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Newsletter 18 June 2019

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Coastal Ground Cherries are usually sweet and tart. Photo by Green Deane

Ground cherries locally tend to have two seasons, spring and fall. They can fruit in between but there tends to be more fruit at those two times. Perhaps because of a lack of rain until recently the Ground Cherries have been few until this past weekend. Our foraging class at Ft. Desoto in St. Petersburg found many ripe ones.

As the Ground Cherry ripens the husk turns golden.

There are only two precautions I know of about “wild” Ground Cherries. The first is that if the berry is really bitter don’t eat it raw. Try cooking it. And there is an ornamental species that escapes cultivation and has red husks. Best advice is to avoid that one. Ground Cherries are also a commercial crop and called Cape Gooseberries. One wild species that does well under personal cultivation is the Cutleaf Ground Cherry, . It will grow well in your home garden but you do have to collect the seeds from the wild. To read more about Ground Cherries go here.

My foraging classes in South Carolina are on and people are signing up. I will be in Honea Path July 13th and 14th with two classes each day, approximately 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Putney Farm, 1624 Taylor Road, Honea Path. There may be a small variation in the schedule between now and then but that’s the foraging plan at the moment. These are hands-on classes. We wander around the garden and yard of the farm and surrounding area looking at wild and or escaped edibles. For more information or to get on a list for a class email either me at GreenDeane@gmail.com or the Putney Farm at putneyfarm@aol.com. There is also more information directly below in Foraging Classes.

If you could choose one wild plant to become a commercial product, what would it be?

Seablite
Seablite

Many people have tried to make poke weed (Phytolacca americana) a green in your local grocery but toxicity and the required two-boilings have always plagued its commercialization. The ground nut (Apios americana) was one of the original exports from colonial America but it has at least a two-year growth cycle. Louisiana State University (1984-96) developed a commercial variety but the program disappeared when the professor-in-charge, Bill Blackmon, changed colleges. In 1962 Professor Julia Morton of the University of Miami recommended Spanish Needles (Bidens pilosa) become a commercial product. More than half a century later that hasn’t happened, perhaps because of flavor or the fact it can grow almost anywhere as a weed.  My candidate for a new food crop would be Suaeda linearis, Seablit.

Seablite has everything going for it except perhaps for its name. It’s mild but tasty, has excellent texture, can be eaten raw or cooked though cooked is the usual way. It’s nutritious, stores well, looks good, easily grows in salty ground (read unused land) and even feels good to handle.  About the only downside, for me, is that I have to drive about 60 miles to get some. I need to introduce it to my garden.

Think of Seablite as a Chinopodium that likes to grow in salty places, either near the ocean or salt licks. It has a high sodium content but boiling reduces that significantly.  If you live anywhere near the ocean or inland salty areas, now and the next few months is the time to go looking for seablite and seepweeds.

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

Had two nice foraging classes last week in the greater St.Pete area and I got to visit with a high school classmate I had not seen in 50 years. While I have had private visits to Ft. Desoto this was my first public class there. Among the interesting species were many of the salt-tolerant edibles one usually finds along the inland waterway among them Sea Blite, mentioned above. There was also Sea Purslane, Salt Wort, Glass Wort, Beach Carpet and Reef Banana. We will also see several of those in this week’s foraging class at Spruce Creek.

Saturday, June 22nd, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet next to the tennis courts by the YMCA building.

Sunday, June 23rd, Spruce Creek Park, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 32127. GPS: N 20°05’35.4″ W080°58′.26.2″ 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the pavilion. 

Saturday June 29th: Ft. Meade Outdoor Recreation Area, 1639 Frostproof Highway, Fort Meade, FL 33841. (Frostproof Highway is also Route 98.)  9 a.m to noon. Meet at the brown bathrooms in the middle of the park which is due south from the highway. (Not the tan bathrooms near the intersection.)

Sunday June 30th, John Chestnut County Park: 2200 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor, FL 34685. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the trail head of the Peggy Park Nature Walk, pavilion 1 parking lot, inside the park.

Saturday, July 13th, Sunday July 14th, 1624 Taylor Road, Honea Path, South Carolina. Ever want a class with Green Deane but he never seems to come to your neck of the woods? Then mark mid-July on your calendar. Green Deane will have at least four foraging class in Honea Path. Times 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, rain or shine (except hurricanes.) Cost is $30 per adult, supervised children free. All of Green Deane’s classes are hands on, walking outside over two to three hours. Wild edible plants, medicinals and perhaps a mushroom or two will be on the agenda. For more information you can contact Putney Farm on Facebook or Green Deane at GreenDeane@gmail.com. 

Saturday, July 20th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet next to the tennis courts by the YMCA building.

Sunday, July 21st,  Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. 9 a.m to noon. Meet just north of the science center in the north section of the park. 

Saturday, July 27th, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. 9 a.m. to noon.Meet at the “dog park” inside the park.

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

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

Dioscorea Alata root.

Fall is not the only time to harvest wild yams. We typically use obvious air bulbils in the fall to locate the vine often with large edible roots. But we can also locate smaller, edible roots this time of year as well. You look for the telltale square vines and pairs of opposite leaves. However, early in the season it can be a little tricky because young vines often haven’t developed pairs of leaves yet and will have singular leaves until older. However, the stem is square and the vine has what is called a Z-twist. That is at eye-level it twists from your lower left to your upper right, like the diagonal mark on the letter Z. This time of year it only takes a few minutes to dig up several small yams that can be used like potato. They are perfectly stored and well-hidden from most eyes. In the fall one can find roots from five pounds shaped like a two-liter bottle to easily 30 pound or more. To read more about the Winged Yam go here.

Maypops smell like gym shoes. Photo by Green Deane

It’s June and Maypops are popping out all over. They are easy to find: Look for a vine that has three-lobed leaves and smooth, green fruit shaped like a large egg to a tennis ball. The fruit ripens to yellow near the base of the vine first. The plant, which smells like an old gym shoe, will put on new fruit until cold weather. Green fruit can be fried like green tomatoes. Sometimes the green ones have seeds mature enough to be tart. Sweet and sour seeds can be scooped out of the yellow fruit and eaten along with their white jelly-like coating. Locally our most common passion fruit is Passiflora incarnata. You will read on the Internet that it contains cyanide. It does not though many passion fruits do if not all but P. incarnata. It was specifically tested and definitely does not have cyanide in it’s leaves. The varying amounts of cyanide in other species of passion fruit is one reason why animals don’t eat them and one reason why you should not eat any ornamental passion fruit you may have. Instead of cyanide P. incarnata has GABA, gamma-Aminobutyric acid, which calms you down. It might be a possible anti-dote for Water Hemlock poisoning in that Water Hemlock breaks down the body’s reserve of GABA. 

The Cherry Laurel is deadly. Do not eat it. Photo by Green Deane

As cyanide has been mentioned many plants have it, including several edible species, Chaya for example. Mechanical breaking down of plant cells or cooking often gets rid of the cyanide which many times is bound together either with sugar or hydrogen molecules. Sometimes the plant has to be fermented so the bacteria can eat the glucose thus freeing the cyanide to be rinsed away.  Clearly one wants the cyanide to be released outside of the body not during digestion. The toxic non-edible Cherry Laurel is a common poisonous plant with the cyanide bond. If you crush a leaf you can smell either almonds or “maraschino” cherries. That’s cyanide. However, there is one interesting fact you should keep in mind: Depending where you are only 25 to 40% of the population can smell cyanide. It’s a gene-linked thing. If you can crush several Cherry Laurel leafs and not smell almonds or “maraschino” cherries you might be one of those who cannot use their nose to detect cyanide. You can, however, look at the backside of the leaf near the stem and find two faded dots. Those can help you identify it. 

Donations to upgrade EatTheWeeds.com and fund a book are going well. Thank you to all who have contributed to either via the Go Fund Me link, the PayPal donation link  or by writing to Green Deane POB 941793 Maitland FL, 32794.  Recent upgrades have been paid now the Forum needs work and several function problems need to be fixed specifically the search and categories.   The other issue is finding  an indexing program or function for a real book. Writing programs used to do it automatically if you designated a term for indexing. Now that most books are ebooks most writing programs do not provide and indexing function.

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 who eat first then ask questions later. You can join the forum by clicking on “forum” in the menu.

All My 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 as spring is … springing. 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.

This is weekly issue #360.

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Newsletter 20 November 2018

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Goji Berry season will be starting soon. Photo by Green Deane

Editor’s Note: The first EatTheWeeds newsletter was written just before Thanksgiving, 2007. It was monthly back then. I rode my bike on the Seminole-Wekiva Trail and wrote about the edible plants there. I’m still riding my bike on the though the trail is now twice as long… and the goats are gone. You can read that original long newsletter here. 

The seasons are changing and so is the foraging with a shift into not only fall but winter plants. This locally includes some spring and summer plants found in northern climates. Perhaps the prettiest sighting this past week was blossoming Christmasberries. There are several “Christmasberries” but this one in particular is our local Goji Berry (yes, it is edible.) It’s an odd shrub in the Nightshade family that likes brackish water. All the specimens I have found are coastal but usually on the inland water ways that have some tidal influence. They also tend to collect a lot of lichen often Ramlina and or Usnea. We saw them in bloom during a foraging class at Haulover Canal.  They are common in Spruce Creek Park in Port Orange, FL.,  and across U.S. Highway One in the Doris Leeper Spruce Creek Preserve. They are also on the west side of Turtle Mound (there is a southside trail at low tide one can follow to the west side.)  You can watch my video on them here and read my article here.

Sugarberries ripen from green to burnt orange sometimes slightly red. Photo by Green deane

Sugarberries are one of those “did they really collect this?” fruits. Are they tasty? Yes. Nutritious? Yes. Easy to identify? Yes. So what’s the problem? There are two: The berries can be rather sparse on the tree and the tree tends to be very tall. But that might be a twenty-second century perspective. Very few of us forage full-time and in the distant past foraging all the time was the main occupation. So in the past the tall, thinly fruited tree might not have been seen as a questionable resource but rather an esteemed one. Sugarberries, also called hackberries, have four fairly easy identifying characteristics. They can be large trees usually growing near water but not in it. This is also not a species you will find on the top of a hill unless there is a lake or spring there or good irrigation. It’s usually found in the company of sweet gums, pecans, ash, cedars and what is left of elms (whose family it is in.) The bark of older trees is very warty but no thorns. Sugarberry leaves usually have uneven shoulders and if you flip the leaf over there are thee main veins at the base. Edible raw or cooked, the berries are sweet, the kernel inside tasty but slightly hard to crack. Be careful of your teeth. Natives often mashed the entire fruit — seed and pulp — making them into small cakes to be eaten raw or cooked. When “sweet” was rare perhaps the tree was special rather than a harvesting pain. The odd second name “Hackberry” is thought to come from the Scottish “hagberry” which means “marsh berry”  (but was in reference to related species that likes similar damp habitats.) You can read about the sugarberry here. 

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

Foraging Classes: With nicer weather in store my foraging classes range from Orlando to Sarasota this weekend. We look for wild edibles — luck of the seasonal draw — and identify them, mention culinary, medicinal uses and history. 

Saturday, November 24th Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet next to the tennis courts by the YMCA building.  

Sunday, November 25th, Red Bug Slough Preserve, 5200 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL, 34233. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the entrance of the park. 

Saturday, December 1st, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the “dog park” inside the park.  

Sunday, December 2nd, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte. 9 a.m to noon, meet at the park across from Ganyard Street. 

Saturday, December 8th, Florida State College,  south campus, 11901 Beach Blvd.,  Jacksonville, 32246.  9 a.m. to noon. We will meet at building “D”  next to the administration parking lot.

Sunday, December 9th, this class will probably be in Largo, Florida, but at a different location than mentioned below.

To read more about the foraging classes go here. 

Carpetweed, an edible always under foot.

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. 

Beefsteak Polypore, Fistulina hepatica.

The Beefsteak Polypore should have been called the Raw Liver Polypore. (Yes, it also grows in warm Florida.) “Polypore” means many pores and this edible mushroom has many slightly strange pores: They are all separate, little tubes, not holes as many polypores are but a huge bunch of little tubes (think small straws tied in a bundle.) The mushroom can giggle like raw liver and spills a red juice when cut. But there the comparisons end, almost. It’s white streaked flesh can be cut like liver but it does not taste like liver. Its flavor is more on the acidic side and blends in well with dishes made with lemons. And while current advice is not to eat any mushrooms raw — including those you buy in the grocery store — this is one fungus that is consumed raw, with or without pores. The prohibition against raw mushrooms arises from two characteristics. One is the polysaccharide chitin or in this case mycochitin. Some people have the enzyme to digest it, some don’t. Undigested chitin can cause unpleasant digestive upset. The other issue is many raw mushrooms tend to have hydrazines, a class of chemicals known to cause cancer. Cooking drives off the hydrazines. And more than a few mushroom … ah… hunters have gotten nematodes from eating raw mild-altering mushrooms growing in manure. Cook your mushrooms. Indeed, some of the most prized of wild mushrooms will make you ill if consumed raw including Morels, Chanterelles, Oysters, and King Boletes.  Do not confuse with the smaller and only-known toxic polypore Hapalopilus nidulans.

EatTheWeeds has been existing now almost 14 years. Thank you for your donations. There are always things to improve such as the indexing of these newsletters and making the search function more intelligent. As it is now I sometimes have a hard time finding an article I wrote! My webmaster is part time, which means now and then. There’s always something and such things get more complex and expensive every year. Indeed, I hope to resume videos this week. You can donate to EatTheWeeds either via the Go Fund Me link, the PayPal donation link or by writing to Green Deane POB 941793 Maitland FL, 32794.  Again, thank you. 

Green Deane Forum

The Green Deane Forum slows down some in the winter months but there’s still plenty of things to talk about.  Are you curious about a UFO you have, an Unidentified Flowering Object. On the forum we identify plants and 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.   You can join the forum by clicking on the button in the menu line.

Green Deane DVD Set

As mentioned above I hope to restart on-line vidoes this week. 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, or any part thereof. I am filling an order today for videos one through four. The set 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. As mentioned 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.

This is weekly issue 331. 

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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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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Newsletter 10 July 2018

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Magnolia Grandiflora, the big evergreen tree of the South.

Some people batter and fry the petals.

A life time ago I was a foreign exchange student. I attended Whiteland College which was part of the University of London. I remember well three things about my time there. One was that they use Magnolia Blossoms as a condiment. I thought that strange at the time. It’s a very intense flavor. You can make it yourself by dicing then lacto-fermenting the blossoms for a few days, draining, then storing it in the frig adding a little white wine and sugar. You can do the same thing with Nasturtium seeds. They smell horrible for three days but they taste great  once drained and stored. You can also flavor vinegar with the white petals. 

Magnolia virginiana leaves are easy to identify.

Magnolia Grandiflora leaves can be used like a bay leaf. In fact a close relative, the “Sweet Bay,” Magnolia virginiana, has been used that way for at least centuries and is highly esteemed for that use. The “Sweet Bay” a very common tree in damp areas and easy to identify. You can read about the Magnolias here. And what were the other two memorable items from the exchange? All the hallways in the college — which is now an upscale condominium — were named after local streets. So you didn’t live in room 213. It was 213 Wadsworth Way or the like. And right across the hedgerow was a hospital with the most awful name on a huge wrought iron banner over the drive way. It was: The Royal Hospital for the Incurably Ill. 

A red mold turns other mushrooms in to edible.

Lobsters… no, not the kind from the sea but the woods: Lobster mushrooms.  As with many things the common name for Hypomyces lactofluoum can mislead. Lobster Mushrooms aren’t really mushroom but they also are… It takes some explaining. Hypomyces lactifluoum is a mold that infects certain species of mushrooms changing them into edible mushrooms. It usually infects mushrooms in the genera Russula and Lactiaria (though that last genus is ungoing changes so they might now be Lactifluus.) It creeps over the outside of the mushroom and takes over, turning it a reddish orange like a cooked lobster. And, it also changes the flavor of the mushroom towards tasting like seafood. One local mushroom it is known to commandeer is L. piperatus, which is too peppery to eat naturally. Once the mold has done it’s magic the “Milk Cap” still has “latex” but is not as peppery. The orange crust on the outside is flecked with little white pimples which is how the mold reproduces. When growing with pines they can look like orange peelings covered with needles. They can be found summer through fall. And specimens too old to eat can be used for dye.

Foraging classes are held rain or shine, heat or cold.

Foraging Classes: Foraging classes this weekend are in Orlando and Largo, some 130 miles apart. The class in Seminole County is around the tennis park at Sanlando Springs. So, if you live on the Seminole-Wekiva Bike Trail you might find that particularly interesting. Eagle Lake Park in Largo used to be a working ranch and grove providing a good array of edible wild plants to see. One interesting find in last week’s class in Ocala were a couple of edible mushroom species, Chanterelles and Old Man of the Woods. There’s a good environment for Chanterelles at Eagle Lake. Perhaps we’ll see some. 

Saturday July 14th, Seminole Wekiva Trail, Sanlando Park, 401 West Highland St. Altamonte Springs, Florida 32714. 9 a.m. Meet at the first parking lot on your right after entering. 

Sunday July 15th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. 9 a.m. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park.

Saturday, July 21st, Bayshore Live Oak  Park, Port Charlotte, Fl. 9 a.m. Meet at the parking lot at the intersection of Bayshore Road and Ganyard Street.

Sunday July 22nd, Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, 2045 Mud Lake Road, DeLeon Springs, FL. 9 a.m. Meet at the parking lot on right after crossing the railroad tracks. It will be a long, and hot class. Bring water. Bathrooms are Port-O-Lets. 

Saturday, July 28th, Florida State College,  south campus, 11901 Beach Blvd.,  Jacksonville, 32246.  We will meet at building “D”  next to the administration parking lot. 9 a.m.

Sunday, July 29th, Venetian Gardens, 201 E. Dixie Ave, Leesburg, FL 34748. 9 a.m. Meet at the parking lot near the pool. 

Saturday, August 4th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. Meet at the pavilion east of the tennis courts near the YMCA.

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

Saturday, August 11th, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. As this is the hot summer time do you want to meet at 8 a.m.? Just north of the science center.

Carpetweed

One of the more common edible weeds underfoot in North America is Carpetweed, Mollugo verticillata. We saw it Sunday in Ocala. 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. 

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 in the menu line.

Green Deane DVD Set

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.

For more information about the classes go here.

This is weekly issue 312.

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.  

Bacterial Considerations

Dick Deuerling

I would go foraging some 24 years ago with the legedary Dick Deurling and Dr. Jose Gotts. Dr. Gotts, a professor at the University of Central Florida, was a character. Short, bald and portly he often went on a forage wearing only white shorts and dark horn-rimmed glasses. No shirt, no shoes… And nearly every time he would eat something controversial. I once saw him taste a Lubber, which is a large, toxic grasshopper. That would be about the time when Dick would announce to the group not to do what Jose had just done because Gotts grew up in war-torn Algeria and had an immune system primed differently than the rest of us. It was an interesting warning. Should you, for example eat fruit that has fallen on the ground? I do so the question perhaps is- – is this a harmful practice? The answer is a clear maybe yes maybe no.

Surprisingly there has been research on how much bacteria dropped food can pick up. It depends on what is dropped and where it lands. For example watermelon dropped on a tiled floor picks up a huge amount of bacteria almost instantly whereas a dry gummy bear on carpet very little. The harder the surface not only the more bacteria but the longer the bacteria can live which seems counter intuitive. Essentially it is the type of surface the food lands on that is important then how much bacteria is on that surface and lastly what kind of bacteria.

Excluding wild food, Americans get up to 800,000 cases of food poisoning a day… yes a day. And the rate of food poisoning from commercially grown food has doubled since 2000. About a third of it is from commercial fruits and vegetables and usually that’s contaminated with the bacteria E. coli, sometimes salmonellosis, rarely a Cyclospora parasite. Most wild plants and fruit don’t have that those pathogens. Another problem with commercial fruits and vegetable — compared to wild food — is that they can be handled by several customers and store personnel before you pick it up. Thus generally said wild food that is only touched by you is safer and usually the soil not contaminated. More so washing in plain water can also get rid of 98% of bacterial on such food though truth be told I can’t remember the last time I washed any wild food before consuming it. Not a worry high on my list.

If there is a high count of bacteria on a wild fruit or vegetable it will usually be on a bruised or rotting spot. I make jokes in classes about plants being watered by poodles but that’s not really a concern. Urine is fairly sterile and the rain washes off nearly everything. Where one does need to exercise some caution is where dogs (and especially cats) go to the bathroom. Their scat, particularly cats, can foster parasites in the soil. It might be that if you have pets your own back yard is the most hostile soil near you. Indeed most parasites in children come from pet-contaminated soil in their own yard, and usually from cat scat.

So what am I usually eating off the ground — usually dry sandy ground– or sidewalks? Persimmons, Jambul fruit, sea grapes come to mind and mulberries. I also eat purslane — mentioned earlier — where I find it not bothering to wash it unless it is a dusty location. And also note most research and commentary on food bacteria was written about commercially contaminated food and before we had a greater interest in our gut biome. It just might be that eating wild food adds diversity to our gut bacteria and increases our resillience.

We can detect at least two themes regarding food and bacteria: Commercial food is usually contaminated with stuff from human waste, so food grown over the septic drain field might be questionable. And some soil can be contaminated by cat or dog waste, usually your own back yard. I think it wise not to forage around a dog park and don’t let your dog or cat use your garden for a bathroom. That said I grew up in a house with a septic drain. Wild violets grew in that ditch profusely and my mother ate them raw all the time. She almost made it to 90 and would have made a century if she hadn’t smoked.

And while we should have some concerns about the wholesomeness of wild food I think a greater concern than bacteria is whether the ground or water has been polluted by non-bacterial means.

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Browse Newsletter

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  • 475
  • His name was Will Endres and he was a North Carolina herbalist…Poison ivy, foraging classes, horse mint, ground cherries, foraging USBs, the Green Deane Forum, Southern Wax Myrtle, https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-475-september-21-2021/474

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-474-september-14-2021/

    Chance happens in foraging. 

    Coralwood, Kudzu, Foraging Classes, Favolus Mushrooms, learning edibles,  foraging USB, the Green Deane forum, aroma and cyanide

    473

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-473-september-7th-2021/

    It would be convenient if Pindo Palms fruited regularly. 

    Pindo palms seeds, Canna, Foraging classes, Ghost Pipes, Labor Day, Tallow Plums

    472

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-472-august-31-2021/

    Are there any Shiitake mushrooms locally? 

    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. 

    https://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-471-august-24th-2021/

    Water hyacinth, Foraging Classes, Wild grapes, Tumble Weed, Goldenrod, Swamp Mallow, Foraging USBs, the Green Deane forum, Donations  

    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 27 March 2018

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Basswood leaves and bracts, soon to be blossoming. Photo by Green Deane

Bract and unopened blossoms of the basswood tree.

Basswood and I have been companions for some 60 years. A little over a mile from where I grew up my step-father’s brother-in-law owned several hundred acres of woods. Thus when a particular wood was needed for something we’d go there and wander around. There was hornbeam for tool handles and ash for whiffletrees. There were also occasional apple trees and a wide assortment of basswood. The latter two were used to make pipes.   In those Maine woods the basswood grew not far above underground ledges. Locally I find them from damp spots to lawns. For most of the year basswood blends in well, a moderately sized tree with medium green leaves. Not distinctive. But, this time of year they are … outstanding! Basswood are the only tree in this part of the world with a single, large, lemon colored bract. And attached to that bract is a stem with blossoms on the end which will be edible seeds. The blossoms and young leaves are edible, too. You can read about basswood here. 

During a private class this weekend we had the chance to see several Vacciniums in one place. One species was fruiting, another blossoming, and a third waiting for the right weather. 

Harold Grandholm, a high school classmate, raking blueberries in a field off the road I grew up on circa 1969.

The blueberry is a crown berry. If you look at the end of the berry that’s farthest from the plant it has a little stylized crown with five points. Such berries can be bitter, woody, sour or sweet but not toxic. Identifying them can be a pain. Vacciniums are nearly as confusing as Hawthorns. Every blueberry species has been renamed at least once and there is no agreement on how many species there are in North America — 40? 65? — or what they look like. It depends on who is doing the writing, what criteria they use, and how good they observe. In New England where I grew up the small blueberries could cover 10 or 100 acres. Blueberry fields forever… In Florida they are sporadic — colonial — usually found near oaks and pines. Up north the fields were burned annually by machines designed to do just that. Near harvesting time another machine laid the field out in rows with string. One picker would work one row across the entire field. Harvesting blueberries with a “rake” was and is hard work, like digging up clams, bent over and back-breaking. The other kind of blueberry of my youth was high bush, eight to 12 feet high, usually on ledge. You had to compete with deer and bears. High bush blueberries can be so ladened you can come home with a washtub full of them. We also picked “clean” at my mother’s insistence. No leaves or bugs included.

Deerberrries can be green or red when ripe. Photo by Green Deane

The flowering Vaccinium we saw this past weekend was Vaccinium stamineum. Deerberry is labeled “stamineum” because the male parts of the flower, the stamen, are very long. The fruit is also on long petioles, 3/4 to an inch long. (The stem between the fruit/blossom/leaf and the main stem is a petiole.) It likes scrub and hardwood that’s often wet and near water. Deerberry leaves are also white underneath. In fact ovalish leaves that are white underneath are the identifying characteristic of the species from other blueberries. And Deerberries when ripe are large and can be green to purple. As for other “blueberries” Vaccinium corymbosum, another blueberry I grew up with, is found in the northern part of the state essentially the width of the panhandle east to the Atlantic. Vaccinium corymbosum has warts on its stem — you will need a hand lens or more to see them — and hairs arranged in lines on the stems. Vaccinium arboreum (farkleberry) is a small tree. Vaccinium darrowii and Vaccinium myrsinites, are both around knee high and do look similar. Vaccinium myrsinites has little glands on stalks on the underside of the leaf (you will need #10 lens to see them) while the Vaccinium darrowii does not. Also the Vaccinium darrowii’s leaves, berries and flower stalks are usually covered with a powdery bloom that can be easily wiped off and the blossoms are redder near the tips.

Huckleberries ripening. Photo by Green Deane

Huckleberries leaves have brilliant gold spots on the underside of the leaf. These are not ho-hum gold spots. They are vigorous, sparkling, in-your-eye spots shimmering like lighted jewels. They are best seen with a 10x magnifying glass. But, if the sun is out and you hold the leaf to the sun you can see with the unaided eye the brilliant spots. Also huckleberry fruit have exactly 10 seeds. While they may have some grit as well the number of seeds is constant and specific. Lastly note blueberries don’t have to be blue. They can be black. And huckleberries don’t have to be black, they can be blue. You can read about Blueberries here and huckleberries here.

Candyroots vary in height. Photo by Green Deane

One gets used to seeing certain plants in certain places such as blueberries near oaks and pines. Dandelions also like acidic soil so they, too, can be found near oaks and pines. Lemon Bacopa (which tastes like lime) also seems to like specific places. I usually find it in the damp ruts of woods roads, or in damp spots on hiking trails, wet but sunny. Definitely not a suburban plant. I’ve actually found it in a body of water only once. Another site specific plant is Candyroot, pictured left. That, too, is often found along wood roads or paths that can be damp, either all the time or seasonally (that can be confusing. I have found Candyroot in wet places and places that are seasonally wet but mostly high and dry.) In its tiny root it there is some methyl salicylate, smells like mint, birch, or checkerberries depending on your nose.  It is a mild pain reliever. You can read about Candyroot here. 

The female Lonestar Tick has a white spot, the slightly larger male does not.

Six and five years ago I found — despite careful checking — a deer tick attached. They can carry Lyme’s Disease so I went though the minor and inexpensive round of antibiotics each time. The disease is not common in Florida. Four years ago and this weekend it was a Lonestar Tick except it was attached four years ago. This weekend it was still looking for a good spot to drill in. The Lonestar Tick does not carry Lyme’s so that’s good. It does carry a lesser array of diseases but apparently they are all manageable to varying degrees. But it also has one liability: It can make you allergic to red meat forever. During the tick’s feeding it gives you a sugar, a long complex carbohydrate name shortened to Alpha-gal. This particular sugar  stimulates your body to make an antibody. That sugar is found in red meat such as beef, lamb, pork, rabbit, goat, venison, and in cheese, butter, lard and gelatin.  Thus when you eat any of those foods — or take medicine in capsules — you can have an allergic reaction which can include shock and death.  The allergy can last for months, years, or life. Fortunately my one attached Lonestar tick did not give me the allergy but I have met several people with it. I think John Grisham is perhaps the most well-known person with the allergy. Current medical opinion is hat the tick has to stay attached for 24 hours to transfer the sugar. By the way, before Florida went on the internet it advised in several publications to use sublimed sulphur to keep ticks away. It’s inexpensive and you powder it on your cuffs and collars (if you are not allergic to it. I used it for several years with no problem then had an allergic reaction to it… a sneezing fit and eyes watering and itching so badly I couldn’t drive for about an hour.) 

Loquats do not travel well. Photo by Green Deane

Loquats are ripening… They’re hard to miss: Small to huge tree with bright yellow to honey-colored fruit. Picked early they can be tart, picked late they will be not only sweet but aromatic like a cantaloupe. Sometimes they are incorrectly called Japanese Plums but they are not plums and are from China. It does not help that their botanical name means “wooly bunch of grapes from Japan.” They were growing in southern Japan when the Portuguese finally made contact with that nation. That’s probably why the name stuck. It’s also an evergreen tree and does well in landscaping. Even the leaves are used to treat lung issues such as coughing and wheezing. The fruit makes good wine, jelly, and with seeds removed dried like plums. Even the seeds have a few uses though I don’t endorse some of them. A couple of the more little-known facts about the species is that the fruit make a tiny amount of arsenic and the blossoms are pollenated by bees and houseflies. You can read about the loquat here. 

Classes are held rain or shine or cold. Photo by Kelly Fagan.

Foraging Classes: Foraging classes this past week were both in the Jacksonville area. Although the Winged Yam won’t be sprouting for a few weeks we managed to dig one root up for the class to see. And the Paper Mulberries were starting to fruit but they won’t be ripe for a few weeks. We also saw a Firethorn heavy with blossoms. That means fruit in a few weeks, too.  The Bottlebrush Tree was in full blossom. That class was followed by a look at a piece of property on the St. Johns River. One surprise was to find a persimmon in a small forest. They usually don’t grow there. The property also has many fruiting Vacciniums hence their mention above. We also saw a large amount of deadly Water Hemlock. perhaps spread by Hurricane Irma’s flood waters. And there was one mystery plant, which looked like a cross between a Dog Fennel and a Water Hemlock. I think it is something in the Ptilimnium genus, not edible. This week there is a class mid-state on the east coast in Melbourne and perhaps one in Gainesville. It’s Sunday on Easter and might not have many sign up. 

Saturday, March 31st, Wickham Park, 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. Meet at the “dog park” inside the park, 9 a.m.

Sunday, April 1st, Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. Meet at the picnic tables next to the pump house, 9 a.m.

Saturday April 7th, Colby-Alderman Park: 1099 Massachusetts Street, Cassadaga. Fla. 9 a.m., meet near the restrooms.

Sunday April 8th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. 9 a.m. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park

Saturday, April 14th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. Meet at the pavilion east of the tennis courts near the YMCA.

Sunday, April 15th, Red Bug Slough Preserve, 5200 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL, 34233, 9 a.m. 

Saturday, April 22nd, Spruce Creek, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 32127, 9 a.m., meet at the pavilion. 

Saturday, May 5th, Florida State College,  south campus, 11901 Beach Blvd.,  Jacksonville, 32246.  9 a.m. We will meet at building “D”  next to the administration parking lot.

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

Green Deane DVD set of 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 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

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 who eat first then ask questions later. Recent topics include: Bacopa monnieri, Herbalist Question, Bittercress?, Pine Pollen,  Pawpaw? Thistle Flower Buds, Gigantic Pony Foot, Beach Carpet? Lots of Smilax and early Grapes Showing UP,  Some Kind Of Pennywort, Plants Called Bugle, and Partridgeberry. You can join the forum by clicking on “forum” in the menu.

Donations to upgrade EatTheWeeds.com and fund a book are going well and has made the half way mark, $5,500. 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.  Recent upgrades have been paid now the Forum needs work and several function problems need to be fixed specifically the search and categories ( a partial solution is that when you do a search other finds are directly below the main one shown. Scroll down.)   A new server also has to be found by April. The other issue is finding  an indexing program or function for a real book. Writing programs used to do it automatically if you designated a term for indexing. Now that most books are ebooks most writing programs do not provide and indexing function. The hunt continues. 

This is weekly issue 297. There have been several suggestions that the newsletter font is difficult to read. We are working on that this week. 

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

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Newsletter 20 March 2018

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Mulberries are an aggregate fruit, each little bump is a separate fruit. Photo by Green Deane

Mulberries ripen from green to dark purple.

Because of some early warm weather the Red Mulberries are ahead a schedule by a several weeks. There aren’t many ripe ones yet but many trees are heavy with unripe fruit. A native from Massachusetts south to Florida and west to Texas, it likes good soil and full sun. Mulberries can be found in woodlands, pastures, fields, rocky places, beside roads and staining sidewalks with their fruit. Among the identifying characteristics are a milky sap and a fruit that looks like a long blackberry. On young branches the leaves are often lobed, on older wood without lobs. Mulberries reproduce very easily. Cut off a finger sized branch two or three feet long, take off lower leaves, stick it in a pot with good soil or in the ground. Chances are it will take off. I trimmed a mulberry one year and used the four foot branches to prop up low limbs on a peach tree. All the props took root and later had to be moved. The fruit can be eaten off the tree, made into wine, jelly and jam, and the wood is good for smoking meat. Young leaves cooked are also edible. To read more about the mulberry go here.

Pigeon Plums taste better after they dry.

Nearly everyone who spends anytime in Florida and thereabouts hears about the Seagrape, which has edible fruit. Often overlooked is a close relative, Coccoloba diversifolia, the Pigeon Plum also called the Dove Plum. It’s a common coastal tree in that it is resistant to wind and is salt tolerant. It can take a hurricane and does well in sandy, or broken coral soils or even limestone near tidewater areas. Technically the fruit is a drupe, like plums and olives. One can eat them off the tree when ripe but they are astringent. However once the fruit dries the flesh is sweet and rehydrates without the pucker factor. Usually the best ones are the shriveled but still soft found on the ground. At first glance they look black when ripe but are really dark red or purple. Leaves have been used to treat gastrointestional issues and the wood is good for carving. You can read about the Pigeon Plum here.

Tamarinds are sweet and sour.

Also heavy in fruit now is the Tamarind, if you’re in south Florida. Tamarindus indica is from warm Africa but I see them regularly in West Palm Beach. On a wider scale it is commonly found in South Asia, Mexico and India which is the world largest producer of the legume. Tamarind’s nutritious pods are consumed raw or cooked and is one of the current flavor darling of many avant-garde restaurants. The flavor is distinctive, both sweet and sour. The tree itself is slow-growing and long-lived. Without its annual pods the evergreen tree can easily hide; it’s moderate in size and not too distinct. The other interesting part is that most of the trees in the greater legume group are toxic with some notable exceptions, the Tamarind being one and the Eastern Red Bud another. Generally pea trees don’t offer much to the forager. The Tamarind, by the way is monotypic, that is, it is the only plant in its genus. It’s name is from the Arabic Tamar Hindi, which means “Indian Date.” It was brought to the New World in the 1500’s. They are high in Iron, Magnesium, and the anti-oxidant Tartaric Acid. 

NOT EDIBLE: Mexican Poppy

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

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

Foraging Classes: Classes this past week ranged from Orlando to West Palm Beach. While we saw a lot of edibles locally we also noticed that the deadly Water Hemlock is growing fast. Definitely a plant to avoid. You can read about it here. And in south Florida we always get a chance to see more frost-intolerant species like the Tamarind and Pigeon Plum. This week I am on the north side of the state. Predictions are it won’t be too cold. 

Saturday, March 24th, Florida State College,  south campus, 11901 Beach Blvd.,  Jacksonville, 32246.  9 a.m. We will meet at building “D”  next to the administration parking lot.

Saturday, March 31st, Wickham Park, 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. Meet at the “dog park” inside the park, 9 a.m.

Sunday, April 1st, Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. Meet at the picnic tables next to the pump house, 9 a.m.

Saturday April 7th, Colby-Alderman Park: 1099 Massachusetts Street, Cassadaga. Fla. 9 a.m., meet near the restrooms.

Sunday April 8th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. 9 a.m. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park

Saturday, April 14th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. Meet at the pavilion east of the tennis courts near the YMCA.

Sunday, April 15th, Red Bug Slough Preserve, 5200 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL, 34233, 9 a.m. 

Saturday, April 22nd, Spruce Creek, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 32127, 9 a.m., meet at the pavilion. 

 To read more about the classes or to pre-pay go 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 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

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 who eat first then ask questions later. Recent topics include: Bacopa monnieri, Herbalist Question, Bittercress?, Pine Pollen,  Pawpaw? Thistle Flower Buds, Gigantic Pony Foot, Beach Carpet? Lots of Smilax and early Grapes Showing UP,  Some Kind Of Pennywort, Plants Called Bugle, and Partridgeberry. You can join the forum by clicking on “forum” in the menu.

Donations to upgrade EatTheWeeds.com and fund a book are going well and has made the half way mark, $5,500. 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.  Recent upgrades have been paid now the Forum needs work and several function problems need to be fixed specifically the search and categories ( a partial solution is that when you do a search other finds are directly below the main one shown. Scroll down.)   A new server also has to be found by April. The other issue is finding  an indexing program or function for a real book. Writing programs used to do it automatically if you designated a term for indexing. Now that most books are ebooks most writing programs do not provide and indexing function. The hunt continues.  

Persea borbonia (the Red Bay) often has many leaf galls.

There are four Perseas locally: P. humilis, P. borbonia, P. palustris and P. americana. The first and the last are easy to identify. The last one, P. americana, is the avocado of various cultivars. The first, P. humilis, the Silk Bay, only grows in the upper dry ground in the middle of Florida and is bronze-colored on the under leaf.  You can use those leaves for flavoring. P. borbonia, and P. palustris were one species previously. Their differences can be minute or blatantly obvious. Here’s how to tell them apart: First get a microscope… well, not totally necessary but… Generally P. palustris, the Swamp Bay, grows near water or in damp soil and can get 20 to 30 feet high, occasionally  more. P. borbonia, the Red Bay, grows where it is less wet and can get to 65 feet. The leaves are aromatic in both species, look very much alike to the naked eye, and are used the same way, as a tea, marinade or flavoring. A #10 hand loop, the mainstay of the forager in the field, is not quite strong enough to tell the difference. 30x works very well.

Persea humilis, the Silk Bay, has leaves that are bronze colored on the back.

Under a microscope at 30X the difference is clear. Both species have hair on the petiole, on the main stem on the underside of the leaf, and on the underside of the leaf itself. On the P. borbonia the hairs are sparse and or lay down, think balding and slicked back. On the P. palustris the hairs are many and upright, bushy, think afro. While weather may often make identification characteristics on the petioles difficult the main stem on the underside of the leaf is very consistent. Bushy tiny hairs, P. palustris, slicked down or few hairs, P. Borbonia. Simple perhaps but it took me several years to sort it out. It was also an excuse to buy a specimen microscope. One other Persea point: I have found P. palustris growing in very dry conditions on high ground around lakes, read no where near damp conditions. Whereas all the P. borbonias I have found have not been near any water. They’ve all been high and dry. Lastly P. borbonia often is infected with leaf galls, P. palustris usually is not. You can read more about the Perseas here.

For what its worth: Male ducks don’t quack. Only female ducks quack, male ducks “whisper.” Thus whenever you hear a “quack” it is a she. And… the easiest way to catch park ducks… is with a cast net. Incidentally, ducks, unlike chickens, will lay their egg where ever they are, unless sitting. Whereas a chicken will always lay in the same place, a duck will drop an egg whenever so moved. So if you want duck eggs and you raise ducks you have to keep them enclosed until they lay for the day. On a personal note I have raised chickens and ducks. Of the two, ducks have far more personality and are more engaging than chickens. Admittedly watching a chicken grub for bugs is entertaining but ducks are an intellectual cut above. They are precocial whereas chickens are altricial. (Baby ducks can pretty much take care of themsevles, whereas baby chicks need nurturing.) My favorite ducks were Khaki-campbells, good layers who don’t need a pond of water to propagate. You can read about these ducks here.

This is weekly issue 296. A thunderous storm front pushed the publication back from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning. 

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

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Newsletter 13 March 2018

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Pawpaws are blossoming heavily. Photo by Green Deane

I don’t play Flag Football. In fact I don’t think I have ever played any sport. But this time of year I do play Flag Pawpaw, Asimina obovata. How do I play? Driving down the road at 60 miles per hour…Okay, maybe not that fast. But, with care, I look for shrubs in pastures, shrubs one to six feet high with large, almost Magnoila-like blossoms. Those will be Pawpaws and now is the easiest time to find them. They won’t fruit for a couple of months but at least you’ll know where they are. And yes, Pawpaw were mentioned in a recent newsletter but the topic is worth revisiting because they are very easy to find now. Look for them. 

Pawpaws seeds are not edible.

Grazing livestock tend to leave Pawpaws alone. It could be because the blossoms smell like rotting meat. That attracts a carrion fly which thinks there’s rotting flesh nearby but ends up pollenating the Pawpaw (that almost sounds like a poem or a country song.) I would also think the shrub and leaves also aren’t tasty or they would be eaten as well. But, that makes Pawpaw easy to spot. Often they are the only shrub in a pasture, their unpalatability increasing survivability. As humans we like Pawpaws and there are commercial varieties. But they also cause one in a million anaphylactic shock. So don’t eat your first Pawpaw by yourself. That liability keeps lawyers keeping Pawpaws off the market in the United States, or other places where product law suits are common. You can read about Pawpaws here.

Humming birds like the Eastern Coral Bean. Photo by Green Deane

Also easy to spot this time of year is the Eastern Coral Bean aka Cherokee Bean. It’s a skinny spike with long, tubular flowers, usually in dry places. During our foraging class at Haulover Canal this week they were in full bloom everywhere. While a few of the blossoms are edible raw, they are usually boiled then mixed with scrambled eggs. That’s been mom’s home cooking for many centuries from Southwestern United States into Mexico. Why that combination and why it is a tradition I do not know. Traditions often just happen. But I do know that when you boil the blossoms for a few minutes they turn green. Funny how foraging books in the past never mentioned that. Maybe the writers didn’t actually eat the blossoms. The flowers don’t have a particular flavor raw or cooked. In time the blossoms turn into large red beans with black tips. The beans are toxic. Don’t eat them. The young leaves, actually leaflets of three, are also edible cooked but little to write about. To read more about the Eastern Coral Bean go here.

The rings are the function of  leaves on the Australian Pine.

Is it time to mention the Australian Pine again, which really isn’t a pine. Indeed there are many plants called “Pine” that are not pines… the Australian Pine, the Norfolk Pine, the Screw Pine. As they are not in the Pinus genus they usually are not used like true pines. As for the Australian Pine it is more closely related to the oaks but does have some edible parts, barely. You can drink the red sap. The dry sap also turns into a gum that is edible. Young cones, seeds and branchlets are also edible cooked but you have to be really hungry. The tree is also an indicator of fresh water, even on the shore. Where they grow there will be fresh water, either floating on top of salt water or in a swale. And, you can dig up the shallow roots for water. The tree has been in this part of the world for about 170 years. As with many invasive species the U.S. Department of Agriculture had a hand in their proliferation. Locally it was in Palm Beach by 1921 and within 20 years it was the most planted tree in Florida. Within 10 years after that ordinances were being passed to control it. You can read about the invasive species here.

Foraging classes are held rain or shine also cold or accompanied by piglets. Photo by Green Deane

Foraging Classes: This past week we wandered around Haulover Canal, north of the space center. It’s the longest class walk — four miles — and can be hot and dusty. It usually includes some climbing and scrambling along a skinny walkway under both sides of the bridge. We saw what one would expect to see in Oak Scrub except cool temperatures are moderated by the water there. One very odd-man out was Lambsquarters on the shore of Mosquito Lagoon. It’s usually found in rich agricultural soil but there it was. We also got to taste two common shore edibles, Sea Blite and Beach Carpet. Edible, but not so easy to catch, were three young wild pigs. The upcoming classes are:

Saturday, March 24th, Florida State College,  south campus, 11901 Beach Blvd.,  Jacksonville, 32246.  9 a.m. We will meet at building “D”  next to the administration parking lot.

Sunday, March 25st, Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. Meet at the picnic tables next to the pump house, 9 a.m.

Saturday, March 31st, Wickham Park, 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. Meet at the “dog park” inside the park, 9 a.m.

Saturday April 7th, Colby-Alderman Park: 1099 Massachusetts Street, Cassadaga. Fla. 9 a.m., meet near the restrooms.

Sunday April 8th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. 9 a.m. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park

Saturday, April 14th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. Meet at the pavilion east of the tennis courts near the YMCA.

Sunday, April 15th, Red Bug Slough Preserve, 5200 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL, 34233, 9 a.m. 

Saturday, April 22nd, Spruce Creek, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 32127, 9 a.m., meet at the pavilion. 

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

Lambsquarters often has a mealy look. Photo by Green Deane

Lambsquarters was one of the first edible wild plants I learned about because they grew with wild mustard in our front lawn (which as one might guess was not really a lawn.) Other edibles around the house were wild raspberries, apples, grapes, choke cherries, strawberries, blueberries, dandelions, sand roses and violets near the septic tank. They were called “Johnny Jump UPs” and my mother loved them.  As one might guess Lambsquarters (aka Pigweed and Fat Hen) was a common weed in rural Maine where I grew up. Besides our front lawn we had two neighbors who always had a huge unintentional stand of them. Here in Florida they are harder to find. I’ve had the most success in abandoned or poorly kept citrus groves.  Indeed, one place where I used to harvest them regularly was just such an ignored grove. Now it’s a residential community and no Lambsquarters. So as mentioned above it was not only an uncommon find this past weekend but in a very unusual place, not ten feet from the brackish water of Mosquito Lagoon. You can read about the weed here. 

The DVD set has 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 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 are going well and is approaching 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.  Recent upgrades have been paid now the Forum needs work and several function problems need to be fixed specifically the search and categories.  A new server also has to be found by April. The other issue is finding  an indexing program or function for a real book. Writing programs used to do it automatically if you designated a term for indexing. Now that most books are ebooks most writing programs do not provide and indexing function. The hunt continues.  

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 who eat first then ask questions later. Recent topics include: Bacopa monnieri, Herbalist Question, Bittercress?, Pine Pollen,  Pawpaw? Thistle Flower Buds, Gigantic Pony Foot, Beach Carpet? Lots of Smilax and early Grapes Showing UP,  Some Kind Of Pennywort, Plants Called Bugle, and Partridgeberry. You can join the forum by clicking on “forum” in the menu.

As many who attend foraging classes have learned almost all seaweed is edible. But most of it does not taste good. Today let’s look a related topic: Is there arsenic in seaweed?

The answer is yes and no (and know Loquat fruit also have a bit of arsenic.) The debate has a couple of salient points: First is the arsenic natural or man-made? Natural (organic arsenic) usually comes from the digestion of arsenosugars (not unlike cyanide from the digestion of glyco-cyanides in non-agricultural cassava.) Upon digestion the arsenic is released. Then, secondly, there is the separate issue of contamination by man-generated inorganic arsenic which is also in a different chemical form.

Empty skate eggs and red Gracilaria. Photo by Green Deane


Two times in the last 12 years Canadian and British governments warned consumers to limit consumption of the seaweed Hijiki  (Hizikia fusiformis) because of high levels of inorganic arsenic. It was not banned because there was little data on consumption of Hijiki and possible illness from arsenic compounds. The advice was to limit to consumption of that seaweed. The greatest threat from Hijiki appears to be an increase in liver cancer. Other commercial seaweeds were not included in the warning such as Arame, Nori, Kombu, and Wakame. They were found to be free of arsenic. A study last year found that brown seaweed has higher inorganic arsenic concentrations than red seaweed. Those would be Hijiki, Kombu, Wakame, Arame; red varieties were Nori and red seaweed. Agar and kelp noodles were relatively low in arsenic concentrations. Wakeme seemed to be the lowest among the brown ones. And actually in all samples the concentrations were “negibible” except Hijiki. A 2015 study again found Hijiki to be of the most concern. The Japanese government says they have no cases where consumption of Hijiki has lead to any know cases of illness related to organic arsenic. Hijiki is usually harvested off the shores of Japan and Korea. Hijiki had not only high organic forms of arsenic but also inorganic forms as well. Perhaps the plant has an affinity for arsenic no matter what its form. The metal is present in seawater naturally and by pollution. Again, other seaweeds tested had no detectable levels of inorganic arsenic. In most seaweed products the amount of inorganic arsenic is less than one part per million.

Sargassum: Edible but not the best of tastes. Photo by Green Deane

Separate from that a March 2016 report in the Caribbean says Sargassum has a high capacity for accumulating heavy metals such as arsenic and cadmium. The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupation Health and Safety, ANSES, recommended “prohibiting any possible food or feed uses of this seaweed until more in-depth studies can be conducted on the heavy metal contamination of seaweed.” Yet another 2016 report did not mention specific “marine pollutants.” It said among the Sargassums S. fluitains has the lowest amounts of organic arsenic. Sargassum has been used for both fertilizer and animal feed. It is 3 to 16% protein, average 12.8%. Lipid content is mostly PUFAs. It contains a long list of chemicals from polysaccharide to flavonoids and is 3 to 16% protein, average 12.8%. Lipid content is mostly PUFAs. Interestingly Sargassum only begins to decompose when it is on the beach.

Other than Hijiki seaweed seems a good food in its natural state and is not an arsenic concern, at least naturally. The real issue — as it is with most foraging — is how contaminated is the water. Here are some of my articles on seaweeds: Bladderwrack,  Caulpera,  Codium,   Gracilaria,   Sargassum,  Sea Lettuce, and Tape Seagrass.

This is weekly issue 295. 

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

 

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Newsletter 27 June 2017

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American Lotus can transform a body of water into a carpet of green and yellow.

It’s the time of year when lakes, ponds and some rivers turn yellow.

The center develops the seeds resembling a shower nozzle. Photo by Green Deane

The beautiful American Lotus spans definitions. In some places you have to have a special permit to harvest a few. In other areas it’s nuisance species that clogs waterways. Although quite edible and offering several different edible parts, I don’t think the plant will disappear anytime soon. While the seeds are easy to harvest — if you have a raft or a canoe — the starchy roots are a different challenge. The root of a given plant is a long ways from the plant and often several feet under the bottom. If you have a lot of lotus then finding a root is not too difficult. But if you have a few plants finding the roots can be very time and energy consuming. However both the seeds and the roots are worth the effort. You can read about American Lotus here.

Sweet and Bitter Simpson Stopper. Photo by Green Deane

Spying edibles for the first time in the season is always enjoyable. Today while riding along the Seminole Wekiva (bike) Trail I first spotted red Simpson Stopper berries. The Stopper is a native shrub that has been championed for local landscaping. While it can be a stand-alone small tree its main environmental claim to fame is as a hedge plant. As it takes many plants to make a hedge one also gets staggered fruiting. And while it is not confusing to foragers botanists aren’t quite sure what family to put the Stopper in or what species to call it. It literally has had dozens of botanical names. The fruit when orange ripe tastes a little bit like orange marmalade but with a slightly bitter after taste. It makes good jelly. You can read about it here.

Sweet and delicious Pindo Palm fruit picked on the trail. Photo by Green Deane

Also seen today is a fruit I have to restrict myself or I will just eat too many I like the flavor so much. Pindo Palms, which can grow as far north as Washington DC, have a long fruiting season. When it starts is always a bit iffy. Around Memorial Day is as good as any date. But I had not personally seen any ripe fruit this season until today. Of all the palm fruit I have ever tried Pindo is way above the rest. I am surprised it is not a commercial fruit. In fact in my capacity as a consultant for Bacardi I recommended they explore the fruit for distilling purposes. It already has a long history of being used for wine (I have three gallons at the moment.) As mentioned in previous newsletters I do not have a sweet tooth but Pindo Palm fruit is one of those delicious exceptions that I have to restrict myself with. I’m fact, on the trail today I ate 12 and was proud to have managed to stop at 12. You can read about Pindo Palms here.

This domestic chaya doesn’t sting. Photo by Green Deane

This was covered earlier this year but I thought it worth another mention because the species is in heavy blossom. Chaya, a tropical American “food tree.” It is closely related to our local Spurge Nettle. As one might expect Chaya grows in the wild in tropical climates and like the Spurge Nettle stings. The sting to me is annoying but manageable. It goes away in about a hour with me so by the time I think of it a second or third time the stinging is done. The leaves are mashed and or cooked. They have a little bit of cyanide which is why cooking is recommended. Surprisingly the cooking water is safe to drink and is high in vitamin C. There are local reports that I have not followed up on that our Spurge Nettle leaves can be cooked and eaten. It’s one of those things I might try when I have a few days to be ill. You can read about Chaya here.

The cashew apple is edible. The toxic cashew seed on the end and requires special processing.

One of the more strange trees is the cashew. The species is closely related to poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, edible sumac, mangos, and pistachios. The cashew itself is an exceptionally toxic tree. The cashew “seed” is actually an enclosed nut inside an enclosed shell. It is surrounded by a toxic sap. The sap is dangerous. The process of making the seed edible is dangerous. While the end product is a tasty nut it is among the least nutritious of tree seeds. Oddly the cashew “apple” is quite edible and we saw some this past foraging class in West Palm Beach. You can read more about the cashew here.

Classes are held rain or shine.

Have a heavy teaching schedule in July. There will be a class near you. This weekend I have a class near Tarpon Springs on Sunday. Note this month there is a class in Ft. Pierce and Leesburg.

Sunday, July 2nd, John Chestnut County Park: 2200 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor, FL 34685. 9 a.m.

Saturday, July 8th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. Meet east side of the tennis courts near the YMCA building.

Sunday, July 9th, George LeStrange Preserve, 4911 Ralls Road, Fort Pierce, FL, 34981, 9 a.m.

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

Sunday July 16th, Red Bug Slough Preserve, 5200 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL, 34233. 9 a.m.

Saturday, July 22nd, Florida State College,  south campus, 11901 Beach Blvd.,  Jacksonville, 32246. 9 a.m.

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.

You can read more about the classes here.

Do you know these wild edibles? 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.

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.

Edible Oak Swellings?

This was covered a few weeks ago but seems worth a revisit. A century ago a pamphlet was published by a W.C. Coker on “The Seedlings Of The Live Oak and White Oak.” Coker referenced an article called “The Acorns And Their Germinations” by a Dr. Engelmann in Vol IV, 1880, of the Academy of Science of St. Louis. He in turn was referencing three fellows in South Carolina one of whom, William St. John Mazyck, made the original observation. Englemann wrote: “The structure of the acorns and the germination of the oaks seem to be so well-known, that I did not pay much further attention to it until my interest was excited by the information that the germination Live Oak developed little tubers, well-known to … children and greedily eaten by them….”

Does the lower part grow into a temporary edible?

Essentially they write that after the acorn sprouts and sends up a young shoot the root develops a small elongated swelling that is edible. They agreed the swelling contains starch. The question they were discussing was when does the “tuber” form and how long does it last? They suspected it formed before the young shoot developed many true leaves. The swelling persists but grows woody in a few years. The “plate” in the pamphlet (above left) showed older oaks shoots but was used to show the swelling location when younger. One question was why would some species do this and the possible answer was hard times, or if you’re an oak, bad weather. The starchy swelling would help feed the seedling.

On a personal note: I have several potted Ivy Gourds if someone wants one. If you are in the Orlando area or where I will be teaching this month and want one let me know. 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. I can also trade handyman maintenance and landscaping. 

This is issue 263

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

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Newsletter 2 May 2017

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Green Lantana camara berries are toxic. Photo by Green Deane

Two pages of “Plants Poisonous To People” by Julia Morton detail how the Lantana camara is toxic. Morton, a professor of botany at the University of Miami, wrote extensively about edible wild plants, medicinal plants and toxic plants. Page 80 of the aforementioned book has three long paragraphs. The middle one tells us Lantana is highly toxic to grazing animals. The toxin, Lantanine, is broken down by the liver which produces phylloerythrin which causes photosensitization. This leads to jaundice, yellowing of the eyes, swollen head, kidney congestion, and death. Dogs that eat the leaves have liver damage. Morton tells us children are made ill eating the fruit. She presents a case history of a child dying of neuro-circulatory collapse after chewing and swallowing a quantity of unripe green berries. Symptoms can include vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, lethargy, cyanosis, labored slow respiration, dilated pupils, photophobia, ataxia, coma and depressed deep tendon reflexes. Even touching the plant can cause dermatitis and itching. In short we get the picture: Leave Lantana alone. But she also writes on page 80: “The ripe fruit are eaten by natives wherever the plant grows.”

Julia Morton, University of Miami

Huh? Natives eat the berries? Yes, the ripe, metallic-blue colored berries. The green berries are indeed toxic, the ripe blue ones are not (also turn the berry over to make sure it is ripe on bottom.) One can understand why we know the green berries are toxic. Why don’t we know more about the ripe berries being edible? One possible reason is their quality can vary. I’ve eaten sweet ones with few seeds and medicinal tasting ones with a large seed. They also don’t ripen at the same time and have to be individually picked. That does not make them user-friendly. I would like to see a list of nutritional elements to learn if they have substantial contributions there.

Lantana camara have blossoms of different colors. Photo by Green Deane

Lantana is not mention in Facciola’s Cornucopia II nor in Moerman’s Native American Food Plants. Dr. Daniel Austin, whom one gathers was under the administrative thumb of Morton at the University of Miami, takes a few swipes at her in his book Florida Ethnobotany. (She was by the account of folks who knew her, a crusty Vermonter of whom Austin said “she will eat anything.” But she also lost her husband rather young from lung cancer thus she was a leading critic of tobacco and was always on the look out for plant-based cancer palliatives.) Austin notes there are many medicinal uses for the Lantana genus. As to edibility he writes on page 398  “in spite of its poisonous chemicals, some cultures still eat the fruits.” This edibility information, by the way, applies only to the native Lantana camara which has multiple colored blossoms. They are not all pink or all yellow or all orange. Those are man-made varieties. The edibility of those berries is unknown, at least to me. Always make sure you have a Lantana with multiple color blossoms (and again, turn the berry over to make sure it is totally ripe.) To read more about the Lantana go here.

Wild Pineapples produce fruit some people can eat. Photo by Green Deane

One cannot forage long without discovering many botanists have their head intentionally buried in distributional sand. This can be quite true about non-native plants they don’t want to recognize as either existing or growing in certain areas. Kudzu is one, which is up now but not blossoming yet. (If you are in a natural setting and smell an intense aroma of a third-grade class chewing cheap grape bubble gum there is a blossoming Kudzu nearby.) Another iffy botanical locally is Wild Pineapple. It isn’t “here” but you can’t miss it either. Its leaves et cetera take on brilliant hues and you can see why this plant that is not “here” is here: It’s pretty. The fruit is edible by some. I think it’s a genetic thing. Some people can eat it with no problem. If I eat a fruit I can’t taste anything for a few hours. You can read more about Wild Pineapple here.

Fern stolons are puckery. Photo by Green Deane

After heavy rains two things are worth looking for: The first is edible mushrooms. The rain entices fungi to send up their reproductive parts we call mushrooms. There are about 90 different edible species of mushrooms in Florida. The other edible are the swollen stolons of Sword Ferns. Theses epiphytes save water for dry days so after rains they are busy storing water in their brown, fuzzy nodules. While there are five sword ferns locally only one — the non-native — stores water. Their foreign origin a great comeback when someone challenges you for pulling them up: “They’re an invasive non-native. I’m doing my civic duty. Want to help?” You can read about Sword Ferns here.

FORAGING CLASSES: Our foraging class last week in Port Charlotte produced some nice seasonal finds. Sea Blite it near the height of its season. We found enough of it to take pictures and get a taste. This is a member of the Goosefoot family that should be a commercial crop. We also got a chance to taste some Sea Purslane, Beach Carpet, and a few Surinam Cherries. Another nice plant is the Blue Porter Weed which has blossoms that taste like raw mushrooms.  We also saw Simpson Stoppers in blossom. This week’s class is in east Orlando at Blanchard Park. It has a nice representation of wild edibles and we also get a chance to see the very deadly Water Hemlock.

Classes are held rain or shine.

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

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

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

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

To read more about the foraging classes go here. 

Do you know this edible fruit? You would if you read the Green Deane Forum. Photo by GD

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

The Nine-DVD set includes 135 videos.

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

Some are allergic to Birch and Bananas. Photo by Green Deane

Did you know: If you’re allergic to bananas you are also probably allergic to birch trees, and vice versa. No one really knows why. Probably a genetic component someplace. Seven other species for different reasons often cause an allergic reaction in the same person because they are closely related. They are: Poison Ivy, Poison Sumac, Brazilian Pepper, Mangos, edible Sumac, Cashews, and Pistachio. A close Poison Ivy/Mangos allergy is quite common. It is also curious that only three groups get poison ivy: Humans, some monkeys, and guinea pigs.  They are also the only three that cannot make their own vitamin C.

A Yellow Commelina, C. africana

From a 2011 newsletter:  …One of my long-time students, Maryann Pugliesi, during a foraging class happened to spot a Commelina I had not seen in my several decades of traipsing around America. Three-petaled Dayflowers are usually blue, or blue and white. This was mustard, or yellow. A bit of research showed that it is the Yellow Commelina, Commelina africana, from South Africa and once imported as a ground cover. Edible cooked. I am now of the opinion all edible Commelinas need to be cooked, save for the blossoms. How it got to be in Tampa seems to be a mystery. For the historical record it was found on the north shore of the western-most lake to the country club at 8401 New tampa Boulevard, Tampa FL. To read about the Dayflowers click here.

This is issue 255

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

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