stay green as they ripen. They just get softer. The shrub is easy to identify when in blossom. To read more about both guavas, go here.

Green Deane Forum

Want to identify a plant? The Green Dean Forum is up and running again. Have you come to dislike Facebook, then join us on the forum. Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food. 

You get the USB, not the key.

172-video USB would be a good end of spring present and is now $99. My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  Most of the 172 USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page. That will take you to an order form. 

Finally, a physical copy of the book.

Now in its second printing is EatTheWeeds, the book. It has 275 plants, 367 pages, index, nutrition charts and color photos. It’s available in many locations including Amazon.  Most of the entries include a nutritional profile.  It can also be ordered through AdventureKeen Publishing.

This is weekly newsletter #596. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page.

To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Wisteria in DeLand. The species is usually invasive. Photo by Green Deane

The weather may be chilly still it’s a hot time of year for foraging as many wild fruit species ripen this month. A species  blossoming now and rarely covered is Wisteria. The blossoms are edible raw or cooked but the rest of the plant is toxic (though that varies from species to species.) With some two seeds can kill a child. While most Wisteria is considered Asian there is a native species in the Americas, W. frutescens. You can read about Wisteria here.  

The non-aromatic Cherokee Rose is not native. Photo by Green Deane

Another Asian species sighted recently is one that was once considered native, the Cherokee Rose, which is actually an invasive. Botanically Rosa laevigata (Rosa is from the Greek ῥόδον (rhódon) meaning rose and laevitata or (Levis) is Dead Latin for  smooth or polished. It’s a “climbing shrub” as is Smilax and Nicker Bean. Cherokee Rose is a large nearly odorless white bloomer from the low mountains of China and Vietnam. It was carried to the Americas in 1780 and was reportedly cultivated by the Cherokee thus the name. In 1916 at the urging of womens’ clubs it was made the state flower of Georgia and still is. It  produces huge rose hips to two-inches long though you have to burn bristles off to use them. And as one might presume the rugged vining shrub is covered with mean prickles. Handle carefully. Sugar from the plant has been used to make wine.

“Deer Mushrooms” are edible. Photo by Green Deane

An edible mushroom taking advantage of the weather is the Deer Mushroom, in this case Pluteus petasatus. These are bunching mushrooms usually growing on old hardwood remains, either logs, stumps, roots or debris. As often is the case the botanical name is more confusing than enlightening. Pluteus  can mean shed or penthouse. Petasatus is Dead Latin for wearing a cap (meaning) ready for a journey. A relative is called P. cervinus the latter means deer or stag because of that species’ cap color. It is also sometimes called the Deer Mushroom or Fawn Mushroom. These two are edible but are viewed as marginal. One reason is the cap is mostly gills with little cap material. Sometimes it can have a radish flavor. Spore print is salmon to pink. 

Foraging classes are held rain or shine, heat or cold. Photo by Nermina Krenata

Foraging classes: Many species, especially wild fruits are coming into season. 

Saturday, April 6th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park. 9 to noon.

Sunday, April 7th, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. meet just north of the Museum, 9 a.m. to noon. 

Saturday, April 13th, Red Bug Slough 5200 S. Beneva Road, Sarasota. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the parking lot.

Sunday, April 14th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Meet at Ganyard Rd and Bayshore. 9 a.m. to noon.

Saturday, April 20th, Blanchard Park,  2451 Dean Rd, Union Park, FL 32817, meet beside the tennis courts, 9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday, April 21st, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL, meet at the dog park. 9 a.m. to noon.

Saturday, April 27th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. 9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday, April 28th, Colby-Alderman Park: 1099 Massachusetts Street, Cassadaga. Fla. 32706. meet at the bathrooms, 9 a.m. to noon.

Saturday, May 4th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park. 9 to noon. 

For more information on these classes, to prepay or sign up go here. 

Mild in flavor Betony roots have a radish-like texture. Photo by Green Deane

Found this week, east of Tampa, Florida betony roots. Tasty raw, boiled or pickled, the roots are distinctive and easy to identify. While one can find them in lawns they also like sandy pastures with a thatch layer.  Millions of dollars are spent every year trying to poison these into submission. Why not eat them? You can read about Betony here. 

Green Deane Forum

Want to identify a plant? The Green Dean Forum is up and running again. Have you come to dislike Facebook, then join us on the forum. Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food. 

You get the USB, not the key.

172-video USB would be a good end of spring present and is now $99. My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  Most of the 172 USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page. That will take you to an order form. 

Finally, a physical copy of the book.

Now in its second printing is EatTheWeeds, the book. It has 275 plants, 367 pages, index, nutrition charts and color photos. It’s available in many locations including Amazon.  Most of the entries include a nutritional profile.  It can also be ordered through AdventureKeen Publishing.

This is weekly newsletter #595. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page.

To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Pawpaws are blossoming. Photo by Green Deane

Purple paw paw

Now is the time to find pawpaws locally. While the fruit won’t be ripe for months now is the time to spy the shrubs as they are in blossoms.  The shrubs are about five feet tall and have cream-colored magnolia-like blossoms. Find them in pastures and along fence lines. Livestock tend to leave them alone because the blossoms smell like carrion. We also have purple-blossom paw paws but they tend to be shorter and in palmetto scrubs. You can see my video here and read about them here. 

Mulberries resemble over-grown blackberries. Photo by Green Deane

Which tree has more life, the Mulberry or the Moringa? The latter will easily grow ten feet a year. But the mulberry refuses to die and they are starting to ripen now. One year I trimmed my Red Mulberry tree and used the stripped five-foot branches to prop up drooping branches on my nectarine tree. Undeterred the propping Mulberry branches took root and sprouted. So I potted them and gave them away. One still lives in a nearby town. As for the Moringa, it reseeded itself and I eventually had to coppice them to keep them in check. One odd thing about Moringa wood is that it is very fragile. You can easily break large branches by hand. My point is if you want a mulberry tree find a fruiting one and break off a branch now and stick it in the ground. It will grow. 

Mulberries can be used like blackberries.

Mulberries set fruit quickly and have a short season. From green to gone can be as short as six weeks. The fruit look like a long blackberry but sweeter (if ripe.) I know someone who tried eating young green fruit and raw leaves and said they had a mild mild-altering effect but also upset the stomach. Young leaves, however,  can be cooked and eaten without mind or gastric upset. There are various species and cultivars of mulberries and they all have edible ripe fruit. However, general opinions agree that the darker the fruit when ripe the better it tastes. In many areas there are “white” mulberries which really have pink fruit. They were wildly planted to provide basic material for the silk industry (silk worms eat mulberry leaves.) Cooked silk worms are edible but do not have a pleasing taste. You can read more about Mulberries here.

The Toxic Atamasco Lily. They can have all white blossoms as well. Photo by Green Deane

What are they? The first answer is they are NOT edible. The second is they are a threatened species. And the third answer is the toxic Atamasco lily, or Zephranthes atamasca. For a threatened species they are seen in a lot of lawns this time of year prompting many emails asking for an identification. These natives like wetlands but a well-watered lawn after seasonal rains will do nicely. The problem with the Atamasco/Rain Lily is that it resembles wild garlic before it blossoms (and even has a bulb!) However, it does not have the telltale garlic aroma. Remember if it smells like a garlic and looks like a garlic you can use it like a garlic. The Atamasco does not have any garlic aroma. It is not edible. All parts are poisonous. And while these in the picture have a pink tinge there are also all-white blossoms.

Foraging classes are held rain, shine, hot or cold. Photo by Nermina Krenata

Foraging classes: As the winter weather is easing we can schedule more foraging classes. 

Saturday, March 30th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. 9 a.m. to noon.

Saturday, April 6th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park. 9 to noon.

Sunday, April 7th, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. meet just north of the Museum, 9 a.m. to noon. 

Saturday, April 13th, Red Bug Slough 5200 S. Beneva Road, Sarasota. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the parking lot.

Sunday, April 14th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Meet at Ganyard Rd and Bayshore. 9 a.m. to noon.

Saturday, April 20th, Blanchard Park,  2451 Dean Rd, Union Park, FL 32817, meet beside the tennis courts, 9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday, April 21st, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL, meet at the dog park. 9 a.m. to noon.

Saturday, April 27th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. 9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday, April 28th, Colby-Alderman Park: 1099 Massachusetts Street, Cassadaga. Fla. 32706. meet at the bathrooms, 9 a.m. to noon. 

For more information on these classes, to prepay or sign up go here. 

172-video USB would be a good end of spring present and is now $99. My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  Most of the 172 USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page. That will take you to an order form. 

Green Deane Forum

Want to identify a plant? The Green Dean Forum is up and running again. Have you come to dislike Facbook, then join us on the form. Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food. 

Stinging nettles boiling.

Noticed this week, was a proliferation of stinging nettles. Cooking nettles eliminates their sting plus they are high in calcium and potassium.  I harvest them wearing gloves, stripping the leaves from the top of the stem to the bottom. I also rinse them as the stinging hairs can cling to sand. They take very little cooking. They are good with butter or balsamic vinegar.

Finally, a physical copy of the book.

Now in its second printing is EatTheWeeds, the book. It has 275 plants, 367 pages, index, nutrition charts and color photos. It’s available in many locations including Amazon.  Most of the entries include a nutritional profile.  It can also be ordered through AdventureKeen Publishing.

This is weekly newsletter #594. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page.

To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Chickasaw Plum fruit won’t ripen until June or so, but it is easy to identify the shrub now. Photo by Green Deane

Wild Plums can be as sweet as cultivated plums. Photo by Green Deane

This is the time of year to easily locate a wild edible and an invasive non-edible ornamental.The edible is Chickasaw Plum, the non edible is Bradford Pear. Both can be found with small white blossoms this time of year and no leaves, thus they standout in the landscape.  The plum creates a tasty fruit that is usually ripe by June. The pear produces a woody acorn size fruit that is too tough to eat.  The plum is usually short, the pear tall, the plum has sweet-smelling blossom and a few small thorns, the pear has foul-smelling blossoms and many large thorns. You can watch my video here. You can read about the Chickasaw plum here.

Deer Mushrooms like wood and cool weather. Photo by Green Deane

Deer Mushrooms are edible but not too well liked. They are not difficult to identify down to the genus. And while edible, they are not sought out because of unremarkable taste and not much body (the caps are mostly gills.) They are better than what you can buy in the supermarket but not as good as many other wild mushrooms. My neighbor had a large Live Oak removed last fall and this spring the roots are sprouting mushrooms, in this case Pluteus cervinus or P. petastus. Necessary  microscopic spores analysis requires a microscope stronger than the two I own. However, P. cervinus prefers whole pieces of hardwood in the woodlands, P. petasatus can grow on wood chips in suburbia. The name comes from the fawn-colored patch on top of the cap. Its free gills are whitish at first and become pinkish. The spore print color is pink/salmon. 

Eastern Coral Beans are easy to find this time of year. Photo by Green Deane

Soon to blossom this time of year is the Eastern Coral Bean, sometimes called the Cherokee Bean. What is odd about this plant is the edible flowers produce toxic beans.  So we do not eat the red and black beans. A few of the red blossoms are edible raw — with precautions — but they are usually boiled then mixed with other foods notably scrambled eggs. When you cook the blossoms they turn light green. The distinctive shape of the leaves makes the shrub easy to identify. Young leaves are edible cooked but are marginal fare. Like Pawpaws they prefer dry, sunny places. A few raw red blossoms seem okay but if eaten in larger amounts they can be mind altering and approaching dangerous. Boiled they are fine. (Juice from the shrub’s stems, by the way, has been used to treat scorpion stings and the toxic beans have a chemical that is close to the alkaoid curare which can cause breathing paralysis.)  You can see my video about the species here or read more about the Eastern Coral Bean here. 

Watercress/Wintercress grew in a ditch behind an apartment complex I lived in near Sanford, Florida, some 35 years ago. How did the Eurasian native Nasturtium officinale, get there? It came to North America with the Europeans, found a good home, and stayed. Alabama became the epicenter of cultivating it then later Central Florida. Sanford, by the way, is named for Henry Sanford one of Lincoln’s ambassadors. He is called “General Sanford” but the gentleman never served in the military. He got the title for donating a cannon to the Union effort. Sanford was, however, big on big farming and for a few decades made the city of Sanford the big place to go in Central Florida not Orlando.

When President Calvin Coolidge came to Central Florida in 1929 it was to Sanford he went not little-ol’ backwater Orlando. The city of Sanford had everything: River, rails, road and Rollins college. But it lacked leadership giving Orlando a chance to make its mousey mark. Rollins moved to Winter Park. As Coolidge did so did watercress which is why it ended up in the ditch behind the apartment complex in Sanford. The entire area was truck farms and one of their winter crops was watercress. Peppery like nasturtiums it is edible raw or cooked but make sure you get it from wholesome water. Nasturtium by the way literally means “twisted nose.” Where I collect watercress to be eaten raw is about a half mile down stream from the Wekiva River boil (its main spring and headwater.) But there’s a lot of water hemlock around so I have to pick carefully. This time of year the river is mostly water hemlock. To read more about watercress go here. I have a video on watercress here. To read about the deadly Water Hemlock go here.  It i also found in Wickham Park were I have a class this Weekend. (See below) 

Marlberries aren’t too edible. Photo by Green Deane

Marlberries and I don’t meet too often, about once or twice a year and then usually while I’m conducting a class so I don’t have the time to get acquainted better. There is also a certain lack of motivation because even at its best marlberry is not a great trailside nibble. A complicating headache is there are several malberries of varying quality. They are also related to the invasive species Coral Berry, Ardisia crenata, which has been implicated in cattle poisoning. Reportedly found mid-Florida and south I have found Marlberries in Dreher Park in West Palm Beach, LaStrange Preserve in Ft. Pierce, and Emerson Point near Sarasota.  Around the same time and in the same habitat you find Marlberries you can also see Rapanea punctata, Colicwood, one of those mystery pants one finds in wet woods this time of year. It looks like a drab cross between a mangrove and a beautyberry and used to be called Myrsine guianensis. Colicwood’s small yellow blossoms and black fruit grow directly on the branches, helping you identify it. There’s not a whole lot of literature on the species so the berries are probably not edible. As it is called “Colicwood” suggest some medicinal uses. To read more about the Marlberry and its strange relatives go here.

Foraging classes are held rain, shine, hot or cold. Photo by Nermina Krenata

Foraging Classes: With moderating weather, attending classes should be easier as we go into spring. 

Saturday, March 16th, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL, 9 a.m. to noon, meet at the dog park. 

Sunday, March 17th Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park. 9 am. to noon.

To read more about the classes, to pre-pay or sign up, go here. 

You get the USB, not the key.

172-video USB would be a good end of spring present and is now $99. My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  Most of the 172 USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page. That will take you to an order form. 

Green Deane Forum

Want to identify a plant? Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food. And let me add an apology regarding page access. We have been having computer and word presses issues, restricting site availability.

Finally, a physical copy of the book.

Now in its second printing is EatTheWeeds, the book. It has 275 plants, 367 pages, index, nutrition charts and color photos. It’s available in many locations including Amazon.  Most of the entries include a nutritional profile.  It can also be ordered through AdventureKeen Publishing.

This is weekly newsletter #591. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page.

To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Burnweed/Fireweed in blossom in front of cattails. Photo by Green Deane

Fireweed/Burnweed has a flavor chefs love. As professionals they think differently about flavors, textures and possible applications. With an impossible scientific name and strong aroma Fireweed is often over looked by the foraging community. Conversely the aroma is also a good identifying characteristic. As with several things in life tastes vary and many people enjoy the Fireweed raw or cooked. Forager emeritus Dick Deuerling used to say about wild plants that he only ate the good stuff and fireweed was not the good stuff. Closely related to the Dandelion, the Fireweed locally favors the late winter or early spring. Currently you can find Fireweed from a few inches high to a couple of feet. While they do not grow in colonies often several will grow near each other. Soon the older ones will put on green-yellow blossoms that barely open, another identifying characteristic. Of course in greens young and tender is usually preferable and this is particularly true with the Fireweed which grows rank as it ages. To read about fireweed go here.

Fruit of the Latex Strangler Vine. Photo by Green Deane

Another recent find was Latex Strangler Vine. At one time a bane of the citrus industry the lengthy vine grows edible fruit that is high in vitamin C.  It’s called “Strangler” because it can cover a citrus tree shading it out and killing it. The specie was “found” twice in Florida some twenty-five years apart in the last century. The state unsuccessfully spent millions trying to get rid of it  Look for it on fences and around current or old citrus groves. Decades ago when the weather was warmer the vine was common wherever there was citrus. Cooler weather has frozen it and citrus out on the north end of the state. I have seen Latex Strangler Vine in Ocala and near Gainesville but that’s the limit. In both cases the plants were under Live Oaks and in unmowed areas. It is quite common mid-state and south. The blossoms are edible off the vine. The raw leaves can also be eaten but are usually dipped in oil first. My article on the species is here. I also have a video on the species here. 

Foraging classes are held rain or shine, heat or cold. Photo by Nermina Krenata

Foraging Classes: The weather might be iffy this coming weekend for classes spanning both coasts. Classes are held in the rain, except for hurricanes.

Saturday, March 23rd, Red Bug Slough 5200 S. Beneva Road, Sarasota. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the parking lot.

Sunday, March 24th, Spruce Creek Park, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 32127, 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the pavilion.

For more information on these classes, to prepay or sign up go here. 

Clover prefers low nitrogen soil.

Clover is one of those wild edibles that is both overstated and understated. The overstatement is from writers who offer it as a great human food full of this and that to keep us healthy. The understated part is that it can harbor a fungus that inhibits clotting and somewhere around a half-a-cup of raw leaves can make you throw up. Individual experience, of course, can vary and there are several different species of clover with different characteristics. Pictured here is a nice little White Clover which is blossoming now mostly in lawns and athletic fields. A few leaves can be eaten raw. They are high in protein for a leaf. The blossom fresh or quickly dried can be used for tea. There is also Crimson, Red, Sweet and even Tick Clover.

Bacopa monnieri can have four or five petals.

Before I forget it’s time to write about Bacopa again. Actually there are six Bacopas locally, two common: Water Hyssop and Lemon Bacopa. They are quite different and perhaps it takes a trained botanical eye to appreciate their similarities which strike me as few. Perhaps their greatest difference is texture. Lemon Bacopa is soft, fuzzy, and crushes easily. It smells like limes not lemons. Water Hyssop is tough and shiny, resilient. Lemon Bacopa is aromatic and fruity in flavor, Water Hyssop is just pain bitter. Water Hyssop definitely can help with memory issues, Lemon Bacopa is more iffy on that score. One does not find Lemon Bacopa too often whereas Water Hyssop is nearly everywhere the soil is wet and sunny. (There are actually five Bacopas that look like the bitter one we want but four of them are rare. The one we want, Bacopa monnieri, by far the most common, has a single crease/line on the leaf.) I have found Lemon Bacopa only three times; two of them in the wet ruts of woods roads. There is also a lake near me that has a little growing near a boat ramp when the water level is just right. As my article speaks more towards Lemon Bacopa I will address Water Hyssop here. It basically stimulates the brain to make new neuronal connections, specifically in the hippocampus. It is anti-inflammatory and interacts with the dopamine and serotenergic systems. As you might expect growing new memory cells enough to notice takes time. So Bacopa has to be taken daily for at least three months. I have had several people tell me it has made significant difference in their lives. It does not work on all causes of memory problems but if it does work it does so dramatically. You can read about both Bacopas here. 

You get the USB, not the key.

172-video USB would be a good end of spring present and is now $99. My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  Most of the 172 USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page. That will take you to an order form. 

Want to identify a plant? Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food. Unfortunately this portion of my website has been disfunctional recently, efforts have been made to fix it.

Stinging nettles boiling.

Noticed this week, was a proliferation of stinging nettles. Cooking nettles eliminates their sting plus they are high in calcium and potassium.  I harvest them wearing gloves, stripping the leaves from the top of the stem to the bottom. I also rinse them as the stinging hairs can cling to sand. They take very little cooking. They are good with butter or balsamic vinegar.

Finally, a physical copy of the book.

Now in its second printing is EatTheWeeds, the book. It has 275 plants, 367 pages, index, nutrition charts and color photos. It’s available in many locations including Amazon.  Most of the entries include a nutritional profile.  It can also be ordered through AdventureKeen Publishing.

This is weekly newsletter #593. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page.

To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Smilax is a “climbing shrub” not a vine. Photo by Green Deane.

We’ve slipped into Smilax season. It’s easy to collect a handful of them now. This past week we saw them in warm Port Charlotte and in chilly Melbourne. More to the point young shoots are at their best this time of year. When we turn permanently warm  (summer) the shoots tend to be bitter and peppery, which goes away with cooking. Now is raw smilax time.

Smilax is considered by many the best springtime green. Photo by Green Deane

In Europe, where there is less resistance to eating wild food, we have the nutritional content of S.aspera leaves and shoots.  A hundred grams of them have 100 calories, 3.5 grams of protein, 0.95 grams of fat, 9.92 grams of carbohydrates, and 18.8 grams of fiber. Vitamin E is particularly high, 29.1 mg which is nearly 200% of your daily need. It also has 4.5 mg of beta-tocopherol. The mineral line up is: Calcium 353 mg, potassium 180 mg, magnesium 61.2 mg, zinc 213 mg, iron 1.66 mg, and manganese 0.551 mg. Several species tested negative for vitamin C. While we don’t often eat the berries they are edible when they look like raisins (of if you dehydrate plump black ones into raisins-like fruit.) Per 100 grams the fruit of S. herbacea have 8.3 grams of protein, 4 grams of fat and 6.4 grams of fiber.

The red berries of Smilax walteri. Photo by Green Deane

To my knowledge all smilax tips, berries and roots are edible. I eat the ripe berries of all the local species except one, S. walteri. I avoid S. walteri berries because they are red. I avoid them out of an abundance of caution, not on any evidence. There is a red-berried Smilax on Crete whose berries are eaten. Expert comments on respected sites say no smilax is toxic. My thinking is S. Walteri has red berries for some reason (which could be to attract specific seed eaters.) There are about 300 or more species in the genus Smilax and are found in the Eastern half of the United States and Canada, basically east of the Rockies. Fourteen species are found in the southern United States. It should be mentioned that early American settlers made a real root beer from the smilax. They would mix root pulp with molasses and parched corn then allowed it to ferment. One variation is to add sassafras root chips, which gives it more of the soft drink root beer flavor. Dr. Francis Porcher wrote during the Civil War in the 1860’s “The root is mixed with molasses and water in an open tub, a few seeds of parched corn or rice are added, and after a slight fermentation it is seasoned with sassafras.”

Loquats actually have a small amount of arsenic in them. Photo by Green Deane

While driving around have you seen a tree with large, dark green leaves and yellow fruit? It’s probably a Loquat which ripening fruit now. This past Week I picked 10 pounds of Loquats in less than an hour. That’s calorie positive. Rather than eating them outright I deseeded then dehydrated them. As plums change to prunes the dried Loquate change character but it is still tasty. I have also learned over the years that adding sulfur before drying does not stop the fruit from browning. You can dehydrate tart and sweet Loquats but you should avoid all green Loquats. Unripe fruit can be toxic especially for children. As long as the fruit is yellow to gold they are good. If you can detect any green hues the fruit is not ripe.

Two -year-old loquat wine. Photo by Green Deane

Loquats are not native but they have naturalized themselves and can be found throughout the region. How you eat the ripe fruit is something of a debate. I just break off the stem that holds them to the tree then eat, spitting out the seeds. You should try to not eat any seeds. An occasional seed is of no great harm but they generally are not considered edible though I have heard of folks roasting them then eating them. I do not recommend that. Some people also peel the fruit but I don’t. To dry them all I do is cut around the equator of a each fruit, take out the seeds (used later to make into Loquat Grappa.) Then dehydrate the fruit at about 130 F.  I also made loquat wine two years ago during COVID. It tastes similar to a dry semi-sweet sherry. You can read more about Loquats here.

My step-father, me and our dog “sister” 1958. Photo by Mae Lydia Putney

My step-father built the house we lived in and the horse and hay barns next door. As the building season is short in Maine this took several years. Thus the front yard was totally ignored until my mother demanded one spring that something intentional grow there. She had grass in mind. So my step-father took several wheelbarrows of chaff from the bottom of the hay barn and spread it on what would be the lawn. Within a few weeks it grew a huge crop of Wild Mustard. The second flush was Lamb’s Quarters, also called Fat Hen.

Which of a dozen Pig Weeds is it? Lambs quarters. Photo by Green Deane

One day not long after that a neighbor was visiting, a chicken farmer named William Gowen. As he left to walk home he ask my father if he could have a few Lamb’s Quarters. My step-father said he could. Mr. Gowen pulled up about eight five-foot high plants, hefted them over a shoulder, and happily carried them home to eat. Until then I had no idea they were edible. As Mr. Gowen was also a good gardener I am sure any Lamb’s Quarter that dared to grow in his garden also became dinner. I was reminded of him while on the way to my foraging class Sunday. Along the way I saw a lot of Lambs Quarters in several citrus groves. The name Lamb’s Quarters has nothing to do with lambs. It was a leafy green eaten some 1300 years ago on Lammas Quarter day (August 1st) in England (some say Scotland.) Lammas came from Loaf Mass, as the day was of religious significance. A loaf from newly harvested grain was made and taken to church and blessed. It is called Fat Hen because it supposedly was good to fatten hens. “Pigweed” is a common name for many different plants.

Foraging classes are held rain or shine, heat or cold. Photo by Nermina Krenata

Foraging Classes: No horrible weather in the forecast for the next two weeks.

Saturday, February 24th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. 9 a.m. to noon.  Meet at the bathrooms.

Sunday, February 25th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park. 9 a.m. to noon.

Saturday, March 2nd, George LeStrange Preserve, 4911 Ralls Road, Fort Pierce, FL, 34981, 9 a.m. to noon

Sunday, March 3rd, Red Bug Slough 5200 S. Beneva Road, Sarasota. 9 a.m. to noon. Construction is over at the park. Meet at the main entrance on Beneva.

To read more about the classes, to pre-pay or sign up, go here. 

You get the USB, not the key.

172-video USB would be a good end of spring present and is now $99. My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  Most of the 172 USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page. That will take you to an order form. 

Green Deane Forum

Want to identify a plant? Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food.

Finally, a physical copy of the book.

Now in print is EatTheWeeds, the book. It has 275 plants, 367 pages, index, nutrition charts and color photos. It’s available in many locations including Amazon.  Most of the entries include a nutritional profile.  It can also be ordered through AdventureKeen Publishing. To date it has sold about 8,000 copies.

This is weekly newsletter #589. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page.

To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Consuming Carolina Jasmine will make you sick. Handling it with cuts on your hand might also be toxic. Photo by Green Deane

Toxic Carolina jasmine(Gelsemium sempervirens) is tempting. Jasmine is a friendly name, and the blossoms are alluring. This relative of the Honeysuckles has a sweet poisonous sap and is a common killer of plant-eating dogs. Farm animals it has killed include cattle, goats and geese but is not toxic to deer. It has also has sickened children who consume its nectar. Alkaloids are found in all parts of the plant, especially in the flowers and roots. The alkaloids act on nerve endings causing paralysis, muscle weakness, and convulsions. At high doses the alkaloids act centrally on the nervous system against gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) causing convulsions and respiratory failure. Water Hemlock also kills by working against GABA.

Japanese Honeysuckle has edible nectar.

There’s no shortage of research on the native species. It has had some medicinal uses, particularly for mental issues as a nervous system relaxant. And it might have some anti-cancer activity. All parts of the plant are toxic. According to one scientific paper “It has been used in treatment of spasmodic disorders such as asthma and whooping cough. The plant has been used in hysteria, dysmenorrhea, chorea, pneumonia and bronchitis.” I have tasted the nectar at the base of one yellow blossom. As far as I could tell that had no significant effect on me. 

Invasive Cat’s Claw is not edible.

Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica, photo upper right) can also have yellowish blossoms but you will notice the tubular blossoms have Long stamens and and an inferior ovary. Japanese honeysuckle blossom nectar is edible. Carolina Jasmine also looks similar to Cat’s Claw (Dolichandra unguis-cati, photo at left) which is not edible and is toxic to parrots. The invasive species got its name from  claw-like thorns that grow on the stem. In Folk medicine it is use as an anti-inflammatory.  If the flowers are red-orange it is the native cross-vine Bignonia capreolata, also not edible. 

Stinging nettles with roots and dirt removed. Photo by Green Deane

Stinging nettles sting me badly, but I can eat them. If they sting me I get a bloody welt that takes weeks to heal. As I saw a patch of them this morning and collected a bunch for drying and future use in soups and stews. I wore motorcycle gloves — all I had — and got stung twice. Stinging Nettles have vitamin A, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. They also have protein and when cooked are very mild tasting similar to spinach but slightly rougher. From my book: “Calcium tops the nutrition list with 481 mg per 100 gram serving (which passes for 3.5 ounces.) Next is potassium at 334 mg, followed by phosphorus 71 mg and magnesium 57 mg. Vitamin A, as beta carotene, is at 2011 IU.There are traces of zinc, copper, manganese, selenium and some B3 and B6. In micrograms there’s 4178 mcg of the vision twins, Lutein+zeaxathin, and interestingly 498 mcg of Vitamin K, phylloquinone.” To learn more about the Heartleaf Nettle go here. For a video, here.

Can you eat red mangroves? If you had nothing else to eat, yes. For many people Red Mangroves are just a shoreline obstruction. But they are an emergency food, a source of salt, tea, even cattle fodder. At one time, some 70 years ago, the leaves were dried, powdered, and sold as a supplement.

Red Mangroves propagules cooked. Photo by Green Deane.

If you are inclined to eat them boil the seed pods (they really aren’t seed pods but for convenience let’s call these propagules seed pods.) Many folks write that they are bitter. I have not found that to be so. To me they are mealy, slightly dry and tasteless, like sandy grits perhaps, best mixed with something with a lot of flavor. I boil the pods, cool, cut them in half, scrape out the starchy inside, then boil or soak them again. A tea can be made from the leaves but it is recommended it be served with milk to bind with the high amount of tannin. Indeed, the leaves were once considered as the base material for human protein supplementation. However the high tannin content, 11.68%, made that prohibitive (in the 1950s.) And you can get salt off the leaves. You can read more about the red mangrove here.

Plantago rugulii is a large local plantago. Photo by Green Deane

Plantago Power: It was a dark and rainy … morning… and I was searching through the gloom along the road for a wild mustard/radish for my foraging class. It was cold. It was rainy. It was gray. Something caught my eye so I pulled Van Go over and headed towards a watery ditch.  Then I heard a baby cry. Seriously. The figure I thought was a bag lady with stuffed shopping cart was a bundled-up woman with a baby stroller waiting for a bus. Things look different in the dim drab of winter. And the plant I thought might be a mustard most certainly was not. It was a Plantago, the largest one I have ever seen. That was worth a picture and posting on the Green Deane Forum.  There one of our regular members, Josey, who has an eye for detail and a whole lot of knowledge, offered it as Plantago Rugelii rather than P. major. One difference is the P. rugelii has purple at the base of the petiole, P. major is white. Unlike P.major, which is from Europe, P. rugelii is native to North America. It is odd that we don’t hear more about it. You can read about it here and watch a video here.   

Foraging classes are held rain or shine, heat or cold. Photo by Nermina Krenata

Foraging Classes: Good weather is predicted for the upcoming weekend for foraging.

Saturday, February 17th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte, meet at the parking lot at Bayshore and Ganyard, 9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday, February 18th, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. 9 a.m. to noon, Meet at the “dog park”,

Saturday, February 24th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. 9 a.m. to noon.  Meet at the bathrooms.

Sunday, February 25th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park. 9 a.m. to noon.

To read more about the classes, to pre-pay or sign up, go here. 

You get the USB, not the key.

172-video USB would be a good end of spring present and is now $99. My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  Most of the 172 USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page. That will take you to an order form. 

Want to identify a plant? Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food.

Finally, a physical copy of the book.

Now in print is EatTheWeeds, the book. It has 275 plants, 367 pages, index, nutrition charts and color photos. It’s available in many locations including Amazon.  Most of the entries include a nutritional profile.  It can also be ordered through AdventureKeen Publishing.

This is weekly newsletter #587. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page.

To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Preparing swine cress for fermenting. Photo by Green Deane

Western Tansy Mustard in bloom.

An end of season activity now is fermenting members of the mustard family. The two available extremes are swine cress and western tansy mustard. Swine cress is strong flavored and western tansy mustard is extremely mild. A third member is the common mustard blossoming on roadsides now as well. Fermenting vegetables make them sour, and preserves them. I’m also fermenting some radishes and their tops (which are in the mustard group, too.) All members of the mustard family are edible. Several common vegetables have been bred from the wild mustard including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, kohlrabi and Brussels sprouts.

Jabuticaba fruit grows on the trunk and limbs of the tree.

In its native Brazil the Jabuticaba is by far the most popular fruit. The Dutch knew about it in 1658. Jabuticaba made it to California by 1904. It’s a common ornamental and there are many cultivars” Sabara, Paulista, Rajada, Branca, Ponhema, Rujada, Roxa, Sao Paulo, Coroa, Murta, and Mineira. Per 100 grams Plinia cauliflora fruit has 45.7 calories, 0.11 grams of protein, 0.08 grams of fiber, 0.01 grams of fat and 12.58 gams of carbohydrates. Vitamin A is absent but it has 22.7 mg of vitamin C which is about a third of your daily need. The B vitamins are B1 (thiamin) 0.02 mg, B2 (riboflavin) 0;02 mg, and B3 (niacin) 0.21 mg. Two minerals are reported: Calcium 6.3 mg and phosphorus 9.2 mg. It is also called Myrciaria cauliflora.

It’s a short tree planted in warm areas of North American and a common ornamental in Florida and the Gulf Coast. One is reported to sustain an 18F freeze and continued to thrive and fruit. Jabuticaba means “like turtle fat” referring to the fruit pulp, or, it means “tortoise place.” Take your pick.  Myrciaria is from the Greek myrike (μυρίκη) which was the  Greek name for the “tamarisk” a tree that is aromatic. In English it means Myrtle. Cauliflora means cauliflower-like. Plinia is Dead Latin for filled, full, rich, whole, perfect, well-equipped. You might remember from history Pliny the Elder and Younger. 

We’ve been nibbling the seasonal blossoms of the Eastern Redbud. Photo by Green Deane

Most trees in the Pea Family are toxic but not all of them. One of the edible ones is starting to blossom: The Eastern Redbud. The lanky tree is very easy to spot tis time of year because it has small pink blossoms and no leaves. Those small flowers — about the size of your fingernail — are important because there’s an ornamental tree with pink flowers also blossoming now that is not edible, the Pink Tabebuia. The Pink Tabebuia, however, has large blossoms about the same size as an Azalea blossom. The Eastern Redbud provides quite a few edibles: Tiny blossoms, young leaves, and pea pods. The Pink Tabebuia, T. heterophylla, does not have edible parts nor does two of its relatives, the Yellow Tabebuia, T. chrysotricha, and the Silver Trumpet Tree, T. caraiba. However, a fourth one in Florida, T. impetiginosa, or Purple Trumpet Tree, has seen its inner bark used as an herbal tea. Among those who have sipped and liked the tea was India’s Ghandi and Czar Nicholas II of Russia. You can read more about the Eastern Red Bud here, video here. 

Coquina are tasty but quite small.

Sometime instead finding answers they find you. As you know there are several articles on the EatTheWeeds website that are about edibles covered by the subtitle: And other things, too. That subtitle was intentionally added when the site went up some 20 years ago. There are a lot of things in the world to eat. Before Andrew Zimmern was traipsing around the globe for the Travel Channel eating untraditional food EatTheWeeds was writing about them. As one might expect that has caused a good amount of disagreeing mail. Many people keep as pets creatures that other people eat. Thus far, however, no one has complained about Coquina, a coastal clam that’s about the size of your fingernail. The tiny clams make an absolutely delicious green broth that I like to add to — I know it’s sacrilege —  instant potatoes and butter. One of the down sides is that the clams are so small getting the meat out of the shell is microscopic work. That is so frustrating as most of it is tossed away. However in Australia they figured out a commercial way of separating meat and shell. How that was done was something of a mystery until a post on the Green Deane Forum provided an answer. The cooked shells are vigorously stired. After that it is a matter of straining the shells from the meat. I’ve got to try that. You can read about Coquina here, and the crunchy Mole Crabs, here. A video on both of them is here. 

Foraging Classes: Our weather may be moderating though historically February is the worst winter month of the year.

Foraging classes are held rain or shine, heat or cold. Photo by Nermina Krenata

Saturday, February 10th, Blanchard Park,  2451 Dean Rd, Union Park, FL 32817, meet beside the tennis courts. 9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday, February 11th, Colby-Alderman Park: 1099 Massachusetts Street, Cassadaga. Fla. 32706, 9 a.m. to noon, meet at the bathroom.

Saturday, February 17th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte, meet at the parking lot at Bayshore and Ganyard, 9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday, February 18th, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. 9 a.m. to noon, Meet at the “dog park”,

Saturday, February 24th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. 9 a.m. to noon.  Meet at the bathrooms.

Sunday, February 25th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park. 9 a.m. to noon.

You get the USB, not the key.

172-video USB would be a good end of spring present and is now $99. My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  Most of the 172 USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page. That will take you to an order form. 

Want to identify a plant? Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food.

Finally, a physical copy of the book.

Now in print is EatTheWeeds, the book. It has 275 plants, 367 pages, index, nutrition charts and color photos. It’s available in many locations including Amazon.  Most of the entries include a nutritional profile.  It can also be ordered through AdventureKeen Publishing.

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