Search: ramps

Tallow plums ripen to yellow, and sweeten. Photo by Green Deane

Though they have been mentioned several times they deserved to be repeated again. Now is the time to look for the yellow fruit of the tallow plum ximenia americana. At our last class in Melbourne we saw hundreds for ripe fruit on more than a dozen shrubs.  Everyone had a good opportunity to study the species and taste the fruit.

Ripe fruit is is golden yellow, some time redish yellow. Photo by Green Deane

In some part of the world Tallow Plum leaves are prime giraffe food (so I suspect our deer like them. I have found a fawn waiting for mom near tallow plums.) Eating the leaves is iffy for humans as they contain come cyanide though after long boiling are said to be edible. (I am not that hungry though I do eat the ripe fruit.) The ripe fruit are often used as a replacement for lemons in cooking. The seed oil (ximenyinc acid) has been used cosmetically. The oil when blended with kerosene can be used as a biofuel. The species has long been used in traditional medicine for treating measles, malaria, skin infections, veneral  diseases, diarrhea, muscle cramps and lung abscesses. The fruit in excess is used to treat constipation. You can read more about it here. 

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

Storm dodging this week we start with a class Saturday in West Palm Beach where the Jambul tress should be fruiting. Sunday’s class will be a hybrid event. It will be held in Lake Mary at a favorite mushrooming site. Whether there will be mushroom is difficult to predict. It is also a location which has thousands of persimmon trees though persimmons are not ripe yet. This walk is exactly a mile long. We share the path with mountain bikes, deer, bear tracks, and an occasional rattle snake.

Sept 9th,  Lake Mary, Fl, 8515 Markham Rd, Lake Mary, FL 32746. 9 a.m. to noon, meet at the bathrooms. Whether this is a plant class or a mushroom class (or more likely both) depends on whether the mushrooms are flushing. This location has produced chanterelles, puff balls, milk caps, boletes, russulas, ganodermas, and “white” chicken of the woods. Harvesting mushrooms in Florida is illegal so don’t be obvious such as carrying a mushroom basket. Paper bags in a backpack is less announcing.  

This class is cancelled because my car died. Sept 10th, West Palm Beach, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405, 9 a.m. to noon, meet just north of the science center.

For more information, to pre-pay for a class, or to sign up go here. 

Canna roots

When it comes to plants you can see something for a long time but not see it. That was my experience with Canna. In the late 80’s a friend of mine had Canna planted along her house. As she was from Taiwan I presumed — like most of the plants around her home — they were native to Asia. As it turned out I was just one in a very long line of people thinking this native of the Americas was actually Asian. I didn’t make the connection to local Canna because the two species have different blossoms, one skinny and red, the other fat and yellow. But then one day while fishing along the St. Johns River east of  Sanford I saw a large stand of “native” Canna and investigated. There are several edible parts to the Canna including the roots. The hard seeds, however, have been used as a substitute for buckshot… they are that hard. You can read more about this peripatetic beauty here. 

Ghost Pipes are a famine food. Photo by Green Deane

Several plants were called “Indian Pipes” where and when I was growing up. One of them is the Monotropa uniflora. Living more like a mushroom than a plant it sprouts up in various edibility conversations. It helps focus the issue on exactly what “edibility” means. Other than allergies, edibility does imply it will not kill you or harm you in any significant way. But “edibility” does not have to imply tasty. As forager Dick Deuerling used to say “there are a lot of edible plants. I only eat the good stuff.” There are also things that are just too woody or bitter to eat more than a sample of but are included in “edible.” And some plants have to be prepared correctly to be “edible.” Is the Monotropa uniflora edible? Yes. Does it taste good? Only if you’re really hungry. But that is understandable. The list of edible plants has to include everything from incredibly delicious food to only-if-I-were-starving food. Indian Pipes are closer to the famine food end of that list, the tops are more edible than the stems. You can read more about the Monotropa here.

In the olden BC days... before computers… Labor Day meant you went back to school the next day. School also let out sometime in June. Your release date was never exact because several “snow days” were built into the calendar every year. If they weren’t used up we got out in early June. If it was a bad winter then we got out mid-June. We also were not too far removed from harvest time on both ends of the school year.  

Harold Grandholm, a high school classmate, raking blueberries off the road I grew up on during “summer vacation.”

I walked to school daily, five miles round trip, and that was my preference. The wander took me past blueberry fields, Concord grape hedgerows, apple orchards and a great view of New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington some 60 miles away. I was scrumping every morning and afternoon for six weeks or so. This daily Too & Fro also included crossing the Royal River which was really more of a serf stream except during the spring floods. (Fished and fell into the Royal a lot. Found my first black pearl there and caught my first eel in the Royal.) All that wild fall fruit always ruined my supper but then again my mother was a horrible cook so it worked out well. Plants were also part of school letting out in spring. I noticed way back in sixth grade that when the (edible) Lilacs blossomed school was nearly out for the summer… and summer vacations were wrongly named: For most kids where I grew up it meant farm work until school started in September. For me it was three full months of working in the hay fields, a hot, dusty, hornet-punctuated job. My mother collected horses (and other farm animals) and they had to be fed so into the fields I went, indentured labor. There was also summer gardening, 70 days of it. I only escaped all that by volunteering for the Army in 1969 when Vietnam was hot…  young men can make stupid decisions… but I never hayed again.

Even ripe Jambul fruit is slightly astringent. Photo by Green Deane

We mentioned above that the Syzygiums might be fruiting in West Palm Beach. That mostly included S. cumini also known as the Java Plum and Jambul. I’ve made wine out of that. There are a few Jambuls in Orlando and certainly dozens in West Palm Beach. I know they also grow well in Sarasota and Port Charlotte where I think they are naturalized. Both Syzygium jambos and Syzygium samaragense are called the Rose Apple and Java Apple (and many other names as well.)  There also is a Syzygium in your kitchen is S. aromaticum. You know the dried flower buds as “cloves.”  As the species have been in foraging news lately I decided to bite the proverbial bullet and write a second article on the genus, or at least the latest one. You can read that article here and you can read about the Jambul here.

You get the USB, not the key.

Changing foraging videos:  My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been selling for seven years and are still available. They are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have a separate copy.  A second option is a16-gig USB that has those 135 videos plus 15 more. While the videos can be run from the DVDs the videos on the USB have to be copied to your computer to play. They are MP4 files. The150-video USB is $99 and the 135-video DVD set is now $99. The DVDs will be sold until they run out then will be exclusively replaced by the USB. This is a change I’ve been trying to make for several years. So if you have been wanting the 135-video DVD set order it now as the price is reduced and the supply limited. Or you can order the USB. My headache is getting my WordPress Order page changed to reflect these changes. We’ve been working on it for several weeks. However, if you want to order now either the USB or the DVD set make a $99 “donation” using the link at the bottom of this page or here.  That order form provides me with your address, the amount — $99 — tells me it is not a donation and in the note say if you want the DVD set or the USB. 

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.

Now being printed is EatTheWeeds, the book. It should have 275 plants, 350-plus pages, index and color photos. Several hundred have been preordered on Amazon. Most of the entries include a nutritional profile. Officially it will be published Dec. 5th (to suit the publisher demands) apparently to appeal to the winter market but can be delivered by mid-October

This is weekly newsletter #572, 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.

Dan Dowling with a prime example of an Alata root. They break easily when being dug up. Photo by Green Deane

The root of the winged yam. Photo by Green Deane

Yams can be confusing. Regionally there are almost a dozen yams you can find in the wild. Eight do not produce “air” potatoes or put on starch-sequestering roots. So we are not interested in them. That leaves two  (not counting deliberately cultivated species.) The winged yam and the bulbifera (bulbifera means bulb producing.) Their seasons don’t coincide. The bulbifera dies back first in the fall, about November, the Winged yam dies back in December or January depending up how much cold weather there is. The bulbifera if first to pop up in the spring, usually March or April. The winged yam is second in late April or May. Over the season both make non-edible air potatoes but only the winged yam locally produces a huge edible root. The bulbifera usually doesn’t (although in Australia it does.) Winged yam shoots are now about a yard long and can be used to find the tasty root. The thicker the vine now the larger the root. The top of the root will feel like a tent stake in the soil. Thin vines will be from last year’s “air potatoes” which is how the species reproduces vegetatively.

With the help of Chef Steve we dug one up during our Port Chartlotte foraging class last Sunday. One boils the root then uses it like a potato (of which it has a similar nutritional profile.) If you can identify this plant — the winged yam — you won’t starve.

Texas Ebony seed pods

It is true you can walk past a useful plant many times and not notice it. That was my experience with the Eastern Red Bud, and perhaps this weekend with the Texas Ebony. One tree of it was identified by a friend’s aunt, so it was added to the edibles’ list. This past week in Dreher park West Palm Beach it was pointed out to me a couple of huge trees also looked like Texas Ebony (this was the first time I recall those two fruiting.) Texas Ebony is is Ebenopsis ebano which means ” spectacular Black ebony” which is better than its last name Pithecellobium flexicaule which is Monkey’s Earring with Bent Stem. What ever it is called it is edible. The seeds of E. ebano are about 35% protein which is comparable to legumes though they are larger than chickpeas. Carbohydrates in 100 grams (before processing) are 29.36 grams, fat 28.16 grams but fiber quite low, 0.51 grams per 100 grams. That’s all about 500 calories. Cooking increases the available protein by some 12% and reduces anti-nutrient phytate 35% and protein inhibitors 96% overall increasing the nutrition. The most common amino acids are leucine, lysine, valine, isoleucine and treosine.

The fungus gall of Gymnosporangium clavipes on a hawthorne

Most foragers would look at this picture (right) and say that is a gall. beginners might think it’s a strange fruit .  Plant galls are defined as abnormal plant growths caused by a gall-maker; the gall-maker being certain insects, mites, fungi, and bacteria. Locally Persea Borbornia usually has a lot galls — one of the identifying characteristics — and one particular scrub oak gets galls that look like cranberries.

Hawthorn in Lithia Florida, usually not seen south of Ocala.

This is a gall on a Hawthorn fruit and is a fungus, Gymnosporangium clavipes, which is responsible for the disease known as Cedar-Quince Rust. The “cedar” in the relationship is actually the eastern red cedar, which is really a juniper, Juniperous virginana.  This fungus must alternate between junipers and a member of the rose family, such as quince, hawthorn, crabapple, etc., to complete its life cycle.  It spends a year on plant in the two groups then a year on the other plant. 

 Hawthorns are an unusual group of trees and can live to 400 yeras old. No one really knows how many species there are, two hundred or 1,200. It is safe to say they vary a lot so identifying which one you have can be quite frustrating. The fruit is edible but not the seeds, and the fruit and leaves dried as a tea can be used for high blood pressure. Herbalists say two teaspoons of leaves or seedless berries (or both) made into a tea twice a day is an effective beta blocker and lowers blood pressure.

Ascross the dirt road I grew up on was a huge hawthorn with two-inch thorns. Different species of birds would nest in the tree at the same time, because the thorns dissuaded egg and chick predator. Unncecessary tarring and widening of the road eliminated the tree. 

Range of the one-seeded Hawthorn

Historically hawthorns have been used to make hedgerows and “haw” means hedge. The fruit is a source of pectin, which is protective against DNA damage from gamma radiation besides making jelly. In fact one hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, the one-seed Hawthorn can be made into a no-cook jelly which can then be dried. Put the berries in a bowl and quickly crush them thoroughly with your hands. The resulting liquid should be about the consistency of pudding just before it sets. It should be that consistency naturally. If you’ve had a dry year add some water to get to that consistency. Work quickly. Squeeze the seeds out of the berries then quickly filter the thick slurry into a bowl. In about five minutes the liquid will jell. Flip it over onto a plate. It can be eaten as is or sliced or sun dried. It will be sweet and will last for many years. Remember just ripe berries have more pectin that over-ripe berries. To see a Ray Mears’ video on this go here.

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

It is the season time for partridgeberries. While they can be found locally they are more a cooler climate species. I used to find them occasionally in Gainesville Fl but saw them often in August in western North Carolina. Botanically Michlla repens, the species has been used for food and as a diureticc and for the pain associalted 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.

Foraging Classes: Spending my class time on the east coast this weekend. Mebourne and Port Orange. 

May 27th , Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 9 a.m. Meet at the “dog park” inside the park (turn right after entrance.) 9 a.m.

 May 28th,  Spruce Creek Park, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 9 a.m.,meet at the pavilion.

June 3rd, Eagle Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park, 9 a.m.

June 4th, Mead Gaden, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. 9 a.m.

Bring cash on the day of class or  click here to pay for your class

After cooking slice the seeds, remove the small bitter plant inside, eat the rest. Photo by Green Deane

Yellow ponds, that’s how I think of it, or in some places, yellow rivers. That’s because the American Lotus will soon be in blossom. The first time I saw a small lake of these blossoms was when an old dry lake was deepened for a housing development. The next spring suddenly what was for decades a dry lake was full of American Lotus blossoms. This is because the seeds can stay viable some 400 years, or so the experts report. Talk about a survival food! There are multiple edible parts on the American Lotus but I prefer the seeds. I also think when collecting by hand the seeds proved to be the most calories for the amount of work. The roots are edible but digging them up can be a messy, laborious job. Locally American Lotus are easy to find: Just look for a lake with large yellow blossoms on long stems. Further north and west they are a favorite sight on rivers such as the Mississippi. To read more about the American Lotus go here.

You get the USB, not the key.

My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out and replaced by 171-videos on a 128-GB USB, see right.  The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy especially if social order falters.  The 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 or click here. That will take you to an order form. Or you can make a $99 donation, which tells me it is for the USB (include a snail-mail address.)  I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. I had to stop making them as few programs now will read the ISO files to copy them. Burning a set also took about three hours. 

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 about. 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. Recent topics include: Stale Bread and Cod Liver Oil, Killing Bugs with Tobacco Plugs, Eating weeds: Is it safe? Have they mutated? Not the Eastern Red Bug but the Pink Tabebuia, African Tulip Tree, Asparagus densiflorus, Green Deane’s Book… You can join the forum by clicking on the button on the upper right hand side of this page.

This is my weekly newsletter #559. 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. My website, EatTheWeeds.com, which is data secure, has over 1500 plants on it in some 428 articles. I wrote every one myself, no cut and paste. 

 To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Puffballs are about the size of golf balls in Florida

Puffballs were the sight to see last Sunday at our foraging class in Melbourne. Those and watercress and a fruiting pawpaw. It was a windy day but no rain. Puffballs are controversial, with some mushroom hunters viewing them as prime edibles and others avoiding them completely. Puffballs should alway be cut open, top to bottom, to assure the inside is all one texture (like cream cheese) and does not have an outline of a mushroom inside. The watercress, a tasty ditch-loveing annual, was in blossom, a sign cold weather is leaving us. 

The Book, Eat The Weeds, is now on pre-order at Amazon. It will be published in mid-October. This is volume one. In hindsight, it was a 18-year project. Most of the material was written for my website starting in 2005, ythe nutritional elements – mostly for the book — were added in recent years. Following that was three years of negotiating, editing, and various tweaking along with a major residential move, an epidemic and a stroke. The basic difference between the book and my website is the explanation of botanical names was mostly removed and nutritional information about the plants added. The website has some 700 plants while this book has about 300 with color photos. The book covers North America and is not just about Florida plants. 

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

Rain might be on tap during our foraging classes this week in Sarasota and Gainesville. We forage in the rain because one can be hungry when it rains.

May 06, Red Bug Slough 5200 S. Beneva Road, Sarasota. 9 a.m., 

May 07 Blanchard Park,  2451 Dean Rd, Union Park, FL 32817 9 a.m. Meet at the pavilion beside the tennis courts. 

May 13, Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641.  9 a.m. Meet at the picnic tables next to the pump house.

May 14, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL., 9 a.m. meet at the bathrooms.

May 20th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte., 9 a.m., meet at the parking lot at Bayshore and Ganyard Street.

May 21st, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 9 a.m., meet just north of the science center. 

Bring cash on the day of class or  click here to pay for your class

podocarpus arils and seeds maturing. Photo by Green Deane

It’s a long ways to August but the Podocarpus is making seeds and that means edible arils in a few months. The species is a bit strange in that we don’t eat the mildly-toxic seed. We eat the aril next to it which are very grape-like. They can  be used as grapes, eaten off the bush or made into jelly and wine et cetera. The seeds are listed as toxic but I know of an adult who ate two at one time and had no issue. That said, don’t eat the seeds. When the Podocarpus fruits can be something of a guess. Locally I look for them in August. The fruit can last several weeks and are edible even when they begin to dry and look like raisins.  Oddly, in a local park in downtown Winter Park, a few Podocarpus have escaped trimming and have grown into moderate-size trees. Those fruit in December and my only guess as to why is perhaps they are a different species. My video on Podocarpus is here and you can read about it  here.

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

It is the season time for partridgeberries. While they can be found locally they are more a cooler climate species. I used to find them occasionally in Gainesville Fl but saw them often in western North  Carolina. Botanically Michlla repens, the species has been used for food and as a diuretic and for the pain associalted 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.

You get the USB, not the key.

My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out and replaced by 171-videos on a 128-GB USB, see right.  The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy especially if social order falters.  The 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 or click here. That will take you to an order form. Or you can make a $99 donation, which tells me it is for the USB (include a snail-mail address.)  I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. I had to stop making them as few programs now will read the ISO files to copy them. Burning a set also took about three hours. 

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 about. 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. Recent topics include: Stale Bread and Cod Liver Oil, Killing Bugs with Tobacco Plugs, Eating weeds: Is it safe? Have they mutated? Not the Eastern Red Bug but the Pink Tabebuia, African Tulip Tree, Asparagus densiflorus, Green Deane’s Book… You can join the forum by clicking on the button on the upper right hand side of this page.

This is my weekly newsletter #556. 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. My website, EatTheWeeds.com, which is data secure, has over 1500 plants on it in some 428 articles. I wrote every one myself, no cut and paste. 

 To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Mulberries resemble over-grown blackberries. Photo by Green Deane

There’s a fruiting mulberry near you. Locally the season is approaching. During a foraging class this past weekend we saw a huge red mulberry a couple of weeks shy of having gallons of ripe fruit. April is a target month for a lot of wild fruit locally including, red mulberries, blackberries, blueberries and the start of black cherries. While you can find mulberries nearly anywhere, they tend to favor past agricultural land, such as truck farms. 

Wild Garlic will be cloving soon. Photo by Green Deane

Also seen was wild garlic, allium canadensis. It is in transition. The tasty allium  comes up in January, puts blossoms and cloves on top in March and in April ripens into onions with easy-to-spot cloves. We dug up many in Sunday’s class. A true allium, they like sunny damp areas and spread by spring floods floating their cloves down stream. These are not “ramps” or “leeks” though related to those popular wild species. It has a small onion on the bottom and garlic cloves on top, and an edible stalk in between. Locally they are found throughout most of the state from Largo to Orlando to Gainesville.

Florida Pennyroyal is also in blossom. Photo by Green Deane

If you are one to wander around sandy scrub in Florida this time of year you will see the low blooms of the Florida Pennyroyal. It’s quite an unusual plant in that it is monotypic, meaning it is the only plant in its genus. Found along the Central Florida Ridge though I have seen it also on the east coast of the state. There are a few plants in the Bahamas and maybe one or two in southern Georgia. It has the unmistakable aroma of pennyroyal. A species that looks vaguely similar, Florida Rosemary, has no noticeable strong aroma. Florida Pennyroyal used to be the third most common nectar plant in the state but fell off for some unknown reason and was replaced by Bidens alba, the Spanish Needles. Florida Pennyroyal was used extensively by the natives and has culinary uses. To read more about it go here.

To a startled Land Blue Crab a leg is as good as a tree. Photo by Green Deane

Foraging classes, we’ll visit two opposing  coastal area this weekend. Might even see a land crab or two at Princess Point, see photo right. 

April 1st, Red Bug Slough 5200 S. Beneva Road, Sarasota, 9 a.m. 

April 2nd  Princess Place Preserve, 2500 Princess Place Road, Palm Coast, FL, 32137.  Meet at middle Parking lot.  9 a.m.

For more information. to sign up for a class or to pre-pay go here. 

Dandelions like cooler weather. PHoto by Green Deane

There is perhaps no more commonly known wild weed than the Dandelion. Whether a child blowing aways the Dandelion puff or a seasoned pallet flavoring coffee with the roasted root, Dandelions are user friendly. My first batch of wine — after two five-gallon batches of beer — was Dandelion wine, made when I was in the 8th grade. It was very reasonable choice: I could not buy wine,  I did not have a driver license, and Dandelions were everywhere. That was more than a half-a-century ago in Maine where summer Dandelions grew large and luscious. Now I live in Florida and Dandelions here are usually anemic winter stragglers. That first experience with a wild wine makes it easy to realize how wine-making evolved. There was no great preparation. I put blossoms, water, sugar and yeast into a 5-gallon crock, the top covered with a towel. When it was done working it went into old glass coca cola bottles. Perhaps it was beginners luck but it worked wonderfully. It doesn’t always, that’s for sure as subsequent failures over the years have proved. After some 50 years of wine making I am not cavalier about it but not super fastidious either.  What you also learn is that most wine recipes are basically the same with minor variations. I will admit that of all my videos on You Tube the one on making a quick hard cider is the most watched. I’m probably corrupting some 8th grader out there… who might grow into a great wine maker. As I tell my classes, Damdelions like acidic soil and cold weather. Florida is a hot limestone plate. So we have to look for them in the winter in lawns near oaks and pines, which happens to be the area south of the dog park in Wickham Park. To learn more about Dandelions click

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

Fireweed/Burnweed has a flavor chefs love. 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. 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 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.

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.

Almost out of season now is stinging nettle (in the urtica family.) Also gone until next winter is real chickweed, it’s relative west Indian CHickweed, is still abundant. Cucumberweed will be around for a few more weeks in shade but is already aging in many locations.Also heading out of season is Goosegrass. Still in seasons are sow thistles and various mustards. 

Ganoderma curtisii, a local reishi msuhroom. Photo by Green Deane

When will we be seeing and reading about mushrooms again? The answer is probably after spring rains in April or May or so. One can find various edible and medicinal mushrooms all year here but April to November is prime time for ground-based fungi (November to April for wood-based fungi.) I harvested several pounds of chanterelles last year. The topic of mushroom came up in the foraging class this week as we saw some “Train Wreckers” and Ganodermas starting their seasonal growth. Several species are called “Train Wreckers” because they can destroy railroad ties. None of them are toxic but some are too tough to digest and are related to Shiitake mushrooms. We also have several species of Ganodermas locally (Reishi) which is a bit of contention. The debate is how many species are there, what are they called, and are they as good as the ones that are sold for medicinal use? As for the latter my herbalist friends say yes, they are as good as the commercial kinds. As for how many and what they are called that probably won’t be settled for decades. I see three, or five, regularly, it’s hard to tell. With certainty I see G. curtisii, G. sessile, and G. zonatum. G. curtisii grows like a short golf club and is the closest relative to G. lingzhi, which is the well-known Chinese Reishi.  G. sessile has no stem and grows horizontally (a smaller form is G. sessiliforme.)  G. zonatum, more yellow than the rest, is found exclusively on palms and will kill the palm. If your palm has G. zontaum on it there is no hope for it.  There is also a Ganoderma that grows on citrus G. tuberculosum. To my knowledge none of the Reishis are toxic — but stick to identified species — and local herbalists report good results with them. These mushrooms stimulate the immune system by providing various molecular “keys’ that unlock and turn on immune cells in the gut. By the way I moderated these pages on Facebook: Southeast U.S. Mushroom Identification, Florida Mushroom Identification Forum, Edible Mushrooms: Florida, Edible Wild Mushrooms and Orlando Mushroom Group (OMG, which also will start to have meetings and fungal forays as soon as the season turns. Two years ago late rains threw the season off.) Florida Mushroom Identification Forum has some 24,000 members, including authors and professors.

You get the USB, not the key.

My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out and replaced by 171-videos on a 128-GB USB, see right.  The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy especially if social order falters.  The 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 or click here. That will take you to an order form. Or you can make a $99 donation, which tells me it is for the USB (include a snail-mail address.)  I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. I had to stop making them as few programs now will read the ISO files to copy them. Burning a set also took about three hours. 

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 about. 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. Recent topics include: Stale Bread and Cod Liver Oil, Killing Bugs with Tobacco Plugs, Eating weeds: Is it safe? Have they mutated? Not the Eastern Red Bug but the Pink Tabebuia, African Tulip Tree, Asparagus densiflorus, Green Deane’s Book… You can join the forum by clicking on the button on the upper right hand side of this page.

This is my weekly newsletter #551. 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. My website, EatTheWeeds.com, which is data secure, has over 1500 plants on it in some 428 articles. I wrote every one myself, no cut and paste. 

 To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Gall on a Hawthorn. photo by Green Deane

Shall we get technical? Most foragers would look at this picture above and say that is a gall. beginners might think it’s a strange fruit .  Plant galls are defined as abnormal plant growths caused by a gall-maker; the gall-maker being certain insects, mites, fungi, and bacteria. Locally Persea Borbornia usually has a lot galls — one of the identifying characteristics — and one particular scrub oak gets galls that look like cranberries. 

Hawthorn in Lithia Florida, usually not seen south of Ocala.

This is a gall on a Hawthorn fruit and is a fungus, Gymnosporangium clavipes, which is responsible for the disease known as Cedar-Quince Rust. The “cedar” in the relationship is actually the eastern red cedar, which is really a juniper, Juniperous virginana.  This fungus must alternate between junipers and a member of the rose family, such as quince, hawthorn, crabapple, etc., to complete its life cycle.  It spends a year on plant in the two groups then a year on the other plant. 

 Hawthorns are an unusual group of trees and can live to 400 yeras old. No one really knows how many species there are two hundred or 1,200. It is safe to say they vary a lot so identifying which one you have can be quite frustrating. The fruit is edible but not the seeds, and the fruit and leaves dried as a tea can be used for high blood pressure. Herbalists say two teaspoons of leaves or seedless berries (or both) made into a tea twice a day is an effective beta blocker and lowers blood pressure.

Ascross the dirt road I grew up on was a large hawthorn with two-inch thorns. Different species of birds would nest in the tree at the same time, because the thorns dissuaded egg and chick predator. Unncessary tarring and widening of the road eliminated the tree. 

Range of the one-seeded Hawthorn

Historically hawthorns have been used to make hedgerows and “haw” means hedge. The fruit is a source of pectin. In fact one, Crataegus monogyna, the one-seed Hawthorn can be made into a no-cook jelly. Put the berries in a bowl and quickly crush them thoroughly with your hands. The resulting liquid should be about the consistency of pudding just before it sets. It should be that consistency naturally. If you’ve had a dry year add some water to get to that consistency. Work quickly. Squeeze the seeds out of the berries then quickly filter the thick slurry into a bowl. In about five minutes the liquid will jell. Flip it over onto a plate. It can be eaten as is or sliced or sun dried. It will be sweet and will last for many years. Remember just ripe berries have more pectin that over-ripe berries. To see a video on this go here.

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

It is the season time for partridgeberries. While they can be found locally they are more a cooler climate species. I used to find them occasionally in Gainesville Fl but saw them often in western North  Carolina. Botanically Michlla repens, the species has been used for food and as a diureticc and for the pain associalted wiht 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.

Cattails tops in North Carolina. Photo by Green Deane

If you were starving and came upon a patch of cattails (blossoming now) you would have great cause for celebration. You have found food and water. You will survive. But if you are not starving and do not have all the time in the inter-connected world you just might find cattails highly overrated. It is true that no plant can produce more starch per acre than cattails, about 3.5 tons under cultivation. And it can produce a lot of starch economically if you can mechanize the extraction. But hand extraction is time- consuming and labor intensive. It is also wet, smelly work all of which can be worsened significantly by harvesting in cold weather. So yes, cattails are food but the time demand is such that harvesting food has to be your prime occupation. A similar argument can be made for kudzu. The roots do have edible starch but it takes a gargantuan amount of work to get the starch out, literally hours of steady pounding. It is not a calorie positive activity. It moves you closer to starvation. But, mechanize the process with some hammers run by falling water — or pounding hammers run by a horse fed on an endless supply of grass — and kudzu becomes a reliable calorie-positive food. You can see my video on cattails here.  I also have an article on Finding Caloric Staples with links to relevant videos. 

Turkey, duck and several different chicken eggs, Photo by Green Deane

Though demonized, forgiven, and demonized again eggs have always been a large  part of the human diet. A local farm store has sales that sometimes includes duck eggs which I grew up eating. We also had chickens (and pet squirrels, rabbits, dogs, cats and horses… my mother collected horses and I had to take care of them so much that in 1969 I volunteered for the Army and Vietnam to get away from horses and haying.) I was given three dozen duck eggs from my cousin while teaching in South Carolina a couple of weeks ago, Many Thanks.  A few years ago I noticed that most “survivalist” and or “prepper” sites and articles oddly did not mention eggs which were a prime seasonal food of our ancestors.. That prompted me to write a large article on eggs, birds to fish. You can read it here. 

Mexican Poppy, can also have a while blossom. 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-blossomedextremely prickly plant (left).  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 mature cones in August which is also about when the champagne mangos in the area ripen (and rot on the ground.)

Classes are held rain or shine (but not during hurricanes.)

We might have to dodge rain during foraging classes this weekend but that means less heat, always good. 

Saturday May 21st Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. 9 a.m. to noon Meet at the pavilion near the dog park.

Sunday May 22nd, Colby-Alderman Park: 1099 Massachusetts Street, Cassadaga Fla. 32706, 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the bathrooms

Saturday May 28th  Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte. 9 a.m.  to0 noon. Meet at the parking lot at Bayshore and Ganyard.

Sunday May 29th Mead Gardens, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  9 a.m. to noon Meet at the bathrooms.

For more information, to pre-pay or sign up go here

You get the USB, not the key.

My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out and replaced by 171-videos on a 128-GB USB, see left.  The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy especially if social order falters.  The 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 or click here. That will take you to an order form. Or you can make a $99 donation, which tells me it is for the USB (include a snail-mail address.)  I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. I had to stop making them as few programs now will read the ISO files to copy them. Burning a set also took about three hours. 

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 about. 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. Recent topics include: Fermenting potatoeswith yogurt, make a water filter, nixtamalization at home, Stale Bread and Cod Liver Oil, Life’s a Grind, Killing Bugs with Tobacco Plugs, Eating weeds: Is it safe? Have they mutated? Not the Eastern Red Bug but the Pink Tabebuia, African Tulip Tree, Asparagus densiflorus, Green Deane’s Book… You can join the forum by clicking on the button on the upper right hand side of this page.

Is commercial food catchng up with us? Here you see purslane being sold in a farm store near Olando.

Yellow -blossomed Purslane, raised on the farm.

This is my weekly newsletter #508. 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. My website, EatTheWeeds.com, which is data secure, has over 1500 plants on it in some 428 articles. I wrote every one myself, no cut and paste.

                             To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.  

Wild Onions/Garlic and Spiderwort growing along the road near Ocala Florida. Photo by Green Deane

Allium canadense: The Stinking Rose

Your nose will definitely help you confirm that you have found wild onions, Allium canadense, AL-ee-um kan-uh-DEN-see. Also called Wild Garlic and Meadow Garlic by the USDA, walking through a patch raises a familiar aroma which brings me to a foraging maxim:

Wild onions/garlic, set bulblets on top

If a plant looks like an onion and smells like an onion you can eat it. If a plant looks like a garlic and smells like a garlic you can eat it. If you do not smell a garlic or an onion odor but you have the right look beware you might have a similar-looking toxic plant. For example, we have a native lily here in Florida that looks like an onion but has no aroma. It is toxic.

All parts of this particular Wild Onion/Garlic are edible, the underground bulbs, the long, thin leaves, the blossoms, and the bulblets on top. The bulblets are small cloves the plant sets where it blossoms. Harvesting them is a little easier than digging for bulbs but those are easy to find also. They’re usually about four inches underground. The bulblets are on the tippy top of the plant. It’s called both an onion and garlic  because while it is a wild onion it has a very strong garlic aroma.

Onions and garlic belong to the Lily family. The most common wild one is the Allium canadense. It has flattened leaves and hollow stems. On top there can be bulblets with pinkish white flowers or bulblets with sprouted green tails.  When it sets an underground bulbs they will be no bigger than pearl onions.  (See recipes below the I.T.E.M. panel.) They were clearly on the Native American menu though our local natives didn’t refer to them much.

Ramps have wide leaves

It is often said the city of Chicago’s name is from an Indian phrase that means “where the wild onions grow.” That is quite inaccurate. Chicago is actually a French mistransliteration of the Menomini phrase Sikaakwa which literally means “striped skunk.” We would say ‘the striped skunk place.”  The skunks were there because Allium tricoccum (Ramps)  were growing there. Skunks know good food when they smell it (and are bright pets. Very common where I grew up.)  The nearby Des Plains River was called the “Striped Skunk River.” Incidentally because of man’s intervention that river now flows backwards from it original direction.

While northern Indians used the Allium species extensively there are few records of southeastern Indians using them, though various southern tribes had names for the onion.  Some of the tribes considered onions not edible. Ramps, A. tricoccum, (try-KOK-um) photo upper right, are also in the onion family, and very common in Appalachia. Farther north they are called “wild leeks.”  Unlike onions and garlic, ramps have wide leaves but are used the same way.

Allium was the Latin name for the onion. An alternative view is that it is based on the Celtic word “all” meaning pungent. “Alla” in Celtic means feiry. Canadense means of Canada, but refers to north North America. Tricoccum  means three seeds. Roman’s called garlic the “stinking rose.”

Allium canadense in large amounts can be toxic to cattle. Lesser amounts can flavor the milk as can salty fodder near the ocean.

 Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile: Wild Onion

IDENTIFICATION: Allium canadense: Grass like basal leaves, small six-petaled flowers, odor of onion or garlic, stems round, older stems hollow. Underground bulbs look like small white onions. Ramps, however, have two or three broad, smooth, light green, onion-scented leaves. Also see another article on a European import, the dreaded Garlic Mustard.

TIME OF YEAR: Depends where you live. Ramps in spring, onions through the summer, bulbs in fall. Locally we see bulblets in April then into the spring.

ENVIRONMENT: Like most plants onions like rich soil and sun but can grow in poor soil with adequate water. Leeks like rich leaf-losing woodlands and can grow in dappled shade. Locally all of the Wild Onions I’ve seen grow in damp places, or, places where run off gathers before seeping in.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: The entire plant is edible raw or cooked, in salads, seasoning, green, soup base, pickled. You can pickle them using red bay leaves, peppergrass seeds, and some vinegar

Recipes adapted from “Wild Greens and Salads” by Christopher Nyerges

Onion Soup On The Trail

Two cups onion leaves and bulbs

Two cups water or milk (or from powdered milk)

1/4 cup chia seeds (optional) or grass seed

four bottom end tips of cattails

A Jerusalem artichoke

Two table spoons acorn flour (or other flour)

1.4 cup water

Put chopped onions in 1/4 water and boil for five minutes. Add the rest of the liquid, cattail and Jerusalem artichoke. Cook at low temperature. Do NOT boil. When artichoke is almost done add flour and chia seeds. Mix. Salt and pepper to taste. Serves three.

Camp Salad

One cup onion leaves and bulbs

1/2 cup Poor Man’s Pepper Grass or Mustard leaves

One cup chickweed or other mild green

Two diced tomatoes

Juice of one lemon

Tablespoon of oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Collect onions, dice, add other green items torn into small bits, added tomatoes and other ingredients, toss.

Dark Green Wild Garlic filling a low ditch in Largo Florida. In a few month there will be thousand of garlic cloves here… if they don’t mow it. Photo by Green Deane.

Wild Garlic puts the cloves on top. Photo by Green Deane

Plants give you something to look forward to especially if you know where and when to look. We usually harvest Wild Garlic in April because that is when they are the easiest to spot. The species puts garlic cloves on top of the plant and small onions below ground. It also likes damp ground. On the presumption they should be up now I went looking for Wild Garlic in Eagle Lake park this past Saturday and found two patches. As the entire plant is edible one does not have to wait until April to find and use them. This species is also called Wild Onions and is related to “Ramps” found further north. To read more about this species go here. A video on them is here.  

Stinging Nettles are making their seasonal debut. Photo by Green Deane

We found several other species this weekend that are starting their seasonal run. Among them are Chickweed, Goosegrass, Sow Thistle and Stinging Nettles. Last week we saw Chickweed in Gainesville and this Sunday in Orlando. Video here, article here. Goosegrass is still small and was seen along the Seminole-Wekiva Bike Trail. It’s best consumed when young though easier to locate when older. I need to make a video about them this week I think. You can read about Goossegrass here. Sow Thistles can be found nearly anytime but they thrive in our cooler months and there have been sporadic sitings. You can read about them here and a video here. Besides Chickweed the most anticipated winter species is our local Stinging Nettle in the genus Utrica (and not to be confused with Spruge Nettle with is much different and in the genus Cnedoscolus.) Officially there are three Urtica species in Florida but the other two are rare. U. dioica is found only in Alachus County and probably came with northern hay imported for horses there. U. urens is found in four counties: St. Johns, Lake, Orange and Leon. You can read about Stinging Nettle here and watch a video here. Straggling along and worth mentioning are Dandelions. They like acidic soil and cool weather and Florida is a hot limestone plate. Dandelions are at their best in our cooler months. Look for them in lawn-like grass near oaks. They are about a quarter the size of up north. You read about them here and a see video here. 

Sycamores drop a lot of leaves.

If Longfellow had lived elsewhere — say Europe — he might have penned in his famous poem: “Under the shedding Sycamore tree the village smithy stands.” As it was Longfellow wrote about the mighty American chestnut which sadly because of a blight is nearly no more. And while mentioning Longfellow take a look at his picture below left. Most of the photos of him show an old bearded man. This was taken when he was much younger, in 1855, when photography was young, too. And unlike other pictures from that era it’s not staged or posed. It’s more natural and gives us a glimpse of the man and personality. There’s a bit of destiny in Longfellow’s eyes. And what did he do right after the photo was taken? Go out to dinner because he was already dressed up? Or tell the photographer he’s pay him for the (then) very expensive photo next week when one of his new poems sold? When I see old photos like this I wonder what the next moment was like, when they broke pose and went on with living. Photos are frozen slivers of time.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, age 48

Unlike Longfellow’s chestnut tree the Sycamore gets a bad rap because of what you see in the picture above, leaves…. lots of large leaves in the yard. To me it’s attractive fall colors and mulch for the lawn but it’s a headache for homeowners who want carefree landscaping. More to our interest Sycamores are forager friendly. The sap is drinkable and one could make a syrup out of it if one wanted to spend the time and energy. The sap tastes like slightly sweet water and it is already filtered by the tree so also quite safe to drink. The wood is inert so it can be used in a variety of ways with food or cooking, from skewers over the campfire to primitive forks et cetera.  To read more about the maligned Sycamore go here.

Classes are held rain or shine or cold.

Foraging Classes: Because of the holiday weekend coming up there is one class each weekend. My class this Saturday is mid-state at Ft. Meade then next week Port Charlotte. 

Sunday December 22nd, Ft. Meade Outdoor Recreation Area, 1639 Frostproof Highway, Fort Meade, FL 33841. (Frostproof Highway is also Route 98.) 9 a.m to noon. Meet at the second set of bathrooms (in the middle of the park) which is due south from the highway.

Saturday December 28th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte. Meet at the parking lot at the intersection of Bayshore Road and Ganyard Street. 9 a.m. to noon.

Saturday, January 4th, Mead Garden, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL, Meet by the restrooms. 9 a.m. to noon. (Don’t confuse this with Ft. Meade which is a different location above.) 

Sunday, January 5th, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. Meet just north of the science center. 9 a.m. to noon.

For more information, to sign up for a class, or to prepay go here.  

Trianthema portulacastrum, Desert Horse Purslane, a potential edible that on a glance can resembles purslane or the Tar Vine.

I’ve noticed a plant locally that looks like Tar Vine. I have foraged Tar Vine  and this plant is similar but it is not quite.  It is very tempting to make it fit the Tar Vine description, particularly when the plant hasn’t blossomed. You must avoid that. Waiting for the blossom is always good form. None of  us are so hungry we must eat a new wild plant immediately  Take your time. The look of Tar Vine that I have in my head lets me see similar pattens in this new plant but also tells me it is not the Tar Vine. I think it might be Trianthema portulacastrum, a possible edible. My problem plant can also resemble purslane at times. You can read more about the “Desert Horse Purslane”  here.

Yellow Pond Lily seeds resemble corn kernels. Photo by Green Deane

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 about, such as the one to the left. 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. Recent topics include: Asystasia gangetica aka Chinese Violet or Ganges Primrose, Armillaria mellea Ringed Honeys, Acorn Treatment Question, Acorn Questions Any Poisons? A Cure For The Common Cold, Lactifluus piperatus, Elderberry Capers?  You can join the forum by clicking on the button on the upper right hand side of this page.

The Nine DVD set includes 135 videos.

Though your foraging may drop off  during the winter it’s a great time to study wild edibles with my nine DVD set. Each  DVDs has 15 videos for 135 in all. They make a great Christmas gift. Order today. Some of these videos are of better quality than my free ones on the Internet. They are the same videos but many people like to have their own copy. I burn and compile the sets myself so if you have any issues I handle them personally. There are no middle foragers. And I’m working on adding a tenth DVD.  To learn more about the DVDs or to order them click here.

Donations to upgrade EatTheWeeds.com have gone well. Thank you to all who have contributed to either via the Go Fund Me link, the PayPal donation link or by writing to Green Deane POB 941793 Maitland FL, 32794.  There are many needs left such as expanding the foraging teacher page, the page on monotypic edibles and the Plant Archive page. There’s always something and such things get more complex and expensive every year.

Meet in front of Panera’s in Winter Park.

And this Friday, December 20th, will be my ninth, free Urban Crawl, a foraging class held in downtown Winter Park. We meet at 10 a.m. in front of Panera’s, 329 N. Park Avenue (that’s on the north end of Park Avenue, not the south end.) There is free parking west of Panera’s in the parking garage, levels four and five for at least two hours. If you park further way you can get three hours without police scrutiny. We wander around Winter Park stopping at about half way for coffee and a bathroom break at Starbucks on the south end of Park Avenue. We’re usually done by noon or so. No reservation necessary.

This is weekly newsletter 384, 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.

The ornamental Firebush in bloom. Photo by Green Deane

Hamelia patens: Edible pharmaceutical

The Firebush is probably one of the most commonly planted unknown edibles. They are usually arranged in the landscape to attract butterflies and migratory or resident humming birds. However the fruit is edible — with precautions — and the plant has a long history of medicinal and industrial uses.

Red berries ripen to black. Photo by Green Deane

It would be difficult to make a better consumer lawn shrub than the Firebush. It is showy, fast-growing, evergreen, stays small, attracts birds and insects and provides an edible fruit.  It blossoms all year with tubular flowers, reddish-orange or scarlet. Even the stems of the flowers are red. The fruit is a juicy berry with a lot of little seeds. It ripens from green to yellow to red then black.  It can be eaten out of hand — more on that in a moment — made in to a syrup or wine, a particular favorite in Mexico.  It can fruit nearly all year unless damaged by cold. The berry is deceptive raw. It has an initial sweetness and grape-like texture that yields a sticky, lingering, slightly bitter aftertaste in the back of the mouth. Try one first, not a lot. See if you like it. Some people don’t taste that so it might be a genetic trait. Cooking eliminates that aftertaste. 

The Mayans called it, Ix-canan, or “guardian of the forest.” In Belize the Firebush is  used to treat a variety of skin problems including, sores, rashes, wounds, burns, itching, cuts, skin fungus, and insect stings and bites. For topical use they boiling two handful of leaves, stems and flowers in two gallons of water for 10 minutes. Once cool, it is applied liberally to the affected area. This same liquid is drank as a tea to relieve menstrual cramps. The Choco Indians in Panama drink a leaf infusion to treat fever and diarrhea; the Ingano Indians make a leaf infusion for intestinal parasites. Tribes in Venezuela chew on the leaves to lower body temperature to prevent a sun or heat stroke.  In Brazil the root is used as a diuretic, the leaves for scabies and headaches. Cubans use the leaves externally for headaches and sores while a decoction is taken internally for rheumatism. In Mexico it is used externally to stop staunch to flow of blood and heal wounds.

In the lab animal studies with Firebush leaf extracts showed analgesic, diuretic, and hypothermic actions. External use showed significant anti-inflammatory activity. The bush also antibacterial and antifungal properties against a wide range of fungi and bacteria in several. Also, incisions bathed with plant juice healed faster and stronger than no bathing or application of petroleum jelly.

The industrial use of the plant comes from it high amounts of tannins.  The hard, brown wood has also been used. Firebush’s botanical name is Hamelia patens. Hamelia honors French botanist Honri Louis Du Hamel du Monceau and is said: huh-MEE-lee-uh.  Patens, said PAY-tenz, means spreading.

Firebush Catsup

Ingredients:-
2 cups ripe berries
½ cup mild vinegar
2/3 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
½ tsp each of clove, ginger and paprika
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
Put into a saucepan the berries, vinegar and water. Boil the berries until they are soft (5 minutes). Put through a blender or food processor. Then add the sugar, spices and salt. Simmer for 3 minutes. Serve at room temperature.

Carambola and Firebush Chutney

4 cups carmbola, peeled and pipped, cut into small pieces
¼ cup ripe berries
2 cups vinegar
2 cups sugar
¼ cup finely chopped ginger

Put in a heavy saucepan vinegar and sugar and bring to boiling point. Add the carambola and ginger. Cook on low heat for 2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking to bottom of can. Add berries in the last 10 minutes of cooking to allow then to retain their shape.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION: Shrub or small, bushy tree to 12 ft. Young branches reddish. Leaves elliptic, oblong or elliptic-ovate, pointed, 3 to 7 in. long, more or less flushed and dotted with red or purple, and with red stalks; soft-textured, hairy. Flowers scarlet, tubular, with dark linear stripes, slender, to 1 1/2 in. long, in tassel-like, branched clusters. If the flowers are more yellow than red and without stripes it is probably the H. patens var glabra from Mexico, presumed to be edible.  Fruit ovalish, five-pointed calyx, seedy, distinct nipple.

TIME OF YEAR: Flowers and fruits year round.

ENVIRONMENT: Common in hammocks and landscaping. It prefers damp to dry. Native to Florida but can be grown along the southern gulf coast and up the west coast to southern oregon.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Ripe fruit is black, edible raw, can be made into a syrup or wine.

Our local Wild Garlic puts cloves on top and bulbs on bottom. Photo by Green Deane

Alliums and grapes surprisingly have something in common: They can confound you. Grapes, for example, are fairly easy to identify. Which grape it is however, which species, is always the greater challenge. Alliums present the same problem. It’s fairly easy to figure out if you have a “wild” garlic or onion but which one can be difficult to ascertain. Indeed, just whether it is a garlic or an onion can be difficult enough. (And as an aside many botanists consider the Hawthorns to be the most difficult species to identify.)

Society Garlic is edible though not a true garlic.

Our local wild garlic/onion is Allium canadense. The bottom part has an onion look and aroma, the cloves on top and the stem holding them smell like garlic. So which is it? A wild garlic or a wild onion? Meadow Garlic or Meadow Onion? And as one moves into other geographical areas looks can change significantly. Ramps come to mind or Hedge Garlic. Fortunately the entire group has a saving grace: If it looks like a garlic and smells like a garlic you can eat it. If it looks like an onion and smells like an onion you can eat it. But both elements must be present, looks like, smells like. This includes non-Alliums such as Society Garlic which is Tulbaghia violacea. Our local Alliums — which like damp, sunny spots, are reaching the top of their season. You can read about them here.

If you are a regular reader of this newsletter you know that Dandelions while a fine edible just do not like warm climates. They prefer the cooler summers of northern latitudes and more acidic soil — this state is a limestone plate. So they show up here in the winter and usually near acid-loving or acid-creating plants such as oaks and pines. They will also caress your blueberries if you are doing what you should and constantly amending their soil to be acidic. What we are seeing now as warmer weather sneaks in are False Dandelions, which are more climate tolerant.

False Dandelions are not as yellow or compact as true Dandelions. Photo by Green Deane

In general terms there are four species known as False Dandelions (not counting species falsely called False Dandelion such as Crepis japonica.) There are at least three genera: Pyrrhopappus, Hypochoeris and Agoseris. Pyrrhopappus carolinianus is found in the southern eastern quarter of the United States. Hypochoeris radicata is found in most of North America except the high plains states. Hypochoeris glabra is some eastern states, some southern states, and some western states. Spotty. Agoseris aurantiaca is in the western U.S. and Canada and eastern Canada but not in between. Also note that Hypochoeris is also spelled Hypochaeris. In general terms False Dandelions are used like Dandelions though they do vary in flavor with H. radicata being quite bitter. The odd-one out is A. aurantiaca which has an orange-red blossom instead of yellow. You can read about them here.

Goosegrass toughens as it ages. Photo by G.D.

Nearing its last gasp of the season is Goosegrass, Gallium aparine. This highly seasonal edible goes through its growth almost as fast or if not faster than chickweed. It is edible raw or cooked when young and is thought to be good for the lymph system. When it gets older Goosegrass becomes tough but its seeds have an an odd use. The species is in the coffee family and roasted Goosegrass seeds do have a coffee flavor, but no caffeine. However, if you were to add some Yaupon Holly leaves one just might get close to a Cup of Joe. You can read about Goosegrass here.

FORAGING CLASSES: Our foraging class last weekend in Jacksonville offered some surprises. Pellitory, often gone this time of year, was still to be found in shade. A greater surprise was a little bit of chickweed getting ready to seed. Paper mulberries are getting ready to fruit (as are Red Mulberries.) And there were at least four Chickasaw plums ripe enough to eat. They will increase in fruit over the next six weeks or so and are usually done by early June. We also noticed a little mustard, Bitter Cress. It can be found over many months but favors the spring time.

Classes are held rain or shine.

This week’s foraging class in on a Saturday and in Port Charlotte. This is because I am participating in a charity bike ride Sunday in Venice. It’s not a taxing ride, only about 50 miles. However, it is the only time of year I eat while riding — there are chocolate cookies — and I allow myself to have an annual beer at the end. Thus I can always remember the last time I had a beer. One of the things I am looking forward to in the Port Charlotte class is whether their Suriname Cherries are ripe. There is one tree locally that has fruited early so I am hopeful to find some at this class. One reason is there are two different species at this location, a dark red Surinam Cherry and a black variety, which is sweeter and less astringent. The other attractive part of the Port Charlotte class is the salt-tolerant species we find. Sea Blite is in season and grows there (if it hasn’t been all picked already.)

Saturday, April 29th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte. 9 a.m. Meet at the parking lot at the intersection of Bayshore Road and Ganyard Street.

Saturday, May 6th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. Meet east side of the tennis courts near the YMCA building.

Saturday, May 13th, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. 9 a.m. Meet at the “dog park” inside the park (turn right after entrance, go 1/4 mile, dog run on right, parking at run or on previous left.)

Saturday, May 20th, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. We meet just north of the science center in the northern part of the park. 9 a.m.

Saturday, May 27th, Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. 9 a.m. Meet next to the spring house.

To read more about the foraging classes go here. 

Want to identify a plant? Looking for a foraging reference? Do you have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object you want identified? On the Green Deane Forum we chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations around the world share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk about. 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. One special section is “From the Frightening Mail Bag” where we learn from people’s mistakes. You can join the forum by clicking on the button on the upper right hand side of this page.

The Nine-DVD set includes 135 videos.

Spring orders have started their annual  increase. All of Green Dane’s videos available for free on You Tube. They do have ads on them so every time you watch a Green Deane video I get a quarter of one cent. Four views, one cent. Not exactly a large money-maker but it helps pays for this newsletter. If you want to see the videos without ads and some in slightly better quality you can order the DVD set. It is nine DVDs with 15 videos on each.  Many people want their own copy of the videos or they have a slow service and its easier to order then to watch them on-line. They make a good gift for that forager you know. Individual DVDs can also be ordered. You can order them by clicking on the button on the top right of this page or you can go here.

Why Forage? There’s around 250,000 edible species including cultivated crops. Only about 150 are farmed on a large-scale basis. About a dozen of those make up 75% of the food the seven billion of us eat. The largest group of them are grass grains. If you add a local staple or two you have food if one or more of those twelve fail. To read more about finding caloric staples click here.

This is issue 254

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