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Newsletter 11 September 2018

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Ripe and unripe Kousa Dogwood fruit. Photo by Green Deane

In the backwoods of Maine where I grew up Dogwoods were small. Perhaps the weather and the species conspired to make them inconspicuous. They did not prepare me for more flamboyant Dogwoods including Kousa. A popular ornamental and escapee, Kousa Dogwood does have edible fruit. Whether you will like it or not is a different debate. I was recently in North Carolina at an agricultural center studying mushrooms. As one might expect the landscaping around the main center was quite coiffured. But next to a lower parking lot where the forest met the pavement was a Kousa Dogwood happily invading the harrow agricultural ground. They were not originally planted for their fruit but rather attractive blossoms. By the way, one of the ways to identify a Dogwood is to carefully tear a leaf apart across the veins. A latex in them will form threads and hold the two separated parts of the leaf together on white webs. To read more about the Kousa Dogwood go here.  

Canna can grow in a garden or a pond.

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. 

As the Ground Cherry ripens the husk turns golden.

From a foraging point of view it was a very berry weekend starting with Coastal Ground Cherries, Physalis angustifolia in Port Charlotte. Our timing was good,  their husks were gold to a tan, dry and papery. Inside the fruit was deep yellow to gold, tangy in taste. Ground cherries ripen from green to gold, getting sweeter and tangier as they go along. But they can often have a bitter aftertaste either from being under ripe or some species just retain some bitterness. A little aftertaste of bitterness is okay but the best is when there is none. Thus one always tastes a ripe ground cherry then you wait a minute or so for any bitterness to appear.

While locally Ground Cherries can fruit nearly all year, they do produce a spring and fall crop. In cooler climes — most of North America — they just have one season ripening in late summer and fall. Here our fall crop tends to be better than our spring one. Spring ground cherries can rot on the plant or get damaged by insects and that is also when I tend to find more bitter ones. But this time of year brings out the best in ground cherries. One can find whole, undamaged, very ripe Ground Cherries in significant numbers. You can make a pie out of them if you can manage to get some home uneaten. Incidentally there is a second local ground cherry that resembles the Coastal Ground Cherry. It’s Physalis walteri, also known as Starry-Hair Ground Cherry and Sand Cherry. It has star-shaped hairs on the lower edges of the leaf which are visible with a hand lens. Still has edible berries, however as does P. angulata, and other common Ground Cherry. To read more about Ground Cherries go here.

Coco plums come in three colors but one flavor. Photo by Green Deane

The second “berry” of the day was Cocoplums. As we are in a seasonal shift we had to look at several bushes but we found more than enough for everyone to have a good taste of the much-underrated fruit. I’m not sure why most wild food writers disparage the Cocoplum. I like the pulp’s flavor as well as the seed which tastes like granola to me, or almonds. There are three common varieties, purple, red and white. All are edible and to my palate taste the same. Those who study the various species say the flavor improves with the dark species. As they have a long season and are a common ornamental one can usually collect a lot of Cocoplums. To read more about this native ornamental shrub click here.

Classes are held rain or shine or cold. Hurricanes are an exception.

Foraging Classes: With cooler weather foraging is even more fun. This weekend there is a class in northern Central Florida — Cassadaga (has some mushrooms) and on the west coast in Largo, always a pleasant forage.

Saturday, September 15th, Colby-Alderman Park: 1099 Massachusetts Street, Cassadaga. Fla. 32706.  9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday, September 16th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL33771. 9 a.m. to noon Meet at the pavilion near the dog park.

Saturday, September 22, Spruce Creek Park, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 32127. 9 a.m. to noon. 

Sunday, September 23rd, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet just north of the science center. 

Saturday, September 29th, Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at pavilion near pump house. 

Sunday, September 30th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, Fl. 32817. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at pavilion by the tennis courts by the YMCA building. 

For more information about the classes or to pay for them go here.

Green Deane DVD set of 135 videos

All of Green Deane’s videos are 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 for a total of 135 videos.  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. The DVDs make a good gift for that forager you know especially on long, cold winter months. Individual DVDs can also be ordered or you can pick and choose. You can order them by clicking on the button on the top right hand side of this page (if your window is open wide enough.)  Or you can go here.

Donations to upgrade EatTheWeeds.com and fund a book have gone well and made it past the half way mark. 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.  The goal now is to expand the forum page and the means to display more foraging teachers. And a special thanks to Thomas Sorrentino for your recent donations. 

Green Deane Forum

Want to identify a plant? Need to identify a plant? Looking for a foraging reference? Maybe you have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane — 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 articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food. Recent topics include: I Finally Found Wapato, Looks like Corn, Weed With Pod At Top, A Mile Walk In The Woods, Chicken of the Woods?, Elderberry Fungus, Spurge Nettle 2018, Does Anybody Know This Berry, and Five-Minute “English” Muffin with Beautyberries.  You can join the forum by clicking on the button in the menu line.

OMGers looks quite fresh after a couple of hours of mushroom hunting. Photo by Green Deane

The Orlando Mushroom Group (OMG!) turned out for a fungal foray Saturday last. Despite threats of rain it never really did so we had comfortable cloudy skies to forage under.  A wide array of mushrooms were found from the edible to the deadly. A lot of chanterelles and “Golden Milkies” were taken home for cooking. Several Reishi were coveted but I don’t think we found any Cordyceps instructor Joshua Buchanan was hoping to find. They are bug small. While on the topic of edible mushroom there have been some report of Ringless Honey Mushrooms flushing. In fact we saw a bunch Saturday during a separate foraging class in Orlando. That’s two months ahead of their usual schedule. Further north they are flushing now. We’ll need to keep an eye out for them as they are the next big seasonal edible followed by Oyster Mushrooms. To read about Ringless Honey Msuhrooms go here.  

Carpetweed grows in a variety of conditions.

One of the more common edible weeds underfoot in North America is Carpetweed, Mollugo verticillata. Scraggly if not scrawny the wispy plant does have the saving grace that it is all edible, raw or cooked and it requires very little cooking. Add it last.  There are several non-edible species that can resemble it so there are some of key points to remember. First, it does not have any white sap, it grows in a circular mat, and the blossoms have five white sepals but usually only three stamens, sometimes four or five but usually three, which is a bit odd for a five-sepal plant. Look for it in dry, sandy locations including waste ground. For all of its wide-spread presence in North America it is actually native to the tropical Americas. You can read about Carpetweed here. 

For small plants Indian Pipes get noticed a lot.

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. You can read more about the Monotropa here.

This is weekly issue 321. 

If you would like to donate to Eat The Weeds please click here. Or you can use my Go Fund Me  link, or by writing to Green Deane POB 941793 Maitland FL, 32794

 

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    Train Wrecker, Chicken of the Woods, Foraging Classes, Dogwood, Hackberries, Kudzu, foraging DVDs and the Green Deane Forum 

    471

    A white Water Hyacinth was seen recently in the Little Econ River east of Orlando. 

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    470

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-470-august-17th-2021/

    One way northern and southern climates differ is the greater array of non-native species that are constantly being imported and or found in southern climates.

    Torell’s Eucalyptus, Chaya, Guavas, Java Plum, Ground Cherries, Coco-plums, Natal Plum, Dragon Fruit, Podocarpus, Persimmons, Foraging USBs, Green Deane Forum, Donations, the Two-Leaf Nightshade 

    469

    Plants remind one that weather is less dependable than we might think. 

    Jambul, Chanterelles, Cactus Fruit, Sugarberry, Doveweed, Foraging Classes, Isabelline, Foraging USBs, the Green Deane Forum, and Donations

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-469-august-10-2021/

    468

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-468-august-3-2021/

    Yes, there are land crabs in Florida and the rest of the gulf coast.

    Land crabs, Foraging classes, Grapes, Podocarpus, Horsemint, Saw Palmetto, Goldenrod, Russian thistle, USBs, Green Deane Forum, donations. 

    467

    Candyroot, Foraging Classes, Wild Grapes, DVDs, Green Deane Forum, Donations, Saw Palmetto, Barnyard Grass, Brookweed 

    Is it the season or is it the rain?

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-467-july-27th-2021/

    466

    This summer’s foraging classes at Putney Farm in Honea Path South Carolina are now history

    Foraging in South Carolina, American Beech, Sourwood, Birches, Moringa, foraging Classes, Sumac, Country Wine, Saw Palmetto, foraging USB, Green Deane Forum, and Donations

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-466-july-20th-2021/ 

    465

    Newsletter #465, July 13th, 2021

    Kousa Dogwood, Sassafras, Wild Carrots, Birches Apples

    Apples, Mushrooms, Podocarpus, Foraging Classes, Knotweed, Cactus, Peppervine, Foraging DVDs, the Green Deane Forum, donations, 

    464 

    In real estate it is location, location, location. 

    Blue Indigos, Milk Caps, Jelly Fungus, Strawberry Guava, Foraging Classes, Pandamus Grass, Smilax, Foraging DVDs, Green Deane Forum and Donations

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-464-july-6th-2021/

    463

    Podocarpus are not fickle but they are slightly unpredictable. 

    Podocarpus, Java Plum, Stillwater Canoe, Mushrooms, Foraging classes, Atamasco Lily, foraging USBs, the Green Deane Forum, and donations  

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-463-june-29th-2021/

    462

    If you think you are not allergic to poison Ivy …

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-462-june-22-2021/

    Poison Ivy, Socks and Pythons, Black Cherries, Pokeweed, Yuck, Foraging Classes, Cashews, USBs, the Green Deane Forum, Donations.  

    461

    Sycamores, bacteria, Foraging Classes, Beautyberries, USBs, the Green Deane Forum, Donations, Sweet Acacia

    Sugar maples are famous for their syrup but how many species of trees can you actually tap?

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-461-june-15th-2021/

    460

    What can be said about the Jambul Tree?

    Jambul, Foraging Classes, Maypops, Pindo Palms, Chaya, Foraging USBs, Green Deane Forum, Donations, 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-460-june-8th-2021/

    459

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-459-june-1st-2021/

    For more than 60 years I have associated Lilacs with June.

    Lilacs, American Lotus, Foraging Classes, Chinese Tallow Tree, Eastern Hemlock, foraging USBs, the Green Deane Forum, Donations, toxic Atamaso Lilies. 

    This week’s debatable question is “can you eat elderberries raw?”

    Elderberries, Two-leaf Nightshade, Foraging Classes, Morning Glories, foraging USBs, the Green Deane forum, donations, Jack in the Pulpit 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-458-may-25th-2021/

    457

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-457-may-18th-2021/

    Acres of wild blackberries….

    Blackberries, foraging is illegal, Sea Blite, Foraging classes, Sea Purslane, foraging videos on USBs, the Green Deane Forum, 

    456

    The Bunya Bunya and Norfolk Pine are closely related.

    Bunya Bunya, Norfolk Pine, Allergic reactions, foraging classes, Chickasaw Plums, Blue Mushrooms, cattails, foraging videos on USBs, and the Green Deane Forum, 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-456-may-4th-2021/

    455

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-455-april-27th-2021/

    Is it edible? 

    Evening Primrose, False dandelions, Yucca, Foraging classes, foraging videos on USBs, the Ghreen Deane Forum, 

    454 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-454-april-20-2021/

    Pineapple Guava, Hercule’s Club, Usnea, Miner’s Lettuce, Foraging Classes, Paper Mulberry, Where do you forage, Foraging Videos, the Green Deane Forum, Brookweed, 

    Perhaps no ornamental has been championed as much as the Pineapple Guava

    453

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-453-april-13-2021/

    It’s about time to make a prediction.

    Ringless Honey Mushrooms, Eastern Coral Bean, Foraging Classes, Watercress, Marlberries, Foraging Videos, Green Deane Forum, Donations, 

    452

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-452-april-6th-2021/

    On the east coast of my native state of Maine about seven miles south of Portland is the Town of Scarbrough.

    Paper Mulberries, Foraging Classes, Deer Mushrooms, Hercules Club, USB Videos, Green Deane Forum, Donations.

    451 

    Which tree has more life, the Mulberry or the Moringa? 

    Mulberry, Atamasco lily, Foraging Classes, Blueberries, Huckleberries, Watercress, Foraging USBs,  the Green Deane Forum, Smilax, 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-451-march-30th-2021/

    450

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-450-march-23-2021/

    wisteria, Cherokee Rose, Deer Mushrooms, Foraging Classes, Hydrilla, Garlic, video USBs, Green Deane Forum, Donations

    The weather may be chilly still it’s a hot time of year for foraging. 

    449 

    It’s not June that’s busting out all over but rather Vacciniums, mostly blueberries.

    Vacciniums, groundnuts, evening primroses, foraging classes, video USBs, Pawpaws, Florida Pennyroyal,

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-449-march-16-2021/

    448

    The Greeks were perhaps the first people to call things what they were such as “yoke mate” for spouse or “shiny leather” for the Reishi mushroom.

    Bottlebrush tree, Candyroot, Loquats, Mulberries, Foraging classes. USB, the Green Deane Forum 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-448-march-09-2021/

    447

    Fireweed, Latex Strangler Vine, Foraging Classes, Clover, Bacopa, Violets, USBs, Cashews 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-447-02-march-2021/

    Fireweed/burnweed has a flavor chefs love. 

    446

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-446-feb-23-2021/

    Loquats, Loquat wine, Wild Garlic, Foraging Classes, Chickweed, Lamb’s Quarters,  Toxic Butterweed, Bulrush, USBs, and the Green Deane Forum, 

    While driving around have you seen a tree with large, dark green leaves and yellow fruit?

    445

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-445-feb-16-2021/

    Can you eat red mangroves?

    Mangroves, foraging classes, plantagos, Passion Flowers, Black Medic, USBs&DVDs, Alligator pendent, and the Green Deane Forum  

    444

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-444-february-9th-2021/

    Young and tender describes them best: Elm leaves we nibbled during our foraging class in Gainesville Saturday.

    Elms, Eastern Red Bud, Foraging Classes, Ragweed, Cattails, Coquina, Mole Crabs, USBs & DVDs, the Green Deane Forum, nickerbeans, alligator tooth. 

    443

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-443-february-2-2021/

    If you look across local lakes now you will see ruby red splotches on the horizon. 

    Maples, Drymaria, Foraging Classes, Seaweed, USBs & DVDs, the Green Deane Forum, Jabuticaba, 

    442

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-442-january-26-2021/

    Violets, False Hawk’s Beard, Foraging Classes, Stink Horns, Weed Seeds, USB & DVDs, the Green Deane Forum 

    A common blossom that’s easy to identify is the wild violet. 

    441

    Our mighty stinging nettles are up.

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-441-january-19-2021/

    Stinging nettles, Sow Thistle, Foraging Classes, Chickweed, Wild Geraniums, Silverthorn, USBs & DVDs, and the Green Deane Forum 

    440

    The Western Tansy Mustard is one of our shortest-lived wintertime forageables. 

    Western Tansy Mustard, Eastern Gamagrass, Begonias, Foraging Classes, Spiderworts, USBs&DVDs, the Green Deane Forum, 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-440-january-12th-2021/

    439

    Our tasty winter green chickweed is in its glory. 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-439-january-05-2021/

    Chickweed, Sheep Sorrel, Oxalis, Latex Strangler Vine, Pellitory, Black Medic, Geranium, Horsemint, Henbit, Shepherd’s Purse, Plantain, Wild Mustard Radish, Canna, Cattails, Foraging Classes, Botany Builder #12, USB & DVDs, and the Green Deane Forum

    438

    What difference can 172.4 miles make?

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-438-december-29th-2020/

    Goji berry, Sea Rocket, Black Medic, Harlequin Glorybower, Foraging Classes, Nagi Tree, Glasswort, USBs & DVDs, the Green Deane Forum 

     

    437

    At what point does a “wild” plant become an edible plant?

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-437-december-22-2020/

    Florida Thatch Palm, Sleepy Hibiscus, Cereus, Bauhinia, Foraging Classes, Cockroach Berry, Silverthorn, USBs and DVDs, the Green Deane Forum 

    436 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-436-december-15th-2020/

    Usually we see Christmas Berries about April. 

    Christmas Berries. Foraging Classes, Sow Thistle, Mustards & Radishes, Black Calabash, USBs & DVDs, and the Green Deane Forum  

    435

    Our first sighting of one of our winter comestibles happened Saturday

    Chickweed, Ringless Honey Mushrooms, Foraging Classes, Henbit, Wild Geraniums, Peltate, Is this Plant Edible? foraging USB & DVDs, the Green Deane Forum,  

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-435-december-08-2020/

    434 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-434-december-01-2020/

    Winter Podocarpus, Acerola, Foraging Classes, Chufa, Redflower Ragweed, Weeds of Southern Turf Grasses, foraging USBs &DVDs, the Green Deane Forum.

    Actually there’s nothing wrong with the photo per se, it’s the time of year that’s different.

    433

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-433-november-24-2020/

    Every April of so we go looking for Wild Garlic…

    Wild Garlic, Big Caltrop, Foraging Classes, Ghost Pipes, Balm of Gilead, USBs & DVDs, Green Deane Forum 

    432 

    We are shifting mushrooms seasons from terrestrial to trees or ground to wood.

    Lion’s Mane, Gooseberries, Foraging classes, Sea Purslane, Foraging in urban areas, USB and DVDs, the Green Deane forum 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-432-november-17th-2020/

    431

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-431-november-10-2020/

    While looking for the yellow-blossomed Dandelions…

    Dandelions, Mustard and radishes, Plantains, Foraging Classes, Brazilian Pepper,Skunk Vine, USBs & DVDs, the Green Deane Forum 

    430

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-430-november-3-2020/

    During our foraging class in West Palm Beach Sunday we saw inch-high sprouts of the winter edible Pellitory.

    Pellitory, Poor Man’s Peppergrass, Foraging classes, Seaweed, Jelly Fish, Southern Wax Myrtle, Stinkhorns, Jack Ol Lanterns, USBs & DVDs, the Green Deane Forum. 

    429

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-429-october-27-2020/

    During our foraging class Sunday in Gainesville we dug up a couple of Winged Yams. 

    Winged Yams. Tropical Almond, Foraging Classes, Roses, Bay Leaves, Citron Melon, the Honeycomb Mushroom, USBs and DVDs, the Green Deane Forum.

    428

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-428-october-20-2020/

    Country Wine, Foraging Classes, Chinese Tallow Tree, Caesarweed, Cambium, USBs and DVDs, the Green Deane Forum, and Ceibas

    Three reasons prompted me to resurrect my wine-making past. 

    427

    Mother Nature has her own schedule.

    Ringless Honey Mushrooms, Golden Rain Tree, Foraging Classes, Dragon Fruit, Partridgeberry, DVDs & USB, the Green Deane Forum

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-427-october-13-2020/

    426

    Fall is a good time to write about Yellow Pond Lilys.

    Yellow Pond Lilys, Persimmons, Monstera deliciosa, Turkey Tails, Foraging Classes, Sida, sumacs, two sages and a pusley, USBs and DVDs, and the Green Deane Forum

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-426-october-6-2020/ 

    425

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-425-september-29th-2020/

    The question isn’t whether Reishi mushrooms grow in North America. 

    Reishi mushrooms, Wax Myrtle Berries, Foraging Classes, American Beautyberries, Sea and Wood Oats, Ground Cherries, Anoles, Chestnut Bolete, DVDs and USB, the Green Deane Forum. 

    424

    Horsemint is in season and easy to find. 

    Horsemint, Crowfoot Grass, Foraging Classes, Apples, the aroma of wild food, plant pronunciations, foraging DVDs and USB, the Green Deane Forum,  

    423

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-423-september-15th-2020/

    No one told the Ringless Honey Mushrooms it isn’t November.

    Ringless Honey Mushrooms, the Syzygiums, Foraging Classes, Heartwing Sorrel, Bacopa, Groundnuts, USB and DVDs, and the Green Deane Forum 

    422

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-422-september-8th-2020/

    Pindo and Queen Palms, Canna, Indian Pipes, Foraging Classes, Scrumping, USBs and DVDs, the Green Deane Forum. 

    421

    In the backwoods of Maine where I grew up Dogwoods were small.

    Perennial Peanut, Kousa Dogwood, Sugarberry/Hackberry, Foraging Classes, Ground Cherries, foraging DVDsUSBs, the Green Deane Forum. 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-421-september-01-2020/

    420

    Gracie gets the prize. 

    Black Trumpets, Persimmons, foraging classes, Kudzu, Wild Apples, the toxic False Parasol, foraging USBs and DVDs, and the Green Deane forum. 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-420-august-25th-2020/

    419

    Last Sunday’s foraging class — Haulover Canal — was a hot one with a lot of walking.

    Tallow Plums, Foraging Classes, Goldenrod, Saw Palmettos, White Spiderling, Sumac, foraging DVDS & USBs, 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-419-august-18th-2020/

    418

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-418-august-11-2020/

    There is probably some Syzygium in your kitchen.

    Bunya Bunyas, Syzygiums, Chanterelles,  Cactus Tuna, Sugarberry, Doveweed, Isabelline, foraging DVDs and USB, the Green Deane Forum…

    417

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-417-august-04-2020/

    Wild mints can be prima donnas.

    Horsemint, Russian Thistle, Foraging Classes, Goldenrod, Swamp Mallow, foraging videos, Green Deane Forum, Pindo Palms 

    416

    With apologies this newsletter is starting with the foraging class schedule.

    Wild Grapes, foraging class schedule, Pepper Vine, Podocarpus, Country Wine Update, Sumacs, Saw Palmettos, Foraging Videos, Green Deane Forum, Black Gum

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-416-july-29th-2020/

    415

    July is passing and that means many different things to foragers depending upon your location on the rotation.

    Forked-tendril grapes, pindo palms, cactus, foraging classes, the false roselle, barnyard grass, strawberry guava, foraging DVDs & USB, the green Deane Forum, 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-415-july-21-2020/

    414

    It’s called Pandanus and Screw Pine and a lot of other names as well.

    Pandanus Grass, Smilax walteri, Foraging Classes, Knotweed, Pineapple Weed, Tamarind, Toe Biters, foraging videos on USB, and the Green Deane Forum 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-414-july-14th-2020/

    413

    Is it time to rethink Magnolias? 

    Magnolias, Foraging Classes, Podocarpus, Florida Wine, Bread and Beer, Foraging Videos on USB, Green Deane Forum, Strawberry Guavas

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-413-july-7-2020/

    412

    First an apology to those who showed up for a class last Sunday at Haul Over Canal to find, like me, the road closed.

    Chamberbitters, foraging classes, Grapes, Magnolias, videos on USB, Green Deane Forum, and Bacopa 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-412-june-30th-2020/

    411

    What can be said about the Jambul Tree? 

    Jambul Tree, Foraging Classes, Morning Glories, Boletes, Poke Sallet, Tindora, Foraging Videos on USBs, and the Green Deane Forum 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-411-june-23-2020/

    410

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-410-june-16th-2020/

    Sugar maples are famous for their syrup but how many species of trees can you actually tap?

    Tapping trees, grapes, foraging classes, American Beautyberries, Creeping Fig, Richardia, videos on USBs and the Green Deane Forum 

    409

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-409-june-9-2020/

    There’s an old song “what a difference a day makes.”

    Mushroom class, foraging classes, Natal Plum, Surinam Cherries, Foraging videos on USBs, the Green Deane Forum. 

    408

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-408-june-2-2020/

    Yellow ponds, that’s how I think of it, or in some places, yellow rivers.

    American Lotus, Jack in the Pulpit, Black Cherries, a toxic lily, Chinese Tallow Tree, Foraging Classes, Maypops, Videos on USBs, and the Green Deane Forum.

    407

    In the realm of plant populations there is endangered, threatened then rare. 

    Candyroot, American Lotus, Foraging Classes, Eggs, USBs and the Green Deane Forum 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-407-may-26-2020/

    406

    This was a “Prunus” foraging week. 

    Chickasaw Plums, Indigo Milk Cap, Black Medic, Foraging Classes, Cattails, Foraging Videos, Podocarpus, Wine Making, Blue Porter Weed, Green Deane Forum, Wild Pineapple. 

     https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-406-may-19-2020/

    405

    We are in between mushroom seasons, so to speak.

    Boletes, Society Garlic, Gopher Apples, Foraging Classes, Foraging DVDs/USBs, Botany Builder #28, Maypops, Toxic Cherry Laurel, Cochineal Dye, and the Green Deane Forum. 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-12-may-2020/

    404

    This week’s debatable question is “can you eat elderberries raw?”

    Elderberries, Grapes, Common Plant Names, Redflower Ragweed, Fakahatchee Grass, Ground Nuts, Foraging Classes, Foraging videos, Wild Coffee and Coralberry, the Green Deane Forum. 

     

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-05-may-2020/

    403

    Now is a good time to go looking for blackberries. 

    Blackberries, Pineapple Guava, the Bacopas, Foraging Classes, Foraging Videos now on USB drives, Eastern Coral Bean, Coquina, Green Deane Forum, and Cotton 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-28-april-2020/

    401-402 

    At one time there were just Opuntias.

    Cactus, Gopher Apples,  Deerberries, Foraging Classes, Mushrooms, Foraging DVDs, Persimmons, Avocados, Paper Mulberry, Pawpaw, Smartweed, Green Deane Forum and YUCK!, 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-april-14-21-2020/

    400

    Watercress grew in a ditch behind an apartment complex I lived in near Sanford, Florida…

    Watercress, Wild Garlic, Marlberries, Chokeberries, American Nightshade, Chamberbitter, Green Deane Forum, Donations, DVDs 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-7-april-2020/

    399

    Blossoming this time of year is the Eastern Coral Bean, sometimes called the Cherokee Bean.

    Eastern Coral Bean, Sea Blite, Foraging Classes, Pineapple Guava, Foraging DVDs, Variegated Mahoe, Australian Pine, Bananas, Green Deane Forum, Donations, Making Wine 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-31-march-2020/

    398

    If you have an established ivy gourd…

    Ivy Gourd, Swinecress, Foraging Classes, Cashews, Henbit, Purslane, DVDs, Green Deane Forum, Donations, Basswood, 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-24-march-2020/

    397

    A common blossom that’s easy to identify is the wild violet.

    Violets, Seablite, Loquats, foraging classes, Redflower Ragweed,  Latex Strangler Vine, Green Deane Forum, Donations, DVDs, Ivy Gourd 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-17-march-2020/

    396

    Fireweed/Burnweed has a flavor chefs love.

    Fireweed/Burnweed, Clover, Foraging Classes, Waning Weeds, Fungi, Creeping Cucumber, Bacopa, Pennyroyal, DVDs, Green Deane Forum, Donations 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-10-march-2020/

    395

    A few newsletters ago it was mentioned the Mulberries were in blossom.

    Mulberries, foraging classes, Pawpaws, Time Change, Dandelions and False Dandelions, Winter Plants and Wintergreen, Green Deane Forum, DVDs, Donating, and foraging photo #19 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-3-march-2020/ 

    394

    Species in the Rumex genus can be difficult.

    Rumex, Foraging Classes, Citron Melons, Loquat, Clover, Green Deane Forum, Foraging DVDS, Donations, 

     https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-25-february-2020/

    393

    What are those white blossoms?

    Plums, Hawthorns, Pawpaw, Foraging Classes, Blewit, Wild Garlic,  Plantagos, Green Deane Forum, DVDs, Donations, Botany Builder #38.

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-18-february-2020/

    392

    It’s time for my annual warning about Butterweed

    Butterweed, Bulrush, Foraging Classes, Wild Pineapple, Red Powder Puff, DVDs, Creeping Indigo warning, Green Deane forum, donations, 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-11-february-2020/

    391

    Most trees in the Pea Family are toxic but not all of them.

    Eastern redbud, Cattails, Pines, Foraging Classes, Coquina and Mole Crabs, Acorns, Plantagos, DVDs, the Green Deane Forum 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-04-february-2020/

    390

    While driving through the middle of the peninsula this week I noticed Lambsquarters in their most common seasonal place: Citrus groves.

    Lambsquarters, Foraging Classes, Passifloras, Doveweed, Axils, Jelly Fish, DVDs, the Green Deane Forum, Donations 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-28-january-2020/

    389

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-21-january-2020/

    Cladonia is a large genus of edible but not tasty lichen.

    Lichen, foraging classes, Botany Builder 28, Wild Lettuce, Removing Invasive Species, Botanical Names, Black Medic, Foraging DVDs, the Green Deane Forum, Donations

    388

    It’s rather obvious that wintertime foraging varies where you live.

    Winter Foraging, Chickweed and edible friends, Foraging classes, Sublimed sulfur, A cheap foraging book, Details and Solanum Americanum, Oyster Mushrooms, DVDs, Donations and the Green Deane Forum. 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-14-january-2020/

    387

    Eastern Gamagrass, aka Fakahatchee Grass, is an edible you don’t see and then you do.

    Eastern Gamagrass, Ivy Gourd, Foraging Classes, Teas, Botany Builder #10, Carpetweed, Donations, Foraging DVDs, the Green Deane Forum 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-7-january-2020/

    386

    There’s no reason to buy mustard greens now.

    Wild mustard and radish, Butter and Ruby Boletes, Foraging Classes, Edible Blossoms, Surinam Cherries, toxic Creeping Indigo. 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-31-december-2019/

    385

    It’s a good time to mention the toxic Butterweed and Rattlebox.

    Butterweed, Foraging Classes, Roses, Hawthorns, Euell Gibbons and Nutrition, Rattlebox 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-24-december-2019/

    384

    Plants give you something to look forward to especially if you know where and when to look.

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-17-december-2019/

    Wild Garlic, Chickweed, Goosegrass, Sow Thistle, Stinging Nettles, Dandelions, Sycamore, Foraging Classes, Tar Vine, Desert Horse Purslane, Green Deane Forum, DVDs, Go Fund Me, Urban Crawl

    383

    Mother Nature can be fickle and it’s almost always tied to weather.

    Grapes, Swinecress, Silverthorn, Foraging Classes, False Hawk’s Beard, Jelly Ears, Botany Builder #31,  Cactus, the Green Deane Forum, Foraging DVDs, Go Fund Me 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-10-december-2019/

    382

    Pyracanthas are furious in the fall.

    Pyrachanthas Chinese and Siberian Elms, Silverthorn, Foraging Classes, Drymaria, Botany Builder #30, Magnolia Blossoms, Ginkgo, Foraging DVDs, the Green Deane Forum, Go Fund Me, Pollination in a word, and Remembering Nefertiti

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-3-december-2019/

    381

    This time of year two wintertime foragables come up, one quite esteemed the other barely edible.

    Henbit, Wild  Geraniums, Foraging Classes, Chickweed, Horse Nettle & Tropical Soda Apple,  Bananas

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-26-november-2019/

    380

    wild Mustards and radishes, Toxic Water Hemlock, Smartweed, Foraging Classes, Golden Rain Tree, Skunk Vine, Scat Contamination, Lady Bugs, and Lion’s Mane 

    Many foraging books are what I call “Ohio-centric.”

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-19-november-2019/

    379

    Dandelions, Seaweed, Foraging classes, Jellyfish, Wax Myrtle Berries, the Stinkhorn and Jack O’Lanterns, Mustards and Radishes, the Green Deane Forum, Donations, and foraging DVDs  

    Dandelion blossoms, ten pounds of sugar, and two cakes of bread yeast became my first batch of wine.

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-05-november-2019/

    378

    Edible Mushrooms, Foraging Classes, Tie Change, Blue and Red Sages and Oakleaf Flea Bane, Chinese Elm, Christmasberries, Wild Mustards, donations, DVDs, the Green Deane Forum. 

    Unusual rains last week coaxed more life out of several edible mushroom species that were seasonally put to bed a month ago.

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-29-october-2019/

    377

    Cucumber Tree, Paul Dreher, Sida, Turkey Tails, Foraging Classes, Palmate Leaves, Richardia, Perennial Peanut, Caesarweed, Botanical Names, Donations, Foraging DVDs, the Green Deane Forum. 

    Foraging is treasure hunting for adults

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-22-october-2019/

    376

    As is often the case one can walk past edible species many times and not notice them.

    Cinnamon, Dragon Fruit, Foraging Classes, Sumac, Persimmons, Yellow Pond Lily, Donations, Foraging DVDs, the Green Deane Forum 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-15-october-2019/

    375

    The fruiting of species can be a mystery. 

    Cocoplums, Simpson Stopper, Coconut borer, Southern Wax Myrtle, Foraging Classes, Ringless Honey Mushrooms, White American Beautyberries, Wood Oats, Donations, foraging DVDs,  the Green Deane Forum 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-08-october-2019/

    skipped a week, wordpress down

    374

    Panicum is a very common group of edible native and non-native grasses in Florida and North America.

    Panic Grass, Aromas, Plant Pronunciations, Foraging Classes, Purslane, Pindo Palm Wine, Donations, DVDs, the Green Deane Forum

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-24-september-2019/(opens in a new tab)

    373

    It’s the time of year to talk about Saw Palmetto berries.

    Saw Palmettos, Tallow Plum, Foraging Classes, Wild Apples, Elevation, Donations, DVDs, the Green Deane Forum

    Newsletter 17 September 2019

    372

    Seagrapes are coming into season.

    Seagrapes, Doveweed, Foraging near roads. Foraging Classes this week, Black & Sweet Gums, Isabelline and Mushrooms of the Gulf South. 

    Newsletter 10 September 2019

    371

    Newsletter 03 September 2019

    Labor Day used to mean more than hurricanes threatening the east coast from Florida to Maine.

    Labor Day, Creeping Fig, Foraging Classes in spite of Hurricane Dorian, Liatris, Poke Weed, Yellow Pond Lilly,  Poke Weed, Mosquitos & Beer, Lawns Aren’t Green, donations, 

    370

    It’s the time of year when Horsemint is easy to find. 

    Horsemint, Cocoplums, Natal Plumbs; Mushroom, Chitin, Arsenic and Insects; Stevia and Ragweed, Foraging Classes, Railroad Tracks, Goldenrod, Go Fund Me

    Newsletter 27 August 2019

    369

    I never receive mail about Lion’s Ear.

    Newsletter 20 August 2019

    Lion’s Ear, Brazilian Nightshade, Foraging Classes, Sida, Gopher Apples and Tallow Plums, White Chicken of the Woods, Go Fund Me, Foraging DVDs, the Green Deane Forum. 

    368

    The Water Hyacinth is blooming and no doubt many people are irritated by that.

    Newsletter 13 August 2019

    Water Hyacinth, Milk Cap Mushrooms, Foraging Classes, Kudzu, Green Deane Forum, DVDs, Go Fund Me, and I need a webmaster. 

    367

    Bunya Bunya get no respect 

    Bunya Bunya, Red Spiderling, Goldenrod, Sugarberry, Foraging Classes, Horsemint, Sweet Gum/Black Gum, The False Parasol: A mushroom to avoid, Green Deane Forum, Russian Thistle and railroad tracks, Foraging DVDs, Go Fund me, and I need a webmaster.

    Newsletter 6 August 2019

    366

    What’s in season to forage? Many species now perhaps because of unusual weather pattens this year.

    What plants can you forage for now, what mushrooms can you forage now, foraging classes, Blue Porter Weed, DVDs, the Green Deane Forum, Go Fund Me 

    365

    It’s common yet uncommon, that is, not rare but you don’t notice it too often. 

    Hawthorns, American Lotus, Upcoming foraging class schedule, Chanterelles, Burgoo and Loblollies, Donations, the Green Deane Forum, foraging DVDs 

    Newsletter 23 July 2019

    364

    One more abbreviated newsletter with schedule because I have been teaching out-of-state. 

    Newsletter 16 July 2019

    Newsletter 23 July 2019

    363

    Newsletter 9 July 2019

    This and next week’s newsletters (July 9 & 16, 2019) are abbreviated because…

    362

    One would think that with a name like “Barnyard Grass” one would find the species in barnyards. 

    Barnyard Grass, Strawberry Guava, Seaside Gentian, Spanish Needles, Toxic polypore, Foraging Classes, Teaching in South Carolina, Go Fund Me, the Green Deane Forum, foraging DVDs 

    Newsletter 2 July 2019

    361

    Yes it is edible but….

    The other White Chicken-of-the-Woods, Two-Leaf Solanum, Norfolk Pines and the Bunya Bunya, Foraging Classes Florida,  Foraging Classes South Carolina. Go Fund Me, the Green Deane Forum, and foraging DVDs 

    Newsletter 25 June 2019

    360

    Ground cherries locally tend to have two seasons, spring and fall. 

    Ground Cherries, South Carolina Foraging Classes, new food crops, Florida Foraging Classes, the Winged Yam, Passion Flower, the toxic Cherry Laurel, Go Fund Me, the Green Deane Forum, foraging DVDs

    Newsletter 18 June 2019

    359

    Yellow ponds, that’s how I think of it, or in some places, yellow rivers.

    American Lotus, South Carolina Foraging Classes, Local Foraging Classes, the toxic Atamasco Lily, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Juniper Berries, Go Fund Me, Green Deane Forum, DVDs, the Chinese Tallow tree 

    Newsletter 11 June 2019

    358

    From a foraging point of view it was a very berry weekend starting with Coastal Ground Cherries, Physalis angustifolia in Port Charlotte.

    Ground Cherries, Cassine, Marco Island, Classes in South Carolina, Foraging Classes Florida, How Safe Is Foraging, Go Fund Me, the Green Deane Forum, DVDs  

    Newsletter 4 June 2019

    357

    The first time I ever saw red poppies growing was in Athens on my first visit to Greece

    Corn Poppies, Impatiens, Smartweed, Mushroom Update, Foraging Classes, Botany Builder #28 Echinate, Blue Porterweed, Green Deane Forum, Go Fund Me, DVDs, and Wild Pineapple 

    Newsletter 28 May 2019

    356

    If you were starving and came upon a patch of cattails you would have great cause for celebration.

    Cattails, Kudzu, Acorns, Lantana, Foraging Classes, Gopher Apples, Go Fund Me, and foraging DVDs 

    Newsletter 21 May 2019

    355

    The American Nightshade is a much-maligned plant

    American Nightshade, Ground Cherry, Blueberries et cetera, Carolina Bristle Mallow, Foraging Classes, Juniper Berries, Donations, the Green Deane Forum, foraging DVDs

    Newsletter 14 May 2019

    354

    There’s an odd kind of mulberry here in Florida. 

    Basswood (The Linden/Lime Tree) Chestnut Bolete, Foraging Classes, Kudzu, Wild Pineapple, Winged Yam, Foraging DVDs, Ivy Gourd, Donations, Gamagrass/Fakahatchee Grass, the Green Deane Forum 

    Newsletter 7 May 2019

    353

    There’s still time to look for Sea Blite, a seasonal salt-tolerant species that’s here this month, gone next month

    Sea Blite, Sugarberry, Foraging Classes, the Mahoe, Partridgeberry, Marlberries Revisited, DVDs, Donations and the Green Deane Forum. 

    Newsletter 30 April 2019

    352

    By April Stinging Nettles are usually gone for the season.

    Newsletter 23 April 2019

    Stinging nettles, Green Mushrooms,  Suriname Cherries, Wild Garlic, Foraging Classes, Miner’s Lettuce, Confederate Jasmine, Florida Pennyroyal, Redvein Abutilon, DVDs, Go Fund Me, and the Green Deane Forum 

    351

    If you are in the habit of eating wild mushrooms

    Newsletter 16 April 2019

    Five Edible Wild Mushrooms, Pineapple Guava, Eastern Coral Bean, Forestiera segregata the Florida Privet, Weekly Foraging Classes, Wild Edibles and locations they like, DVDs, the Green Deane Forum, and Go Fund Me 

    350

    Watercress/Wintercress grew in a ditch behind an apartment complex I lived in…

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-09-april-2019/

    Watercress, Wild Garlic, Upcoming Foraging Classes, Marlberries, Chokeberry, Making You Own Vinegar, Usnea, DVDS, Green Deane Forum, Go Fund Me, A Leafing Hickory 

    349

    Tallow Plums are something of a botanical mystery.

    Newsletter 2 April 2019

    Tallow Plums, Wild Garlic, Blueberries and relatives, Toothache Tree as a source of pepper, Foraging Classes, Eastern Coral Bean, American Nightshade, Soon it will be mushroom season, Green Deane Forum, Foraging DVDs, Go Fund Me. 

    348

    A few newsletters ago it was mentioned Mulberries were in blossom…

    Newsletter 26 March 2019

    Mulberries, Creeping Cucumber, Coco-plums, Foraging Classes and a new location, toxic Butterweed, Suriname Cherries, Green Deane Forum DVDS, Fermenting Spiderwort, Go Fund Me…  

    347

    Pawpaws can be among the most difficult and easy wild fruits to find.

    Newsletter 19 March 2019

    Pawpaws, Eating Grass, Foraging Classes, sickening Tropical Sage, Wisteria, Gladiolus, Raceme vs Spike, the Green Deane Forum, DVDs, Go Fund Me. 

    346

    With an impossible scientific name and strong aroma Fireweed is often over looked by the foraging community.

    Fireweed, Mayflowers, Lilacs, Pussy Willows, Foraging Classes, Mistetoe, Green Deane Forum, DVDs, Go Fund Me, Drying Loquats

    Newsletter 12 March 2019

    345

    Most foragers know Smilax tips are edible.

    Newsletter 5 March 2019

    Smilax berries, Marlberries, Daylight Saving Time, True Thistles, Coquina & Mole Crabs, Botanical Names, Foraging Classes, the Green Deane Forum, DVDs, and Go Fund Me 

    344

    Heads up, literally: Loquats are ripening.

    Newsletter 26 February 2019

    Loquats, Blackberries, Mulberries. Maypops, Creeping Cucumbers, Dollarweed, Strange Time of Year, Foraging Classes,  Eau de Rodent, Turkey Berry,  Toxic Tomatoes, the Green Deane Forum, DVDs, Go Fund Me, 

    343

    Lamb’s Quarters… Fat Hen… and where to find it.

    Newsletter 19 February 2019

    Lamb’s Quarters, Citron Melons, Last Average Frost Date,  Maple Seeds, Eastern Red Bud, Pink Tabebuia, Loquats, Pawpaws, Surinam Cherries, Cocoplum, Wild Mustard, Wild Radish, Blackberries. Agaricus campestris, Foraging Classes, Go Fund Me, DVDs, Green Deane Forum, Plantago rugelii  

    342

    The Western Tansy Mustard is one of our shortest-lived winter-time forageables.

    Newsletter 12 February 2019

    Western Tansy Mustard, Bittercress, Micro-Mustards, Black Medic, Foraging Classes, Florida Herbal Conference, Doveweed, the Larch, Tulips, Go Fund Me, Green Deane Forum, DVDs,  

    341

    Going north to forage is always pleasant this time of year. 

    Newsletter 5 February 2019

    Wild Garlic, Black Cherry vs Laurel Cherry, Elderberries, Foraging Classes, Lawns Aren’t Green, Florida Herbal Conference, Go Fund Me, the Green Deane Forum, Foraging DVDs 

    340

    Yeah… that’s a mouthful…

    Male Pine Cones, Poorman’s Pepper Grass and Maca, Perennial Peanut, Foraging Classes, Seaweeds, Dandelions, Nicker Beans, Florida Herbal Conference, Go Fund Me, the Green Deane Forum, Foraging DVDs, and Trametes lactinea.

    Newsletter 29 January 2019

    339

    An often overlooked wild edible is Bulrush.

    Newsletter 22 January 2019

    Bulrushes, Candyroot, Florida Pennyroyal, Sow Thistle, Wild Pineapple, Florida Herbal Conference, Calliandra, Foraging Classes, Blewits, Magnesium Deficiencies, DVDs, Green Deane Forum, Go Fund Me, Spanish Cherries 

    338

    Newsletter 15 January 2019

    A common blossom that’s easy to identify is the wild violet. It’s cultivated brethren is the pansy.

    Violets, foraging mistakes, upcoming foraging classes, the Florida Herbal Conference, Bauhinias, False Hawks Beard, Green Eyes, Florida Privet, foraging DVDs, the Green Deane Forum, Go Fund Me, Swinecress, Stink Horns, and Lawns Aren’t Green. 

    337

    Newsletter 08 January 2019

    There are Plantains that look like tough bananas and there are Plantains that are low and leafy plants. 

    Plantains/Plantagos, Fleabane, Goji Berry, Sycamore tree, Sublimed Sulfur, Richardia, Foraging Classes, Foraging DVDs, the Green Deane Forum, Go Fund Me.  

    336

    Newsletter, 01 January 2019

    Newsletter, 01 January 2019

    Making their winter debut are our stinging nettles and they might have the second-worst nettle sting on earth.

    Stinging nettles, Sow Thistles, Chickweed, Foraging Classes, Podocarpus Mystery, Hen Bit, the “Bills”, Wax Myrtle Berries, Foraging DVDs, the Green Deane Forum, Go Fund Me

    335

    Newsletter 18-25 December 2018

    Newsletter 18-25 December 2018

    Newsletter 18-25 December 2018

    A winter edible you should be scouting for is Galium aparine, or Goosegrass…

    Goosegrass, Jelly Ears, False Hawk’s Beard, Roses, Nickerbeans, Christmasberry, Dandelion, Lemon Bacopa and it’s evil bitter sister Water Hyssop, Foraging Classes, Pinellas County, Foraging Videos, Go Fund Me, Green Deane Forum, Thistle Seeds, 8th Annual Urban Crawl 

    334

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-11-december-2018/

    Pyracanthas are furious in the fall. Their brilliant red berries stand out in every landscape 

    Pyracanthas, Gingko, Chickweed, Hibiscus, Bauhinia, Foraging Classes, Death By Apple Seeds, Green Deane Forum, Foraging DVDs, Go Fund Me, can you ID the edibles? 

    333

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-04-december-2018/

    Both the Chinese and Siberian elms have several edible parts.

    Chinese and Siberian elms, if an animal can eat it, West Indian Chickweed, upcoming Foraging Classes, Passiflora lutea, the Green Deane Forum, Go Fund Me, Foraging videos, and oaks   

    332

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-27-november-2018/

    Foragers benefit from bad ideas. 

    Silverthorn, Little Mustards, Creeping Cucumber, Foraging Classes, Go Fund Me, Wax Myrtle, Green Deane Forum, Indian Pipes, Foraging Videos, 

    331

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-20-november-2018/

    The seasons are changing and so is the foraging with a shift into not only fall but winter plants.

    Christmasberry, Sugarberry, Foraging Classes, Carpetweed, Beefsteak Polypore, Go Fund Me. Green Deane Forum, Foraging videos

    330

    Common plant names can be so misleading. 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-13-november-2018/

    Silk Floss Tree, Pandanus Grass, Sand Spurs, Stinging Nettle, Foraging Classes, Chicken of the Woods, Go Fund Me, Foraging DVDs, and the Green Deane Forum  

    329

    We don’t have the opportunity to often use the word “windfall”…

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-november-06-2018/

    Chinese elm, pines and inner bark, jellyfish, wild oaks and sea purslane, foraging classes, personal notes, donations, DVD and the Green Deane Forum 

    328

    The tree is easy to find but is it edible? 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-30-october-2018/

    Golden Rain Tree, Daylight Saving Time, Back Yard Foraging and Pets, Foraging Classes, Smartweed, Go Fund Me, DVDs, and the Green Deane Forum

    327

    Learning about edible wild plants seem intimidating at first.

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-23-october-2018/

    Ringless Honey Mushroom, Foraging Class Schedule,  Morning Glories, Go Fund Me, DVDs, and the Green Deane Forum, 

    326

    Our Sumacs are happy. 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-16-october-2018/

    Sumacs, Persimmons, What is Edible? Foraging Classes, Perennial Peanut, Sea Grapes, Go Fund Me, Green Deane Forum, foraging DVDs, 

    325 

    This might be a good time to write about Yellow Pond Lilys.

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-09-october-2018/

    Yellow Pond Lily, Papaya and Castor Beans, Sida, Turkey Tails, False Turkey Tails, Foraging Classes, DVDs, Go Fund Me, Green Deane Forum. 

    324

    Is it edible? Yes, no, maybe…

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-2-october-2018/

    Chinese Tallow Tree, Caesarweed, Horsemint, Oyster Mushrooms, Foraging Classes, DVDs, Go Fund Me, the Green Deane Forum. 

    323

    Seasons can be subtle

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-25-september-2018/

    Seasons, Jambul Tree, Mushrooming, Saw Palmaettos, Foraging Classes. Toxic Caterpillars, Foraging Videos, and the Green Deane Forum. 

    322

    It was on the side of the bike trail, half squished.

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-18-september-2018/

    Persimmons, Ringless Honey Mushrooms, Bananas, Foraging Classes, Peppervine, Foraging Videos, Green Deane Forum, 

    321

    In the backwoods of Maine where I grew up Dogwoods were small.

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-11-september-2018/

    Kousa Dogwood, Canna, Ground Cherries, Cocoplums, Foraging Classes, Foraging DVDs, Go Fund Me, the Green Deane Forum, OMG!, Carpetweed, Indian Pipes 

    320

    In the olden BC days… before computers…

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-04-september-2018/

    Fall foraging, foraging classes, DVDs, Green Deane Forum,  Go Fund me, Creeping Fig 

    319

    Still unpacking from my road trip (which is my excuse for this shorter-than-usual weekly newsletter.)

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-28-august-2018/

    Mushroom class, foraging class in South Carolina, Foraging Classes, Kudzu, Radium Weed, DVDs, Go Fund Me, the Green Deane Forum  

    318

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-21-august-2018/

    This is an abbreviated newsletter

    Foraging class schedule for August and September 2018

    317

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-14-august-2018/

    Bunya Bunya get no respect in countries where people have plenty of food.

    Bunya Bunya, Norfolk Pine,  Black Gum, Sugarberry, Erect Spiderling, Green Deane Forum, Foraging DVDs, Foraging Classes, Go Fund Me, 

    316

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-08-august-2018/

    There’s an old phrase: “Sometimes you have to bow to the absurd”

    Chanterelles, Black Trumpet, Sumac, Foraging Classes, Horsemint, Green Deane Forum, DVDs, Go Fund Me, 

    315

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-31-july-2018/

    Putting on black fruit now is the much-debated Peppervine, Ampelopsis arborea.

    Peppervine, Pindo Palms, Foraging Classes, Americaln Lotus, DVDs, Green Deane Forum, Where the wild food is.  

    314

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-24-july-2018/

    Our foraging class in Port Charlotte this past week was above and beyond if you like fruit.

    Cocoplums,  Jambul Tree, Mangos, Ground Cherries, Foraging Classes, Fermenting Mushrooms, Blue Porterweed, Foraging DVDs, the Green Deane Forum, 

    313 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-17-july-2018/

    Millions of dollars and many decades have been spent trying to eradicate the edible pictured above.

    Latex Strangler Vine, Beefstake Polypore, Sugarberry, Foraging Classes, Eastern Gammagrass, Purslane, Green Deane Forum, Foraging DVDs, Lawns Aren’t Green, 

    312

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-10-july-2018/

    Lobsters… no, not the kind from the sea but the woods: Lobster mushrooms. 

    Magnolias, Lobster Mushrooms, Foraging Classes, Carpetweed, Green Deane Forum, Foraging DVDs, Bacterial Considerations, 

    311

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-3-july-2018/

    There’s a wonderfully aromatic plant that prefers to hide most of the year.

    Horsemint, Tallow Plum, Orlando Mushroom Group, Pecan Truffles, Foraging Classes, and DVDs 

    310

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-26-june-2018/

    Podocarpus does not, as they used to say, have an attitude.

    Podocarpus, Simpson Stopper, Orlando Mushroom Group, Foraging Classes, Jack In The Pulpit, Green Deane Forum, and foraging DVDs. 

    309

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-19-june-2018/

    Paper Mulberries are related to bread fruit. 

    Paper Mulberries, St. John’s Mint, Black Gum, Podocarpus, Poison Sumac, Foraging Classes, DVDs, Green Deane Forum, Blue Porterweed

    308

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-12-june-2018/

    Sorting out Morning Glories, Maypops and plants with cyanide, a Bolete with no name, Foraging Classes, Eating Little Red Bugs, the Green Deane Forum, Foraging DVDs,  

    307

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-05-june-2018/

    Yellow ponds, that’s how I think of it…

    American Lotus, Black Cherry,  Foraging Classes, Toxic Atamasco,  Milk Caps. The Old Man of the Woods, Green Deane Forum, Chinese Tallow tree, foraging DVDs, 

    306

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-29-may-2018/

    Yucca is not Yuca. Or said another way: YOU-ka is not YUK-ka.

    Yucca, Matchhead, Oaxaca Lemon Verbena, Doveweed, Ficus Racemosa, American Nightshade, Foraging Classes, DVDs, Green Deane Forum, Eastern Hemlock 

    305 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-22-may-2018/

    The Orlando Mushroom Group (OMG!) met Sunday for their first fungal foray of the year. 

    Orlando Mushroom Group, Pawpaws, Foraging Classes, Pregnancy and Plants,  Green Deane Forum, Foraging DVDs, Go Fund Me, and Chanterelles. 

    304

    Spiderworts got me in trouble once

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-15-may-2018/

    Spiderworts, Pond Apples, Sea Oxeye, Foraging Classes, OMG mushroom hunt, Go Fund Me, Green Deane Forum, Foraging DVDs, Botany Builder 26,   

    303

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-08-may-2018/

    Not all of botany is settled.

    Grapes, Ivy Gourd, Eastern Gamagrass, Foraging Classes, DVDs, Green Deane Forum, Go Fund Me, the Orlando Mushroom Group, 

    302 

    Sea Purslane and Purslane are not the same species

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-01-may-2018/

    Sea Purslane, Sargassum, Morning Glories, Foraging Classes,  Foraging DVDs, Green Deane Forum, Orlando Mushroom Group, Go Fund Me, Jack in the Pulpits, 

    301

    The American Nightshade is poised to fruit heavily.

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-24-april-2018/

    American Nightshade, Blackberries, Orlando Mushroom Group, Common Fungi of South Florida, Foraging Classes, Ivy Gourd, Green Deane Forum, Foraging DVDs, Go Fund Me, 

    Newsletters in chronological order

  •  29 November2016:  https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-6-december-2016/ Issue 235: What do you see #25, Beautyberries, Simpson Stoppers, Wild Pineapples, Where To Find Wild Edibles. Foraging Classes, A possible edible shrub? Bananas, Foraging DVDs and the Green Deane Forum
  • 22 November 2016:  Issue 234 Dandelions, Goji Berries, Wapato, Foraging Classes, Foraging DVDs, the Green Deane Forum
  • 15 November 2016: Issue 233: Chinese Elm, Wild Lettuce, Horsemint, Smartweed, Beautyberry, Brazilian Pepper, Winged Sumac, Foraging Classes, DVDs, the Green Deane Forum,
  • 08 November 2016:  Issue 232. Cucumber Weed, Honey Mushrooms, Creeping Cucumber, Tallow Plum, Christmasberry, Foraging Classes, Green Deane DVD, and the Green Deane Forum.
  • 01 November 2016: Issue 231: Edible Wild Radish, Deadly Water Hemlock, Peppery Smartweed, Crushed Acorns, Foraging Classes, DVDs and the Green Deane Forum
  • 25 October   2016: Issue 230: Tropical Almond, How Kids Learn, Foraging Classes, Dove Plums, the Green Deane Forum and foraging DVDs.
  • 18 October 2016: Issue 229: Do you need to know the botanical names? Morning Glories, Persimmons, Yam A, Foraging Classes, Green Deane Forum, DVDs, Acorn Bread.
  • 11 October 2016: Issue 228: Harvesting windfall, is the ground polluted? the Green Deane Forum and foraging DVDs
  • 04 October 2016: Issue 227: Carpetweed, foraging and bacteria, foraging classes, the Green Deane Forum, and foraging DVDs.
  • 27 September 2016: Issue 226: Acorns, Creeping Fig, Jewels of Opar, Foraging Classes, Ft. Desoto, Chaya, Green Deane Forum, foraging DVDs.
  •  20 September 2016: Issue 225: Hackberry – Sugarberry, Kudzu, Skunk Vine, Foraging Classes, Persimmons, Green Deane DVDs and the Green Deane Forum.
  • 13 September 2016: Issue 224: Water Hyacinth, Panic Grass, Foraging Classes, DVDs, Pindo Wine, the Green Deane Forum
  • 06 September 2016: Issue 223: Learning how to forage, what’s in season now, foraging classes, Green Deane DVDs, the Green Deane Forum.
  • 30 August 2016 was a fifth Tuesday. No newsletter was published.
  • 23 August 2016: Issue 222: Beautyberries, grapes, Pindo Palm, Simpson Stopper, Horsemint, Saw Palmetto, Persimmons, Maine Blueberries, milkweed pods, foraging classes., DVDs, the Green Deane Forum, medicinal and edible mushrooms.
  • 16 August 2016: Issue 221: Horsemint, Pindo Wine, Begonias, Goldenrod, Foraging Classes, Green Deane Forum, Foraging DVDs, Beautyberries,
  • 09 August 2016: Issue 220: Black Cherry, Black Gum, Black Pepper Vine Fruit, the North American Ebony, persimmon, foraging classes, DVDs, and the Green Deane Forum.
  • 02 August 2016: Issue 219: Pindo Palms, White Boerhavia, Water Hyssop and memory, Hackberries, Foraging Classes, DVDs, the Green Deane Forum, and Wild Grpaes
  • 26 July 2016: Issue 218: The Jambul Tree, Norfolk Pine, Hairy Cow Pea, Magnifying Glass, Foraging classes, DVDs, the Green Deane Forum, and Simpson Stoppers.
  • All data on site between April 16 and June 8th were lost because of Hostgator’s incompetence. That included many newsletters.
  • 12 April 2016: Issue 203: Finding Pawpaws, blossoming Eastern Coral Bean, fruiting Mulberries, the Mahoe, Partridgeberries in Florida! Upcoming foraging classes and ForageFest, the Green Deane Forum and DVDs.
  • 5 April 2016: No newsletter because of hacking attempt.
  • 29 March 2016: Issue 202: Ivy Gourd or Tindora, Bidens alba, Fermenting, Loquats, Foraging Classes and DVDs.
  • 22 March 2016:  Issue 201: Linden Tree, Fermenting Spiderwort, Avocado Seeds, Foraging Classes, DVDs
  • 15 March 2016: Issue 200: Identifying Garden Weeds, Loquats, Butterweed, New Class Location, Upcoming Foraging Classes, the Green Deane Forum, Foraging DVDs, 200th Newsletter!
  • 8 March 2016: Issue 199: Garden weeds, finding edible weeds, Western Tansy Mustard, Foraging Classes, Sow thistles, Green Deane Forum and  DVDs.
  • 1 March 2016: Issue 198: Florida Herbal Conference 2016, Poor Man’s Pepper Grass and Maca, Foraging Classes, Seaweed, Free Mustard Seeds, Green Deane DVDs, and the Green Deane Forum.
  • 23 February 2016: Issue 197: The Eastern Redbud and Chickasaw Plum, Wild Radishes and Mustards, Earthskills and Florida Herbal Conference 2016, Upcoming Foraging Classes, Free Mustard Seeds, Green Deane DVDs, and the Green Deane Forum.
  • 16 February 2016: Issue 196: Sow Thistles, Thorns, Spines and Prickles, the Green Deane Forum, Foraging Classes. Florida Herbal Conference, Free Mustard Seeds, Green Deane’s DVDs.
  • 9 February 2016: Issue 195: Silverthorns, Plantagos, Foraging Classes, Florida Herbal Conference, Foraging DVDs, free Red Mustard seeds.
  • 2 February 2016: Issue 194: Tulips, Mustards, Dandelions, Doveweed, Florida Herbal Conference, Foraging Classes, Green Deane Videos, Free Mustard seeds, and the Green Deane Forum: Did you ever eat a larch?”
  • 26 January 2016: Issue 193: Eastern Gamagrass, Florida Herbal Conference, Sea Blite, Queen and Pindo Palms, Opuntia and Nopales, Foraging Classes, Green Deane DVDs.
  • 19 January 2016: Issue 192: Silverthorn, Sheep’s Sorrel, Free Red Mustard Seeds, Stinging Nettles, Henbit, Chickweed, Foraging Classes, DVDs, and the Green Deane Forum
  • 12 January 2016: Issue 191: Roots revisited: Ivy Gourd. Wild Teas. Foraging Classes, DVDs, the Green Deane Forum.
  • 5 January 2016: Issue 190:Stinging nettles, Purslane, Oxalis, Mystery Root, Foraging classes, DVDs, Green Deane Forum.
  • 29 December 2015: Issue 189:Goosegrass, Christmasberry, Natal Plum, Yaupon Holly, Bananas, Nicker Bean, Ground Cherry, Sea Purslane, Sea Blite, Coral Berry, Gracilaria, CLasses, DVDs, and the Green Deane Forum
  • 22 December 2015: Issue 188: Ringless Honey mushrooms, Deer Mushrooms, Tamarind, Mahoe, Tropical Almond, Fifth Urban Crawl, Foraging Classes, DVDs, Green Deane Forum,
  • 15 December 2015: Issue 187: Silverthorn, Peppergrass, Chickweed, Foraging Classes Green Deane Videos, the Green Deane Forum, fifth annual Urban Crawl.
  • 8 December 2015: Issue 186: Wild lettuce, Osage Orange, Ginkgos, Cashew Trees, Pineapple Guava, Turk’s Cap, Foraging Classes, DVDs, and the Green Deane Forum.
  • 1 December 2015: Issue 185: Tropical Soda Apple aka Horse Nettle, Henbit,  Stork’s Bill and Cranesbill,
  • 24 November 2015: Issue 184; Chickweed, pomegranate peelings, pines, homemade mustard, foraging classes, the Green Deane Forum, and DVDs
  • 17 November 2015: Issue 183; Seaweed and Lichen, where to forage, Foraging Classes, DVDs, Green Deane Forum.
  • 10 November 2015: Issue 182:Wild Drinks, a book review; Wax Myrtle Berries, Wild Radish, Foraging Classes, the Green Deane Forum, and DVDs
  • 3 November 2015: Issue 181:Black gum, Seagrapes, Doveweed, Foraging near Roads, Classes, Green Deane Forum, and Videos.
  • 27 October 2015: Issue 180:Foot fruit: Podocarpus and Cashews, Sandspurs, Pony Foot, Foraging Classes, the Green Deane Forum and Videos
  • 20 October 2015: Issue 179:What is a Ceiba and how do you say it? Partridgeberry, Ringless Honey Mushrooms, Red Bays and Magnolias, Laurel Wilt, Pellitory aka Cucumberweed, Foraging Classes, and the Green Deane Forum
  • 7 October 2015 no  newsletter published because site had to be backed up because of hackers.
  • 6 October 2015: Issue 178:Tallow plum, White Beautyberries, Sumac, Sea and Wood Oats, Cactus and Nopales, Foraging Classes, Green Deane Forum,
  • 29 September was a fifth Tuesday, no news letter published then.
  • 22 September 2015: Issue 177: Frost, and ripening vegetables and fruit, Foraging Classes, the Green Deane Forum
  • 15 September 2015: Issue 176:Purslane and a look-alike, Pepper Vine, Upcoming Foraging Classes, Heartwing Sorrel, Green Deane Forum,
  • 8 September 2015: Issue 175: 18 edibles along the Seminole-Wekiva Trial, Foraging Class Schedule, and the Green Deane Forum.
  • 1 September 2015: Issue 174: Kudzu, wild apples, mountain foraging, upcoming classes, the Green Deane Forum
  • 18 and 25 August, no newsletters as Green Deane was on vacation hiking in the Carolinas.
  • 11 August 2015: Issue 173:Horsemint, Foraging along railroad tracks, Goldenrod, Swamp Rose Mallow, Foraging Classes, Green Deane Forum.
  • 4 August 2015:   Issue 172:Ripening grapes, saw palmetto fruit, Yellow Anise, Green Maypops, Large Boletes, Foraging Classes, Green Deane Forum.
  • 28 July 2015: Issue 171:Citron Melons, three edible mushrooms; Blue Lactarius, the Old Man of the Woods, and Chanterelles. Lone Star Ticks and Armadillos in the news, Foraging Classes and the Green Deane Forum
  • 21 July 2015: Issue 170:Tasty Tamarind, Tropical Almonds, the lesser-known Silk Bay, Foraging Classes, The Green Deane Forum, Are the Seasons Changing?
  • 14 July 2015: Issue 169: Are all Portulacas edible? Which yam is it? Elderberries. Foraging Classes. Taking a Bee Hive Home, and The Green Deane Forum.
  • 7 July 2015:  Issue 168: Paper Mulberries, Pindo Palm, Yaupon Holly, The Timucua, Pawpaws, plant books, upcoming foraging classes, the Green Deane Forum.
  • 30 June 2015: Fifth Tuesday, no newsletter.
  • 23 June 2015: Issue 167: Sea Blite, Glasswort, Creeping Fig, Foraging Classes, Green Deane Forum.
  • 16 June 2105: Issue 166:Laco-fermenting, toxic Atamasco Lily, Smilax, Sword Ferns, Foraging Classes, Green Deane Forum,
  • 9 June 2015: Issue 165: Latex Strangler Vine, American Lotus, Dock Seeds, foraging mistakes, early season Podocarpus, Reishi mushrooms, foraging classes, Green Deane Forum
  • 2 June 2015: Issue 164: Ivy gourd, Honey Mushrooms, Wild Food Plants of Hawaii, Classes, Green Deane Forum.
  •  26 May 2015, no newsletter because of hackers. 
  • 19 May 2015: Issue 163:Gopher Apples are blossoming as are Groundnuts. Candyroot is getting showy, Blueberries are ripening. The Simpson Stopper has three kinds of leaves. Wild Coffee and Coralberry Confusion, Upcoming Classes, and the Green Deane Forum,
  • 12 May 2015: Issue 162: Watercress, Wild Garlic, Upcoming Foraging Classes, Green Deane Forum, Botany Builder 28, Does anyone want to guess?
  • 5 May 2015: Issue 161:Wild Pineapple, Ground Cherries, Horsemint, Three kinds of wild grapes, upcoming foraging classes, Botany Builder 27, edible Pluteus petasatus, the Green Deane Forum
  • 28 April 2015: Issue 160:Blackberries, Pickling Betony roots, Elderberry, Smilax, Juniper Berries, Upcoming Classes, Green Deane Forum, What Do You See #24.
  • 21 April 2015: Issue 159: Distance and Elevation, Paper Mulberry, Red Mulberry, Basswood, False Hawk’s Beard, Upcoming Foraging Classes, Green Deane Forum, Botany Builder #26,
  • 14 April, 2015: Issue 158: Pineapple Guava, the Tallow Plum, where to look for edible plants, upcoming foraging classes. the Green Deane Forum, and What Do You See #23
  • 7 April 2015: Issue 157: ForageFest 2015, Lantanas, Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses, A Beginner’s Guide of Edible Florida, foraging in Port Charlotte, non-edible Nicker Beans, foraging classes, the Green Deane Forum, and What Do You See #22
  • 31 March 2015: Issue 156: Is it time to reassess Nuphar roots? Identifying the Simpson Stopper. Foraging Instructors. What ’s in Season, Foraging Class Schedule, Green Deane Forum, What do you see #21.
  • 24 March 2015: Issue 155: Mulberries, Wild Cucumbers, Edible Palms, Sea Rocket, Which Blueberry? Green Deane Forum. Upcoming Foraging Classes, What Do You See #20.
  • 17 March 2015: There was no newsletter.
  • 10 March 2015: Issue 154:Paw paws, Pennyroyal, Dandelions, Green Deane Forum, Foraging Classes, Daylight Saving time, What Do You See #19
  • 3 March 2015, Issue 153: Florida Herbal Conference 2015, Turpentine Pines, Banning Mulberries, Foraging Classes, the Green Deane Forums, Bird Peppers, and What Do You See #18
  • 24 February 2015: Issue 152: Eastern Redbud, Plums, Limequat, Foraging Classes, Seasonal changes and Mulberries, Florida Herbal Conference, Green Deane Forum, and What Do You See #17.
  • 17 February 2015: Issue 151: Pepper Grass, Wild Geraniums, Paper Mulberry, Foraging Classes, Guest article: Bees, Butterflies, and Moths, Florida Herbal Conference 2015, the Green Deane Forum, and Winter Buds10 February 2015: Mystery diced root,  Florida Earthskills 2015 is history, Florida Herbal Conference 2015 is next,  foraging classes, Green Deane Forum, the 150th newsletter.
  • 27 January 2015: The Wax Myrtle, Mustards & Radishes, Hairy Cowpea, Green Deane Forum, Earthskills 2015, Florida Herbal Conferece 2015, How Ungreen of Us.
  •  20 January 2015: Goji berries, Plantagos, Black Medic, Green Deane Forum, Earthskills 2015, Florida Herbal Conference 2015, and Chain of Contamination
  • 13 January 2015: Poorman’s Pepper Grass, Creeping Cucumber, Bulrush, Green Deane Forum, Earthskills 2015, Florida Herbal Conference 2015, classes, Wild Pineapple, Creeping Indigo warning, Calliandra haematocephala, What Do You See #16. 
  • 6 January 2015: False Hawk’s Beard, Roses, Earthskills gathering, 2015 Florida Herbal Conference, Foraging Classes, Pellitory, Goosegrass, Less Money More Weeds
  • 30 December 2014: New Year Leaves, Bauhinias, Pansies, Classes, DVDs, Green Deane Forum, Earthskills Conference, Florida Herbal Conference, Janus, the Roman God who looks both ways, 4th Annual Urban Crawl.
  • 23 December 2014: Are cattails really that good? Is the Moss Rose edible? FORAGER! Classes, DVDS and the Green Deane Forum.
  • 16 December 2014: Sycamores, Wild Mustards, When a Description Doesn’t Fit, Upcoming Classes, Green Deane DVDs, The Green Deane Forum, Florida Herbal Conference
  • 9 December 2014: Wild edibles in downtown Savannah, Georgia, Pyracanthas, Ginkgop, Swinecress, Henbit, herbalism vs foraging, upcoming foraging classes, Green Deane DVDs, and the Florida Herbal Conference.
  • 2 December 2014: The Cabbage Palm, Sow Thistle, Weeds vs. Cultivated Crops, DVDs, Green Deane Forum, and the Florida Herbal Conference.
  • 25 November 2014: Pellitory, Usnea, Thanksgiving, foraging classes, DVDs, the Green Deane Forum and the herbal conference.
  • 18 November 2014: Persimmons, Indian Pipes, Cactus fruit, Lantana, foraging classes, DVDs, the Green Deane Forum and the herbal conference.
  • 11 November 2014, no newsletter as Green Deane had dental surgery.
  • 4 November 2014:    Making Vinegar, Marlberries, Wintercress, Florida Herbal Conference, Upcoming Classes, DVDs, and the Green Deane Forum, all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 28 October 2014: Ground Cherries, Cocoplums, Simpson Stopper, Elderberries, Lemon Bacopa, Bananas, Lactarius Indigo, Upcoming Classes, DVDs, The fourth Florida Herbal Conference, and Florida Gulf Coast University.
  • 21 October 2014: Roses, Book Review: The Wild Wisdom of the Weeds, upcoming foraging season, classes, DVDs, and the Green Deane forum.
  • Oct 7and 14 no newsletter because Green Deane attended an out-of-state memorial service.
  • 30 September 2014: Date Palms, Mushroom Season, Red Tide, Foraging Classes, DVDs, Green Deane Forum.
  • 23 September 2014: Is Portulaca pilosa edible? Gopher Apples, What’s in Season, Class Schedule, DVDs, the Green Deane Forum.
  • 16 September 2014: The Tallow Plum, a neat way to clean tunas, looking for yams, the beautyberry is happy, upcoming classes, DVDs, and the Green Deane Forum
  • 9 September 2014: The passion fruit, where is it safe to forage, the Jambul Fruit, Puss Moth Caterpillar, Classes, DVD, and the Green Deane Forum.
  • 2 September 2014: Sumac, Bananas, Cana, Old Man of The Woods, Podocarpus, Answer to What Do You See #16, Green Deane Forum, DVDs.
  • 26 August 2014: Pine nuts, wild cucumbers, hiking in North Carolina, foraging classes, What Do You See #16, Green Deane Forum and DVDs.
  • 19 August 2014: No newsletter, Green Deane hiking in the Carolinas.
  • 12 August 2014: No newsletter, Green Deane hiking in the Carolinas.
  • 5 August 2014: No newsletter, Green Deane hiking in the Carolinas.
  • 29 July 2014: Bunya Bunya, Ganoderma mushrooms, upcoming classes, where to find the strangler latex vine, the Green Deane Forum and DVDs.
  • 22 July 2014, American lotus, Fifth Annual Mushroom Intensive, Portulacas, Foraging Classes, The Green Deane Forum, and Podocarpus
  • 15 July 2014, Black Cherries, Strawberry Guava, Horsemint, Basswood, Mushroom Workshop, White Indigoberry
  • July 1st and 8th, no newsletter as Green Deane was on vacation.
  • 24 June 2014: Drehear Park, Jambul, Purslane, Classes, DVDs, changing servers.
  • 17 June 2014: Chickasaw Plums, the deadly Water Hemlock, a Monsoon of Mushrooms, the answer the What Do You See #15, upcoming classes, the Green Deane Forum and DVDs.
  • 10 June 2014: Jack In The Pulpits, Seasonal Changed, Podocarpus, Junipers, What Do You See 15, Answer to What Do You See 14, Foraging Classes, the Green Deane Forum, and DVDs.
  • 3 June 2014: No newsletter because of attempted hacking.
  • 27 May 2014: Memorial Day and the Corn Poppy. Where do you forage? What Do You See #14.
  •  2o May 2014: Discovering Chaya; a new loop; Florida’s Wild Edibles, a book review; classes and DVDs.
  • 13 May 2014: Caloric staples: Cattails, Kudzu, Acorns; Seasonal Changes; “Giant Hog Weed” on the Green Deane Forum; Upcoming Foraging Classes; DVDs; What Do You See 13 Answers, all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 6 May 2014: Blackberries, the Water Hyacinth, Of Butterflies and Bees, What Do You See #12 and 13, Green Deane Forum and DVDS.
  • 29 April 2014: Fifth Tuesday of the month. No newsletter published that date.
  • 22 April 2014: Wild Garlic and Onions, Fleabane, Surinam Cherries and Mulberries, What Do You See 12, the answer to What Do You See 11, the Green Deane Forum, Classes and DVDs.
  • 15 April 2014:  Florida pennyroyal, Pawpaws, A new edible Redvein Abutilon, Birds and Loquats, What Do You See #11, answer to What Do You See #10, upcoming classes, DVDs
  • 8 April 2014: Mulberries, Magnolia Vinegar, Surinam Cherries, What Do You See 10, answer to What Do You See 09, Upcoming Foraging classes, Book Review: Foraging With Kids, DVDs.
  • 1 April 2014: The Tropical Chestnut, the Eastern Redbud, Miner’s Lettuce, Upcoming Foraging Classes, What do You See #09, answers to What Do You See 08, Book Review: Guide To Wild Foods And Useful Plants, DVDs, Barbie…
  • 25 March 2014: Finding “wild” edibles, Wild Cucumber, Basswood, Black Medic and Hop Clover, Upcoming Classes,  Brevard Botanical Garden Plant sale, What Do You See 08, answer for What Do You See 07, and DVDs.
  • 18 March 2014:  Golf courses revisited, rain brings the mushrooms, spring greens are putting on, got an article for the newsletter? Classes, DVDs, What Do You See #07, answers to #06,  Birmingham Plant Sale, Book Review: Foraging & Feasting.
  • 11 March 2014:  Finding wild edibles, Dandelions, False Dandelions, Time Change, What Do You See #06, Spring is Here, Upcoming Classes, DVDs, Guest Articles Request.
  • 4 March, 2014: Winging it with maple seeds, Turk’s Caps, Florida Herbal Conference 2014 is history, how to avoid the toxic Cherry Laurel, What Do You See? #05 and the answers to #04, looking for a travel trailer and holding classes in west Florida and beyond.
  • 25 February, 2014: Sheep Sorrel, mystery mushroom, upcoming classes, Botany Builder 39, What Do You See? #04, Answer to What Do You See 03,  DVDs and close encounters of the slithering kind.
  • 18 February 2014: Nettle season, the evergreen Water Hyssop, White Clover, Boletes, our guest article: Plant Nutrition, upcoming classes, the Florida Herbal Conference nears, What Do You See #3 and the answer to What Do You See #2,
  • 11 February 2014: Blewit Mushroom, Wild Garlic, Botany Builder #38, Plantago Power, Guest Article: Is it really Global Warming?  What Do You See #2 and last week’s answer and more all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 4 February 2014: What is White Snow? The Silverthorns are fruiting. Which Ganoderma is it? Botany Builder #37. What Do You See #1, and new feature. EarthSkills gathering Florida is this week, Florida Herbal Conference is this month, all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 28 January, 2014: Cooking up mustard roots, Botany Builder #36, why doesn’t epazote freeze? Class Schedule, EarthSkills 2014, Florida Herbal Conference, DVDs, looking for Mr. Good Transportation, and guest writers.
  • 21 January 2014: Tansy Mustard, Swine Cress, Botany Builder #35, Part II of  guest writer Dewayne Allday’s To Shroom or not to Shroom, EarthSkills 2014 gathering, Florida Herbal Conference 2014, and upcoming foraging classes.
  • 14 January 2014: Start looking for Silverthorn fruit, Henbit, Amaranth and Bitter Cress in local garden, Botany Builder #34, guest writer Dewayne Allday, To Shroom or not to Shroom, EarthSkills 2014 gathering, Florida Herbal Conference 2014, and upcoming foraging classes,
  • 7 January 2014:   Plantagos are ready for harvesting, Chickweed by Heather Pierce with recipes, Botany Builder 33, How safe is foraging? Class schedule, the Florida Herbal Conference, and Green Deane’s DVDs.
  • 31 December 2013: No newsletter published that date.
  • 24 December 2013: Vibrant chickweed, abundant pellitory, eat your Christmas tree? The Third Annual Urban Crawl with violet recipe, the common sow thistle, Botany Builder #32, Bottled scallions and the Green Deane Forum, what is foraging? upcoming classes and DVDs,
  • 17 December 2013: The Green Deane Forum, the Tropical Almond, Botany Builder 31, Over Foraging, ETWs Archive, Mushrooms to be found, three thefts, Green Deane DVDs.
  • 10 December 2013: Wild Radishes and Mustards, Juniper Berries, Amelia Island, Egan Creek Greenway, The Blue Heron Inn, and Botany Builder #30: Peltate. From the Archive: Is this Plant Edible?
  • 3 December 2013: Sow thistles are sprouting, the wild lettuce is up. How many raw elderberries should you eat? The Silverthorn is in blossom, swinecress will soon be here, and Botany Builder #29.
  • 26 November 2013: Strangler Latex Vine still fruiting, seasonal Little Mustards, Stinging Nettles, Forest Kindergarten, a dear visitor, Florida Herbal Conference, Foraging DVDs, and Botany Builder #28: Lianas.
  • 19 November 2013: Chickweed is back! Along with stinkhorns, train wreckers, making dandelion wine, walnuts in the news, Florida Herbal Conference, DVDs, and foraging instructor updates.
  • 12 November 2013: Sargassum, other sea veteables, eating jellyfish, cooking with sea purslane, the wood oats alternative, classes, DVDs, Florida Herbal Conference and an insect invasion.
  • 5 November 2013: The seasonal change is upon us and winter foraging should be picking up. There’s acorns to be collected, a yam blossom to see, and a luffa surprise. The Florida Herbal Conference is coming up, and shoveling snow all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 29 October 2013: No newsletter published that date.
  • 22 October 2013: The Tropical Almond, Smartweed, Dudaim Melon, Polyporus Tenuiculus, Florida Herbal Conference, and Green Deane’s DVDs.
  • 15 October 2013: A new edible, Perennial Pea; early-season cucumber weed; going out of season sea-grapes, persimmons, coco-plums, simpson stopper; begonias-hemlock, honey mushrooms, a calculating cat, Florida Herbal Conference, and DVDs.
  • 8 October 2013: Black Gum, eating Anoles, the Green Deane Forum, Chestnut Bolete, 2014 Florida herbal conference, Green Deane’s DVDs, and 2000-year old seed sprouts.
  • 1 October 2013: Sumac’s in season, persimmons, saw palmettos, creeping cucumbers, three iffy edibles, trust, the genus Lactarius, language and grazing.
    24 Septemner 2013: Ever eat a Norfolk Pine? Snacking on Hairy Cowpeas blossoms. Dare you eat a Saw Palmetto berry? Persimmons are coming into season. Sign up early for the Florida Herbal Conference. Recent rains will stimulate mushroom sightings. Change in the newsletter policy. DVDs as selling.
  • 17 September 2013: Cereus fruit, ground nuts, 5,000 questions, upcoming classes, herbal conference, my mystery mushroom, DVDS.
  • 10 September 2013: Remembering wild apples, the aroma of wild plants, coming to terms with botanical names, a purslane recipe, the Florida Herbal Conference and DVDs,
  • 3 September 2013: Blooming horsemint, Kudzu, classes, Ganoderma curtisii, make a berry picking bucket, upcoming conferences and DVDs.
  • 27 August, 2013: Blossoming Coral Vine, Eastern Gamagrass, Grapes, Foraging Classes, Rattlesnakes, Poison Sumac, and Puffballs
  • 20 August 2013: Podocarpus and fruit wines, thank you cards, class schedule, DVDs, and for what it’s worth.
  • 13 August 2013: Fireweed is gourmet?  Pindo Palms, Bitter Gourd, native grapes, Mt. Washington, Blueberries, persimmons, upcoming foraging classes and a common toxic mushroom the Green Parasol.
  • 6 August 2013: Osage Orange, Saw Palmettos, foraging teachers, upcoming foraging classes, seasonal mushrooms, and how we love our pets.
  • 30 July 2013: Getting Cereus about blooming cactus, the Monadas for medicine and spice, DVDs, our native Anise trees and remembering Dick Deuerling.
  • 23 July 2013, Where to look for weeds, Pineapple weed, Toe Biters, 2 million views, DVDs, and a tribute to mom, Mae Lydia Putney Jordan.
  • 9 July and 16 July 2013 no newsletter due to a death in the family.
  • 2 July 2013: The tasty Bunya Pine Cone, natal plums, willows, botany builder, classes and your pick for a new vegetable.
  • 25 June 2013: The orange Paper Mulberry, the orange Hackberry, Green Deane’s DVDs, Environmentalism, upcoming classes, and the Tree of Heaven all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green
  • 18 June 2013: Chickasaw plums, ivy gourd, the false roselle, toxic daturas, hand lenses, classes, and who’s manipulating whom?
  • 11 June 2013:  Getting food out of the Chinese Tallow Tree, harvesting young wild yams, pickled Betony root, the deer are raining what? And upcoming classes.
  • 4 June 2013: The maypops and pawpaws are putting on fruit, yucca are blossoming, black cherries are ripe and the black nightshade berries are ripening. That and a new class location, Seminole-Wekiva.
  • 28 May 2013: Sea purslane, sea oats and wood oats, a profusion of coco-plums,  easterngammagrass and how to eat cicadas
  • 21 May 2013: The Prunus are a fruiting, the winged yam, where to find sea blite, should you eat Black Medic, Smilax are in blossom, and new video about Wild garlic/Onions.
  • 14 May 2013: No newsletter that week
  • 7 May 2013: Blackberries, Lemon Bacopa, Surinam Cherries, Basswood, Linden Tree, recent articles and the city of Winter Park spraying cattails because they are not aestheticallypleasing in the park.
  • 30 April 2013: How to tell sow thistles apart, creeping fig, lawns, and why can’t I eat this?
  • 23 April 2013: The sweet aroma of the candyroot, the surprising relative of the Hairy Cowpea, Barnyard Grass, the Rose Apple and releasing bio-controls.
  • 16 April 2013: St. Nicholas Monastery and Tropical Almonds, Pellitory Itch, Vacant Lots, Bamboo Cove, Botany Builder #26, and the calming effects of nature.
  • 9 April 2013:  Pawpaws are blossoming, are there any poisonous look alikes, the bugs are coming, cold weather, and $1.6 million for a frog phobia.
  • 2 April 2013: The wild onions/garlic are fruiting, how to tell the edible Black Cherry from the toxic Laurel Cherry, toxicity in Elderberries, and more Grass is God rebellion.
  • 26 March 2013: Finding fireweed, digging up betony roots, drying loquats, Botany Builder #25, Coppicing, Road Kill, and spreading seeds.
  • 19 March 2013:  The Queen Palm, changing weeds from edible to noxious, velvet leaf, crabgrass, Botany Builder #24, Samaras, New Articles, House Calls, Suriname Cherries, Nopales, and The Drunken Botanist all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 12 March 2013: Mulberries, Creeping Cucumber, Coco-plums, Smartgrass, Botany Builder 23, pinna, winter plant facts, time change, GD videos coming.
  • 5 March 2013:    Goosegrass, pawpaws, Christmasberry, Botany Builder 22 stipules, cultivating wild plants, Apps, Scrub jays.
  • 26 February 2013: Sheep’s Sorrel, White Snow, new articles, shocking news about bees, the Australian Pine, hydrilla, and worms
  • 19 February 2013: Loquats, poison hemlock, turkey berries, toxic tomatoes, conferences, Lake Woodruff, osage orange and turtle travails.
  • 12 February 2013: The ever elusive chickweed, solar oven and nut sheller, the tale of two nettles, wild lettuce, more hard-headed government, new mushroom book, the Maslin technique, ragweed, upcoming classes and loss of habitat
  • 5 February 2013: A close up of usnea, a likeable lichen. The silverthorn is in full fruit, find aromatic wild garlic, identify watercress. There’s also the Thistle Epistle, Frostbites, Mulberries, the herbal conference and up coming classes, all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 29 January 2013: Smilax, non-edible nicker beans, seasonal eating, naughty knotweed, front yard gardening and decapitated grass, pool fish pond, and upcoming class schedule in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green
  • 22 January 2013:  What you can do with a wild wing yam, Florida Pennyroyal, a special Hawthorn you should know about, my latest videos and articles, is eating nutrition good for you? Don’t eat the rattlebox. Sugar Cane and winning environmental bar bets.
  • 15 January 2013:  Haulover Canal, Seablite, classifing plants, clovers, thistles, sow thistles, wild lettuce, Florida Herbal Conference, rising wheat prices.
  • 8 January 2013: Maples are beginning to seed, find local Goosefoots, where the wild food is, the taste test, Florida Herbal Conference, microscopes, and Eugene Handsacker’s shell game
  • 1 January 2013: Chickweed, sublimed sulfur, herbal conference, Green Deane’s DVDs, Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses, Turks Cap, Oxalis, Violets, Plantagos, and the prime mistake foragers make.
  • 25 December 2012: Christmas in Florida, identifying chestnuts, what about ground cherries, winter vines, the toxic Mexican Poppy, the annual urban crawl and natal plums, Canada’s maple syrup much-to-do,
  • 18 December, 2012: How to tell a mustard from a radish. Which cactus pad should you pick? The February Florida Herbal Conference, a traditional urban crawl
  • 11 December 2012: Finding sumacs, magnolia blossoms as spice, the Florida Herbal Conference, follow ups on pollination and Featherstonehaugh, fertilizer, Maygyver and Nefertiti.
  • 4 December  2012: Finding Winged Yams, our little winter mustards, pollenating creatures, Florida Herbal Conference, the Green Deane Forum, Mushrooms a la David Spahr and Dr. Kimbrough, Alligators with marijuana and Featherstonehaugh, all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 27 November 2012: The mustards of wintertime, how to sort out hollies, learning about mushrooms, growing weeds from seeds, dandelions, and the fate of Edward Archboldall all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 20 November 2012:  It’s holly season, and wild mustard time along with seasonal little mustards. Also in the newsletter: The Pond Apple, Florida’s Herbal Conference, Thanksgiving lore, wild pumpkins, Botany Builder 21 and faded underwear, all From The Village Green.
  • 13 November 2012: Going nuts with hickories and acorns;, Spanish Needle tea, good for some of what ails you, why bumble bees can’t fly, and the Florida Herbal Conference,
  • 6 November 2012: Hackberries (Sugarberries) Fireweed, “bad” landscape trees, weighty issues, bikes, time and the 2013 Florida Herbal Conference, all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 30 October 2012:   Which came first, grains or tubers? Groundnuts, wild rice, armadillos, clouds, a follow up on snails and Oh Deer, all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 23 October 2012:  Oak trees are masting (dropping acorns) new articles, mushrooms, snails, turtles, False Hawk’s Beard, and more in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 16 October 2012:  The winter greens of chickweed, bittercress and poor man’s pepper grass; Solanum americanum, when not to eat; solar oven update, Halloween rant, the impact of weeds, updated articles, the Untouchables, and ginkgo gastronomics.
  • 9 October 2012:    A new crop of sandspurs, confusing Poke berries and Elderberries, nettles for clothes, blue honey, new article about Pandanus, preserving fall foliage, cooking with pine needles and a cockroach eating contest.
  • 2 October 2012:  Pandanus and Ivy Gourd, digging sticks, growing zones and recording setting pumpkin.
  • 25 September 2012:  Chaya, confusing nettles, winter weeds, new articles, yams, the dangers of foraging, tales of a city lot.
  • 18 September 2012: Fuzzy marbles, sweet and sour maypops, food and medicine, recently added articles, sumac hiar, vultures and belladona.
  • 11 September 2012:  Finding tart food, a look at sumac and the false roselle, a new herbalism book and resource, the Green Deane Forum, Sea-Grapes, and scorpions
  • 4 September 2012:   Get Gopher Apples while you can, Getting High, the effect of elevation on plant seasons, a yam for colder weather, a bike with no pedals, and is you cat making you ill?
  • 14 August 2012: Maypops are coming into season; what do you know about cyanide; how to get rid of chiggers; Man of the Earth big root deep down; sorting out wild grapes, and earthworms.
  • 7 August 2012: Eastern Gamagrass, Asian Clams, new articles posted, Creeping Cucumbers, Upcoming classes, Chinese Tallow Tree, Green Dean Forum, What’s the Buzz.
  • 31 July 2012:    Sea Purslane on the grill, when is a clover not a clover? What to do about spices. Archiving newsletters. Class schedule. Growing Patio Potatoes and yams. Fined for growing food and holding birthday party
    all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 24 July 2012 : The Podocarpus is coming into season, grapes are early this year, where to hold a foraging class. my class schedule, making friction fire, is that really a strawberry and sonar sex… all in this week’s newsletter, From The Village Green by Green Deane
  • 17 July 2012 :  Coco-plums are in season, as is Silverhead. Why is Black Point in Maine called that and where does Bidens grow in Brazil? American Holly, scorpions, armadillos and how to make your own sourdough bread, all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 10 July 2012:  A flower that tastes like a mushroom, fear of foraging, nutrition, what is a pirogue, and my class schedule, all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 3 July 2012: Sorting out ground cherries, hairs on plants and why we need to know them, Class Schedule, an upcoming road trip, a great garden party, and Lichen In Space, all in this week’s Green Deane’s Newsletter, From The  Village Green.
  • 26 June 2012: Sorting out blueberries, or, how to figure out what the plant is. Is This Plant Edible and changing views on edibility. And upcoming classes all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 19 June 2012:   What to eat strawberry guavas, which wild edibles should pregnant women avoid, are you collecting seaweed for supper? Lawn grass and code enforcement. Upcoming classes all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 29 May 2012:  Surinam Cherries are ripening but they aren’t cherries. Firethorn berries are green but wait a few weeks. Botany builder #20. What’s barnyard grass? Visit the Green Deane Forum. Bicycles in the news. How to tattoo a banana, all in this week’s Green Deane newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 21 May 2012:  Pineapples that don’t exist, Guerrilla Gardening, upcoming classes and exactly what is the meristem stage? All in this week’s newsletter “From The Village Green” by Green Deane.
  • 7 May 2012:  Can Rescuegrass rescue you? Why forage and what are “naked” seeds? This an more in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green by Green Deane.
  • 23 April 2012: Wild Garlic is heading, spurge nettles are rooting, sea blite is ready for picking, and eastern coral beans are showing you where they are. Did Green Deane actually get poison sumac and what did the spam filter catch? That and more in this weeks newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 9 April 2012: Peppery smartweed, the “yuck” factor, kudzu, the winged yam, pennyroyal, budget cut benefits, and more in this week’s From The Village Green, Green Deane’s Newsletter.
  • 2 April 2012: Where the weeds are. Going to a gym. Compound leaves. Rumex, Topi mambo, Water Lettuce, Duckweed, Edible Flowers Part 19, Classes, Green Deane Forum and “For What It’s worth” all in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 26 March 2012:  What’s in and out of season? The Florida Herbal Conference. How do you find edible plants? Pictures or drawings? Upcoming Classes, and more in From the Village Green, Green Deane’s newsletter.
  • 19 March 2012: Where to find papaws. Can you eat grass? Four new articles: Sida, False Roselle, Edible Flowers Part 18, Gout Weed. Can you eat tropical sage? Botany Builder #14, that and more in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 5 March 2012: The Eastern Redbuds are confused. A 30,000 year old flower? What might you do if you catch the flu. Sorting out the Perseas. Five new articles.  Arrest made in burning down the world’s oldest Cypress. Class schedule. Green Deane Forum update, all in From the Village Green, Green Deane’s Newsletter
  • 20 February 2012: Wild Radish is turning fields yellow, harvesting nopales, milkweed vine and the evolution of the garden, two new articles, a forum update, this week’s classes, and ducks, all in “From the Village Green” this week’s Green Deane Newsletter.
  • 6 February 2012: The Green Deane Forum, a place to meet other foragers and share questions and successes,  Brazilian Pepper, a staple that grows in teh shade, Botany Builder 14, Herbal Conferencem, Cliamate change. All in this Green Deane’s newsletter this week, From The Village Green.
  • 23 January 2012:  What to do with Brazilian Pepper. Tapping Trees a new way. What’s the difference between a tree and a shrub? Herbal Conference, and I didn’t know that all in this weeks newsletter From The Village Green.
  • 16 January 2012:  Persimmons and frost, saving weed seeds, Botany Builder #12, an herbal invitation, African bees and more in this weeks newsletter from Green Deane.
  • 9 January 2012: The stinging dwarf is back, who is Sunny Savage? Passiflora, epiphany and manatees; new articles, what’s the difference between roots and rhizomes? Wild cucumbers, upcoming classes and the newsletter.
  • 2 January 2012: Pigging out on swinecress. A prescription for walnuts? Snow. New articles on reeds, dahlias, nutrias and edible flowers part nine; Botany builder #10, classes, and how many wild edibles should you know, in Green Deane’s newsletter this week From The Village Green
  • 26 December 2011:   A yam what am a yam; peppergrass; Janus the god of gates; Did you know? New articles; Urban Crawl and upcoming classes; Botany Builder; a Christmas memory and more in Green Deane’s newsletter this week, From The Village Green.
  • 19 December 2011: Chickweed is up locally. Here’s another good reason to forage. What does -ifera mean? Turtle Mound. Canna Island update. Wild Radishes, and more in Green Deane’s newsletter this week, From The Village Green
  • 12 December 2011: Pellitory’s in season. How many apple seeds can you really eat? Botany Builder #7, monocots and dicots. Classes this week. Why are two wheels not part of the green movement? All in Green Deane’s newsletter this week From The Village Green.
  • 6 December 2011:  The controversy over Palmer Amaranth, Tools of the Trail, Poison Plant Handbook, Botany Builder, Did You Know, and upcoming classes, in this week’s newsletter From The Village Green
  • 28 November 2011:  Crowfoot Grass, A grass dictionary, Botany Builder: blade and margin; Thanksgiving.
  • 21 November 2011:  The Chinese Elms are fruiting, what about what the animals eat, a chickweed relative, what is a pappus, a look at a yellow passion flower and a bit of reminiscing in Green Deane’s latest newsletter, From The Village Green.
  • 14 November 2011:  Telling the difference between a wild radish and a wild mustard. How many wild edibles are there? What do you need to know to get started? Why cook bamboo shoots? Botany Builder and this week’s classes, all in Green Deane’s latest newsletter.
  • 8 November 2011:  Look alikes, tell the difference between edible elderberry and toxic water hemlock, discoveries found during this week’s class, what’s peltate?
  • 31 October 2011:  The Halloween and foraging connection…. Seedlings… I.T.E.M.-izing. Battery Acid and pokeweed. Rev7, the Botany Builder and more in Green Deane’s newsletter this week, From The Village Green.
  • 24 October 2011:   Fresh this week:  The new website is up. Are you harvesting sumac berries now or young sow thistles? A “new” edible was found during our foraging class. What about genetically modified foods?  What every runner or    bicyclist should hear about. And did Green Deane really get poison ivy and how you can avoid it. All in Green Deane’s latest newsletter.
  • 1 August 2010 Watervine, Smilax, Does’t Grow Here, Pomegranates
  • 1 July 2010  Jelly Palm, Cactus, Clockwise, Birch Allergies
  • 1 June 2010  Why forage, How safe is foraging, Sea Blite, Ilex vomitoria
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Newsletter 18 July 2017

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Foraging classes often include talking about items brought by students to discuss.

It was Show & Tell time before our foraging class Sunday in Sarasota. Thanks to my friend Bryan Detweiler we had a lot to chat about before wandering about the preserve for several hours. Foremost was the Buyna Bunya cone (center top photograph.)  It wasn’t plump with seeds and might have fallen early but the season is upon us. A Bunya Bunya Tree in Altamonte Springs — north of Orlando — hasn’t dropped any cones yet but it will. After class we sat around taking the cone apart looking for seeds (some from another cone are to the right of it.) Once you have the seed out of its casing it is best to roast them.

Jambul fruit are a commercial product.

Also on the table are pine cones (and how to tell which ones have “pine nuts” and which ones don’t) some False Roselle, Creeping Cucumber, Amaranth, Mahoe, Sea Grapes, wild muscadine grapes, cultivated muscadine grapes, Japanese Boxwood (not edible) Yaupon Holly and some American Nightshade. The park had sustained some clearing which unfortunately took out two of three Tallow Plum shrubs. But we got to wander around some of the local neighborhoods and saw a Jambul Tree just beginning to fruit. We also spied Society Garlic and the Ti plant.

Digging Coral Vine roots can take a lot of work.

Saturday’s foraging class was in Cassadaga on the eastern side of the state. There, too, we found a lot of grapes ripe and ready for harvesting. The crop is early this year. We also had a chance to study Sugarberries and Persimmons up close. It looks like it will be a good year for Persimmons with the trees showing a lot of green fruit. We’ll have to wait until about October for them to ripen but who knows this year. One of the more interesting aspects of the Colby-Alderman Park is one finds Wild Pineapples, Bamboo and very vigorous “wild” grapes there. I think those grapes are muscadine cultivars from decades ago. I often find those three species in combination at the location of old resorts, hotels or abandoned train station. These are sites where towns used to be but are now often just a bronze sign along a rails-to-trails bike path. One other slightly odd seasonable edible we saw was Coral Vine. It has edible roots that rival an almond or so in size and can sometimes be hard to find because the vine grows up, over, and down trees. And we found one edible chanterelle.

S. Wax Myrtle berries can be used as a spice.

The Southern Wax Myrtle — Myrica cerifera —gets little respect. It’s an off-green shrub and a native. The most flamboyant it gets are some small gray-blue berries snuggled tightly around outer branches. American Natives and early settlers used the shrub extensively. The leaves can be used as a tea, marinate, and flavoring. The berries can be a dried spice and a source of wax. People smoked the leaves to keep away insects and the root bark was used to induce labor. And a tea from its leaves just might help you live longer.

Southern Wax Myrtle leaves also repel insects.

Myrica cerifera is one source of the flavonoid Myricetin. According to research Myricetin is an antioxidant capable of removing free radicals from the body. As a polyphenol it regulates the “p38 MAPK family” of “stress-responsive signaling molecules.” Those regulate aging in many body tissues. Myricetin is also reported to regulate cell self-repair particularly those involved with metabolism. Research shows Myricetin increases bone-forming cells, increases cancer cell death, reduces vessel constriction, increases insulin sensitivity, reduces fat storage, reduces fatty liver disease and liver cancer formation, increases learning and memory and reduces diabetic kidney damage. That’s quite a lot from a shrub many people would overlook. What I find interesting and worrying is the scholarly articles did not carry any pregnancy warnings but should have. The root bark was used to induce labor. You can read about the Southern Wax Myrtle here.

Cereus fruit is easy to identify.

One “cactus” species that has very edible fruit is the Cereus. It also has a lot of false species and or names made up by commercial sellers. Even without that naming confusion Cereus would be difficult to identify. It involves the number of spines and their length et cetera. One particular species has become commercially popular as “Dragon Fruit.”  Locally Cereus that produce edible fruit are also called “Candle Cactus.” They’re easy to spot: Tall and skinny, ribbed. They have large cream, off-white or light yellow flowers that open at night which in time turn into pink football-shaped fruit. Unlike many cactus species the seeds in these fruit are very soft and quite edible. You can read more about the Cereus here.

A wildlife officer holding the young alligator amid three piles of illegal mushrooms

Unfinished Mushroom Business: In June 2013 three Florida men were arrested in a park in this county for possession of psilocybin mushrooms. One of the men also had a small alligator in his back pack.  That made national news. (See photo left.)  Because of a Florida Supreme Court ruling in the 1978 (Richard D. FISKE, Appellant V. STATE of Florida, Appellee. No. 50796) it is rare for someone to be convicted of simple possession of psilocybin mushrooms. The high court ruled that while possession of psilocybin is indeed illegal the state failed to list the species of mushrooms the chemical was in as it had done with other restricted chemicals and species. The shortcoming in the law has not been addressed by subsequent legislatures. In most cases since that ruling defendants just said they had no idea what they had in their possession was psilocybin mushrooms. Most of the time the charges were reduced to trespass or property destruction or dropped. So what happened to the three men?

These Black chanterelles are legal and edible.

The fellow with the alligator had a bond set for three infractions: Possession of the alligator, possession of the mushrooms and destroying park property (picking mushrooms.) He pleaded Nolo Contendre (“no contest” neither professing innocence nor admitting guilt.) He was found guilty of possession of the alligator and destruction of park property but no mention of the possession of psilocybin mushrooms. He was, however, in violation of his probation for a previous unrelated infraction which got him some jail time. The second defendant pleaded not guilty to destruction of park resources which he later changed to Nolo Contendere. Adjudication was withheld. No mention of the psilocybin mushroom and the court record shows no conviction on that count. The third defendant pleaded Nolo Contendere to possession of psilocybin and adjudication was withheld.

This Lactarius is legal and edible. Photo by Green Deane

Possession of said mushrooms is a felony in Florida but the state’s supreme court ruling has reduced the number of conviction to near zero. A 2010 psilocybin mushroom possession case in Naples, Florida, was reduced to trespass (a couple were found in a pasture collecting mushrooms.)  The two defendants said they had no idea what the mushrooms were. A St. Augustine man was arrested in Palm Beach County in 2012 on felony possession of psilocybin mushroom growing on his boat. As of this writing — five years later, July 2017 — that case is still open with no conviction. And in June 2015 a  Hillsborough County man, 25, was arrested after a deputy saw in his domicile multiple bins containing psilocybin mushrooms, 63.9 pounds worth to be exact, and 35.9 grams of marijuana. He was charged with possession of cannabis, drug paraphernalia, a controlled substance and manufacture of a controlled substance. As of this writing the case is closed, no conviction listed in the online public records regarding psilocybin.

As I often pick mushroom, because I don’t know what they are and I want to identify them, should I unintentionally err when the officer asks I will plead ignorance.

Classes are held rain or shine.

Upcoming Foraging Classes: Classes are about four hours long. For more details click the link at the end of the schedule below.

Sunday, July 23rd, Sunday, Aug 21st.,  Venetian Gardens, 201 E. Dixie Ave, Leesburg, FL 34748, 9 a.m.  Meet in the parking lot between the pool and the lake. (The wading birds are quite friendly so if you like to feed them and take photos it’s an opportunity.)

Saturday July 29th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte. 9 a.m. Meet by the parking lot across from Ganyard St.

Sunday, July 30th, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405, 9 a.m.

Saturday August 5th, John Chestnut County Park, 2200 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor, FL 34685. Meet at the trail head of the Peggy Park Nature Walk, pavilion 1 parking lot. 9 a.m.

Sunday, August 6th, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. Meet at the “dog park” inside the park. 9 a.m.

To learn more about the classes click here. 

The Nine-DVD set includes 135 videos.

All of Green Deane’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.

Do you recognize this edible blossom? You would if you read the Green Deane Forum.

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.

This is issue 266

If you would like to donate to Eat The Weeds please click here.

On a personal note:  Also it is my annual time to look for a possible rental in southwest Florida. If you know of a small house, duplex, or mother-in-law cottage that will be available this fall please let me know. Two rooms and a kitchen is fine. Three bedroom and two baths are nice but too large for me and two cats. I can also trade out handyman maintenance and landscaping. Alternatively if you know of an RV for sale in reasonable condition that’s a possibility, too. Maybe it’s time to take Green Deane On The Road. 

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Newsletter 2 September 2014

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Locally Winged Sumac berries are ready to harvest. Photo by Green Deane.

Locally Winged Sumac berries are ready to harvest. Photo by Green Deane.

There’s no excuse for not having Sumac in your foraging life. There are several species, all useable — except the poisonous one — and are found throughout North America.

POISON SUMAC: Note the bright red stems and different shaped leaves of the poison sumac.

POISON SUMAC: Note the bright red stems and different shaped leaves of the poison sumac.

During a class Sunday a sharp-eyed student spotted Sumac twice. Locally it is Rhus copallina. Sumac is a good find this time of year because it presents itself in an unforgettable fashion: The berries taste tart. The impression on the tongue makes an impression on the brain. It’s actually not so much the berries we are interested in as the acid that is on the hairs that are on the berries. They make water tart and rich in vitamin C. It’s free “lemonade” and healthy for you.

POISON SUMAC: Its berries are off-white and sprout from leaf axils. Photo by Green Deane.

POISON SUMAC: Its berries are off-white and sprout from leaf axils. Photo by Green Deane.

Sumac you can use can be easily identified from Poison Sumac. Sumac had garnet-colored berries in terminal clusters, meaning on the end of the branches. You usually find the shrub in moderate to dry spots. Poison Sumac has white berries not in terminal clusters but further down the stem closer to the trunk. Poison Sumac is also found in damp spots if not standing water. The Sumac’s terminal clusters should  not be harvested right after a heavy rain because the rain washes the acid off and the shrub has to make more. You can also harvest the clusters, hang them up in a dark, dry spot and store them for a season. To read more about the Sumac go here.

Now we go from a plant found nearly everywhere in North America — Sumac — to a warm-weather inhabitant: Bananas. I noticed Bananas blossoming this weekend. One doesn’t think of Bananas blossoming but they do, a large green and purple blossom that looks like a flower on steroids. The blossoms are edible raw but are usually cooked if not also soaked in salted water first. Chopped and boiled or steamed whole works. The inner pith of Banana trees is also edible as are the seeds of the species that have seeds. Banana water is also medicinal.

One banana blossom is usually enough for several people.

One banana blossom is usually enough for several people.

The trick with Bananas, if one can call it that, is to watch the green bananas carefully. The moment one of the lower green bananas begins to ripen the entire hand is cut off and taken inside. There the Bananas usually ripen from the end up and most of them will ripen off the tree. If you leave them on the tree, a few will ripen and the rest higher up the hand will shrivel up. Unfortunately Bananas trees take two years to produce bananas and then die after producing. A cold winter can wipe out Bananas at the end of one year. Thus one needs two years sandwiching a warm winter to get home-grown bananas. As I sit on the temperate/sub tropical line some years I get Bananas in my yard, other years I do not. To read more about Bananas uses click here.

Cana root is not a commonly known edible.

Cana root is not a commonly known edible.

An often overlooked ornamental that is also an edible is Cana. Like many plants Cana’s goal is to store a lot of starch in its root so it has the energy when the time is right to flower and reproduce. And like many root vegetables we want to harvest Cana when it has stored up a lot of energy but hasn’t blossomed yet. This requires finding Cana and watching it over a season so you can time it right. Because the energy cost is high to reproduce once the plant is flowering its starchy roots shrink and become tough. So you can locate Cana one season by the blossoms and raid them next season before they blossom. It sounds complicated but isn’t. In the warmer areas of South America they are a staple crop and highly esteemed.To read more about Cana, go here.

The Old Man In The Woods is an easy mushroom to identify. Photo by Green Deane

The Old Man In The Woods is an easy mushroom to identify. Photo by Green Deane

During our Sarasota class the students and I saw some mushrooms including an edible and a very deadly one. The deadly one was an Amanita, all white with a “skirt” below the cap and half an egg for a bottom. It’s the kind of mushroom only a few milligrams will kill and adult. There were also a lot of large flush of white (probably) Russulas I have yet to identify. But the one edible we saw is quite distinct, the Old Man of The Woods. It’s in the Bolete group which has no deadly members or cause lasting organ damage. Boletes are a large group that are mostly edible in Europe, mostly not in North America and mostly unidentified in Florida. To that end I have two Facebook pages dedicated to identifying mushrooms, Southern US Mushroom Identification, and, Florida Mushroom Identification Forum. Visit them. They’re a good place to get on the way to learning about the fungus among us.

Locally the Podocarpus (marcophyllus) are full of ripe arils to eat. The season can always vary some but mid-August is the time to keep any eye out as mid-September is for wild grapes and mid-October for persimmons. I have found edible Podocarpus arils at other times of the year most noticeably last December. Can’t explain that. It is now the first week of September and I’ve been snacking on them for more than a month.

Podocarpus likes to fruit during the hottest days of summer. Photo by Green Deane

Podocarpus likes to fruit during the hottest days of summer. Photo by Green Deane

The Podocarpus is a bit unusual in that the aril is edible but the seed which is located on the end is not. We throw the mildly toxic seed away, which is what the plant wants us to do anyway. One or two seeds accidentally chewed won’t bother an adult too much but one really should not eat them. Whether the stem that goes through the aril is edible is a something of a botanical debate. I eat them and I know other adults who do. Some experts say kids should not eat the stems in the arils but I’ve not found any evidence supporting that view. Still, erring on caution is not a bad thing. Also don’t confuse the Podocarpus with native or ornamental yews, which can be deadly. To read more about the Podocarpus, go here.

What do you See #16 Answer: Last week’s photo was fairly easy to identify. Taken in Boone, North Carolina in mid August, number one is Plantain, two Dandelion, and three White Clover.

What Do You See #16. Photo by Green Deane

What Do You See #16. Photo by Green Deane

Green Deane Forum

Green Deane Forum

On the Green Deane Forum we post messages and pictures about foraging all year long. There’s also a UFO page, for Unidentified Flowering Objects so plants can be identified. Recent topics include: Herb Planting Guide, Tomorrow Was Back To School, Mushroom Walk, Foraging Rules, American Beautyberry,  Tobacco Ash, Identification Helper, Mullein, Reishi, Plum-ish Looking Fruit Tree, Another Olive Like Fruit, and Mushroom Knife. The link to join is on the right hand side of this page.

Green Deane teaching about Wild Mustard.

Green Deane teaching about Wild Mustard.

Eat The Weeds On DVD. My foraging videos do not include alligators but they do cover dozens of edible plants in North America. The set has nine DVD. Each DVD has 15 videos for 135 in all. 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 it. 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.

If you would like to donate to Eat The Weeds please click here.

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Wild Flours

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in Edible Raw, Flour/Starch, Grain/Nuts/Seeds, Oil, plants, Protein Plant source

Acorn flour has fat and protein

A wild flour is different than a starchy root. The Spurge Nettle has a starchy root that tastes like pasta but it does not lend itself to being processed into flour or starch. Below are many sources of flour or starch in five large categories… okay, six categories. Material you can bake by itself is referred to as a flour; material that is usually added to something else is referred to as a starch. While those definitions satisfy culinary needs they are not highly scientific and are used inconsistently. The energy required to get the material to a usable flour/starch stage has also been considered and in fact is a very limiting factor. A food that might be an outstanding wild edible can be listed as “poor” here because of the work required to make a “flour” out of it. This list is not definitive and will be added to and edited from time to time.

Outstanding

Puffy amaranth seed

Amaranth is a grain that has been used for some 8,000 years. It’s rich in amino acids and higher in protein than most grains, some 16%. It was one of the staple foods of the Aztecs. Amaranth is usually added to other flours or materials and is gluten free. You can collect your own seeds and process them into flour or buy it at health food stores. The latter is a good idea to see if you like the flavor which is nutty and slightly peppery.  While you can collect seeds from nearly any Amaranth, three species are commonly used: Amaranthus hypochondriacus, Amaranthus cruentus and Amaranthus caudatus. Four ounces of amaranth grain provides 100% of an adult’s daily protein need. It can be combined with wheat flour for yeast breads. Nutritionally 100 grams or about 3.5 ounces of Amaranth grain has 374 calories, 14.45 grams of protein 6.5 grams of fat, 15 grams of fiber, 4.2 mg of vitamin C, 153 mg calcium, 366 mg of potassium, 455 mg phosphorus, and 266 mg magnesium. You can collect it by putting the seed head in a bag and shaking the seed head. Amaranth grain does not have to be soaked before use.

Quinoa flour produces a crumbly texture

Chenopodium, quinoa is another staple used like Amaranth. It is 11.2% moisture, 13.5% crude protein, 9.5% crude fibre, and 58.3% carbohydrate. Quinoa has a high proportion of D-xylose (120.0 mg in 100 gram sample) and maltose (101.0 mg in 100 gram sample) but is low in  glucose (19.0 mg in 100 g sample) and fructose (19.6 mg in 100 g sample.) The protein content is as high as 18% and it contains a balance of amino acids. The seeds are high in saponins. Think of saponins as soap which is why the seeds need to be soaked. After soaking in two changes of water to reduce the saponins, quinoa can be used similar to rice, that is use twice as much water as grains when cooking. It has a light, fluffy texture with a slightly nutty taste. It’s not a true grain but is an excellent substitute for grain flour.

Good

Acorn Waffles

Acorn flour has sustained millions for thousands of years, from the Ancient Greeks to the Japanese. During World War II Nipponese school children collected acorns daily in season to feed the nation. Today oak flour is still a common food in Korea and can be purchased in local markets. The main problem with acorn flour is collecting, shelling, and leaching the acorns. They have varying amounts of tannin which has to be removed though a few species have no tannins. Once the acid is removed and the nuts dried and ground, the flour is tasty and nutritious. It behaves more like corn starch than a cooking flour but can be used as flour. An ounce of acorn flour has 140 calories, 15 grams of carbs, 8 grams of fat (one of those saturated, 1.5 polyunsaturated) and 2 grams of protein. It also provides 1% of your daily need in calcium and 2% of iron, thiamine, riboflavin and zinc, 3% niacin and phosphorus, 5% folate, 5% magnesium, 6% vitamin B6. Acorns are gluten free and their oil can be used for cooking.

Barnyard Grass

Barnyard Grass:  Echinochloa crus-galli, winnowed seeds used as a staple grain. They can be parched, roasted, boiled, or ground into flour. Seeds can be popped like popcorn. In Japan Barnyard Grass seed is used to make macaroni and dumplings. Seeds are also roasted and used as a caffeine-less coffee substitute. In North America the Cocopa, Paiute and Tubatulabal tribes used it for food and stored it for winter use. The Yuma, however, really liked it. They pounded the seeds, winnowed them, ground them and made a meal and mush out of it. They also preferred to cook fish with the grain. It is not emergent but it likes its feet damp. Eastern Gamagrass can also be used.

Chia seeds sans pet

Chia flour is not totally chia flour unless you make it yourself. The commercial version is made from brown rice flour and chia seeds (yes the ones you use for your Chia Pet.) Chia seeds are chock full of nutrition. They contain lots of Omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, fiber, and protein. Commercial chia flour, which is gluten free, can be used as a one to one replacement for wheat flour. Sift chia seed flour before using, use small pans when baking, and increase baking time by five percent.

Crabgrass seeds and hull

Crabgrass would be listed as outstanding if it weren’t a big pain to dehusk. In parts of Africa crabgrass (Fonio) is a staple grain, and under cultivation it can produce a whopping 17 tons per acre. Crabgrass seed can be used as a flour, couscous or as a grain, such as in porridge or fermented for use in beer making. Now that’s another label I’d like to see: Crabgrass Beer. Crabgrass is not only nutritious but one of the world’s fastest growing cereals, producing edible seeds in six to eight weeks (excellent for short-summer northern climes.)  It grows well in dry areas with poor soils and fantastically well in watered lawns. It’s a horrible weed if you own a lawn and a wonderful edible. Husking the small grains can be time-consuming, however. Traditional methods include pounding in a mortar with sand then separating the grain and sand (not advised.) Another method is  “popping” seeds over a flame and then pounding said which produces a toasted grain. If you have a LOT of crabgrass you can even buy a crabgrass husking machine.

Crowfoot Grass browns as it ages

Crowfoot Grass is a staple grain in some areas of Africa used to make unleavened bread — Kisera — and often beer. It’s a very small grain, even smaller than amaranth or quinoa. Indeed, if it were larger it would be an outstanding source of flour. Fortunately it grows in larger colonies and is easy to harvest so from a “calories-in-calories-out” perspective it’s certainly worth your while. You can collect about two quarts an hour. Seed heads that are ready to give up seeds come off easily. I collect a large amount of seed heads then rub them over a colander to dislodge the seeds and sift out larger pieces. Then I winnow the rest. The grain is the size of sand but is fragile so it can easily be ground into grain that has a flavor of buckwheat. I usually mix it 50/50 with regular flour. There are some precautions so read the full article.

Wild rice requires long cooking

Wild Rice (Zizania aquatica) is not really a rice. It’s an aquatic grass seed which can be cooked and eaten as is. Wild Rice was important to the survival of many Native American tribes. A subsistence food, it’s very dark brown to black in color and is tan when ground into flour. It does require some collecting technique and a canoe or the like but from an energy in/out perspective it is certainly worth ones while. Wild rice flour is usually added to other flours or used to thicken dishes.

Yam flour (Dioscorea alata) is made from yams dried and ground. Yam flour works great in cookies and pie crusts. It is not good for sticky or doughy applications. As a flour it stores very well and is more than 5% fiber.

Acceptable

Arrowroot flour is closely related to Canna, below, and is used in similar ways. It is easy to digest and is one of the few wild flours with calcium ash in it. Most people know it know as a thickener for gravies and it’s neutral flavor and color when used as a thickener. Like Canna it’s from warm region plants whose roots have to be ground to release the non-gluten starch. Read work.

Canna Root

Canna flour has more starch in it than grain flours and has the highest swelling point, good for thickening. It is high in amylose and is slowly digested so it doesn’t spike blood glucose levels. Canna, however, suffers the same problem as cattails; it requires a lot of work to get the flour. Roots have to be dug up before the plant flowers, ground up, the starch settled out then dried. It is just easier to cook the root though that takes about 12 hours.

 

No plant produces more starch per acre than cattails.

Cattail flour has long history, from feeding primitive man to armies. The starch is trapped in fibers much like kudzu but is easier to get out than kudzu but still requires processing. There are several ways to extract it. Chopped roots (rhizomes actually) can be pounded in a mortar with some water, the fiber removed and the gloop dried. You can also hand crush the roots in a lot of water, let the starch settle and pour the water off slowly drying the starch.  This essentially produces flour but requires time and many hands such as one would find in a camp or village. A different way is to just rub the rhizome with the back of a knife and eat the starch off the knife. However, it’s like eating plain flour. If I am on the move I prefer to take the rhizome with me. Later I will roast the root on coals then pull the cooked starch off the fibers with my teeth. It tastes like chestnut. Cattail, or as the Brits call it, the greater reed mace, is certainly prime as it is nearly impossible to misidentify, is very common, and an excellent source or calories. The down side is it grows in water so harvesting can be an issue. That water can also be polluted. Cleaning the muck off roots can be a long, smelly chore, and the rhizome requires processing. Bulrush has similar uses as cattails.

Chestnut flour is popular in Italy. Like many foods that can be prepared simply. First roast the chestnuts then shell, dry, and grind. That takes time and energy for a food that can be eaten after simple roasting. The flour is gluten-free, low in fat (1%) but high on the glycemic index, for a nut (78% carbs.)  Chestnut flour can be used by itself but is usually mixed with other flours.

Lotus Root

Lotus Root:  The lotus root is not really a root but a stem swelling and the flour isn’t a flour, but neither are several “flours” listed here. Think starch. Lotus root doesn’t need much processing. Simply slice, dry, then grind into a powder. If you add hot water you have a gelatinous paste. Like many root starches it is added to wheat flour or used in cooking. Often it is used to make batter for frying. The problem is the “root” is often several feet underwater and hard to locate. While it is tasty and full of energy and nutrition it can take a lot of energy and time to harvest. Indeed, lotus seeds require less work and are nutritious as well. Lotus roots tend to be buried in deep mud. Getting them can be foul and smelly.

Mesquite flour is sweet and used as sugar

Mesquite flour is made from mesquite pods by milling and sieving the grind. The flavor is rich and deep, often compared to chocolate or coffee. Sounds good but the pods have to be cleaned, usually with chlorinated water then dried at 125° F for at least 6 hours, including the “dry” ones you pick up off the ground. Lastly they have to be milled into a powder. It is sweet with a pleasant aroma and often is used like sugar than flour. Normally up to 17% of regular flour can be substituted with Mesquite flour in recipes.

Peanut flour is made by grinding up peanuts. They have to be shelled first. Whether one roasts the peanuts first or not depends on how quickly you are going to use the “flour” and whether the peanuts will be squeezed of oil first. Roasting the peanuts first creates a stronger peanut taste to the final product. Another method is to dip raw peanuts in boiling water for 10 seconds before drying and grinding. Don’t use salted peanuts. In its raw state a peanut contains 18 different amino acids, including 8 essential amino acids. I had to debate whether to include peanuts because one doesn’t find them in the wild much. I did grow them one year, however.

Processing Sago Palm Pith

Sago palm trunks are used to make a flour. Ancient plants, the Sago Palm saves up starch for many years in anticipation of reproducing. When around 15 years old they are cut down, the trunk/stem/bole is ground and the starch washed out. It take time and many hands but production is large. The flour is commonly used in Indonesia and Malaysia to make noodles and bread. Don’t confuse the Sago Palm with the common ornamental also called Sago. The latter is a cycad is very toxic. The cycad can kill you, or perhaps, give you Alzheimer’s Disease decades from now. Very old books say cycad seeds are edible but research into folks who ate said during WWII shows high rates of various dementia later in life.

Poor

Coconut flour should be defatted

Coconut flour is mildly sweet and commonly used in quickbread recipes and some desserts. It contains a high amount of fiber, protein and fat. In fact it is some 19 percent protein, very nutritious. The main problem is the energy and time required processing the nut meat into flour when the nut is readily edible without processing. One has to separate the oil from the nut’s meat, usually by pressing, then dry and grind it. Coconut “flour” is usually added to grain flour in a 3 to 7 ratio. It takes a lot of work to get the flour. Eating the coconut takes far less energy.

Groundnuts have latex

Groundnuts, Apios americana, can be made into flour. Like the coconut above it is high in protein. But, they have to be cooked, dried, and ground. It is easier to just dig up the roots, cook them and eat them. More so, groundnuts as a vegetable taste great when warm but are tasteless when cold.  When warm the flavor is slightly like a turnip, not exactly a flour flavor.

Hickory Nuts

Hickory, pecans, walnuts:  Most nuts can be made into “flour” depending upon the oil content; the less oil the better for storage. Again while these nuts can be eaten out of hand getting enough nutmeat to grind into flour would be very time consuming and require much energy. What Native Americans did was crush the entire nut, add water, pick off the floating woody bits, and drink the milky liquid they called ee-koh-RAH which got changed into Hickory.

Indian Rice Grass

Indian Rice Grass, Oryzopsis hymenoides, is nutritious and at the right time and place is easy to harvest. It was a staple of many tribes of Native Americans. What the down side? The seed is very tough and often the plant loses its seed so easily it falls on the ground before you get a chance to harvest it. Also the seed often needs to after-ripen one to five years. It’s found in the western half of North America almost as if it has been planned that way. A commercial version has been grown in Montana since 2000 and is sold under the name “Montina.” The botanical name means “rice like.”

Sunchoke flour does not store well

Jerusalem artichoke flour takes some processing, does not store well, and usually has to be mixed with some other flour. Why bother? Peel the roots, slice them into chips and dry. Then grind and use. It make as bread that is as heavy as a brick. The flour has inulin which the human body cannot digest but the bacteria in your gut can. That explains the gas production you could fill a blimp with. Stored for any length of time it takes on a dusty, musty taste. That’s a lot of work for a root that can be eaten raw right out of the ground.

Konjac roots and shoots

Konjac. What can one expect of a plant whose botanical name means poorly-formed penis, Amorphophallus konjac. The corms of this tropical plant have a lot of edible starch. However, to get the starch the corms are washed, peeled, grated, rinsed many times then boiled. The starch is settled out, dried, then treated with dissolved lime, much like corn. Then it can be used. Lot of nutrition and food value but a lot of work as well.

Kudzu root is very tough

Kudzu roots are full of starch but getting the starch out is a caloric- or energy-intensive chore. They either have to be pounded for hours or ground then steamed. If you have a water wheel and volcanic heat for energy then you could craft mechanical means to get the starch out. Either way, by hand requires much time and energy. By hand extracting Kudzu starch is a calorie deficit proposition. Want to lose weight? Eat only kudzu starch you process yourself.

Macadamia flour is very soft and has the same feel and look as white flour but has a high oil content and should be used immediately. It is made from ground up raw macadamias. It works well in recipes that do not require the mixture to rise. Sunflower seed flour is similar.

Pine cambium is nearly flavorless

Pine cambium is actually quite nutritious. A pound of it is the equivalent of nine cups of whole milk. It’s not too difficult to get. It is, however, surprise, nearly flavorless. Frying improves the flavor some. Boiling does not. Pine cambium can be dried and ground into a “flour.” It is added to other flours or to soups and stews and the like.

Pumpkin seeds make a poor flour

Pumpkin Seeds are 61% protein and most of the rest is fat. As a flour it does not play well with others in the oven. Low on carbohydrates as a flour it is used sparingly, usually added to other things or as a protein drink. As pumpkins seeds are quite edible roasted one is not sure why some folks are compelled to make seeds into flour.

 

Burn off the spines or dehull

Sandspur seeds are nutritious and easy to find. They are nutty and tasty and make a good porridge. The problem, as with several foods in this class, is making them into flour. Like any grain they have to be dehulled, dried, then ground. Whereas the grass itself can be held over an open fire to burn the spines off and then consumed then and there. Very little energy expended. The cooked seeds do make a good source of starch for making beer, or sake.

Sea Club Rush is tough

Sea Club Rush, Scirpus maritimus, has a bit of disconnect. We are told by those who study such things they were widely eaten in the past. Yet the work required to make them edible is excessive.  They have to be collected, pounded to remove the bark, then crushed into flaky bits or ground into powder. You can however, peel them and eat them raw. Has a flavor similar to coconut. The seeds can be parched and ground into “flour” as well, but they are tiny.

Smilax roots can pound nails

Smilax roots suffers the same fate as Kudzu. The root is 10% pink starch but it requires much pounding or grinding to get the starch out, which is washed out then settles in water. A better choice is to find the roots when finger size and cook them for eating. Better still, eat the growing tips in the spring. They are among the best spring vegetables.

Sorghum: The flour is gluten free. It’s mildly sweet with an aftertaste many don’t care for. It’s used to make beer and animal feed… One out of two isn’t bad.

Famine

Black medic seeds are very tiny and unless cultivated it might be difficult to find enough plants to get enough seed to make flour. There is also some reports it can stimulate or make worse auto-immune diseases.

Tough cabbage palm seeds

Cabbage Palm:  The prune-flavored fruit have pea-size kernels of starch. If you put them in your coffee grinder raw they will destroy it… I warned you…  They can be ground but they are exceptionally hard and require much work. Better to roast them. They grind easily then and have a flavor similar to coffee. The inner core, the heart, is edible but it, too, requires much work by hand. A chain saw is better.

Cactus/prickly pear:  The seeds are very nutritious and also extremely hard. Do to try to eat them whole. If they don’t ruin your teeth they will strafe your hemorrhoids. Cactus fruit seeds have to be milled and that takes time and energy.

Reindeer Moss is really a lichen

Lichen is a well-known famine food. There are around 20,000 lichen of which only two, or two families are near toxic; Wolf Lichen — which looks like a lime green beard — and Sunshine Powder lichen that is yellow like a school bus. The rest have to be thoroughly soaked in water to remove stomach-upsetting acids. Then when dried they can be turned into an edible “flour” that is usually used to thicken soups and stews or to extend bread.

Minute Purslane Seeds

Purslane seeds are quite edible and can be dried and ground into a flour. But they are so tiny it is difficult to find them in quantities large enough to make a flour out of them. It’s better to just throw the seeds pods into the salad and enjoy. Think of them as bland poppy seeds.

 

Truly Desperate

Golden club, Orontium aquaticum,  Native Americans pounded the root into flour.

Buck Beans, Menyanthes trifoliata, dry, crushed, leeched, settled starch makes an edible but disgusting flour.

Wild Calla, Calla palustris, thoroughly dried roots and seeds can be ground into an unpalatable flour.

Blue vervain, Verbena hastata, seeds soaked in several changes of water then roasted and ground make a bitter but edible flour.

{ 24 comments }

Newsletter 9 January 2012

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All parts have stinging hairs, underside of leaf the least

The “burning dwarf” is back. That’s what chamaedryoides means as in Urtica chamaedryoides, and it does sting, badly. Of all the plants and insects I’ve been stung by over the decades this one is by far the worst. It might just be me but our local Urtica sting feels like a jab from a six-inch wasp and the discomfort lasts for days. And no, Jewelweed juice didn’t help, nor Plantagos nor Dock nor urine (don’t ask.)  A paste of baking soda did help reduce the discomfort until the site got wet … So much for the warning.

Singing hairs on the “burning dwarf.”

While nettles are a spring to summer plant in northern climes our local stinging nettle is just starting to get to the edible stage, a winter annual.  They top out around a foot or so. I saw one about three inches high in Ocala in December. Some are around eight inches high now. While to the untrained eye there can be several similar looking plants just remember the main stem is bristling with clear glass-like hairs full of unrepentant acid. Leaf stems even leaf tops have stingers on them. Even leaf undersides have a few.

Sunny Savage

Not all nettles are small or formidable. My good friend Sunny Savage, who has travel-foraging videos, also has a line of clothing made from nettle fiber which she usually wears in her videos. She and husband Ryan and son Saelyn are doing some warm-water sailing… currently… Please visit her site here which as of this writing has a video about chanterelles on it. As for stinging, some nettles in England can be stripped by hand with little pain. A nettles species in New Zealand, however, has killed horses and cattle and at least one man. Putting less-threatening nettles in the fridge for a week can also render the stingers less formidable. You can also wild nettles next to a fire which oxidizes the stinging chemical(s) so you can eat them raw on the spot, perhaps the best way to consume them. If you are careful you can also curl up a leaf and eat it raw. I have a video on You Tube about them, click here, and you can read my article about them here.  Sensitivity to the nettles might be individual in that Hoyt, a local friend and forager, isn’t bothered by them much at all. Their sting makes me very miserable, worse than fire ants in my opinion.

Piling into the cold bayou water

♣ Because the Greek Epiphany celebration was on Friday this year I had the opportunity to stay in Tarpon Springs Thursday and Friday nights then hold a class at John Chestnut Park on Saturday. It’s the largest epiphany event in the western hemisphere and is attended by thousands who are really there to go to a big party afterwards called a glendi (GLEN-dee)… a little retsina, some baklava for a chaser, a few opas, line dancing in the street on hard concrete…  The main event was slightly unusual this year in that the participants — high school boys —  couldn’t find the cross on the first tossed so a second went into the brackish drink, plan B. The second cross was then found and a while later the first cross recovered as well. Two winners and rumors of unsportsmanlike conduct… 20 minutes in water barely warm enough for the seven manatees in attendance will do that. The Greeks in Tarpon Springs trace their ancestry back more than a century to the sponge divers from the eastern 12 islands of Greece where diving for the cross is a tradition. My ancestors are from an areas of the mainland called The Mani, and had enough sense to not jump in cold water in January.

While Tarpon Springs is at about the same latitude as Orlando it’s 130-some miles west on the coast, read different plant communities and weather. Staying just a quarter mile from where the teenagers jumped into the January water, I had a chance to wander around and look at local suburban edibles. Bauhinias were in blossom but have ceased inland. Sunny, above, likes to use the blossoms in salads. One of the more unusual plants is Passiflora lutea which I’ve only seen on the west coast. The fruit is edible, neither great nor bad, but was used to make ink which should tell you something. Interestingly the two coasts share a genus but different species. I tend to see Bull thistles on the east coast, Nuttall’s Thistle on the west, or the Swamp thistle. All three are Cirsiums and all Cirsiums are edible though the flavor can vary from bitter to mild to salty.

♣ Articles archived this week include: Edible Flowers: Part 10,  Canna Confusion,  and Guinea Pigs.

♣ Botany Builder #11. Root, rhizome, tuber, bulbs, corms. What’s the difference? Generally speaking a root is below the plant and a rhizome is off to the side, but roots aren’t always that tidy. There are other characteristics we’ll discuss in a moment but in grand terms knowing the difference tells us how to harvest. For roots generally you dig down, often deep, for rhizomes you did out, often just below the surface.

Apios americana roots

The tap root of a pine goes straight down and is not flexible, which is why pines often snap off in strong winds. The fragile root of a Spurge Nettle is directly below the plant about a foot down.  The cattail rhizome, however, is off to the side. Dig down from the bottom of a cattail and all you will find is muck. Often a cattail rhizome will have spaghetti-like rootlets growing off them called stolons.  Ginger is perhaps the best-known cultivated edible rhizome.

Tubers are swollen roots or bottom of stems. The potato is a tuber of fame, as are yams. The groundnut, despite the name, is a tuber and almost impossible to misidentify because of the way it sets tubers. Tubers have “eyes” from where new plants can grow from. Jerusalem artichokes are tubers, too.

Bulbs, like onions, have layers

Bulbs are made up of fleshy scales which are modified leaves. The onion is a bulb. It looks like it has layers. Tulips are bulbs but have to processed correctly to be edible. Bulbs usually have roots on one end and a growing tip on the other, again think onion. Don’t confuse bulbs with bulbils. Bulbs are underground, bulbils are in the air, usually growing on vines next to leaves or on stems as the Tiger Lily does.

Taro corms are scaly on the outside but no layers inside

Corms are similar in function to tubers but are actually short swollen underground stems. They look similar to bulbs but do not have layers like an onion. The Jack in the Pulpit is a corm, and barely edible after processing. Perhaps the most well-known corm is Taro. Corm plants tend to regrow from the same corm or location season after season.

Ginger Rhizome

Rhizomes, tubers, corms, bulbs (and sometimes roots) are ways to store plant food under ground. Technically the first four are geophytes and made by only herbaceous plants rather than trees or shrubs. As one might presume sometimes it is difficult to determine exactly what the storage system is which is why sometimes you will read that “roots” also store plant food. ‘Tis fodder for botanical debates.

Plants usually store food for reproduction. Many plants — bull thistles and turnips for example — store food the first year then flower and reproduce the second year. That is why most root vegetables are harvested in the fall or in the spring before the season has begun.

Black cast iron pans are very green

♣ Green And Didn’t Know It. The next time a conversation turns to being green you can cite several things you do that you might not on first blush think of being green. Among the New Year “green” resolutions recommended by those write about such things are eat more nutritious and organic food. That certainly describes many of the weeds we eat. They also say avoid prepackaging. Edible weeds don’t come prepackaged. “Grow your own food” was another bit of green advice. I know many foragers who take home wild seeds to grow their own, scattered here and there. I must admit I have spread a lot of edible seeds on various properties so I could harvest them next year. More on growing weeds next week. And if you use cast iron cookware you’re green because cast iron pots and pans last a lifetime or more. You’re not buying new pans every few years. You can read about taking care of them here and see a video here.

Give the chicken a twist when it unwinds

My tiny contribution to being green is to cook chicken on a regular basis in my solar oven. But we had two cold days this past week, by Florida standards, almost freezing. Thus I had a fire in my fireplace to keep warm and not add to power bill which I try to keep in the mid-$30’s year round.  It takes about three hours to cook a four-pound chicken in the solar oven, about four hours near a fireplace. You don’t need a rotisserie. A leather cord hung from the fireplace has the strength and tension to suspend and spin a chicken. Just wind the chicken up and let it twist back and forth. You need to rewind it every 15 to 20 minutes but it is the old-fashion original rotisserie chicken.

Remember: Don’t eat dark green or black creeping cucumbers. This one is still edible.

♣ Had great people in classes this week. I want to thank everyone particularly at the John Chestnut class for being understanding as the class was quite large. And a thank you to Diane as well for sharing her botanical expertise. The biggest surprise at John Chestnut Park was fruiting Creeping Cucumbers. They are usually not to be seen now, or at least not fruiting as these were, and blossoming. Perhaps that hot weather we had a couple of weeks ago was a Mother Nature white lie telling them spring was here. Another wild “edible” seen was a bee’s nest in the knot of a tree. That is not unusual because a cypress a few hundred feet away also has a nest though no where near as visible. Honey is a food many hunter/gatherers would endure many stings for. One could easily see the geometric shape of the exposed hive in this new nest which was unusual. However… he said…. the open hive faced east southeast and most bad weather at that location comes from the west.  The other nest also faces east. Maybe bee brains know a thing or two.

Sunday in Winter Park we found Pellitory (Cucumber Weed) in more advanced stages of growth than it was on the west coast. Also some chickweed was going out of season. It is perhaps the shortest lived of all our winter annuals. You really have to use it when you find it. If you decided to go back in a few days chickweed is often already past by. Peppergrass, not seen this time at the John Chestnut class, was sparse in Mead Garden (I think lawnmowers were to blame.) We also located a large Dioscorea alata root. That’s like finding ten to 20 pounds of potatoes.

Below is my upcoming class schedule, for details and updates see my “classes’ page. Port Orange is interesting in that it has a hammock community and several plants that are salt tolerant and not found at other foraging locations. The Jacksonville location has a wide variety of edibles from Apios to Youngia.

Saturday, January 14th, Spruce Creek Park, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 9 a.m.

Sunday, January 15th, Florida State College, south campus, 11901 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville, 9 a.m.

Saturday, January 21st, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne,  9 a.m.

Sunday, January 22nd, Dreher Park, 1310 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 9 a.m.

Why yes, I do eat insects.

♣ Newsletter Quandary: When I asked if this newsletter should remain weekly or go twice a month, the immediate and sustained response was stay weekly. This leads me to a second issue about newsletters. Which is better and why? To have 5000 subscribers and 1000 readers weekly (on average) or 2000 subscribers and 1000 readers weekly on average? In one case 20% are reading it weekly, in the other 50% are reading it weekly though the number of readers stays the same, 1000.  Does it make a difference to search engines, to advertisers, or to whomever? Incidentally this newsletter has to be opened to count as read. Right now my open rate is two thirds and my click through rate is also two thirds. But that was achieved only by deleting subscribers who did not open any newsletters for six weeks or more. It comes down to which is better and why? Lots of subscribers but a low open rate because most of them don’t read the newsletter every week, or a modest number of subscribers but a very high open rate because almost all of them read it every week? Or is it moot?

PS: If anyone has a good patch of Carpet Weed I’d like to take a picture of it, or Wild Garlic with cloves. Thanks.

To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

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Newsletter 16 January 2012

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John Chestnut Park north of Tampa has, among many natural features, a tower for observation. Here I am talking to students about cattails. Photo by Kelly Fagan

We had a cold snap this week, Florida style; two nights dipping into the upper 30s, frost. Exactly what needed, some will say, to make the persimmons “ripen” which means making them non-astringent and sweet. There’s three problems with that bromide. First our persimmons ripen at least two months before any possible “cold snap.” We look for persimmons in September or October, it can vary. “Winter” doesn’t arrive here until around Christmas (and is gone by Valentine’s Day.) Cold has nothing to do with the ripening of our persimmons unless you count chill hours the previous season. Next, in northern climates persimmons ripen about the same time as the first cold snap, usually in September or October. That sweetness could just be a matter of timing, a correlation not a causation. Lastly there isn’t any research that I know of which shows cold or frost helps persimmons ripen though I wouldn’t mind hearing from some folks who have some personal experience to share about that.

Wild persimmons are ripe when they are squishy soft

So when are native persimmons at their best? When you have to fight the ants for… yep, off the ground. That’s not settled law, however. This past fall I found a small persimmon tree with very ripe fruit on it, and a class I had last fall in Tampa did the same. But when you are looking up a persimmon tree for ripe fruit don’t forget to look down.

One of the more odd aspects about the persimmon tree is that it likes to grow on the edge of things, or what used to be an edge: Roads, paths, interstates, railroads, rivers, fields. You won’t find a persimmon tree in the woods unless there used to be a clearing in the woods. Sometimes you will find them 100 feet from a river bank in the woods but the river used to be wider and when they germinated they were on the edge. No doubt animals spread their seeds everywhere but they only thrive on the edge. That’s not unusual. Some pawpaws have to grow in shade for a few years.

If you’re standing in a forest and you think you have a persimmon tree you’re probably wrong. To read more about persimmons click here.

♣ Weed Seeds: You can plant many weed seeds to get a crop of edible weeds closer to home, if not in your own yard (now you know why my putting-green neighbors loathe me.) Weeds are designed to take care of themselves and do quite well even when ignored. I have planted wild radish, peppergrass, chickeweed, purslane and crowsfoot grass on my “lawn” and they have done quite well. Many weeds can be planted in your garden. Chinopodiums and amaranth are two that need very little encouraging. Make them a row, barely cover the seeds with soil and you will have a mess o’ greens. Mustards are a bit pickier to grow. Their seeds, such as peppergrass, should be stored in a dry area for about four months between 50 and 68 degrees F for optimum germination.  A cellar stairs is just about perfect for that, or outdoors in a Florida winter. Other seeds need special treatment.

Pokeweed seeds before soaking in battery acid

Pokeweed seeds are a good example. Their germination rate is very low, around 6 percent, if not treated. What’s treated? Replicating a bird’s gut. Soaking the seeds in battery acid for five minutes increases the germination rate into the 90s. You can buy the battery acid at auto stores. One container will last you decades. Once treated, plant successive rows of pokeweed seeds and have a lot of pokeweed from your garden. You can harvest the shoots or let them turn into big roots that will send up shoots annually.

If you’re more inclined to grow roots consider the groundnut. Just take tuber home, put it in the garden and wait, two years unfortunately but they will produce and produce well. Twenty years ago agriculturists at the University of Louisiana were trying hard to make the groundnut a commercial crop. Unfortunately when the professor in charge of the program retired so did much of that program. Groundnuts can also be grown from seeds, but the process is more involved.

Dioscorea alata bulbils

Perhaps the most productive of all is to plant yams bulbils, but you need to get the right yam and their proliferation is frowned up by governmental agencies. The best two are Dioscorea alata (Yam A) and Dioscorea polystachya (Yam C.) Yam C has escaped cultivation and is a pest from the Carolinas to southern Ohio. Yam A is not a pest per se but it is lumped in with Yam B, D. bulbifera, which is. I don’t discuss Yam B much because it is more a famine food than everyday table fare. If you plant the dark misshapen bulbils of Yam A, you will get large roots that are very edible weighing many pounds, commonly 10 to 20. Yam C produces small, long edible roots and very edible air bulbils.

Or… you can go to the grocery store and buy a commercially grown D. alata and plant that, apparently with no legal prohibitions. Seems a little odd that the wild yam is bad whereas the same species cultivated if okay, governmentally speaking. One year I intentionally grew taro from the supermarket so I could learn how to separate it from the far less edible ornamental taro. The difference was minor. The edible version has a little purple tinge on the stalk where new leaves emerged. The ornamental is just green. That difference is minor but enough. That is also probably why that particular edible is called “the purple taro.”

One plant that is seeding heavily now is Skunk Vine, Paederia foetida. It’s an invasive and the state of Florida would be horrified if you took some seeds home. If you were to be so botanically wayward sow them in you kitchen garden later this spring when the days are consistently in the 70s. If you grow them on a trellis they will happily climb and provide you with leaves for “greens” for about nine months. But only do so for convenient or to guarantee wholesome soil and water. The plant grows everywhere locally and is difficult to avoid.

Emergent Canna

♣ Botany Builder #12. Do you remember the confusion in school over the words immigrant and emigrant? An emigrant is someone leaving a country, and an immigrant is someone entering a country. An emergent plant is one coming out of the water, such as Canna. It likes to grow in about a half a foot of water. It doesn’t like dry land and it doesn’t like deep water. It is emergent. Cattails are emergent, however some species of cattail — there aren’t that many — like to be close to shore and others like deeper water. What it really comes down to, can you get cattails from shore or do you need a canoe?

♣ In late March there will be a large herbal conference in Ocala I will be participating in. Because I am part of the events and because you get my newsletter you can get a 20% discount. I personally know at least three of the featured speakers scheduled so far… four if I count myself… It’s sure to be a grand time. Here’s the information:

Camp Kiwanis, Ocala FL

Do you love herbs, healing, and the beautiful outdoors?  Then join us for the inaugural Florida Herbal Conference, which will be held March 23-25 in the Ocala National Forest at Camp Kiwanis on the beautiful Mill Dam Lake.  With herbal teachers from around the state gathering to share their wisdom, participants will enjoy choosing from over 30 workshops, plant walks, and classes throughout the weekend, ranging from Clinical Herbalism to Kitchen and Garden medicine.  Recreational activities such as dance, henna, yoga, singing, canoeing provide a variety of options to unwind and relax under the beautiful live oak trees.  Enjoy evening musical performances from In Curses and Surcular Souls.  Take home treasures from artisans and crafters in our Herbal Marketplace.  A special keynote speaker by renowned herbalist Rosemary Gladstar will inspire and enliven you, making this an event you won’t want to miss.  The conference is hosted by the Florida School of Holistic Living. Camping is included in registration, and indoor lodging is also available.  Proceeds will benefit United Plant Savers, and all participants will receive membership when they register for the conference.  Register using the code EATTHEWEEDS and receive a 20% discount off of registration.  To register, or learn more, visit www.FloridaHerbalConference.org.

♣ Articles added this week: Edible Flowers Part 11, Edible Flowers Part 12 (out of 20 articles about edible flowers already written) and a blog about the Antikythera Mechanism which has only a little to do with plants though I am writing an article on the edible species of Cyprus.

♣ Where the weeds are. Bars that are 88% dark chocolate do not grow in the woods. I was buying some at a local store when the clerk asked me what I did. I said I teach people how to find and eat wild edibles. Her next question was “where can you possibly find wild edibles?”  Her tone was on par with mission impossible. If you attend my classes you know where the wild edibles are.  But where to find wild edibles is the the second-most common misconception I hear.

There is an understandable association: Wild edibles are in the wild and the wild today is state parks. Add the fact that it is illegal to harvest in state parks (even banned plants they want to get rid of) and you have the clerk’s response, where can you possibly find wild edibles? Answer: You find them around your home, in your neighborhood, in local city parks and yes, in state parks and the wilderness.

Lake Woodruff Preserve, Deland FL

To me most of the state parks represent subsistence living, what the natives ate. There are staples there but few. What the park lands do have if push comes to shove is game. Hunter/gatherers get about two thirds of their food requirements from things that move, and a third from plants. So from an end-of-society point of view some state parts would be good places to be. And remember food is where the water is, fresh or salt. The flora and fauna change whether it is fresh or salt water but food is still where the water is. The farther away from water you are the farther away from food you are.

Let’s call the flora of state parks native. There’s an equal if not greater amount of non-natives that are edible. And that number is increasing all the time. In total there are more edibles species in suburbia than in the wild, or at least a greater variety and variety is a key element in enjoying wild plants as food. I won’t starve in a flatwood pine forest but by day three I might be tired of the menu. Some radish greens would be nice but they ain’t native. They’re in suburbia. Yes there are native greens and this is not to detract from them. The point is in suburbia you have the natives and the non-natives species. If hunting for game is not in the picture there’s more food choices to be found in suburbia than in state parks. In a city park I can walk under two miles and find close to 100 different edible species. In a state park I can walk eight miles and see maybe two dozen.

Lastly, few people live in state parks. Most people are interested in identifying wild edibles where they live or near by. That’s usually with other humans and on a road and that means weeds, native and non-native, carried by foot, domestic animal and vehicles. When asked why he robbed banks Willie Sutton said “because that’s where the money is.” Why forage in suburbia? ‘Cause that’s where the “wild” edibles are.

Nest of probable African Bees

♣ If you remember last week the newsletter mentioned a bee hive was spotted during a class at the John Chestnut park. Kelly Fagan took a photo of it. You will note we can see the combs. My good friend Phil, who is a bee keeper and butterfly wrangler, says they were most likely African bees by the way they left their hive expose. A nest that was in the park last year, and much farther along the boardwalk, was inside a cypress and totally enclosed. Perhaps a different species of bee. All you could see of that nest was a small hole and bees going in and out. However these bees, left, don’t mind mind advertising who they are or what they’re doing. You can do that when you’re the… bee-hemoths of the apiary.

♣ Class schedule. This coming week it’s the east coast for me with a class in Melbourne and then in West Palm Beach (a nice place to be in January.)  Always check the schedule even if you have signed up. Classes are sometimes cancelled for various reasons. The West Palm Beach class has passed the minimum number required (for the 400 mile ride.) Barring accident or injury that class will go on as scheduled.

Saturday, January 21st, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne,  9 a.m.

Sunday, January 22nd, Dreher Park, 1310 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 9 a.m.

Saturday, January 28th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, 9 a.m.

Sunday, January 29th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, 23157 Bayshore Rd., Port Charlotte, 9 a.m.

Also, click my name to visit my Green Deane Fan Page on face book.

♣ Lastly, if you are interested in contributing articles to the newsletter, please contact me.

The Senator Burning, picture by Channel 13, Orlando

THIS JUST IN: From the Orlando Sentinel, 16 January, 2012, by Amy Pavuk

One of the world’s oldest cypress trees — known as “The Senator” and found at Big Tree Park in Seminole County — caught fire early Monday morning and collapsed. (To see the original Sentinel article and  video click here.)

“The Senator” was a 118-foot-tall bald cypress and the feature attraction at Big Tree Park in Longwood. The tree, believed to have lost its top in a hurricane in the mid-1920s, is estimated at 3,500 years old.

President and Mrs. Coolidge at the tree in 1929

The tree burned for several hours from the inside out — almost like a chimney, said Seminole County Fire Rescue spokesman Steve Wright.

Firefighters have no idea what sparked the fire. The National Weather Service said there were no lighting strikes or storms in the area.

There were brush fires in Volusia County.

About 15 firefighters responded to the park about 5:50 a.m. and strung out more than 800 feet of hose through the woods as part of their efforts to extinguish the fire.

At about 7:45 a.m., a 20-foot section of the top of the tree fell off, Wright said. By 8:15 a.m., the tree collapsed.

“It’s a nightmare,” he said.

The park, located on General Hutchinson Parkway between U.S. 17-92 and State Road 427 north of Longwood, was dedicated in 1929 by President Calvin Coolidge, making it one of the area’s oldest parks.

“The Senator” was one of Central Florida’s leading attractions before the arrival of the region’s theme parks.

Arson has not been ruled out. I have visited this tree several times. There is a second one nearby not quite as tall so Big Tree Park still has a big tree. There’s also one nearly as tall on the hiking trail between Wekiva Park and Rock Springs Run.

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Newsletter 19 December 2011

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A Bald Cypress with Basketball-Size Ornaments in Christmas Day Fog, Winter Park, Florida

Celebrating traditions. Creating new ones. Planning. Shopping. Friends. Family. Cooking. Parties. Ceremonies. The laughter of children. The smiles of grandparents. The love of another. Recollections. Reflections. Contemplations. Life… May the holidays add to your memories.

Chickweed’s five petals are notched thus look like ten petals

? Chickweed has arrived. If you want to sample it in a variety of ways you have a couple of months at best. I usually find chickweed locally between Christmas and Valentine’s Day. It can be found earlier, as it was this past week, and it can be found occasionally after Valentine’s Day. But those two holidays mark the practical beginning and end of the local chickweed season. It also doesn’t grow much farther south than central Florida. In northern climates Chickweed is a green of spring. It actually germinates under the snow so it can get a head start on other spring plants. Snow spits here every half century or so and the ground never freezes which is why we can forage 365 days a year. Chickweed is fairly easy to identify. Besides tasting like corn silk it has a stretchy inner core and one line of hair that runs along the stem switching sides at each pair of leaves. Don’t confuse Chickweed for a local cousin and minor edible, Drymaria cordata. To read more about chickweed click here.  Also coming on strong is Pellitory, the lead article in last week’s newsletter. To read about Pellitory again click here.

? Why forage? There are many reasons from nutrition to self-sufficiency but here’s one you may not have heard of: Avoiding famine. It is rare for hunter/gatherers to experience famine because they do not rely on just a few crops or food sources. Famine tends to be a problem of few-crops agriculture, such as the great Irish potato famine that killed at least a million and forced at least another million to immigrate. Anthropologists say Australian Aboriginals managed to survive some 60,000 years without a form of agriculture resembling Western agriculture. They also passed on knowledge of wild foods by giving each food its own dance and song which incorporated where to find the plant, when, as well as how to harvest and prepare it. Incidentally only the woman gathered and only the men hunted. A large section of Australia is set aside for Aboriginals who still want to live the hunter gatherer lifestyle. That practice is the subject of scholarly study. About two-thirds of their energy requirements come from things that move and a third from plants. (My first guess was that she is holding an  iguana. But mu Aussie friends say it could also be a Goanna — a kind of monitor lizard — but they are protected… in theory. )

Articles added this past week; Spanish Moss, Yacon, Edible Flowers Part Eight, Ignite of the Iguana .

Dead Man’s Fingers

? Botany Builder #8: The endings of botanical names in Dead Latin can often give us a clue about the species especially -ifera and -oides (and variations such as -iferum.) Often the botanical name is virtually no help in identifying a plant, such as when the genus and the species honor two different people. A good example is Decaisnea fargesii, Dead Man’s Fingers. It’s named after Joseph Decaisne and Pere Farges, upper right. No description there.. seems like a lost opportunity to me… Sometimes the species name is misleading as in Pinus palustris, which means a pine that likes to grow in swamps. Unfortunately Pinus palustris only grows on the top of dry sandy hills. That the descriptive name is very wrong is not enough to get it changed. The reason has to be botanical even if flimsy botanical.

Paper Birch, Betual papyrifera, paper bearing

-ifera and -oides however usually are helpful. -ifera means “producing” or “bearing.” Papyrifera means paper bearing, as in Betula papyrifera, the Paper Birch, left. Bulbifera means bulb bearing, such as the Dioscorea bulbifera, the Air Potato. Cerifera  means wax bearing like the Southern wax Myrtle, Myrica cerifera . The Myrica cerifera produces a green wax that was traditionally used to make Bayberry Candles.       –

Spanish Moss resembles the lichen Usnea above

oides means “resembling” or ‘looks like.” Tillandsia usneoides (Spanish Moss) means looks like the lichen usnea. Anemone ranunculoides means looks like ranunculus. Centruroides means … like sharp (and is a genus of scorpions in reference to their stingers.) While the word “folia” can mean leaves it is also used to mean look like. Aquifolium means holly-like leaves. Tiliifolia means basswood-like leaves. Sonchifolia means leaves like a sow thistle. So if you have an -ifera in front of you it should be producing something. If you have an oides it should look like something else you probably already know. -Folia is usually also descriptive.

Turtle Mound 1924

? One of the earlier videos I made — number 52 — was on Turtle Mound, which is a midden a few miles south of Daytona Beach. A midden is what archaeologist call an ancient trash heap. This particular midden was some 80 feet high, covered two acres and had some 33,000 cubic yards of oyster shells. Some of it has been removed and the angle of repose has lowered its height. As a mound it has a variety of edible plants on it despite being in a wet, windy and salty environment. Plants who like it dry can live higher up the midden and those that don’t like the salt spray or wind can grow on the back side. It’s a not-so-mini microclime. Because of its mass it absorbs enough heat to keep frost sensitive plants like papayas alive through below freezing weather.

Turtle Mound from the Indian River, 1930

I think calling a midden a trash heap is a limiting modern view.  I think they are or were much more than that. This may sound simplistic but you find what you are looking for. When we say a trash heap we automatically remove several things from consideration. For example one does not think of trash heaps as organized. One also expects trash heaps to contain trash. An organized trash heap is a land fill and we expect to find trash in it… have you noticed land fills here in flat Florida are not fills but are always a couple of hundred feet high? They should call them land hills… which returns us to Turtle Mound. I don’t think it just a heap. I think it was intentionally built.

Northern view from the now 50 foot top

Archaeologist tell us, if we choose to believe them, that Turtle Mound came into existence between 800 and 1400 AD, and the island its on a few thousand years before that.  It is in what was the southeast coastal end of the Timucuan Indian range. The view from atop Turtle Mound is quite good, miles in fact. Long ago as today it is a good place to see anyone approaching. Tactically holding the high ground has always had great advantages. Camping on mounds gets one up in the summer breeze and away from some pestering insects. And when the hurricane winds blow you might not be able to escape the rain but you can hide behind the mound to break the wind.

Timucuans hunted alligators by shoving a pole down their throat.

Locally the natives would winter in the middle of the state then summer on the coast, not only a change of scenery but a change in menu. When living off the land the menu is limited and only changes with the seasons. Different cooking methods, things you could add to change the flavor, and different locations with different food were as much a gastronomical issue as a practical one. Turtle Mound contains millions of oyster shells, and occasional examples of other dietary remains, bones of this or that. The mound is not the result of millions of oyster meals but rather an intentional alteration of the environment. They made the place intentionally.  I think the idea to build a hill came first, that you threw the remains of dinner there an after thought. It was no doubt a good idea passed down through generations. Not only that but creating hill in flat Florida might have also included some pride and sense of accomplishment.

And as a linguistic side note, the name of the Indians has been modernized. They were around into the 1800s and said their name tim-MUCK-you-awn. That wasn’t marketing friendly so the various areas and housing developments are called TIM-ah-quan.

Canna Island, Scotland

? Follow Up: Canna Island: Last year in this newsletter you learned about the problem Canna Island was having. Canna is a Scottish Island less than a mile wide and five miles long struggling to stay populated. In fact the government has invited people to live there. It’s a tourist destination and even has a restaurant. In 2004 Canna had 20 permanent residents. It also had 10,000 rats. An extermination team from New Zealand was brought in. A year and a million dollars later the rats were gone. Mother Nature, however, has her ways. By 2010 Canna had a huge rabbit problem. Their burrowing was undermining 8,000 year old archaeological sites. You can only eat so much Hasenpfeffer. The exterminators were called back. A couple of years later and a lot of bunny birth control chemicals the rabbits were under control. The one population explosion Canna has not had is human. There are now 11 permanent residents. If you like few neighbors and harsh windswept winters you might look into emigrating to Canna Island. Interested?  Click here then at the bottom of the page click on “Property to Let” and make inquiries.

Wild Radish

? Had classes this weekend in Winter Park (center of the state) and Port Charlotte, about 180 miles to the southwest. As I left at 4 a.m. to make the Port Charlotte class I took the interstate all the way. But on the way back I drove the more scenic route through the middle of the state and spied several stands of Wild Radishes. Made me a bit jealous as I have not located any locally so far this year though it is about time for them. Where I collected bushels of the greens last year is now on office complex. While Wild Radishes are a common sight on sides of the road the best place to find them is in Orange Groves or agricultural land not currently in use. One can confuse Wild Radishes and Wild Mustards but as they are used the same way either will do. Generally said Wild Radishes have yellow four-petal flowers on individual stems, noticeable veins on the petals, have jointed toothpick-like seed pods, and would be tall except they tend to get scoliosis, that is they bend over and twist around staying low to the ground. Wild Mustards have yellow four-petal flowers in clusters, do not have noticeable veins on the petals, have smooth toothpick-like seed pods and grow several feet high. To read about Wild Radishes click here. , Wild Mustards click here.

? Free Class: This is only being mentioned here to my subscribers because you are my subscribers. I will hold a free foraging class Saturday, Dec. 24th, 2011, in downtown Winter Park. The directions are the same for Urban Crawl on my class page except we will start at 9 a.m. in front of Panera’s Bread. 9 a.m. We will wander around Winter Park for a few hours and find edible plants in the urban setting. Again, that’s 9 a.m., and free.

?  Did you know?  In case you missed it Ardrossan, North Ayrshire, Scotland last week had hurricane-force winds. That made one of their $3 million 328-foot wind turbines turn too fast and self destruct. Photo below.

To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

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Eat The Weeds Archive

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Articles

Delicious and deadly, that’s ackee

  • Acorn Grubs: Bait, Trailside Nibble  (2)

    Yes, this is about eating grubs. Deal with it.

    Without the expertise of Charles E. Williams and the Michigan Entomological Society, Department of entomology,…

  • Acorns, or Oak Nuts?  (1)

    It seem like a little thing that grew into a big problem, just like the edible I was writing about.

    I had several requests to do something about acorns.…

  • Acorns: The Inside Story  (27)

    Acorn: More than a survival food
    The first time you eat an acorn it makes you wonder what the squirrels are going nuts about. As the bitterness twists…

  • Agave, Century Plant

    Century Plant: Edible Agave Americana

    If you like tequila, thank a bat. If that’s not possible, thank a humming bird or a moth. Those three pollinate the…

  • Alligator a la Carte  (5)
    I caught a small alligator once. I was fishing for bass in a golf course water trap behind an apartment complex in Titusville, Florida (that’s west across…
  • Alligator Weed

    Alternanthera philoxeroides: Exotic Munch

    If you have alligators you have alligator weed. That’s a little odd because alligator weed is a native of…

  • Alternate Pepper of Brazilian Pest?  Brazilian Pepper is a personal unknown
  • Amapola, Sea Hibiscus, Rope Mangrove

    Hibiscus pernambucensis: Walking Lunch

    The Amapola is on the go, but unlike the “walking” mangrove, the Amapola crawls.

    There is something of a…

  • Amaranth: Grain, Vegetable, Icon  (3)

    Amaranth, the forgotten food

    A book could be written about amaranth, and probably has, if not several.

    A grain, a green, a cultural icon, a religious…

  • Amaranth Identification:

    Sorting out some amaranths

  • A Matter of Attitude

    “Yuck.”

    That word has been in my mailbox lately, sprinkled through like spice on an entree. It reminds me of what a great language English is.

    English…

  • American Lotus: Worth Getting Wet For  (1)

    More American than apple pie
    Nature fights back.

    Much of Florida is giving way to housing. For several years I passed a large abandoned pasture with a dry…

  • American Nightshade: A Much Maligned Edible  (5)

    Solanum americanum: Food or Poison?

    Anyone who’s done some foraging has seen the “Black Nightshade” also called the “Common Nightshade” and (DRUM ROLLLLLLLL…

  • Annona Quartet

    The Annonas Four: Sugar, Sour, Custard, Pond
    Many species and a few family of plants sit on the cusp of edible, non-edible, among them the Annonas, tropicals…

  • Antikythera Mechanism
    The Antikythera Mechanism is unique, kind of like a monotypic genus plant. In fact, this short article was originally written as the introduction for the…
  • A Pitch For Spruce Gum: Real spruce gum is not easy to chew. It is not soft or sweet. Hard and crumbly is more accurate along with pieces of bark and bits of insects.
  • Apples, Wild Crabapples

    Malus sieversii, Hard-Core Apples
    Wild Apples are one of the most common over-looked foraging foods. People take one taste, spit it out, and go on their…

  • Are Raw Vegetables Healthy for Humans?  (4)

    The quick answer by most would be yes, the presumption being man ate raw vegetables for a long time and is better suited to them, and them to him. But, whether…

  • Are You A Cook Or A Baker?

    I am often asked about herbal medicine. My answer to the inquirer is often a question: Are you a cook or a baker? Their answer is instructive.

    While one…

  • Armadillo: Possum on the Half Shell  (2)

    Armadillo Cuisine: Cooking a Hoover Hog
    Armadillos are an overlooked food animal, not protected by law, available throughout the year, and good tasting. And…

  • Attitude Makes The Difference

    Facts don’t disappear in life, but in the end attitude is their equal. Water hyacinths can demonstrate that.

    If you know much about the state of Florida…

  • Australian Pine  (1)

    Casuarina equisetifolia: Dreaded Edible
    It is truly fitting that the Australian Pine ends up on a site dedicated to edible plants because where it has been…

  • What do you do when the description of a plant doesn’t fit? The answer depends on how far off the description is: You might have the wrong plant.

    If it is…

  • Balloon Vine, Heart Vine, Heart Seed

    Cardiospermum halicacabum: Edible Leaves

    For a tropical plant, the Balloon Vine can take cold weather, growing from west Texas north to Montana, Florida…

  • Bamboo Doesn’t Bamboozle You

    Bambusa
    Do not tell me you don’t live near bamboo. I grew up in 50-below zero Maine and we had bamboo in front of the house for decades. In fact, the…

  • Bananas: More Than A Yellow Frou Frou Fruit  (5)

    Bananas Trees: Survival Food
    Yes, everyone knows bananas are edible, as are their starchy cousins, the plantains. One doesn’t think of banana or plantain…

  • Barnyard Grass  (8)
    The first time I saw Barnyard Grass was decades ago in a real barnyard near a drain spout. I was with forager Dick Deuerling who identified it for me.…
  • Basswood Tree, Linden, Lime Tree

    Tilia americana: Forest Fast Food
    My first recollection of basswood was not on the supper table but rather helping my father make pipes.

    First we’d…

  • Bauhinia: Pretty Eats

    Bauhinias’ Beauty

    It’s called the Camel Foot Tree, the Cow Foot Tree, the Mountain Ebony Tree, the Orchid Tree, and the Hong Kong Orchid Tree. I ignored it…

  • Birches: One could easily write a book about Birches because they are so valuable to foragers.
  • Beach Bean, Bay Bean  (2)

    Canavalia maritima, Rosea, Beach Bean
    It’s the tank of beans: Three inches long, an inch wide and very thick. And with good reason, it lives near the…

  • Beach Orach, Crested Salt Bush

    Atriplex cristata: Pigweed by the Sea

    Anyone familiar with the Goosefoot family will see the Beach Orach and presume it is probably edible, and it is.

    A…

  • Beautyberry: Jelly on a Roll  (23)

    Beautyberry: Callicarpa Americana
    The Beautyberry is squirrel’s version of take out.

    Squirrels will often break off a branch a foot or two long and…

  • Beech, American

    Fagus grandifolia: The All-American Beech

    Tree trivia: Beechnut chewing gum had nothing to do with the Beech tree or the seeds it produces. It was, however,…

  • Bees In Litigation

    The last time I visited relatives in Greece, September 2006, I had “tea” with one of two then-living first cousins of my grandmother, both in their 90s,…

  • Before There Were Baked Beans

    Baked beans is about as traditional a New England meal as one can get… That and boiled dinners. Every Sunday for decades we had boiled dinner. Potatoes,…

  • Begonia Bonanza

    Waxing about Edible Begonias
    It was on Rock Springs Run, some 20 years ago here in Florida, when I first saw them, just above the variable water line. I…

  • Betony: Rich Root, Poor Root  (5)

    Stachys Floridana, Culinary Pretender
    I have read from a good source that all Stachys are edible. I politely doubt that for three reasons. First there are 300…

  • Big Caltrop: If you’re an adult with aging eyesight Kallstroemia maxima when first spied can look like purslane. A closer examination shows it is not.
  • Binomial Nomenclature

    Most of us go by two names. So do plants. That’s Binomial Nomenclature. That is both good and bad. It’s good in that two people on different sides of the…

  • Birches: One could easily write a book about Birches because they are so valuable to foragers.
  • Bird Peppers

    Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum: Hot Eats

    Did y0u know hot peppers grow in the wild? From Central American north to Arizona east to Florida then up the…

  •  Bitter Melon (6)

    Bitter Melon, Bitter Gourd, Balsam Pear: Momordica Charantia
    If the Balsam Pear did not exist a pharmaceutical company would invent it. In fact, there…

  • Bitter Lettuce

    Launea intybacea: Edible Bitter Lettuce

    The plant came first, and it’s anybody’s guess to what its scientific name is.

    Every botanical wonderkin thinks…

  • Bittercress and Kissing Crucifer Cousins

    Cardamine pensylvanica: Petite Pot Herb
    The first time I saw Bittercress I knew it had to be an edible. I just didn’t know which one.

    How did I know? Plants…

  • Black Calabash: It started with spotting a blossom while teaching a foraging class. 
  • Black Cherry: Chokecherry’s Better Cousin  (3)

    Prunus serotina: Better Late than Never Cherry

    Think of the Black Cherry as a chokecherry with some of the choke removed.

    Not a 100 feet from the…

  • Black Ironwood, Leadwood
    Krugiodendron ferreum: Ironwood M&MsGreen twigs of Black Ironwood will sink in salt water. It’s that dense.The Black Ironwood was…
  • Black Medic  (2)

    Medicago Lupulina: Grain and Potherb
    I debated a long time whether to include Black Medic as an edible. There are several plants in that category and over…

  • Black Walnuts and Butternut

    Juglans nigra and butternut, too!

    I didn’t see my first Black Walnut tree until about 16 years ago. It so happened that the two places I lived the longest,…

  • Blackberries, A Forager’s Companion  (1)

    Blackberries: Robust Rubus, Food & Weed
    Anyone who forages will eventually collect a few blackberries, and thorns. Blackberries are among the best known…

  • Bladderwrack

    Fucus vesiculosus: Edible Bladderwrack
    Bladderwrack can wrack your brain.

    Why? Because in some places it has bladders and is textbook perfect. And in others…

  • Blolly, Beeftree

    Guapira discolor: A Blolly by Golly
    The Blolly confounded me when I first saw the tree for it was growing by itself in a park. The fruit is quite distinct, a…

  • Blue Porterweed, Bottom Up!

    Stachytarpheta jamaicensis: Near Beer
    Should the civilized world come to an end and you have a hankering for a stout beer you’re in luck: You can make one…

  • Blueberries, or Huckleberry’s Kin

    Vacciniums: Am I Blue?

    Blueberrying was a family tradition. The only debate was did you pick them clean, or did you pick leaves, bugs and all then clean…

  • Botanical Bachelor

    As a seasoned life-long bachelor I had my pickup line all crafted and rehearsed, so I could say it naturally at the right moment when my Dream Lady came near.…

  • Bottlebrush Tree:
  • Bougainvilleas:     Bougainvilleas are often referred to as a toxic plant. 

I’m often asked during my classes why I mention many plants that can be used to make tea. There are two answers:

  • Brookweed: Brookweed is an edible plant few know a lot about these days. Even Professor Daniel Austin, who managed to write 909 pages about ethnobotany, could only scrape up one paragraph.
  • Brown Anoles  (3)

    “Did you clean them” I asked a friend who might want to remain anonymous.

    “No” he said.

    “You cooked them whole?”

    “Yes.”

    “You ate them head, tail and…

  • Browne’s Savory: Clinopodium Browneii

    The Mighty Minty Micromeria Browneii

    Sometimes in central Florida you will drive past a car accident on the interstate, or another road, and smell…

  • Budget Cut Benefits

    Two effects of the economic times are influencing foraging. First is an increase in the number of people who are putting food on the table by foraging. The…

  • Bug-a-Boo’s or Grubs Up  (5)
    On this site are several articles about edible insects (among other creatures.) Below is an expanding collection of more than 50 edible insects. I plan to…
  • Bulrush Bonanza  (3)

    Cattail’s Maligned Companion: The bulrush has a public relations problem. It found in the same environment as the cattail, can be used the same way, and tastes…

  • Bunchberry Brunch

    Munching Cornus canadensis/unalaschkensis
    Discussing things little ears shouldn’t hear, they barely interrupt their conversations to pick a low Bunchberry from…

  • Bunya Pine: The Australian Aboriginals knew a good thing when they tasted it. So did the immigrants. It’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t like the taste of Bunya Pine nuts. But you will find people who don’t like to clean up after it because the ancient species sheds sharp leaves and heavy cones.
  • Burdock Banquet

    Arctium minus: Burdock’s Plus Side
    I have a confession to make: When I was a kid I had a miniature corn cob pipe. And in it I smoked dried burdock leaf… I…

  • Buttercups:  Buttercups are usually considered not edible.
  • Cabbage Palm, Sabal Palmetto  (4)

    Heart of Palm and Controversy
    The state tree of Florida isn’t a tree, but it is a weed of many edible parts.

    The Sabal palmetto, actually an overgrown…

  • Cactus: Don’t Be Spineless  (3)

    Nopalea Cochenillifera: Cactus Cuisine
    Be brave when you collect cactus.

    Of course, good gloves and tongs help. With those tools you can have a very…

  • Caesar Weed Sampler  (5)

    Urena Lobata: Cash crop to noxious weed
    Once it was an invited money-maker, now it is a hunted money spender: Caesar weed, cash crop to noxious weed.

    We have…

  • Camphor Tree: Cinnamon’s Smelly Cousin

    Campy Camphor: Not Just For Grandma

    One would never guess Camphor trees are not native to Florida, or the South. One also probably wouldn’t guess they…

  • Candlestick Tree: If you are meandering through a botanical garden in a warm climate and you see a tree growing four-foot-long candles it might be Parmentiera cereifera.
  • Candyroot
    I will be the first to admit my experience with Candyroot is very limited. In a flower book I carried with me on field trips some 20 years ago with Florida…
  • Canna Confusion  (1)
    How many species of Canna are there? Used to be perhaps 100 but now there are 20 or so, plus one Scottish island with a …ah.. population problem. And…
  • Cannibalism
    There is no way to approach the topic of cannibalism without offending someone. Apologies offered. Cannibalism, the last great social taboo, is committed…
  • Can We Eat Grass?  That simple question has a complex answer: Yes, no, and maybe.  It’s a topic I explored in a recent Green Deane Newsletter and the basis for this article.
  • Carolina Bristle Mallow  (1)

    Modiola caroliniana: A Bristly Drink
    No one knows how many species of edible plants there are in the world, or in North America. In the former the guess is…

  • Carpetweed  (3)
    When it comes to Carpetweed you need to know only two things: It grows nearly everywhere, or will. And the plant above ground is edible. To quote Cornucopia…
  • Cassia Clan aka Senna

    Cassia occidentalis: Faux Coffee & Greens
    You either cook the Cassia Clan right or they make you sick. Any questions?

    Now that I have your attention,…

  • Cast Iron Cookery, Buying and Restoring  (3)

    Cast Iron Pans: Yesterday is tomorrow
    Many books have been written about cast iron cookware. I will try to say a few things here perhaps not said elsewhere.

    B…

  • Cast Net Junkie

    I will admit to being a cast net junkie.

    Some people collect coins or stamps. I collect cast nets. I started throwing nets some 30 years ago and have been…

  • Cast Nets: Throwing Your Weights Around

    Throwing Your Trouble Away
    I love cast netting. I own five of them and rarely come home empty handed. I also never throw for bait: I go for the…

  • Cattails – A Survival Dinner  (3)

    Cattails: Swamp Supermarket
    The United States almost won WWII with cattails.

    No green plant produces more edible starch per acre than the Cat O’ Nine…

  • Caulerpa

    Caulerpa: Warm-Water Salad and Pest
    Caulerpa ssp.would seem to be a paradox. Eaten around the world by thousands for thousands of years but called a killer…

  • Cereus Today Not Tomorrow

    Getting Down To Cereus Business

    There are three things irritating about Cereus other than their spines: 1) several botanical names for the same plant; 2)…

  • Ceriman, Delicious Monster

    Monstera deliciosa: Hmm Hmm Good!
    Large Delight. That’s what Monstera deliciosa means…. It was an edible I did not know about until pointed out to me by my…

  • Chain of Contamination

    In police work there is the chain of possession. When evidence is collected, who has it, and where it’s kept is recorded constantly. With food we might call it…

  • Chaya: The Spinach Tree  (7)

    Cnidoscolus aconitifolius: Tree Pot Herb
    I knew about Chaya long before I ever saw one.

    It’s in the Cnidoscolus genus and has two relatives in the…

  • Che: Che is not the tree it used to be.
  • Checkerberry cum Wintergreen

    The Teaberry Shuffle
    I saw Gary Vickerson eat an earthworm I found near a checkerberry plant. Personally I preferred the Checkerberry.

    Before I go any…

  • Chestnuts: Chestnuts have done more than just disappear from the landscape: They have dropped out of our lives save for a token appearance at Christmas.
  • Chewstick, White Root

    Gouania lupuloides: How to Get Chewed Out

    The modern toothbrush was unknown in Europe until 1498, the year it came from China. Before that people…

  • Chickasaw Plum: Yum  (5)

    Chickasaw Plum: First Springtime Blossom

    Every spring, three wild plums put on a show locally: The Chickasaw, the Flatwood, and the American. They…

  • Chickweed Chic  (11)

    Chickweed Connoisseurs
    My being green really paid off this spring: For the first time (2009) I have chickweed in my lawn. I don’t know how it got there but it…

  • Chicory History

    Cichorium intybus: Burned to a Crisp
    Chicory was not a common plant where I grew up or where I live. But I remember the first time I saw it, in 1990, in a…

  • Chinese Box-Orange, Tsau Ping Lak

    Atalantia buxifolia: Wine-Cake Thorn
    The Chinese Box-Orange is one of my botanical mysteries. I know it is edible but I don’t know how… But I may still…

  • Chinese Elm Take out

    Chinese Elm: A tree that doesn’t go Dutch
    Sometimes a wild edible can be under your feet and you never notice, or in this case, over your head.

    Anyone with…

  • Chinese Tallow Tree  (1)

    Popcorn Tree, Florida Aspen, Tallow Tree

    There is a lot of debate whether the white waxy aril of the Chinese Tallow Tree is edible or not…

  • Chocolate Vine, Abeki: Any plant with “chocolate” in the name is sure to get attention. And when it’s also called an invasive species then even more so.
  • Christmas & Maiden berries

    Crossopetalums: Edible Berries & Medicine

    When I was an undergrad in music it was a revelation to learn that by studying music you also studied history:…

  • Christmasberry, Wolfberry, Goji  (1)

    Christmas, Wolf, Goji, They’re All Berries
    It’s called the Christmasberry even though it fruits in April, and while it is one of several “Christmas Berries”…

  • Chufa For Two  (1)

    Cyperus esculentus, C. rotundus: Serious Sedges
    There are two edible Cyperus locally: One that tastes like hazelnuts and one that smells and tastes to me…

  • Cider Barrel Rules  (2)
    My mother was a horrible cook.I used to joke she thought I was a Greek god: Every meal was either a burnt offering or a sacrifice.I learned to cook…
  • Cider Hard, But Quick and Easy  (22)

    How To Make Hard Cider
    You can make hard apple cider the difficult way, or the quick and easy way. I prefer the easy quick way. I’ve made a lot of beer and…

  • Citron Melon, Tsamma  (6)

    Citron Melons: Abandoned Preserves
    Are they edible?

    Even people who do not forage want to know if the little watermelons they see in citrus groves are…

  • Civilized Food

    While making my purslane video I was thinking back to a family friend who refused to eat purslane because it was a “weed.”

    It had taken over about one third…

  • Climbing Fig, Creeping Fig  (3)
    If there is one thing about the Internet that irritates the sap out of me it is how mistakes proliferate rather than get corrected. I have ranted about…
  • Clover, Available Around The World  (7)

    Clover, Available Around The World
    Hay may be for horses, but clover is for people…well…. almost.

    I was forever nibbling on clover blossoms when I…

  • Coco-Plums

    Chrysobalanus icaco: Multi-Colored Fruit
    Coco-plums are three quarters patriotic: They can be red, white, or blue ( and yellow.)

    Actually, the “blue” is deep…

  • Coconuts: It’s A Matter of Degrees

    Coconut, An Equatorial Palm
    Popular media and commercial production have made the coconut a common cultural item, even if you live thousands of miles away…

  • Codium Compendium

    Codiums: Edible around the world
    Oceanographers like to call Codium a minor seaweed because it is not commercially exploitable. Yet where it is found around…

  • Common Reed  (1)
    Some 20 years ago I pondered upon the identity of what appeared to be a very tall grass in a former marlpit in Port Orange, a few miles south of Daytona…
    • Cooking Like A Caveman

      The Mesolithic Era is not a sexy topic that will win friends and influence people at parties. But, it is something foragers should think about. If you are a…

    • Cooking without Pots or Pans  (2)

      Mesolithic Cooking: It’s the Pitshttps://www.eattheweeds.com
      How do you cook without pots or pans?

      It’s a question our distant ancestors never asked because pots and pans didn’t…

www.eattheweeds.com

  • Coontie Courage

    Zamia Floridana: Making Toxins Edible
    This plant is included here in case 1) society falls apart; 2) You live in Georgia or Florida and need starch…

  • Coquina: Tasty Tiny Clam
    Coquina: Donax: Good Eats
    Ounce for ounce there is probably no more delicious seafood than Coquina. The problem is getting an ounce of it, so we usually…
  • Coral Bean: Humming Bird Fast Food
    Erythrina herbacea: Part Edible, Part NotThe (eastern) Coral Bean is one of those damned if you do, and damned if you don’t kind of things. Parts of…
  • Coral Vine

    Antigonon leptopus: Creeping Cuisine
    The Antigonon leptopus ( an-TIG-oh-non LEP-toh-puss) inspires local names everywhere it grows: Tallahassee Vine, Honolulu…

  • Corn Poppy
    Several plants have relatives whose reputations are difficult to live down. The Natal Plum is one. Related to the oleander the delicious plum suffers from…
  • Corn Smut:   Mexican Truffles. Corn Smut. Raven Scat.  Ustilago maydis gets more unappetizing the further one goes down its list of names. The Aztecs called it huitlacoche.  The Mexicans call it a delicacy.
  •  Crabgrass Was King  (3)

    Forage, Grain, Flour, Manna, Pest
    Americans did two interesting things when they moved from the farm to suburbia: They surrounded their homes with toxic…

  • Cranberries, Lingonberries

    Get Your Annual Vaccinium Every Year
    Frozen cranberries are just as sour as fresh ones.

    I know that because when I was a kid skating on frozen ponds in Maine…

  • Creeping Cucumber: Melothria Pendula  (2)

    Cute Cuke! Melothria Pendula

    The Melothria pendula is a little cucumber with a big reputation.

    That said, when it comes to the “creeping cucumber”…

  • Crowfoot Grass, True Grits

    Dactyloctenium aegyptium: Staple Grain
    Grasses can be a pain in the …ah… grass…

    First, books about grasses are few and incredibly expensive. Next,…

  • Dad’s Applewood Pipes  (3)
    Time edits your memories. It sands off the rough edges that were once painfully sharp. It makes some moments clearer by evaporating the fog of being…
  • Dahlia Pinnata
    Here’s the good news: At least one species of Dalhia has edible roots. Here’s the bad news, there are some 20,000 cultivars, maybe even thousands more. A…
  • Dandelions: Hear Them Roar  (3)
    Dandelion Wine and Coffee and SaladDandelions and I go back a long ways, more than half a century.When I was very young in Maine my mother…
  • Dayflowers, Often One Petal Shy  (4)

    Commelina diffusa: What a day for a dayflower
    Common names can be a headache when one is trying to index a plant. The plant to the lower right is commonly…

  • Daylily Dilemma  (3)

    Daylily: Just Cloning Around
    The daylily, a standard plant in foraging for a century or more, has become too much of a good thing and now presents a significan…

  • Dead Man’s Fingers
    Decaisnea fargesii: True Ghoul Blue
    There are three Dead Man’s Fingers: A seaweed, a mushroom, and a shrub, all so-called because of the way they…
  • Does Anyone Know What Time It Is?  (2)
    It is time for my semi-annual rant and wish that G.V. Hudson had a different hobby. Hudson, a New Zealander, collected insects and was a shift worker. In…
  • Does The Nose Know?

    What Does a Word Smell Like?

    During nearly every class I have students smell three or four plants — depending upon the season — and I ask them what common…

  • Dog and Cat  (1)
    Most Westerners would starve than eat their pet, and understandably so. There is a tacit agreement between pets and their owners. In exchange for putting…
  • Doveweed

    Murdannia nudiflora: Tiny Dayflower Kin
    In India the Doveweed is a famine food. That should give you some idea of how it lines up in the culinary kingdom. The…

  • Drymaria Cordata, Tropical Chickweed  (3)

    Drymaria cordata: Kissing cousin chickweed
    Drymaria cordata is one of those plants that confounds the mind. You know what it resembles: Chickweed. It has one…

  • Duckweed

A Weed Most Fowl. Do ducks eat duckweed? Yes and no. Do humans eat duckweed? Yes and no. Domestic ducks tend to eat duckweed, wild ones don’t.…

Foragers tend to ignore seaweed.

  • Ear Tree, Sound Food

    Lend Me An Ear Tree

    Just about anyone who has spent anytime in a warm climate will some day find on a sidewalk a black seed pod that looks like a human…

  • Earthworms  (7)

    Cooking with Earthworms
    The cartoon strip BC once had its peg-leg poet write: “The bravest man I ever saw was the first one to eat an oyster raw.”

  • Eastern Gamma Grass:   Someone who supposedly knew their grasses wrote there are no toxic native North American grasses.
  • Eastern Red Bud: Pea Pods Tree  (5)
    Cercis canadensis: In The Bud of TimeIt’s one of those trees that if you don’t see it at the right time you’re not looking for it the rest of the year.…
  • Eating In Season  (1)
    There is little doubt that eating certain fiddlehead greens can significantly increase ones chances of cancer. In fact, science says they cause cancer. On…
  • Edible Flowers: Part One  (1)Nasturtium, Calendula, Spanish Needles, Arugula, Squash, Cilanto, Bee Balm, Carnation, Dandelion, Lilac
    Which blossom will be your favorite edible…
  • Edible Flowers: Part Two  (9)Tulips, Yucca, Begonias, Blue Porterweed, Queen Ann’s Lace, Dill, Gladiolas, Wapato, Impatiens, CitrusTulips are one of those wonderful flowers you…
  • Edible Flowers: Part Three  (2)Mayflower, Chrysanthemum, Cornflower, Rose, Daylily, Elderberry, Chicory, Johnny-Jump-Ups, Linden, BananaA rite of spring in the frozen north, or at…

Spiderwort, Marigolds, Rosemary, Smartweed, Pineapple Weed, Chamomile, False Roselle, Lavender, Forsythia, Borage

Apple, Fuchsia, Sweet Goldenrod, Basil, Gorse, Bauhinia, Eastern Redbud, Angelica, Honeysuckle, Eastern Coral Bean
Apple Blossom
Every seed in every apple…

  • Edible Flowers: Part Six  (1)Burnet, Magnolia, Fennel, Garden Sorrel, Tansy, Pink Wood Sorrel, Sunflower, Pineapple Guava, Prickly Pear, PansiesBurnet (Sanguisorba minor) is…
  • Edible Flowers: Part Seven  (1)Scarlet Runner Bean, Peony, Hyacinth Bean, Clover, Jasmine, Chervil, Water Hyacinth, Plantain Lily, Meadowsweet, Perennial PhloxScarlet Runner Bean is…
  • Edible Flowers: Part Eight

    Society Garlic, Anise Hyssop, Black Locust, Gardenia, Fragrant Water Lily, Strawberry, Marsh Mallow, Maypops, Milkweed, Hollyhocks

    It’s clearly not…

  • Edible Flowers: Part Nine  (1)Mahoe, Moringa, Pineapple Sage, Plum, Hawthorn, Cattail, Papaya, Purslane, Tuberose, Wisteria
    Mahoe’s Blossoms Change Color
    One of the more fascinating…

Alliums, Oregano, Pinks, Peas, Okra, Galium, Ginger, Scented Geraniums, Primrose, Mustard/RadishThe author of “Florida’s Incredible Wild Edibles” Dick…

Coral Vine, Citron Melon, Milkweed Vine, Dayflower, Evening Primrose, Kudzu, Stock, Dame’s Rocket, Freesia, Dendrobium phalaenopsisThe Coral Vine has…

  • Edible Flowers: Part Twelve  (2)Forget-Me-Nots, Calamint, Mimosa Silk Tree, Clary Sage, Petunia x hybrid, Balloon Flower, Yarrow, Corn Poppy, Daisy, Sweet AlyssumThe story I heard…
  • Edible Flowers: Part Thirteen  (1)Sesbania Grandifolia, Lemon Verbena, Szechaun Buttons, Horseradish, Tea Olive, Tiger Lily, Currants, Honewort, Thyme, Indian Paint BrushSesbania…
  • Edible Flowers: Part Fourteen  (2)
    Manzanita, Rose of Sharon, Tea, Campanula, Artichoke, Saffron, Samphire, Sage, Parsley, Common MallowWestern states often seem to get short-changed in…

Mango, Catnip, Pignut, Lovage, Salsify, Hairy Cowpea, Fritillary, Mint, Cow Slip, BirchDid you know mangoes and poison ivy are botanical kissing…

Oregon Holly Grape, Snapdragon, Caesar’s Weed, Golden Alexanders, Loroco, Safflower, White Sagebrush, Puget Balsam Root, Yellow Commelina, Bitter Gourd

Black Salsify, Coltsfoot, Yellow Pond Lily, Mexican Hyssop, Carambola, Baobob, Kapok, Durian, Italian Bugloss, BlueweedEdible plants collect a lot of…

Chinese Perfume Plant, Queensland Silver Wattle, Cloves, Chinese Lotus, Blue Lotus, Screwpine, Turpentine Tree, Sweet Autum Clematis, St. Anthony’s Turnip, Quince

All 20 articles in one article

  • Eels
    Eels: Lunch, Slip Sliding Away…
    I can remember the first time I caught an eel. It was in the Royal River in Pownal Maine, using an earthworm on the…

Eggs for Survival and Food
Eggs would seem like a simple foraging topic and it is, and it is not. My copy of the U.S Department of the Army…

  • Elaeagnus Et Cetera

    Edible Elaeagnus
    First it was “poisonous.” Then it was “not edible.” Later it was edible but “not worth eating.” Actually, it’s not toxic but tasty, and easy…

  • Elderberries: Red, White and Blue  (10)

    Sambuca’s Fine For Elderberry Wine
    Start your New Year off right with a glass of elderberry wine or elderberry blossom champagne. Don’t have any?…

  • Epazote: Smelly Food of the Gods
    Mexican Tea, Dewormer: EpazoteHere is my dedication to being comprehensive: I am going to write about a plant I do not like.Why don’t I like…
  • Eryngo, Tough Sweetie

    Eryngiums: Elizabethan Eryngo Candy

    While the edible versions are not widely distributed in North America, Eryngo (ERR-in-go) was too pretty a name to be…

  • Evening Primrose  (5)

    Oenothera biennis: Foraging Standby

    The Common Evening Primrose has long been a foraging standby and for a century or so was a common vegetable found in…

  • Experience and Judgment

    Sometimes a toxic plant can give even an experienced forager reason to pause.

    When I was making a video last week I saw a beautiful growth of watercress,…

  • False Dandelions For Lunch  (2)

    Pyrrhopappus, Hypochoeris: Dandelion Impostors
    Most people don’t notice False Dandelions because they have the real thing. But here in the South where…

  • False Hawksbeard

    Crepis Japonica: Seasonal Potherb
    If the Crepis fits….wear….ah…eat it

    Crepis japonica gets no respect. You won’t find it in field guides on edible…

  • False Roselle  (1)I can’t do a stir-fry without visiting a tree. Actually, the False Roselle is a shrub not a tree but the point is made. Its leaves have just the…
  • Fiddlehead Ferns, Signs of Spring

    Fiddlehead Fanatics
    If poke weed tests your foraging bravery, fiddleheads test your foraging philosophy.

    Pokeweed can kill you within hours if you make a…

  • Fiddlewood  (1)

    Citharexylum fruticosum: Edible Guitar
    The Fiddlewood tree is not high on the list of edibles. As some authors state, only kids eat the fruit, lots of seed,…

  • Field Testing Plants for Edibility  (7)

    I am dead set against it because it can kill you. I will make a large argument against it, and a small argument for it.

    “Field testing” is running through a…

  • Figs, Strangler, Banyan and Strangler  (4)

    Wild Ficus: Who Gives An Edible Fig?
    It’s only 90 miles to the east, and 117 to the west, but the Strangler Fig and Banyan trees will grow farther south and…

  • Finding Caloric Staples  (8)
    An Australian study tells us that modern day hunter gatherers get  two thirds of their food from animals, one third form plants.
  • Firebush:
    The Firebush is probably one of the most commonly planted unknown edibles. They are usually arranged in the landscape…
  • Fireweed Sale  (1)

    Erechtites hieraciifolia: Edible Pile Driver

    When I go to Greece I always stay a few days in Athens to get used to the time change and visit in-town…

  • Fish Sauce and Rotten MeatFish Sauce, Rotten Meat, and Other Garbage
    There was a great scene from an episode of Barney Miller, a popular sitcom in the 70’s based in a…
  • Fishtail Palms  (3)

    Caryota: Fishy Toxic Palms

    Often the botanical name of a species tells you nothing about the plant. Magnolia comes to mind. It’s a person’s name. However…

  • Five Mile Walk

    Can you live off the land? Can anyone these days? I suppose the answer depends on what land, what you know, and whose else is also trying to live off it.

    Whe…

  • Flamboyant FuchsiaMention “fuchsia” and most folks who recognize the word will think of a bright color. Personally I think of Fuchsia’s edible fruit and flowers.…
  • Flowering Rush

    In one area of its native range — Israel — it’s endangered becauses of dwindling habitat. In another part of the world it is an invasive weed, and you can…

  • Foraging After Dark

    I took a residential walk this evening to identify trees after dark. Yes, after dark. Now why do a silly thing like that?

    I know someone who has his foraging…

  • Foraging Before There Was Botany

    Foraging before there was botany had to be a lot easier than after botany. Someone showed you what was edible and that was that. Of course somewhere back along…

  • Foraging for Beginners

    I was asked to write a short piece for a survivalist blog on getting started in foraging:
    How are a Musician and a Botanist Alike?
    As a professional musician I…

  • Foraging in Florida  (1)

    Of all the “survival” skills foraging is probably the most difficult to learn, or certainly the one that takes the most time and personal fortitude. It is one…

  • Foraging Myth Busting  (3)

    As many of you already know I am highly critical of the Internet as a source of information on foraging. This is not to say there isn’t quality information…

  • Forsythia Foraging For Forsythia
    If you study the eating habits of North American Indians you learn one thing quite quickly. They weren’t mono-green eaters.…
  • Garlic Mustard: Gather Garlic Mustard now for pesto or it may disappear presto… well… maybe not immediately but if one university succeeds Garlic Mustard will become hard to find or extinct in North America.
  • Galinsoga’s Gallant Soldiers
    Galinsoga ciliata: Quickweed is fast foodQuickweed does not look edible or gallant. In fact, it looks like a daisy that lost a fight. But it, and a…
  • Gar: Treasured Trash Fish  (1)

    Eating Gar, a Taste of the Primitive
    There are two things you need to know about the Gar. The first is that it is very edible, really. The second is that…

  • Geiger Tree, Scarlet Cordia
    Cordia sebestena: Foraging Geiger Counter
    Foragers eat the mild fruit of the Geiger Tree and care not about the particulars. Botanists care about particular…
  • Getting To The Leaf Of The Problem

    Why sudy with someone? Because student foragers see what they want to see rather than what’s in front of them. Let me give you consistent example.

    There are…

  • Giant Taro
    One can ignore large leaves for only so long, and the Alocasia macrorrhiza has big leaves, up to four feet long. As one might suspect, it also has a large…
  • Ginkgo: Putrid Perfection

    Going Nuts Over Ginkgo Biloba Nuts

    Though the Army sent me to Japan I didn’t see my first Ginkgo biloba (GINK-go bye-LOW-buh) tree until I attended the…

  • Glasswort Galore  (3)

    Salicornia bigelovii, Brackish Nibble
    Glasswort does not sound like breaking glass at all, though it does crunch a bit.

    Salicornia bigelovii (sa-li-KOR-nee-a…

  • Golden Dead Nettle  (1)
    Lamiastrum is in the eye of the beholder.If you want a ground cover that will grow in dry, shady places, Lamiastrum is exactly what you’re looking for.…
  • Golden Rain Tree

    Showers of Golden Rain Tree

    The scallions didn’t have a chance.

    My Taiwanese friend liked to grow scallions in a postage stamp garden in her back…

  • Goldenrod Glorified  (1)

    Solidago Odora: Liberty Tea

    After the Boston Tea Party of 1773 the colonists had only one good alternative: Goldenrod tea, and not just any Goldenrod,…

  • Gooseberries

A century can make a lot of difference.

 

Galium aparine: Goosegrass on the Loose

You don’t find Goosegrass. It finds you.

Covered with a multitude of small hooks, Goosegrass, Galium…

  • Gorse, of Course

    Ulex europaeus: Edible Gorse or Furze Pas
    Gorse has edible flowers. It also has thorns… Really bad thorns.

    In August 2005 an Englishman, Dean Bowen,…

  • Gout Weed  (6)
    Gout Weed does not sound too appetizing. Nor do some of its other names: Ground Ash, Ashweed, Pot Ash, White Ash, Ground Elder, Dog Elder, Dwarf Elder,…
  • Gracilaria, Graceful Redweed

    Gracilaria: The pot thickens
    People eat a lot of seaweed. They just don’t know it. In the industry it is called covert consumption vs overt consumption. What…

  • Grapes of Path  (3)

    Vitis: Wild Grapes
    Who ever first wrote the phrase “grapes of wrath” certainly must have been trying to identify a particular grape vine.

    Grapes are at the…

  • Grass and Tree War  (1)
    Point of view, thinking differently… Consider:What if plants are more goal-orientated than we think them to be? After all, we put ourselves on the…
  • Great Grandmother Cat  (1)

    One of the reasons why Eat The Weeds exists is to advocate eating the wild foods around you but also to be another voice in the growing chorus that is…

  • Green Deane’s Bio, and Oliver, Too  (1)

    If you have any comments or suggestions please send them to GreenDeane@gmail.com. The B&W picture is from a Christmas long ago. That’s Tinkerbell on my…

  • Green Deane’s Videos On You Tube
    While these videos are still on You Tube and will soon be on DVDs, these links below do not work. In creating the page one character was dropped from every…
  • Ground Cherry, Wild Husk Tomatoes, Almost  (2)

    Physalis: Tomato’s Wild Cousin
    I discovered ground cherries quite by accident.

    It was back in the last century. I raided a particular field…

  • Ground Ivy  (2)
    Most of the time when someone mentions Ground Ivy the comment usually is something like “How do I get rid of the damned stuff?” Here at ETW we have have…
  • Groundnuts and Bridge Diving

    For the second time recently I was reminded of development. My favorite field of lamb’s quarters is now an upscale gated community. And where I used to forage…

  • Groundnuts: Anti-Cancer Treat  (3)

    Groundnuts: Dig ’em
    I will never forget the first time I dug up Apios americana, groundnuts. I got poison ivy. Oddly it showed up in the crook of one elbow,…

  • Grub-A-Dub-Dub
    It had to happen. If you forage for wild foods at some point you run in to grubs and related insects and you wonder… edible? And once you’re past…
  • Guinea Grass Panic Attack

    Panicum maximum and then some
    I eat grass. Actually we all do — rice, wheat — but my local trail nibble is Guinea grass, a relative to millet. I’d like to…

  • Guinea Pigs, Cavy, Cuy
    Peruvians eat more than 65 million guinea pigs every year. That should answer any question about edibility.Sixty-five million guinea pigs (a 2005…
  • Hairy Cowpea  (4)
    It’s called a Cowpea but it’s not THAT cowpea, and it has a famous relative that no one calls by its botanical name.So which Cowpea is it? Vigna…
  • Halloween Editorial  (2)

    Halloween today is the most debatable of non-holiday holidays. With a past that perhaps goes back to Roman times it became in the Christian era All Hallows…

  • Hardy Orange: Is the Hardy Orange edible? That depends on how hungry you are, or which century you live in.
  • Have Dewberry, Will Travel

    Dewberries: Rubus Trivialis

    Dewberries go far in the world, for a lowly vine. They can reach up to 15 feet long, one node root at a time.

    Essentially a…

  • Hawthorne Harvest

    The Crataegus Clan: Food & Poison
    The very first Hawthorn I ever saw — and the only one I knew for quite a while — grew on the other side of the dirt…

  • Henbit: Top of the pecking order  (2)

    Henbit: Springtime Salad Green and More

    It was a zig and a zag for me. I heard the name as an edible for many years and saw the plant often but never…

  • Hercules’ Club: Speak Softly But…

    Hercules’ Club: Zanthoxylum Clava-Herculis

    I sometimes feel sorry for my neighbors, who have lawns of decapitated grass. I’m sure my wild-looking…

  • Hickory Harvest  (2)

    Cayra coffee, or Hickory Java
    Hickories are not a migraine, but when you’re learning trees hickories can be a headache.

    Just as plums and cherries are bothin…

  • High Bush Cranberry  (1)
    I miss High Bush Cranberries. They don’t grow within a thousand miles of here, and they aren’t really cranberries. But they are hearty and familiar fare in…
  • Hit With A Plank  (1)

    There’s an old joke. A man had a mule sit down under a load. Mules can be very stubborn. And despite all his efforts the man couldn’t get the mule to get up. I…

  • Hollies: Caffein & Antioxidants  (4)

    Holly Tea With Vitamins A & C

    This time of year in the South — late fall, early winter —some of the hollies are so scarlet with berries that even…

  • Honeysuckle Heaven

    Lonicera japonica: Sweet Treat
    The honeysuckle family is iffy for foragers. It has edible members and toxic members, edible parts, toxic parts, and they mix…

  • Hornbeam, Ironwood, Blue Beech

    Carpinus caroliniana: Musclewood
    British author Ray Mears must have been thinking of the Hornbeam when he said a forager mustn’t pass up food no matter how…

  • Horse Meat
    “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.”We’ve all heard the phrase, and it comes from when horse was on the menu. It was rather significant phrase to me as…
  • Horsemint, Spotted Beebalm

    Monarda Punctata: Bergamot’s Bud
    First the good news: Horsemint makes a nice, intentionally weak tea. Stronger brews are used in herbal medicine. The…

  • Horseweed, Mare’s Tail  (1)

    Conyza canadensis: Herb, Fire, Food
    Conyza will light your fire!

    If you’ve ever made fire with a bow and drill — you know, the Boy Scout way — you also know…

  • How Do Things Pan Out?
    When Europeans began to migrate into tracts of North America what was the one thing they had the native Americans wanted more than anything else? Rifles?…
  • How Ungreen Of Us  (29)
    I’m reaching retirement age. I’m also reaching the point of being tired of being told how green we are today and how ungreen we were in the past. Oh? When…
  • Hyacinth Bean

    Hyacinth Bean: Purple Protein, and More
    I’ve never understood the brouhaha over the Hyacinth Bean. Is it edible or is it not?

  • Hydrilla:     There is only one species of Hydrilla, verticillata.
  • Ignite of the Iguana  (6)

    The cookbook’s title says it all. South Florida, parts of Texas and Hawaii have iguana issues. While teaching a class in West Palm Beach last fall I could not…

  • Indian Pipes, Gold, and Emily Dickinson  (8)
    Monotropa is almost a monotypic genus. Instead of having one species in the genus there are two: Monotropa uniflora and Monotropa hypopithys.Most…
  • Indian Strawberry  (5)

    Potentilla indica: Mistaken Identity
    One of the first things my uncle’s second wife said to me when I moved from Maine to Florida was “they have strawberri…

  • Ipomoea: Water, Land & See in Gardens

    Glorifying Morning Glories
    Three of the pictures below are are not of the same Ipomoea. It’s three different species, but that should tell you something.…

  • Is This Plant Edible?
    For a surprisingly simple question there is often a complicated answer. If it’s sea kale, then the answer is yes, top to bottom. It is edible. It is…
  • Is wild taro in Florida edible?  (10)

    IS WILD TARO IN FLORIDA EDIBLE?
    “Wild Taro.” My research to date (fall, 2011)

    Is the wild taro in Florida edible? In one word, no. In two… may……

  • It’s About Time  (1)

    I spend a lot of times in the woods, and also afloat. Three things you should always know in such environments are the cardinal directions, time of day, and…

  • Ivy Gourd, Scarlet Gourd, Tindora  (2)

    Coccinia grandis: Cucumber’s Versatile Kin
    I was riding my motorcycle one day when I rumbled over a raised railroad track in an industrial area and to my…

  • Jabuticaba: In it’s native Brazil the Jabuticaba is by far the most popular fruit.
  • Jack-in-the-Pulpit, and Jill

    Arisaema triphyllum: Jack and Jill and No Hill
    For a little plant there’s a lot to write about with the Jack-In-The-Pulpit. Where does one start? What does…

  • Jambul  (1)Syzygium: A Jumble of Jambul
    The Jambul tree makes you wonder what people were thinking.For a half a century or so the United States Department of…
  • Japanese Knotweed: Dreadable Edible  (9)Japanese Knotweed gets no respect. Nearly everywhere it grows it’s listed as a prolific, noxious, invasive, dangerous bad-for-the-world,…

Stomolophus meleagris: Edible Jellyfish
“Music to the teeth” is what the Malaysians call them.Americans may not eat jellyfish, but the…

  • Jerusalem Artichoke: Root Them Out  (5)
    There used to be a huge patch of Jerusalem Artichokes here in Central Florida beside the Interstate. Now they’re under a new exit ramp, and that was the…
  • Jerusalem Thorn, Paloverde

    Parkensonia aculeata’s Thorny Past
    As foragers we are indebted to past writers and at the same time constrained by them.

    People who chronicled how Native…

  • Jujube TreeZiziphus zizyphys: The Misspelled Jujube
    If you don’t find the Jujube tree, it will find you. The Jujube is covered with long, sharp thorns. They…
  • Jumbie Bean, White Lead Tree  (2)

    Leucaena leucocephala: Food and Fodder
    Professor Julia Morton, the grand dame of toxic and edible plants in Florida, had this to say about the Jumbie…

  • Juneberry

    Amelanchier arborea: Busting Out All Over
    Juneberries are as American as apple pie. In fact, they are more American than apples.

  • Junipers:  In the cobweb recesses of my mind I have two memories of junipers
  • Katuk Kontroversy  (2)

    Edible Katuk: Sauropus androgynus

    Katuk grows reluctantly in my yard. It likes truly tropical climes and I am on the subtropical/temperate line. But it’s…

  • Kochia
    Immigration brought weeds from around the old world to the new world. Quite a few of them came from southern Russia — the grassy steppes — to the…

The Kousa Dogwood is one of those plants that makes you ask: What is it?Its large, bumpy, red fruit looks like a…

  • Kudzu Quickie  (4)Kudzu: Pueraria montana var. lobataThe government tells me that what grows up the street isn’t there.It’s kudzu, you know, the plant that…
  • Landmarks

    Landmarks — accomplishments — are like a melody. Regardless of your taste in music, music is more than organized sound. Music firmly places you in time. When…

  • Language of Flowers: A flower is a flower is a flower. But in Victorian England, one of the most self-repressed societies in modern times, the practice of using flowers to communicate was developed.
  • Lantana  (3)

    Lantana camara: Much Maligned Nibble

    Ask anyone who has heard of the Lantana camara and they will tell you it is poisonous. And they are right. Unripe…

  • Lawn Garden

    Can you have a “garden” that you ignore?

    I don’t see why not.
    Is That A Garden?
    Indeed, some might argue that is what my front lawn currently is. I really…

  • Lemon Bacopa: Let’s Call It Lime Instead
    Lemon Bacopa, a misnamed edible nativeCall me cranky, but I think Lemon Bacopa has the wrong name.And, since it is wrongly named and no one comments on…
  • Lemon Grass

    Cymbopogon citratus: A Real Lemon
    Technically Lemon Grass is naturalized in only one county in Florida, but you can find it in many yards and landscaping, and…

  • Less Was Far More  (4)
    West of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, I stopped today and collected some thistle and took a few pictures. More than 50 years ago I marveled at the same plant…
  • Lettuce Labyrinth  (9)

    Sorting Out Species
    Sorting out wild lettuce is one of the more difficult foraging tasks and may require you to watch a plant all season.

  • Lion’s Mane

          I see Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus) on the same oak log every fall at the same time to the day.

Foraging is a treasure hunt because with perhaps 6,000 edible species in North America there is always a surprise now and then such as the Litchi Tomato.

  • Living off the Foraged Land

    I am not a survivalist per se, though every day I do break my personal best record of consecutive days alive.

    That said, I know many survivalists. They tend…

  • Locusberry

    Byrsonima lucida: Food and Medicine

    The Locusberry rises to the occasion. When the soil is poor it is a foot-high tree. When the soil is good, it can be…

  • Looking for Lettuce
    I like my 14,000 subscribers, and the email I get. Many of the questions I can answer or I can refer the writer to where the answer can be found. But….…
  • Loquat: Getting A Grip on Grappa  (2)
    Lovin’ Loquats: Eriobotryae Japonicae
    Long before there were couch potatoes there were couch Loquats.Loquats are homebodies. Most people who live beyond…
  • Madeira Vine, Lamb’s Tail, Mignonette Vine  (1)

    Anredera cordifolia: Pest or Food Crop?
    The Madeira Vine is a love/hate relationship. You will either hate it — as many land owners and governments do — or…

  • Mahoe, Sea Hibiscus

    Hibiscus tiliaceus: Edible Chameleon
    It’s difficult to find a hibiscus you don’t like, including the Mahoe.

    In fact, to this writer’s knowledge all…

  • Mahonia Malange: When I first heard of the Mahonias it was a bit irritating. They’re widespread shrubs in the western United States and here I was in Florida. But as time revealed, we have a Mahonia here, just not a native.
  • Make My Day
    It was one of those moments. I was biking along a rails to trails, stopping and taking pictures of this and that plant for past and future blogs. Better…
  • Mallow Madness  (2)
    Lunch Landscaping: HibiscusMy mother’s favorite flower is the Rose of Sharon, which of course didn’t even go in one of my ears and out the…
  • Mangrove Mystery  (1)

    Mangroves: Marvelous Muck Masters

    I did an unknown favor years ago that may stump some stuffy botanist in the near or distant future, and a mangrove…

  • Maple Manna  (1)

    Maples: How Sweet It Is
    Maple Walnut Ice Cream. It’s amazing what you can do with two trees and a cow. It was the prime ice cream of choice when I was young.…

  • Marijuana Machinations: You can’t rummage around the woods as a forager without running into someone’s marijuana patch.
  • Marlberries and Ardisias kin

    Ardisias: Berries on the cusp of edible
    The Ardisias are a confusing family in Florida.

    There is the native Marlberry (Ardisia escallonioides) that has…

  • Mayapple, Mandrake  (2)

    Podophyllum peltatum: Forgotten Fruit
    The first time I saw a mayapple I was certain something that strange had to be toxic, and it is, unless totally…

  • Mayflowers, Trailing Arbutus

    Epigaea repens: Spring Sentinel and Nibble
    It was an annual family ritual. Every spring when the snow had finally melted we’d go through the low Maine…

  • Maypops Mania  (6)

    Maypops: Food, Fun, Medicine
    As popular as they are, Maypops get stepped on a lot, but that doesn’t keep them down.

    They are one of five hundred kin in…

  • Media Interviews With Green Deane

    This is Green Deane being interview for the local PBS station for Thanksgiving, 2009. This show was voted their best episode of the year. http://www.wmfe.org/au…

  • Melaleuca, Tea Tree, Sweetener, Pharmacy
    The Melaleuca tree is the most invasive “weed” in the state of Florida, quite a feat when you consider there are…

  • Mesquite  (1)

    Mesquite’s More Than Flavoring: It’s Food
    If Euell Gibbons was still around he might ask, “have you ever eaten a Mesquite tree?” rather than his famous…

  • Milkweed Vine, Latexplant, Strangler Vine  (13)

    Morrenia odorata: Menace or Manna?
    One spring I was looking for poke weed when I spied a liana I had not seen before. It had a large fruit that looked…

  • Milkweed, Common  (3)

    Asclepias: Some like it hot, some like it cold
    The question is to boil or not to boil.

    Actually that’s not quite accurate. There is general agreement…

  • Milo, Portia Tree, Seaside Mahoe  (2)

    Thespesia populnea: Coastal Cuisine
    One of my uncles had the type of personality that where ever he hung his hat, that was home. The Milo is much the same…

  • Mimosa Silk Tree  (7)

    Albizia julibrissin: Tripinnated Lunch
    I was drinking “Mimosas” — orange juice and champagne — about 20 years before I discovered the Mimosa tree was…

  • Mole Crabs  (8)

    Emerita: Mole Crab Munchy Crunchies
    Mole crabs are probably the most common ugly food there is, though most people don’t know they’re edible.

    Fishermen…

  • Mole Crickets and Lawns

    The name of my website is “Eat The Weeds (and other things too.)” If you wander around the long index — or click on the category “critter cuisine” — you…

  • Mole Crickets, Kamaro  (1)

    Mole Crickets: Digging Your Lunch
    Nearly everyone knows crickets are edible — cooked — but few ever mention the ugliest of them all, the mole cricket.

  • Monkey’s Apple: Monkey’s Apple is proof kids will eat anything.
  • Monkey Puzzle Tree

    Lunch Drops In

    My good friend Saul is a luthier. He repairs premium wooden instruments. It is not unusual for him to be working on a Stradivarius or a…

  • Monkeys and Weeds
    Put five monkeys in a large cage. Then put a step ladder in the cage with a banana on top. Soon the monkeys learn to go up the step ladder and get the…
  • Moringa, More Than You Can Handle  (6)

    Moringa oleifera ….Monster…. Almost
    If you have a warm back yard, think twice before you plant a Moringa tree.

  • Morels are perhaps the most foraged and prized fungi in North America.
  • Motorcyclists and Mushroomists. I used to have a friend named Randy Armentrout. He died about 20 years ago of a brain tumor. We knew each other well and attended many a social function…
  • Mountain Ash, Rowan: Long before Henry Potter Rowanwood wands were popular  ancients carried talismans of the tree to ward off evil and ate the fruit.
  • Mugwort  (3)
    Like some other plants with famous relatives Mugwort gets lost in the negative publicity.Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris, is completely over shadowed…
  • Mulberry Express

    Mulberries: Glucose-controlling hallucinogen

    I used to get a lot of dates using mulberries.

    Not to sound sexist, but women like sweet food. And when…

  • Musseling In:  His name was Hap Davis, gardener, woodsman, hunter, fisherman, teller of tall tales.
  • Mustard, Wild, Tender And Tough  (2)

    Cutting the Wild Mustard: Brassica & Sinapis
    Lorenzo’s Oil and Canola, Too
    If you can’t find a wild mustard growing near you, you must be living in…

  • Mustards, The Little
    Coronopus, Descurainia, Cardamine, Erucastrum & Sibara
    There are numerous “little mustards” that show up seasonally, to populate lawns and local…
  • Nagi Tree, Japan’s Calm Tree

    Nageia nagi: Forgotten Landscape Edible

    I discovered the Nagi tree quite by accident, and added another edible to the list. I was in Mead Gardens in Winter…

  • Nandina Not Bamboo

    Not So Heavenly Bamboo: Nandina
    It’s not heavenly nor is it a bamboo, but Heavenly Bamboo is an edible, barely.

    Naturalized in many part of the world…

  • Nasturtiums: Nature’s Nose Nabber
    Peppery Nasturtiums Natives of Peru. Do the peppery nasturtiums make your nose twitch? Then you know how they got their common name. “Nasturtium” means…
  • Natal Plums Num Num  (4)

    Natal Plum: Incredible Edible Landscaping

    A good reputation is hard to maintain when your closest relative has a reputation for killing people. That’s…

  • New Jersey Tea

    Ceanothus americanus: Revolutionary Tea
    New Jersey Tea wasn’t always called that. It was Red Root Tea until the Boston Tea Party. With no tea from China…

  • Non-Green Environmentalism  (1)
    Early on I developed two interests. One was foraging for wild plants. It assured me food where ever I went. The other was watching clouds, one of the few…
  • Nostoc Num Nums

    Nostoc: Nasal Nostalgia and Edible, Too
    My website is “Eat The Weeds and other things, too.” Well this one of those other things. While I have put seaweed…

  • Nutria, Coypu  (1)
  • I have a close friend who’s Cajun. He said his family was so poor growing up in the bayou that if it moved they cooked it and threw it on rice. That…
  • Nutrition or Food?

    The 20th century was a hundred years of significant changes in what we eat. In 1900 food was … well… food, and real. No food pretended to be something it…

  • Oaxaca lemon verbena

    Lippia alba: Oaxaca lemon verbena
    It all started with a little tour of his back yard.

    He’s an aging Greek professor and doesn’t like lawn, so his back yard…

  • Only Plant In Its Genus  (16)
    Call it an occupational hazard but I began to wonder one day how many genera were unique, that is, they had just one edible species in them, the so called…
  • Osage Orange  (13)

    Maclura pomifera: The Edible Inedible
    Sometimes everybody is almost wrong.

    If you google “Osage Orange” or “Maclura pomifera” (mak-LOOR-uh pom-EE-fer-uh…

  • Oxalis: How To Drown Your Sorrels  (2)
    Sorrels are like McDonald’s restaurants: No matter where you are on earth there’s one nearby.That’s because the sorrels, properly…
  • Palmer Amaranth  (1)
    A farmer’s headache is not necessarily a forager’s delight.Palmer Amaranth (Amaranthus Palmeri) has been a foraged food for a long time. It was used…
  • Palmetto Weevil Grub: Grugru

    Rhynchophorus cruentatus: Raw or Fried?
    Here’s what you’re looking for: A palm or plametto that is dying. The growing tip is dead, bent or otherwise…

  • Pandanus: During several visits over the course of a year it looked like a large berm of tall grass, about the size and height of a one-story house.
  • Papaya Proliferation

    Carica papaya: Survivalist plant

    Papaya comes from the grocery store, unless you live where it seldom freezes. Then it is another wild edible, naturalized in…

  • Paper Mulberry  (2)

    Broussonetia papyrifera: Paper Chase
    If you are a forager, you will be told two things constantly: One is that the plant of your admiration is “poisonous.”…

  • Partridgeberry: Split personality  (1)
    Mitchella repens: Madder BerryThe Partridgeberry will not save you from starving but it can make your salad prettier and might keep you alive or ease…
  • Pawpaw picking up is rare  (8)

    Pawpaw Panache

    Finding your first pawpaw is a thrilling moment.

    I can remember exactly where it happened and when. It was the summer of 1987 in…

  • Pellitory, Up Against The Wall Weed

    Pellitory: Parietaria is a Whiz
    Finding greens locally in the cooler months isn’t much of a challenge unless you’re looking for Pellitory . It likes to hid…

  • Pennyroyal Florida Style  (2)

    Florida Pennyroyal: Piloblephis Rigida
    You will thoroughly enjoy tea made by Florida’s native pennyroyal, or maybe even a Mint Julep Floridana.

    An…

  • Pennyworts Making Sense  (12)

    A Pennywort For Your Thoughts
    It’s one of those practices of civilization that plants with little flavor or calories — lettuce for example — are…

  • Peperomia:  I went to college in Maine where winter lasts from about November 1st to October 31st.
  • Peppergrass: Potent Pipsqueak  (3)

    Lepidium Virginicum: Bottlebrush Peppergrass

    There are two ways of thinking about peppergrass, either as a real neat wild treat, or an obnoxious, noxious…

  • Perilla, Shiso   (2)
    The first Perilla I ever had came from a can, just like the kind sardines snuggle in. The leaves were very spicy and were used that way, as a spice. Later…
  • Persimmon Provisions  (3)

    Persimmons: Pure Pucker Power
    About the only bad thing you can say about a persimmon tree is that it has pucker power, if you pick it at the wrong time.

  • Pick Of The Littering

    If flowers could think they would view man as an errand boy. That floral perspective would also explain one of man’s more annoying habits.

    Scientist who…

  • Pickerel Weed

    Pontederia cordata: In a PR Pickerel
    Pickerel Weed Primer
    If the Pickerelweed could commiserate, it would find a friend with the Natal Plum. The Natal…

  • Pigeon Plums, Dove Plums, Pigeon Seagrape, Tie-TongueCoccoloba diversifolia: Seagrape Sibling
    The first time you see a Pigeon Plum it will look familiar. In the same genus as the Seagrape it shares a…
  • Pigweed Potpourri  (7)

    Chenopodium album: Getting Goosed!
    My first recollection of Chenopodium album, pigweed, came around 1960 via a neighbor named Bill Gowan.

    Mr. Gowan was…

  • Pillbugs, Woodlice, Roly Pollies  (4)
    Armadillidium vulgare: Land Shrimp
    What shall we call them? Roly Pollies? Pill Bugs? Woodlice? Sowbugs, or a half a dozen other names?They are…
  • Pineapple Weed

    Matricaria matricarioides for Your Tea & Salad
    A hard-packed gravel driveway is the last place you would expect to find a delicate plant that makes an…

  • Pining for You  (5)

    Pines: Not just for breakfast anymore
    Euell Gibbons became famous for asking, “have you ever eaten a pine tree?”

    A lot of folks had a laugh over…

  • Plant An Alarm Clock

    I don’t need an alarm clock. I have a cardinal.

    I don’t know exactly which cardinal it is, and if I did I might be tempted to shoot him. Cardinals are early…

  • Plants Can’t Run  (1)

    Plants can’t run. That’s why the vast majority of them are unpalatable or lethal. Guesstimates range from 5 to 10 percent of plants are edible. Let’s split the…

  • Podocarpus macrophyllus  (4)Podocarpus: Your Own Hedge Fund
    One can’t learn everything at once, and so I came to know the Podocarpus macrophyllus late in my foraging…
  • Poison Ivy Ponderings  (28)
    I did something this past week I have not done in some twenty years. I got poison ivy.Given what I do for a living, running around the wild all the…
  • Poisonous and Irritating Plants of Florida  (4)

    Below is a circular published by the state of Florida in 1978. I think it is no longer in print though I have a hard copy. It is reproduced below. Visual…

  • Pokeweed: Prime Potherb  (11)

    Can Be Deadly But Oh So Delicious: Pokeweed
    Poke weed will challenge your commitment to foraging.

    It is not the most commonly eaten food from a poisonous…

  • Pony Foot: Are they edible? That is often asked about a little lawn plant called Pony Foot, or Dichondra carolinensis.
  • Poplars and Aspens

    Populus deltoides: Popular Poplars and Aspens

    I know where there is one (1) Eastern Conttonwood. For a popular Poplar it is not common locally. Fortunately…

  • Practicing Homelessness

    There are less Christmas parties this year than in the past, with economic conditions reducing the usual yuletide cheer. Still, there are some traditions.…

  • Prepared for Life  (2)

    We met by accident in the woods. I had hiked for a few miles already and he had just entered the trail.

    When ever I go into the woods, or on water, I am…

  • Prickly Apple, Apple Cactus, Fragrant Apple Cactus

    Harrisia Trio: Endangered Edibles All

    Just as it is important to know what to eat, it’s as important to know what not to eat, or if you do, how to do it…

  • Puffballs, Small and Gigantic  (2)

    Lycoperdon perlatum: Edible Puffballs
    I avoided mushrooms for a long time, and with good reasons. Some of them are on par with cyanide and arsenic and…

  • Purslane: Omega 3 Fatty Weed  (8)

    Purslane: Any Portulaca In A Storm

    Her name was Zona. She was a grand friend-in-law

    She had been a friend of the family for about a century. To be…

  • Pyracantha Jelly and Santa’s Belly

    Firethorn: Pyracantha Coccinea
    I don’t think it is a coincidence that “ho ho ho bellies and Pyracantha jelly jiggle into the season just before…

  • Pyrrolizidine on my Mind  (4)
    How much pyrrolizidine is too much? Or perhaps the better question is how little is too much?First, what is pyrrolizindine? Pyrrolizidine (pie-row-L…
  • Quack Grass  (4)
    Plants of little use often have only one common name, or not even that. Plants that are valued or are a pest usually have too many names such Quack…
  • QueenPalm: The Queen Palm and I got off on the wrong frond. Before I met one I had read it was toxic. There are a few toxic palms but the Queen Palm is not one of them.
  • Radish, Mustard’s Wild Rough Cousin  (7)   Raphanus Raphanistrum: Radical Radis. The Wild Radish has an identity problem. It looks similar to it’s equally peppery cousin, the wild mustard. In…
  • Ragweed: Some 18 generations ago — 600 years ago give or take a few centuries — some Natives Americans stopped cultivating a particular crop and may have moved on to maize. About 150 years ago — five generations — American farmers were raising crabgrass for grain when they, too, moved on to corn, the descendant of maize. So what crop did the Indians stop growing? Ragweed, the most hay-fever causing plant in the world.
  • Raspberry Razz  (3)

    Rubus ideaus: Delicate Raspberry. Raspberries were the first wild fruit I noticed on my own and ate as a kid.

  • Ravishing Radish Greens  (2)

    I didn’t cut the mustard this morning. I cut the radish… radish greens to be specific, Raphanus raphanistrum, said RA-fa-nus raf-an-ISS-trum.

    The only bad…

  • Real Food Rules!  (3)

    This blog all started with hot dog relish.

    I happen to like sardines on whole wheat toast with onions and mustard. (Regardless of what you think of…

  • Red Bay for all seasonings
    Persea borbonia, palustris, humilis, and americana, too

    Having a famous relative can make one grow in the shadows, as three Perseas know too well.There…
  • Redflower Ragweed: The first time I saw Redflower Ragweed I thought I was seeing two species at once some weird combination of Tassel Flower and Fireweed. It’s way too big and has the wrong leaves to be a Tassel Flower but the blossoms remind one of a Tassel Flower but the rests of the plant looks life Fireweed/Burnweed.
  • Reindeer Moss  (1)

    Edible Cladonia: What’s not to Lichen?
    Lichen can be harder to tell apart than twins in the dark. My guess my picture above is of Cladonia Evanii…

  • Resources
    The quickest and safest way to learn foraging is with a local expert. You not only learn what there is to know but do not spend time learning things you…
  • Ringless Honey Mushrooms: The first time I thought I saw the Ringless Honey Mushroom was on my neighbor’s lawn.
  • Root Beer Rat Killer  (1)

    It’s not smart or nice to lie about plants. It can get someone hurt. But the truth can sometimes be elusive, even with plants.

  • Rose Apple: The apple is in the Rose family but the Rose Apple is not though it can sometime taste like rose water… and watermelon… but not apples.
  • Roses
    I’m not sure I found wild roses or they found me.I grew up in Maine. The local soil was usually either ground-up glacial sand, clay, which is decomposed…
  • Rumex Ruminations  (1)
    Mainer Merritt Fernald, who was the Harvard wunderkind of botany from around 1900 to 1950, said all of the 17 native Rumex species in North America…
  • Russian Thistle, Tumbleweed

    Salsola kali: Noxious Weed, Nibble & Green
    When you first encounter a Russian Thistle it is the very last plant you would consider edible. Wiry, tough,…

  • Saffron Plum

    Sideroxylon: Chewy Ironwood
    The Saffron Plum is not yellow or a plum, that is, it is not a Prunus. And it is called a Buckthorn but it isn’t one of those…

  • Saltwort, Turtle Weed and Reef Banana

    Batis Maritima: Salt of the Earth
    It has a dozen or more names, but no one is quite sure about its scientific name, Batis maritima, (BAT-is mar-IT-i-ma.)

    Fora…

  • Sandspurs: Sandlot Sadists  (2)

    Sandspurs: Cenchrus’ Secret

    If I were ever to invent a torture it would be dragging someone naked through a field of sandspurs.

  •  Sargassum Sea Vegetable  (1)

Sargassum: Not Just for Breakfast Any More
Sargassum — Gulf weed — comprises a huge number of seaweeds in all oceans, both bottom dwelling and free…

  • Sassafras: Root Beer Rat Killer  (7)

    Sassafras Albidum: Beaux Gumbo

    Bet your sweet sassafras: If you’re on the young side ask anyone not on the young side: Root beer used to taste a lot…

  • Satinleaf, Olive Plum

    Chrysophyllum oliviforme: “Chewy Olives”

    “Turn left at the Satinleaf.”

    That’s not an unusual direction in an area where Satinleafs grow, they are that…

  • Saw Palmetto Saga  (4)

    Serenoa Repens: Weed to Wonder Drug
    Rotten cheese steeped in tobacco juice
    That’s how starving shipwrecked Quakers described the flavor of the saw palmetto…

  • Sawgrass, A Cut Below The Rest  (1)

    Cladium jamaicense: Water finder

    In Wekiva Springs state park in Florida there is a high and dry stretch of scrub pine and palmetto bushes, and oddly,…

  • Scarlet Runner Bean

    Two beans are grown for beauty, the Hyacinth Bean, edible with precautions, and the Scarlet Runner Bean, also edible.
    Humming Bird at “Emperor” Blossom
    It’s…

  • Scorpions  (1)

    Southern Fried Scorpions
    If I were going to rely on scorpions in Florida for sustenance, I would starve to death.

    In over 30 years of rummaging…

  • Sea Blite, Seepweed

    Suaeda linearis, maritima: Edible Blite

    While most people find Sea Blite next to the sea, I find Sea Blite on the other side of the barrier…

  • Sea Buckthorn, SallowberrySea Buckthorn: Sour Source of Vitamin C
    If you are collecting Sea Buckthorn you’re probably cold.Just as some edibles are found only in tropical…
  • Sea Club Rush  (2)

    Scirpus maritimus: a Tough Root to Crack
    If you mention Sea Club Rush among foragers they give you a very blank stare. Understandably so. It was a fall-back…

  • Sea Kale
    Sea kale is nearly the perfect primitive food. It’s difficult to imagine it not being on primitive man’s menu.We know from middens that seafood was…
  • Sea Lettuce, UlvaUlva: Sea Soup & Salad
    Ulva is the greenest seaweed you will ever see from shore, or in the sea for that matter.Ten species, all edible, are…
  • Sea Oats

    Uniola paniculata: Feeling your sea oats
    Opinions vary on Sea Oats. Not on flavor. They taste good. The questions are, are they endangered or not, and which…

  • Sea Oxeye: There are edible plants, and there are inedible plants. Then there are those that sit on the cusp of edibility: Edible but not tasty, edible in small quantities, edible but with a horrible texture, edible but strong-flavored.
  • Sea Purslane, Salty Nibble, Potherb

    Sesuvium portulacastrum: Maritime Munch

    It looks like garden purslane on steriods growing in sand. And it grows all over the local beach, and other beaches…

  • Sea Rocket Siblings

    The Cakile Clan: Seaside Edibles

    Food is where the water is, be it fresh or salt, and one of the waterway foods of North America is Sea Rocket. There are at…

  • Sea-Grapes: Maritime Marvels  (4)

    Sea-Grapes: Costal Caterer

    A lifetime ago I spent many a night on a dark Florida beach near the Space Center sleeping out under Sea-Grapes.…

  • Seminole Pumpkin

Cucurbita muschata: Seminole Edible
Unlike watermelons which are from Africa, pumpkins and their kin are North American. When Panfilo de Narvaez was…

  • Seminole Wekiva Trail

    Seven-Mile Appetizer
    The squirrels are in hog heaven, if you’ll pardon the menagerie metaphor.

    It’s Thanksgiving, 2007, in central Florida and I…

  • Sesbania Grandiflora  (1)
    Any plant called the Vegetable Hummingbird has to be written about.Sesbania grandiflora, has managed to work its way into warmer areas of the world…
  • Seven Year Apple

    Genipa clusiifolia: An Acquired Taste

    Like a Suriname Cherry, you’ll either find the Seven Year Apple edible or disgusting. In fact, a lot of folks can’t…

  • Sida, Wireweed  (5)
    Sida is barely edible. A member of the Mallow mob it’s an object de interest because it is also a significant herbal medication, of which I am totally…
  • Silverhead, Beach Carpet  (1)

    Blutaparon vermiculare: Beach Potherb
    My first thought on seeing Silverweed “was what is clover doing growing on the beach.” Well, Silverweed isn’t a clover…

  • Simpson Stopper

    Myricanthes fragrans: Nakedwood Twinberry
    I took me about a year to know the Simpson Stopper.

    While most people think of Florida as flat there’s actually…

  • Skunk Vine

    Paederia foetida: Much Maligned Skunk Vine
    Sometimes botanists go a little too far, or at least Carl Linnaeus did when he named a particular vine Paederia…

  • Slugs, Snails and Fresh Water Mollusks  (1)

    Are Slugs edible? What about Snails?
    There is only one rule you have to remember: When it comes to land snails, land slugs, and fresh water mollusks you must…

  •   Smartweed 
    Polygonum punctatum: Smartweed. I can remember my first taste of a smartweed leaf… kind of like trying a piece of burning paper. Indeed,…
  • Smilax: A Brier And That’s No Bull  (40)

    For The Edible Love of Krokus and Smilax

    No, that is not a “Walking stick” insect. It is the growing end of a Smilax, a choice wild…

  • Snakewood, Nakedwood, Mauby  (1)

    Colubrina elliptica: Mauby has Moxie
    First there was Moxie, then Mauby… actually it was historically the other way around though few until now would know…

  • Society Garlic  (3)
    Because I am asked about it all the time I decided to do an article on it: Yes, you can eat Society Garlic… well… most of it, maybe all of it.The…
  • Solar Cooking

    Solar cooking. Something new under the sun
    Once you cook your first solar meal, you’re hooked.
    Does it cost less than conventional methods? It can, but…

  • Sorrel: Not A Sheepish Rumex
    Of all the Rumex that grow in the South, Rumex hastatulus is probably the most pleasing. The tart-tasting intensely green leaves are hard…
  • Sourwood:  Sourwood honey is considered by some to be the best-flavored honey in North America, perhaps the world.
  • Sow Thistle, Prickly, Common, Field  (4)

    Sonchus: Sow Thistle, In A Pig’s Eye
    As I write it is in mid-January in Florida two of three local species of sow thistles are invading my lawn in great…

  • Spanish Moss  (3)
    Spanish Moss is not edible. Well, barely an edible. The bottom of the growing tips (pictured above) provide about one eight of an inch of almost tasteless…
  • Spanish Needles, Pitchfork Weed  (13)
    Bidens Alba: Medical Beggar Ticks
    Some plants just don’t get any respect. If there were a contest for under appreciated plants, Bidens alba , above…
  • Spinach Vine  (1)
    I like to think of myself as biclimatic, living part of my life (thus far) in a cold climate and  part in a warm climate.
  • Spring Beauty  (2)The Spring Beauty is aptly named.Actually there are several “Spring Beauties” and most of them are edible in similar ways. We’ll focus on…
  • Stinging Nettles

    Urtica chamaedryoides: Nettle Knowledge
    Stinging Nettles Know How
    I was hiking one day when I saw what I thought was a mint I had not seen before. I…

  • Stork’s Bill, Cranesbill

    Erodium circutarium, Geranium carolinianum: Two Bills You Want to Get

    Stork’s Bill is one of those little plants that’s not supposed to grow locally…

  • Strawberries of Spring  (1)

    Fragaria virginiana: Be A Strawberry Sleuth
    Fragaria don’t like Florida. Only one northern county in the state reports having wild strawberries. But that’s…

  • Strawberry GuavaPsidium littorale var. cattleianum: Strawberry Guava
    One man’s fruit tree is another man’s weed. My one Strawberry Guava tree is a fruiting…
  • Strawberry Tree Curse

    Strawberry Tree, Koumaria, Koumara, Pacific Madrone, Madrona
    Any plant called “strawberry” other than a strawberry is doomed. Strawberries pack a lot of…

  • Strongback  Not strong bark Bourreria succulenta: Soapy Fruit and Viagra
    Botanists are feisty in their own way. The Strongback is a good example. Is it B. succulenta or B. ovata? One…

  • Sugar Cane on The Run  (4)

    Saccharum officinarum: Sweet Wild Weed
    Among the edible wild plants on this site are a few escaped fruit trees and ornamentals that have become naturalized.…

  • Sugarberries & Hackberries  (3)

    Sugarberries are Hackberries with a Southern Accent
    Sugarberries like to be near water and that’s why it caught my eye as I coasted by: It was growing on top…

  • Sumac: More Than Just Native Lemonade  (4)

    Sumac, Rhus Juice, Quallah: Good Drink
    Sumacs look edible and toxic at the same time, and with good reason: They’re in a family that has plants we eat and…

  • Sunflowers: Seeds and More

    Sunflowers: Sun Sentinels

    His name was Bob Davis and he grew sunflowers some 15-feet high. I dated his niece, Edie May. I remember her and the…

  • Sunny Savage

    I had the pleasure this past week of having the well-know forager Sunny Savage visit two of my classes here in Florida (If you think she is attractive on TV…

  • Surinam Cherry: Only Ripe Need Apply  (18)

    Surinam Cherries: You’ll love ‘em or hate ‘em

    The Surinam cherry is not a cherry nor is it exclusively from Surinam. It’s also not from…

  • Swamp Lilly Wrap

    Thalia geniculata: Swamp Wrap
    You won’t find the “swamp lilly” in many foraging books. For a big plant it receives little attention.

    Thalia geniculata…

  • Sweet Clover

    Melitotus: Condiment to Tea to Blood Thinner
    When I was growing up we owned horses. Lots of horses. And they eat a lot of hay in the winter. Lots of hay.…

  • Sweet Gum Tree  (4)
    The Sweet Gum tree is the sand spur of the forest. You painfully find them with your feet. The vicious seed pods have impaled many a forager and has done…
  • Sweetbay MagnoliaMagnolia viginiana: How Sweet It Is
    Let’s say you want or need to trap a beaver. First you need a trap, but then you need to bait the trap. And…
  • Sword Fern’s Secret

    Nephrolepis cordifolia: Edible Watery Tubers
    Edibles are often right under your feet, or my feet as it were.

    I had a yard of non-edible ferns. If you like…

  • Sycamores Get No RespectSycamores: Not Just Another Plane Tree
    Sycamore trees are not high on the edible list, unless you’re in need.Actually, sycamores, Platanus occidental…
  • Take Things Lying Down
    Early in life I settled on a hobby I can do on a summer’s day, in a hammock, on my back….. No, it’s not napping. I watch clouds. Call it reclining…
  • Tallow Plum

    Ximenia americana: Known by Many Names
    If I listed this edible under its botanical name few would find it. On the other hand it has some three dozen commons…

  • Tamarind: I drove past a dozen Tamarind trees for a decade or so until I looked up one day. The lumpy brown pods on pretty trees had finally caught my attention.
  • Tansy Mustard, Western

Descurainia pinnata: Abandoned Seed
What shall we call this little member of the Brassica family? Western Tansy Mustard or Tansy Mustard? We could always…

  • Tape Seagrass  (3)
    It is said that all seaweed is edible but that’s not true. There’s at least one species that is not, Desmarestia ligulata. Why? Because it is laced…
  • Tar Vine, Red SpiderlingBoerhavia diffusa: Catchy Edible
    Some times you just can’t identify a plant. Some times you’re frustrated for a few days, other times for a few…
  • Tassel, Musk and Grape Hyacinths  (2)
    There are dozens of edible species that are wild in Europe and cultivated or escaped in North America. Three related species with a multitude of names are…

Thistle: Touch me not, but add butter. Thistles, you’re either going to love ’em or hate em. Of course, I think eating them is the sensible…

  • Ti, Good Luck Plant

    Cordyline fruticosa: Food, Foliage, Booze
    Simply called Ti (tee) Cordyline fruticosa spent most of its history with humans as a food, a source of alcohol, or…

  • Tick Clover  (2)
    Tick Clover barely makes it into our foraging realm.I have found only one reference to its edibility. In the 47th volume of the Journal…
  • Tiger Lily
    The word “lily” causes more confusion than four letters ought to be able to make. There are true lilies, usually not edible, some of them quite toxic, a…
  • Tomato Tobacco Hornworms  (4)

    Manduca Cuisine: Eating Green Gluttons
    You’re picking tomatoes and suddenly there it is: Big, ugly and green, a tomato hornworm. To which I say, get or the…

  • Tools of the Trail

    Over the years I have added a few items to my back pack that can make foraging more easier. You might want to add one or two of these items.

    The handiest…

  • Topi Tambo, Leren, Guinea Arrowroot  (2)
    A lifetime ago off the Maine coast at low tide there were many mussel shoals. The vertical tidal change near the rock-bound coast can be measured in…
  • Torchwood
    One reason to write about the Torchwood is very few people know about it these days yet it was once an esteemed wood and produces an edible, citrusy…
  • Toxic tomatoes: I rarely write  about toxic plants because this site is about edibles. However there are enough prickly nightshades around to justify an article about them and how to identify them even if they aren’t edible.
  • Traveler’s Palm Travails

    Ravenala madagascariensis: Palm, NOT!
    The Traveler’s Palm is reportedly known for providing wayfarers water, but it also has some food to offer as well.

  • Trilliam Trifecta: Every May Day — the first of May — we kids would hang a May Basket on our teacher Arlene Tryon and disappear off the school grounds.
  • Tropical Almond: I went to Ft. Myers one Friday to look at plants on an 11-acre monastery. On the property there was a large tree they didn’t know nor did I. The following Sunday while teaching a class across the state in West Palm Beach two students knew a tree there that I didn’t know. It was the same tree at the Monastery. Small botanical world. The tree was a Tropical Almond.
  • Tropical Chestnuts: Pachira aquatica  (1)
    My foraging existence is slightly schizophrenic. I grew up in a northern climate, and I write about many northern plants, or it is accurate to say that…
  • Tuberous Pea: Anyone who has mowed fields for hay hates vetch… wild pea.  It binds up the machinery and a lot of livestock won’t eat it. That’s a lose lose all around unless the vetch is Lathyrus tuberosus.
  • Tuckahoe, Arrow Arum  (2)Peltandra virginica: Starch Storer
    You wouldn’t think there would be a connection between the United States’ Capital and a toxic bog plant, but…
  • Tulip Tree  (9)
    Not every edible plant has to be a nutritional powerhouse. Some are “edible” by the barest of means. A good example is the Tulip Tree, Liriodendron…
  • Tulips  (2)

    Tulips: Famine Food, Appetizer Assistant
    Many years ago a social acquaintance upon learning I ate weeds said she and her mother had eaten tulip bulbs. If I…

  • Tupelos: Black, Swamp, Bear, Water, OgeecheeNyssus: Tart Botanical Tangles
    The Black Tupelo is an old friend from around ponds where I grew up in Maine to around ponds (called lakes) here in…
  • TurtlesThe Shell Game: Eating Turtles
    The evidence is clear: Man has been eating turtle for a long time. But which turtles and how?While land turtles…
  • Unresolved Botanical Ponderings  (2)Cnidoscolus stimulosis: Can the leaves be boiled and eaten like other species in the genus? I personally know of two account of…
  • Usnea: Likable LichenUSNEA is not an international committee. It’s a likable lichen. In fact all but two of the 20,000 lichen are forager…
  • Valuable Viburnums: The only significant problem with Viburnums is choosing which one to use, and which ones to write about.
  • Velvet Leaf: Velvet Leaf is a commercial failure but a successful foreign invader.
  • Vinegar: Your own unique strain  (5)
    The vinegar mother above —three inches across and a half in thick — was collected from the wild in Lake Mary, Florida, in 1996 and has been making…
  • Violets’ Virtues

    Viola affinis: Florida’s Sweet Violet
    My introduction to violets was seeing my mother eat “Piss-a-beds” in the spring (Viola rafinesquii. VYE-oh-lah…

  • Wapato: All It’s Quacked Up To Be  (2)

    Sagittaria Lancifolia: Duck Potatoes, Wapato
    Artificial grass is not grass. Non-dairy creamer contains a dairy product. And ducks don’t eat duck potatoes.…

  • Water Arum, Water Dragon, Wild Calla: 

    Calla palustris: Missen…Famine Bread. Like so many in the same family the starchy rhizome of the Calla palustris is laced with calcium oxalate crystals…

  • Water Chestnut: The Water Chestnut is a plant of contradictions.
  • Water Hyacinth Woes
    Water Hyacinth Stir Fry: The state of Florida minces no words about the water hyacinth: “Eichhornia crassipes is one of the worst weeds in the…
  • Water Lettuce  (5)
    No one knows if Water Lettuce is native to North America or not. Botanists disagree with some saying it’s from Africa, a few South America. Explorer and…
  • Water Shield Salad

    Brasenia schreberi: Palatable Pond Weed
    The Water Shield is edible. The problem is getting it sometimes. It likes water … up to six feet deep. On the good…

  • Watercress: Ancient Flavor

    Florida is the Winter Watercress Capital of the U.S.

    Nasturtium officinale (nas-STUR-shum oh-fis-in-AY-lee ) is one of the oldest leaf vegetables…

  • Wax Myrtle Jewels  (1)

    Myrica cerifera: A Tree That Makes Scents
    Wax Myrtle was the Indians’ minimart of the forest.

    Need some spice? Drop by the Wax Myrtle tree. How about a…

  • Weeds and Wolves  (2)

    I am often invited to see someone’s vegetable garden, and it’s usually growing well. Then I’m asked if I see any edible weeds, and usually there are some. I…

  • Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses
    The link to the university’s site to buy the book — I do not get a cut — is here.The list of known edibles in the book is below. Many of…
  • Welcome to EatTheWeeds.com  (28)

    No description found for this item.

  • What’s Green and What’s Not?

    An arctic express of frigid air recently sped down and across the United States. Here in Florida it snowed for the second time in 33 years, delivering a week…

  • When Is A Lawn A Lake?  (2)

    It sounds like a trick question, when is a lake a lawn, but there is a non-tricky answer: When it is in Florida.

    Regular followers of this writer know I am…

  • When Scholarship Isn’t Enough

    I saw a religion-themed movie once that actually holds an instructive point for us foragers.

    In it a Catholic priest is facing a moral decision that could…

  • Where Do You Forage?

    It’s a simple question with a complex answer. When I was younger the 1000 acres behind the house and the 2000 across the road answered that question. Today it…

  • Where the Weeds Are

    There is little doubt that man has been foraging for food for a long time. As one might guess, in different places he foraged for different plants. He also…

  • White Indigo Berry Has A Dark Side

    Randia aculeata
    The White Indigo Berry is not high on the food list. Dr. Daniel Austin, author of Florida Ethnobotany, has this to say on page 562:

  • White man’s Little Foot: Dwarf PlantainWhite man’s Little Foot: Dwarf Plantain
    Plantain, Plantagos To Go
    When I was about 10 a bee stung my hand while I was being a pest in the…
  • Who’s Manipulating Whom?
    I don’t care for Salvia coccinea. It’s not edible and it likes to crowd out my herbs. I’m forever removing it from flower pots. The other day I was about…
  • Why Forage?  (1)

    Often I am asked “why forage for wild food?” Why that question is asked is probably worthy of an article unto itself. But here let’s focus on one answer (out…

  • Wild Carrots and Queen Ann’s LaceDaucus Carota & Pusillus: Edible Wild Carrots
    I’ve never understood the confusion over identifying the Wild Carrot also called Queen Ann’s…
  • Wild Citrus, Footloose Plants

    Feral Citrus: Snack, Seasoning and Soap
    Citrus, like apples when left unattended by man, tend to revert to their natural state of being sour and acidic. A lot…

  • Wild Coffee But Not Kentucky  (5)

    Psychotria nervosa Florida Style
    Because I am constantly asked about it: Yes, you can eat the pulp off the seeds of the wild coffee, and yes, you can make a…

  • Wild Dilly, Wild Sapodilla

    Wild Dilly: Almost Chique
    If the Natal Plum and the Wild Dilly could sit down and have a conversation they would probably agree that having a famous…

  • Wild Fennel: One of the outstanding sensory experiences of hiking in Greece is smelling in the wild herbs one usually buys in little plastic containers.
  • Wild Flours  (8)
    A wild flour is different than a starchy root. The Spurge Nettle has a starchy root that tastes like pasta but it does not lend itself to being processed…
  • Wild Ginger: Wild Ginger is cantharophilic, sometimes myophilic or sapromyophilic.
  • Wild Lettuce, Woodland Lettuce

    Lactuca floridana: Let Us Eat Wild Lettuce

    Wild lettuce is not as tame as garden lettuce.

    Garden lettuce is one of those nearly flavorless nearly…

  • Wild Onion, Wild Garlic  (2)

    Allium canadense: The Stinking Rose
    Garlic and onions don’t like to set underground bulbs here in hot Florida. I got around it by growing wild onions,…

  • Wild Pineapple  (2)

    Bromelia pinguin: Wild Pineapple
    I took the picture directly above while out bicycling on a Christmas Day, 2008. But, didn’t identified the object de green…

  • Wild Rice  (4)
    Love and marriage, horse and carriage, Zizania and canoe… not exactly lyrical but you get the idea. If you want Wild Rice you have to go where the Wild…
  • Will Bisin Make GMOs Look Good?

    I have long criticized what I call chemists in the kitchen. They brought us such things as cancer-causing additives, artery-damaging trans-fats, insulin-skewing…

  • Willow Weep For Me  (1)

    Salix caroliniana: Nothing Would Be Finer
    The willow is not prime eats. It’s not even secondary eats. In fact, it is famine food, but, willow can also cure…

  • Winter Foraging:   The thermometer was near zero one day when I was on ice skates collecting frozen cranberries.
  • Winter Soul-stice

    On the shortest day of the year one should take a long look around. It’s the inventory time of year, a bit of soul searching. That requires a little looking…

  • Wisteria Criteria  (3)Wisteria, Wistaria
    There is a duality to Wisteria, starting with those who think it is an invasive weed and those who like to eat its sweet, fragrant…
  • Wood Oats

    Chasmanthium latifolium: Edible Wood Oats
    Most people discover Wood Oats by mistake. They’re traipsing through the forest, come across a plant, and wonder…

  • Yacon  (1)
    Is it a Polymnia or a Smallanthus? Botanists took some 70 years to make up their minds. Let’s call it Yacon like the natives.In publications before…
  • Yam A: The Alata  (6)

    The Dioscorea Dilemma: Which ones are edible, and what parts?

    One wouldn’t think wild yams would be hard to sort out. It only took me about a dozen…

  • Yam B: The Bulbifera  (9)

    The “Cheeky Yam, or Yam on the Lamb
    Yam B, Dioscorea bulbifera, is definitely second best to Yam A, Dioscorea alata. Why is Yam B, the D. bulbifera second…

  • Yam C: The Chinese

    Dioscorea Polystachya: Yam C
    Just like Rambo movies, there is Yam A, Yam B and, yes, a Yam C, the Chinese Wild Yam or the Cinnamon Vine yam, either way we…

  • Yaupon Holly, Ilex vomitoria  (10)
    History has many layers and shades. It’s not a straight timeline of great clarity but more like a meandering muddy river with much confluence, influence…
  • Yellow Pond Lilly: Raising A Wokas

    Picking Pond Lillies: Nuphar Luteum subsp. advena

    Once upon a time there was just one Nuphar luteum… and it was good.

    The yellow pond lilly…

  • Yew:  The Yew can kill you.
  • You Can Learn To Forage For Wild Edibles

    There is such a thing as a free lunch, or almost free: The edible wild plants around you.

    With a little specialized knowledge and a “guidance” system…

  • Your Choice for a New Vegetable  (2)

    If you could choose one wild plant to become a commercial product, what would it be?

    Many people have tried to make poke weed (Phytolacca americana) a green…

  • Yucca’s Not Yucky  (5)Yucca, Yuca: Which is Edible?
    When isn’t a yucca a yucca? When it is spelt with one “C” as in yuca.What’s the difference? A belly ache, maybe…
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Classes

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Green Deane leading a foraging plant walk atSlough Preserve, 5200 Beneva Road Florida Earth Skills gathering 2013. Photo by Ralph Giunta
Green Deane leading a foraging plant walk at Florida Earth Skills gathering. Photo by Ralph Giunta

 

Foraging Class Schedule

 

Below is my upcoming class schedule which is updated weekly. Please make reservations. For payment methods, see below. Walk-in’s are accepted if the class is not full. To make your reservation send me an email.  Please include date(s) desired, number of people, and contact information. Class size is limited to assure personal attention. Cost is $30 per adult.

The class is usually around three hours long or so and covers edible plants, mushroom, and some medicinals that we find that day. Classes are held hot or cold, rain or shine except for hurricanes. Descriptions of each location and where to meet are below under additional information. Times and day of week can differ with each location and time of year. Double check. Hiking and clothes requirements change with each class as do facilities. Again, double check. More details about each individual venue — such as where to meet — are listed below the Pay Now button. 

Payment method: Cash on the day of class, $30 per person** 18 and over. Or you can pay by credit card by clicking on the Pay Now button below. Or, if you have a Pal Pay account email me and ask for the appropriate email address. No checks please. If you pay by Paypal or credit card there is and additional $5 charge.    ** If the fee is a hardship email me: GreenDeane@Gmail.com    

Saturday, May 18th, the Princess Place Preserve, 2500 Princess Place Rd, Palm Coast, FL 32137, 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the parking lot. 

Sunday, May 19th, Red Bug Slough 5200 S. Beneva Road, Sarasota. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the parking lot. 

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

REGULAR CLASS LOCATIONS 

 

We walk two miles over four hours.
We walk two miles over four hours.

Red Bug Slough 5200 S. Beneva Road, Sarasota. There are about 12 parking places and a residential street across the street that can be used. Among the edible there are pokeweed, pepper grass, pines, sida, tar vine, Spanish needles, fireweed, amaranth, puslane, bitter gourd, horseweed, sow thistles, plantagos, native and non-native grapes, smilax, sumac, cabbage palms, oaks, magnolias, gallberry, caesar weed, beautyberry, willow, sword ferns, hairy cowpea, wax myrtle, elderberry, pellitory, saw grass, true thistles, blackberries, sweet bay, sweet clover, panic grass, water shield, wapato, black medic, day flowers, dollar weed, dock, bottle brush, epazote, silverthorm, saw palmetto, maypops, ground cherries, porter weed, black nightshade, False Hawk’s Beard, Oxalis, creeping cucumber, and a few toxic ones such as poison ivy, coral bean and rosary pea.

 

 

Seminole Wekiva Trail, Sanlando Park, 401 West Highland St. Altamonte Springs, Florida 32714 (at the intersection with Laura Avenue.) We meet in the first parking lot on your right immediately after the entrance. This class involves about two miles of walking over several hours , some of it on an active bike trail. There is parking, drinking water and several bathrooms.  We visit the immediate park area near tennis courts then north through park woods to a softball park. After that we walk the bike trail south back to the park seeing about 60 edible species depending on the time of year. 

 

 

Spruce Creek Park, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 32127. GPS: N 20°05’35.4″ W080°58′.26.2″  Entrance is on the west side of southbound Ridgewood Ave (which is also US 1) Northbound traffic will have to make a U-turn. For southbound traffic, after passing Nova Road and the twin bridges the park entrance is 1/2 mile south on your right. The park, not far from Daytona Beach, has 1,637 acres and three miles of “nature” trails. It combines in a small area three different plant environments; a small patch of weeds common to urban areas, coastal hammock growth, and plants tolerant of the salty environment. Most are noticeable four species of hollies including the infamous Ilex vomitoria, the North American equivalent of Yerba Mate. Two common brackish water edibles, Saltwort and Sea Purslane, are also abundant. We will meet at the restrooms (it’s actually it’s a pavilion but the direction sign says restrooms.)

Tide Views Preserve, 1 Begonia Street, Atlantic Beach Fl 32233 (near Jacksonville Fl.) This is a new location still being explored. 

 

Treaty Park, 1595 Wildwood Drive, St. Augustine, Florida 32086. Go past the dog park, the skate park and the racket ball courts. We’ll meet at the pavilion near the pond.

 

Turtle Mound: Canaveral National Seashore Park. While there are plenty of plants to look at we will probably have to change locations in the park at least once during the class. Because of parking this may require car pooling. There is also a fee per car to get into the park. For a preview see my video on You Tube entitled Turtle Mound. We will meet at Turtle Mound parking area. Among the edible species growing there are: Ground cherries, saw palmettos, eastern coral bean, wild grapes, seablight, sea purslane, salicornia, searocket, Persea, cabbage palm, smilax, black mangrove, Ilex, feral citrus, spurge nettle, papaya, wild peppers (in season) sea oats (protected) crowfoot grass seaside bean, opuntia, nopalea, toothache tree, seagrapes, purslane, hackberry, sedges, Spanish needles,  sweet bay, and oaks,

 

Urban Crawl Winter Park, a three-mile walk.

 

Urban Crawl, meet in front of Panera’s, north end, 329 N. Park Avenue, Winter Park. Free parking in the parking garage, levels four and five behind Panera’s. The Urban Crawl is designed to help you identify edibles found in a city environment. We will see edible natives, imports, ornamentals, and neglected landscaping. We’ll also discuss issues with foraging in an urban area. Afterwards we can talk plants over coffee at Panera’s. We will walk approximately 2.5 miles most of it, but not all, on sidewalks. The following edibles can be seen:  Dandelions, Podocarpus macrophyllus, false Hawk’s Beard, cabbage palms, white clover, the bottle brush tree, Bidens pilosa, various Oxalis, pellitory, dollarweed, night blooming cereus, oaks, camphor trees, sword ferns, pepper grass, hairy bittercress, roses, cherries/plums. saw palmetto, dwarf and full grown Ilex vomitoria, pines, skunk vine, Turks cap, two species of sow thistle, Nandina, beautyberry, smilax, cattails, koontie, pickerel weed, dock, Micromeria brownii, bulrush, yellow pond lilly, water shield, shell ginger, Chinese elm, natal plum, Stachyis floridana, pansies, canna, lantana, purslane, wax begonia, sedges, pindo palm, American holly, spiderwort, goose grass, mulberry, chickweed, and tansy mustard. Non-edibles worthy of mention: Rosary pea, the most toxic seed on earth, dog fennel and mexican poppies.

 

 

 Venetian Gardens, 201 E. Dixie Ave, Leesburg, FL 34748. What do you do with low islands that flood regularly? Add some bridges and call the park Venetian Gardens, which is about a half mile west of Leesburg Regional Medical Center. It’s a 100-acre park on Lake Harris and is also adjacent to a ball park. The flat landscape lends itself to easy walking but we’ll cover about three miles during the class walking about the park. As it is lake side the list of foragables leans towards the aquatic and we might get our feet wet. There are also many freeloading birds and squirrels in attendance… will beg for photo opt. 

 

Wekiva State Park, 1800 Wekiwa Circle, Apopka, Florida 32712. There is a park admission Fee: $6 per vehicle. Limit 8 people per vehicle, $4 for a single occupant vehicle, $2 pedestrians or bicyclists. Meet at the Sand Lake parking lot. Unlike city parks or the urban area, Wekiva Park is “wild” Florida. There are very few weeds of urbanization. The edibles are mostly native plants and far between. This class is recommended for anyone interested in what the natives used. We will walk about four miles roundtrip. The plants are sporadically located. We will visit upland scrub and river bottom ecological zones, and then we will retrace our path and ”test” everyone. The walking is on trails and depending on the weather, at times it can be taxing. Bring water, appropriate clothes, and hiking equipment.

 

Wickham Park, Melbourne

 

Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. 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.) This park is a recreational area more than a wildlife habitat, Wickham Park still offers several dozen edible species in two distinct habitats. We will walk about 1.5 miles. Among the edible species are Oaks, Cabbage palm, Crowfoot grass, Pines, Centella erecta (Asian Dollar Weed) Pennywort, Dollarweed, Plantains, Bidens pilosa (Spanish needles) Saw palmetto, Caesar weed, Grapes, ( native and hybrids) Smilax, Yucca filamentosa, Gopher apples, Wax myrtles, American Beauty Berry, Poke weed, Sumac, Saw grass, Elderberry, False hawks beard, Pellitory, Creeping cucumber, Oxalis, Bitter gourd, Cattails, smooth-leaf bacopa, Gallberry, Wapato, or wapati, Bull thistle, Ground cherry, and Purslane.

 

 

 

 

Port Charlotte Foraging Class path


Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte.  Part of the original Port Charlotte Harbor this long and narrow park still sports many edible wild plants and ornamentals. There are numerous parking lots and facilities. We will meet at the parking lot east of the last fishing pier. Among the interesting plants we will study are elderberry, caesar weed, palms, sea grapes, Spanish needles, sea purslane, wild cow peas, red and black mangroves, oaks, railroad vine, saw palmettos, firebush, epazote, sida, Ilexes, Canaveral Rose, fig, smilax, crowfoot grass, loquats, coco plums, wild grapes, opuntia, Cereus, pines, horseweed, bitter gourd, and a few toxic plants. There are bathrooms and water at the park. Because of the distance this class has to have 10 confirmed students ahead of time.

 

 Blanchard Park,  2451 Dean Rd, Union Park, FL 32817 This is a large park with a YMCA facility built in as well as play grounds, tennis courts and soccer fields. It also runs along a the Little Econlockhatchee River so there is an opportunity to see some water plants as well. One down side is the only bathroom open a 9 a.m. is about a quarter mile west from where we meet. By the end of the class the YMCA is open. Jay Blanchard Trail runs east-west south of University Boulevard. The park can be entered on the west side by Dean Road (thus you dive by the bathrooms) or from the east side off Rouse Road.

 

 

Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. Meet at the picnic tables next to the pump house. We start at the park and on a small portion of the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail, total distance 1.8 miles. Because of the distance this class has to have confirmed students ahead of time. DIRECTIONS:   Take 4th Street off State road 331 (SE Williston  Road.) At SE 15th Street (a T-intersection) turn right. In less than a mile you will see the entrance on your right to the Hawthorn Trail, pass that. Take the immediate next right into the Boulware Springs parking lot, adjacent to SE 15th St. Besides studying the area around the spring we also walk along the Hawthorne Trail and side trails.

 

Cassadaga Class Path

 

Colby-Alderman Park: 1099 Massachusetts Street, Cassadaga. Fla. 32706. Situated on Lake Coby and sometimes called Lake Colby/Royal Park, the 124-acre historic site was recently renovated with a quarter million dollar grant. It has a pavilion, bathrooms, boat ramp, plenty of shade, parking and a nature walk. It is the most handicap accessible site for studying wild edibles. A July survey showed at least three dozen edible species growing, from fruiting persimmons to spurge nettle to blossoming kudzu. Directions: Take Interstate-4 to Exit #114 (formerly Exit #54.) Turn west onto Highway 472  (toward Orange City/Deland. That is a left if coming from from the south, a right if coming from the north.) Once on 472 and leaving the interstate behind go to the first traffic light and turn right onto Dr. Martin Luther King Parkway. After you are on the parkway, turn right at the first street, which is Cassadaga Road (Country Road 4139.) Continue 1.5 miles to Cassadaga. You will pass the Cassadaga Hotel on your right. While the main road immediately turns left you will go straight (which is where the GPS puts you.) Go down a short hill where the road bears right and ends in the park. Meet near the restrooms. We will walk 1.8 miles with most of it on a paved walkway or a sand path.

 

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Dreher, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. Take exit 68 (Southern Boulevard) off Interstate 95 and go east. Entrance to the park is an immediate right at the bottom of the interstate bridge. Follow the convoluted signs to the science center (which is not where the GPS puts you.)  Park anywhere. We meet 300 feet northwest of the science museum near the banyan tees.  It’s a noisy area but early in the morning isn’t too bad. The amount of plants we can see depends upon the season and how much mowing they do. Among them are: American beautyberry, malaleuca, pigeon plum, pines, caesar weed, elderberry, wild grapes, citrus,  oxalis, conyza, smilax, passion flowers, sandspurs, koontie, ipomoea, oaks, commelinas, Emilias, purslane, amaranth, figs, Bauhinia, crowfoot grass, surinam cherry, bitter gourd, red spiderling, sea grapes, sida, cattails, yellow pond lillies, Spanish needles, mangos, sedges, wapato, firebush, pickerel weed, sabal palms, royal palms, queen palms, bamboo, traveler palms, coconuts, date palms, dollar weed, water hyssop, mahoe, varigated mahoe, seaside mahoe, fishtail palm, podocarpus, lichen, pellitory, porter weed, pepper grass, smartweed, false hawk’s beard, sow thistles, epazote, sword fern, juniper, Ilex, cocoplums, bittercress, and two of the most toxic seeds on earth and an iguana or two.  

 

 

Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park. Situated in Largo on the Pinellas peninsula it’s a large park with a variety of different environments.  On my first trip there I found: Amaranth, American Beautyberry, Bacopa Monnieri, Bitter Gourd, Brazilian Pepper, Bull Thistle, Burn Weed\Fire Weed, Caesarweed, Camphor Tree, Creeping Cucumber, Crowfoot Grass, Dollar weed, Duckweed, Eastern Cedar/Juniper, Eastern Gamma Grass, Eastern Redbud, Elderberry, False Hawk’s Beard, Ganoderma, Gotu Kola, Lantana, Latex Strangler Vine, Magnolia, Sweet and Southern, Nopales, Oaks, Palm, Panic Grass, Pellitory, Pines, Pokeweed, Pony Foot, Poor Man’s Pepper Grass, Purslane, Red Bay, Saw Palmetto, Simpson Stopper, Smartweed, Sow Thistle, Spiny/Common, Stinging Nettle, Sweet Bay, Sword Fern, Tansy Mustard,  Wax Myrtle, Yellow Passionflower, Yellow Pond Lilly, Yaupon Holly.

Florida State College, south campus, 11901 Beach Blvd.,  Jacksonville, 32246. We meet at Building A next to the administration parking lot. This is a pleasant wander around the campus with environments ranging from pond to woods and in between. There are also a good complement of edible ornamentals. We walk about two miles over three hours. 

Ft. Desoto Park, 3500 Pinellas Bayway S. St. Petersburg Fl 33715. There is an entrance fee to the park. Meet at the fishing pier parking lot. It’s a large parking lot, meet near the bathrooms. This is a compact area with a lot of poison ivy so we have to be alert. Among the forageables at this location is a hurst of Persimmons, numerous Seagrapes, native Blue Porter Weed and a planted Chaya. We will also see some salt-tolerant edibles and perhaps some seaweed as well.

 

LaStrange is a primitive area to forage.

 

George LeStrange Preserve, 4911 Ralls Road, Fort Pierce, FL, 34981. The preserve is only about three miles from the junction of the Turnpike and I-95. It has no bathroom or drinking water so take advantage of the various eateries and gas stations at the exit. After exiting either the turnpike or I-95 go east on Okeechobee Road. Turn right onto S. Jenkins Road. Then left on Edwards Road. Then right onto Silvitz Road. After crossing the small St. Lucie River (a small S-curve among those straight roads) turn right onto Ralls Road. Go to the end of Ralls Road then turn left into the preserve. Part of the trails through the preserve take you along ox bows of the St. Lucie River and Ten Mile Creek. During my last visit I saw a lot of Ground Cherries, Amaranth, Purslane, Barnyard Grass, Dollar weed, Spanish Needles, Gopher Apples, Sow Thistles, native and escaped grapes, Smilax, Poor Man’s Pepper Grass, Pellitory, False Hawk’s Beard, Water Hyssop, Coral Bean, Hairy Cow Pea, Southern Wax Myrtle, Fireweed, Epazote, Catails, Willows, Pines and a lot of fish.

 

 

 

 

Jervey Gantt Recreation Complex, 2390 SE 36th Ave., Ocala, FL, 34471. Meet at the entrance to the pool, aka Aquatic Fun Center. This walk is about a mile long and mostly on well-graded paths. While there are no immediate aquatic plants at this site there are numerous wild edibles. Among them are: plantain, epazote, oxalis, sycamore, pepper grass, hickory, usnea, pines, oaks, amaranth, Chinese elm, Florida elm, Hercules club, smilax, blackberries, wax myrtle, eastern red bud, spurge nettle, sumac, magnolia, tansy mustard, paper mulberry, sow thistles, Florida betony, camphors, ground cherry, red spiderling, podocarpus, Spanish needles, milkweed vine, muscadine grapes, summer grapes, palm, persimmon, beautyberry, dandelion, false hawk’s beard, plum, cherry, hawthorn, and henbit. Because of the distance this class has to have confirmed students ahead of time.

 

Class path John Chestnut Park

 

John Chestnut County Park: 2200 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor, FL 34685. Meet at the trail head of the Peggy Park Nature Walk, pavilion 1 parking lot. This is a very nice, small county park on Lake Tarpon with part of the walk being lakeside. We will walk the Peggy Trail backwards, then visit the boat launch area, then an observation tower, then wend along the board walk lakeside. At the end of the boardwalk we will go through the center of the park back to where we started. That’s about a mile walk. Among the edible species there are: beautyberry, bitter gourd, blackberry, dayflower, caesar weed, cattails, chuffa/sedges, crowfoot grass, dahoon holly, false hawks beard, fireweed, Florida betony, Florida elm, grapes, cultivars, grapes, muscadines, groundnuts, heartleaf drymaria, hickories (water and pignut) dwarf ilex vomitoria,  maples, oxalis, palms, panic grass, pennyworts, persimmon, pickerel weed, pines, oaks, reindeer moss, red bay, saw palmetto, smilax, Spanish needles, smart grass, sumac, sycamores, usnea, water hyacinths, wapato, water shields, wax myrtle, and willow.  

 

Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. The garden has been around for some 80 years through various stages of attention and neglect. It has over 100 edible species on an annual basis. Mead Garden has natives, exotics, now-banned plants, once-common plants, and just plain old weeds (often removed from more-attended gardens.) Among the edible species in Mead are: Amaranth, American Burnweed, American Eelgrass, Beautyberry, Bee Balm, Bitter Gourd, Blackberries, Black Cherry, Black Tupelo, Bulrush, Cabbage Palm, Caesar Weed, Camphor Tree, Cattails, Ceriman, Chickasaw Plum, Chinese Elm, Commelinas, Crowfoot Grass, Creeping cucumber, Dayflowers, Eastern Coral Bean, Elderberry, Epazota, Feijoa Tree, Florida Elm, False Hawks Beard, Florida Betony, Gallberry, Goose Grass, Goto Kola, Grapes, Ground Nuts, Guinea grass, Heartleaf Drymaria, Hibiscus, Hickory, Ilex vomitoria var nana and pendula, Koontie, Lemon Grass, Lantana, Loquat, Magnolia, Maples, Melaleuca, Micromeia brownii, Monkey Puzzle Tree, Nagi Tree, Night-blooming Cereus, Oaks,  Oxalis articulata,  intermedia, stricta, Paper Mulberry,  Pennyworts, Pickerel Weed, Pindo Palm, Pines, Podocarpus macrophylis, Poke Weed, Queen Palm, Red Bays, Red Bud, Red Mulberry, Reindeer Moss, Rubber Plant, Sand spurs, Saw palmetto, Seagrape, Shell Ginger,  Skunk vine, Smartweed, Smilax, Sow Thistle, Spanish Needles, Spiderworts, Surinam Cherry, Swamp lilly, Sweetgum, Sycamore, Tulip Tree, Usnea, Violets, Wapato, Water Bacopa, Wax Myrtle, Wild Pineapple, Willow, Yam, Dioscorea alata.

 

We walk two miles over four hours.
We walk two miles over four hours.

Red Bug Slough 5200 S. Beneva Road, Sarasota. There are about 12 parking places and a residential street across the street that can be used. Among the edible there are pokeweed, pepper grass, pines, sida, tar vine, Spanish needles, fireweed, amaranth, puslane, bitter gourd, horseweed, sow thistles, plantagos, native and non-native grapes, smilax, sumac, cabbage palms, oaks, magnolias, gallberry, caesar weed, beautyberry, willow, sword ferns, hairy cowpea, wax myrtle, elderberry, pellitory, saw grass, true thistles, blackberries, sweet bay, sweet clover, panic grass, water shield, wapato, black medic, day flowers, dollar weed, dock, bottle brush, epazote, silverthorm, saw palmetto, maypops, ground cherries, porter weed, black nightshade, False Hawk’s Beard, Oxalis, creeping cucumber, and a few toxic ones such as poison ivy, coral bean and rosary pea.

 

 

Seminole Wekiva Trail, Sanlando Park, 401 West Highland St. Altamonte Springs, Florida 32714 (at the intersection with Laura Avenue.) We meet in the first parking lot on your right immediately after the entrance. This class involves about two miles of walking over several hours , some of it on an active bike trail. There is parking, drinking water and several bathrooms.  We visit the immediate park area near tennis courts then north through park woods to a softball park. After that we walk the bike trail south back to the park seeing about 60 edible species depending on the time of year. 

 

 

Spruce Creek Park, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 32127. GPS: N 20°05’35.4″ W080°58′.26.2″  Entrance is on the west side of southbound Ridgewood Ave (which is also US 1) Northbound traffic will have to make a U-turn. For southbound traffic, after passing Nova Road and the twin bridges the park entrance is 1/2 mile south on your right. The park, not far from Daytona Beach, has 1,637 acres and three miles of “nature” trails. It combines in a small area three different plant environments; a small patch of weeds common to urban areas, coastal hammock growth, and plants tolerant of the salty environment. Most are noticeable four species of hollies including the infamous Ilex vomitoria, the North American equivalent of Yerba Mate. Two common brackish water edibles, Saltwort and Sea Purslane, are also abundant. We will meet at the restrooms (it’s actually it’s a pavilion but the direction sign says restrooms.)

Tide Views Preserve, 1 Begonia Street, Atlantic Beach Fl 32233 (near Jacksonville Fl.) This is a new location still being explored. 

 

Treaty Park, 1595 Wildwood Drive, St. Augustine, Florida 32086. Go past the dog park, the skate park and the racket ball courts. We’ll meet at the pavilion near the pond.

 

Turtle Mound: Canaveral National Seashore Park. While there are plenty of plants to look at we will probably have to change locations in the park at least once during the class. Because of parking this may require car pooling. There is also a fee per car to get into the park. For a preview see my video on You Tube entitled Turtle Mound. We will meet at Turtle Mound parking area. Among the edible species growing there are: Ground cherries, saw palmettos, eastern coral bean, wild grapes, seablight, sea purslane, salicornia, searocket, Persea, cabbage palm, smilax, black mangrove, Ilex, feral citrus, spurge nettle, papaya, wild peppers (in season) sea oats (protected) crowfoot grass seaside bean, opuntia, nopalea, toothache tree, seagrapes, purslane, hackberry, sedges, Spanish needles,  sweet bay, and oaks,

 

Urban Crawl Winter Park, a three-mile walk.

 

Urban Crawl, meet in front of Panera’s, north end, 329 N. Park Avenue, Winter Park. Free parking in the parking garage, levels four and five behind Panera’s. The Urban Crawl is designed to help you identify edibles found in a city environment. We will see edible natives, imports, ornamentals, and neglected landscaping. We’ll also discuss issues with foraging in an urban area. Afterwards we can talk plants over coffee at Panera’s. We will walk approximately 2.5 miles most of it, but not all, on sidewalks. The following edibles can be seen:  Dandelions, Podocarpus macrophyllus, false Hawk’s Beard, cabbage palms, white clover, the bottle brush tree, Bidens pilosa, various Oxalis, pellitory, dollarweed, night blooming cereus, oaks, camphor trees, sword ferns, pepper grass, hairy bittercress, roses, cherries/plums. saw palmetto, dwarf and full grown Ilex vomitoria, pines, skunk vine, Turks cap, two species of sow thistle, Nandina, beautyberry, smilax, cattails, koontie, pickerel weed, dock, Micromeria brownii, bulrush, yellow pond lilly, water shield, shell ginger, Chinese elm, natal plum, Stachyis floridana, pansies, canna, lantana, purslane, wax begonia, sedges, pindo palm, American holly, spiderwort, goose grass, mulberry, chickweed, and tansy mustard. Non-edibles worthy of mention: Rosary pea, the most toxic seed on earth, dog fennel and mexican poppies.

 

 

 Venetian Gardens, 201 E. Dixie Ave, Leesburg, FL 34748. What do you do with low islands that flood regularly? Add some bridges and call the park Venetian Gardens, which is about a half mile west of Leesburg Regional Medical Center. It’s a 100-acre park on Lake Harris and is also adjacent to a ball park. The flat landscape lends itself to easy walking but we’ll cover about three miles during the class walking about the park. As it is lake side the list of foragables leans towards the aquatic and we might get our feet wet. There are also many freeloading birds and squirrels in attendance… will beg for photo opt. 

 

Wekiva State Park, 1800 Wekiwa Circle, Apopka, Florida 32712. There is a park admission Fee: $6 per vehicle. Limit 8 people per vehicle, $4 for a single occupant vehicle, $2 pedestrians or bicyclists. Meet at the Sand Lake parking lot. Unlike city parks or the urban area, Wekiva Park is “wild” Florida. There are very few weeds of urbanization. The edibles are mostly native plants and far between. This class is recommended for anyone interested in what the natives used. We will walk about four miles roundtrip. The plants are sporadically located. We will visit upland scrub and river bottom ecological zones, and then we will retrace our path and ”test” everyone. The walking is on trails and depending on the weather, at times it can be taxing. Bring water, appropriate clothes, and hiking equipment.

 

Wickham Park, Melbourne

 

Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. 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.) This park is a recreational area more than a wildlife habitat, Wickham Park still offers several dozen edible species in two distinct habitats. We will walk about 1.5 miles. Among the edible species are Oaks, Cabbage palm, Crowfoot grass, Pines, Centella erecta (Asian Dollar Weed) Pennywort, Dollarweed, Plantains, Bidens pilosa (Spanish needles) Saw palmetto, Caesar weed, Grapes, ( native and hybrids) Smilax, Yucca filamentosa, Gopher apples, Wax myrtles, American Beauty Berry, Poke weed, Sumac, Saw grass, Elderberry, False hawks beard, Pellitory, Creeping cucumber, Oxalis, Bitter gourd, Cattails, smooth-leaf bacopa, Gallberry, Wapato, or wapati, Bull thistle, Ground cherry, and Purslane.

 

 

 

 

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