Search: dandelion

Eaten by humans, ignored by goat and usually deer, hickory nut meat is quite tasty. Photo by Green Deane

I know a Nubian milk goat that likes bananas. I usually deliver that treat to her under a hickory tree. The hickory nuts on the ground are all but ignored her and her Capran pals. Most hickory nuts are not good for goats. If underfed, goats might try them. Indeed most poisoning among domesticated animals happens when they are starving. There are also a few examples of that among wild animals (which usually involves famished mountain sheep eating lichen.) 

Where’s my banana? Photo by Green Deane

As the hickory nuts are not fare for the fair goat, they are a find for me and thee. I carried a couple of bags of them to my foraging class Sunday. Locally the big question is “is it a hickory or pecan?” If wild it is usually a hickory (further north a black walnut, way further north a butternut.) Locally pecans are usually planted although they can be found in the wild as well, often along river valleys. Hickories are more common. The pecan nut is oblong and has six seams, hickory is usually round with four seams. If in a very damp location (swwamp) and the hickory is over 100 feet high that is a water hickory which has bitter nutmeat. That bitterness can be leached out, similarly to acorns.

If you think nut milk is a modern innovation know native American pounded hickory nuts into  fine pieces and soaked them in water to get a milky liquid they called pawcohiscora (the latter half — hiscora — is from where we get the word hickory.) I used to see a lot of black walnuts while hiking  in the Washington DC area. In Maine where I grew up the butternut was king, it was my mother’s most favored wild snack, and nothing was as great as homemade butternut ice cream (a close second is the commercial maple-walnut ice cream.) Unfortunately many Butternuts in the northeast are suffering from a disease. 

Homemade pumpkin pie. Photo by Green Deane.

What is the difference between a gourd and a squash or a melon et cetera. That crossed my mind as I made pumpkin pies this past week using my grandmother’s 1942 cook book. Gourds usually have tough AND bitter rinds, the rest do not (id est squash, melons et cetera.) By the way the pies came out tasting just right — which for me was a blast from the 60-year past — but they gave me heartburn — ya can’t eat just one! It was a fare trade. You can read about the melons we see in local citrus groves here.

Pellitory is starting its winter run. Photo by Green Deane.

During a recent foraging class in Melbourne we saw inch-high sprouts of the winter edible Pellitory. This shade-loving perennial shows up when fall weather starts and stays around until at least mid-spring. Some years in very shady places you can find old straggling specimens as late as July. It smells and tastes like cucumber thus is also called Cucumber Weed. It’s not a plant you find in the middle of a sunny field. Look for it in shady places like under bridges and big trees To read more about this winter comestible go here. 

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

While I have seen few wild mustards yet this season (just hairy bitter cress) this is the time of year for spring and summer perennial up north to start their seasonal run in the south. This includes sow thistles, mustards and dandelions which we saw in Melbourne. As for classes We are visiting the west of the state this week and the east next week. 

Saturday November 5th, John Chestnut County Park: 2200 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor, FL

Saturday November 6th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771

Sunday November 12th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817.

Sunday November 13th, Florida State College, south campus, 11901 Beach Blvd.,  Jacksonville, 32246.

For more information about the classes, to pre-pay, or to sign up go here.    For all communication with me use GreenDeane@gmail.com

It is also time to mark your calendar for my 12th annual Urban Crawl. It will be Friday December 23rd at 10 a.m. in Winter Park, Florida. We meet in front of Panera’s. It’s difficult to believe I’ve had that walk for twelve years now. The Urban Crawl is free to all.

Florida’s beaches this time of year start to collect dead seaweed. It is nearly all one species, Sargassum; edible but not the tastiest of sea vegetables. It is true that nearly all seaweeds are edible if harvested from clean water. When I lived in Japan an annual environmental demonstration was to develop photographic film from unaltered water taken from Tokyo Bay. Instead of taking a few minutes, the developing took several hours but the point was made: The bay water was polluted. Generally said there are only two non-edible seaweeds in North America.

The first is Desmarestia ligulata. It is laced with sulfuric acid but is used to make pickles. You can find it along the northwest coast of the United States. You’ll know it when you find it because it will burn your mouth. The other in North America (and Central America) is Cyanobacteria which is found in the Caribbean and linked to ciguarera poisoning. It’s not really a seaweed but is a blue-green algae found in the warmer waters. It is why one should never eat older barracuda. I should add never eat blue-green algae from fresh water either nor fish from a fresh water pond with a lot of blue-green algae. They are not on the menu. As for other parts of the world, there might be some toxic red seaweeds in the South Seas. Since most seaweed is edible, and nutritious, why isn’t it consumed more often? Taste and texture. I’ve collected Sargassum here in Florida and prepared it many ways. Semi-drying and frying isn’t too bad but Bladderwrack is better, Sea Lettuce better still. The latter makes very nice salad. Not surprisingly most land animals including birds don’t like seaweed. However, it does make good mulch and fertilizer. So while one may not use it directly in the diet it can still help sustain you with uses in the garden. During Victorian times it was highly used in English agriculture mostly as mulch and fertilizer. Here are some of my articles on seaweed: Bladderwrack,  Caulpera,  Codium,   Gracilaria,   Sargassum,  Sea Lettuce, and Tape Seagrass.

While on the topic of the beach — I’m usually there this coming week for a Greek festival, a birthday, and Veterans Day — many jellyfish are edible, including some that are found in local waters. I had a friend from Taiwan who never ordered from the menu at Chinese restaurants. It was always off-the-menu and then after much discussion with the waiter and sometimes the chef.  One of those chats produced a dish of jellyfish. I was hooked. It was very tasty and jellyfish can be caught while casting for other fish. (I like castnetting and am a castnet junkie.) While a substantial food I’m not sure jellyfish would qualify as a staple because catching them by hand is by chance (which does increase however when in season.) They are also mostly water and need to be dessicated immediately, not a small process. It all depends on how hungry you are and how many of them you have. You should get them live out of the water, not dead on the beach. To read about jellyfish go here

Southern Wax Myrtle berries. Photo by Green Deane

Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Can you make a bayberry candle? Absolutely. Should you? If you have to, yes. If not you might want to reconsider. Southern Wax Myrtle berries are small. They have a little wax on them and why the species name is cerifera — wax producing. But it takes many gallons and a lot of hot work to get enough bayberry wax to mix with tallow (75/25) to make the famous smokeless candle that keeps away insects. No doubt hundreds of years ago it was worth it when folks had tallow from their own cattle, a lot of Bayberries and mosquitoes. Not so much today. A second method is to put some of the barries in you r canle mold then add wax and let the flame burn through the berries. You can also use the dried berries as a spice and the leaves like bay leaves or to make a tea. To read more about the Southern Wax Myrtle go here.

Stinkhorn Mushroom, Clathrus columnatus. Photo by Green Deane

There is a strange mushroom you can see this time of year that almost no one eats, the Column Stinkhorn. It smells like a dead animal, not exactly appetizing. The edibility of the Column Stinkhorn is also debatable. Most list it as not edible and there are reports of sickness in humans eating mature specimens. However, at least one noted expert says when in the egg stage they are mild and edible such as on the left side of the picture to the left. It takes me years of studying a mushroom before I eat it. I think this one needs more study. Their fetid aroma attracts flies which then spread the spores around. Some plants also do that. Pawpaw comes to mind. There is another smelly Stinkhorn, Phallus ravenelli. It is definitely edible when in it’s egg stage. Tastes like radish. 

Toxic Jack O’Lanters. Photo by Green Deane

One attractive mushroom you should avoid are Jack O’Lanterns. They’re toxic and glow in the dark! A least one expert says “Jack O’ Lanterns”  don’t glow in the dark but I took some home and they most certainly do. That is one of those irritation with plants. A recognized expert says one thing but your personal experience says something totally different.  “Jacks” as they are called won’t kill you but they will make you very ill. I know someone who found that out personally… No, it was not me. I prefer to be non-sick. To that end I started and moderate five mushroom pages on Facebook:  Southeastern US Mushroom Identification, Florida Mushroom Identification Forum, Edible Mushroom: Florida, Edible Wild Mushrooms and the Orlando Mushroom Group. 

You get the USB, not the key.

Changing foraging videos: As my WordPress pages are being updated the video set will go away.  They are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have a separate copy. The DVD format, however, is becoming outdated. Those 135 videos plus 36 more are now available on a USB drive. While the videos were played from the DVDs the videos on the USB have to be copied to your computer to play. They are MP4 files. The 171-video USB is $99. If you make a $99 “donation” using the link at the bottom of this page or here, that order form provides me with your address, the amount — $99 — tells me it is not a donation and is for the USB. 

This is weekly newsletter #529. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page.

To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Sedum with mild-flavord leaves. Photo by Green Deane

Confessions of  forager: In a general sense I have known for many years that “Stonecrops” were edible. I avoided them as they were usually associated by writers with cactus (In that they grow well where it is warm and dry znd rocky. Where I live it is hot, wet and no rocks.) So I ignored “stonecrops” for decades except for two: one a distant edible relative I stumble across in Florida, Ice Plant, Carpobrotus edulis,  and sedum purpureum which I played with as a kid in Maine but didn’t eat. We called it frog belly.  

Suzanne Shires making pesto. Photo by Donna Horn Putney

So when I saw this past weekend  herbalist Suzanne Shires and our event host Donna Putney eat two different species of Stonecrop they caught my attention. We were at an event at Putney Farm in South Carolina where I taught four classes and had the opportunity to hear Suzanne talk about plants. (If you can possibly do so attend any presentation of hers, and Donna’s.) The result: I have clippings from Donna of  stonecrop. I will probably have to wait until they bossom to identify them down to the species, but I know they are edible! We had some in a pesto. There are several species of stonecrop with a history of edibility. Among them  Sedum, sarmentosum (high in vitamin C) S. roseum, S. rhodanthum, S. reflexum, S. telephium var. purpureum, and S. acre and several more. Roots of Sedum roseum are eaten after being cooked. The roots of S. roseum are also a common supplement sold under the name Rhodiola rosea. The roots of S. telephium var. purpureum have also been eaten. Sedum. telephium var telephium is a cultivated salad plant in Europe, the leaves are used. S. acre has pungent leaves and is used as a condiment. Native Americans used S. divergens, and S. laxum for food, the latter rolled with salt grass. The red tops of  Sedum integriforlim ssp. integrifolium  were used to make a tea, or the leaves eaten fresh or with fat, the root was also eaten. S. rosea (The rhodiola) was eaten fresh, cooked or fermented. Roots eaten with fat or fermented. (I will ferment Ice plant the next time I run across it.) There are between 400 and 475 different species of Sedum.  Interestingly kalanchoe is in the wider stonecrop group though I have never heard of any of them being edible.Avoid Sedum alfredii which is known to accumulate cadmium. Contemporary references say Sedum means “House Leek” in Dead Latin. Merritt Fernald,the Big Botanical Man at Harvard from 1900 to 1950, author of Gray’s Manual of Botany 1950 (the year he died) says “Name [is] from sedire, to sit, alluding to the manner in which many species affix themselves to rocks or walls.”

Forage Pesto. We picked all the seeds off the cleavers (which I am going to roast.)

Forage Pesto? Yep. Suzanne Shires, above left  made a foraged pesto for Sunday’s class. Among the plants used were cleavers– minus seeds — chickweed, Stinging nettle, dandelions, Jeruselam artichoke leaves, rumex leaves, strawberry leaf, spider wort and sedum (The goal by collecting different species was to create a familiar taste and texture.) Olive oil, sunflower seeds and black walnuts and nutrutioinal yeast (which added a cheese flavor) rounded out the ingredientw, salt to taste.  Besides being an herbalist Suzanne also has the cooking knowledge of what to forage to make into various meals. Her new book is Beyond the Garden Gate, Wild food Recipes. Her previous book is Wild Herb Gardening. Available here.

Cinnamon Sprig

The do-it-yourself plant world can hold many surprises. Years ago while trying to collect vinegar bacteria from scratch I failed completely for about five years. Then while doing something else I accidentally succeeded finding a sure fire way to collect the bacteria. A couple of months ago I potted a couple of dozen cinnamon seeds. No sprouts. I put some leafless twigs — collected at the same time —  in water in and left them outside with daily sun ignoring them (not wanting to throw them.away.) Now I have a leafing sprig.  The photo left is the result, it’s been potted and at the end of the year I’ll move it to a new location.

Foraging classes: Two favorite locations this weekend, Dreher Park on Saturday and Mead Gardens in Orlando on Sunday. Subtropical to subtemperate plant communties.

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

Saturday May 14th Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. 9 a. m. to noon. Meet just north of the science center. 

Sunday may 15th, Mead Gardens, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the bathrooms.

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

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

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

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

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

You get the USB, not the key.

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

Green Deane Forum

Want to identify a plant?  Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk about. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food. Recent topics include: Fermenting potatoeswith yogurt, make a water filter, nixtamalization at home, Stale Bread and Cod Liver Oil, Life’s a Grind, Killing Bugs with Tobacco Plugs, Eating weeds: Is it safe? Have they mutated? Not the Eastern Red Bug but the Pink Tabebuia, African Tulip Tree, Asparagus densiflorus, Green Deane’s Book… You can join the forum by clicking on the button on the upper right hand side of this page.

Did you know there are two elderberry cultivars, john and Adam: They were bred from Sambucus canadensis and have larger berries and ripen sooner than the wild kind. Now you know. I think this picture is of a “John” 

An Elderberry cultivar, “John”. Photo by Green Deane

This is my weekly newsletter #507. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page. My website, EatTheWeeds.com, which is data secure, has over 1500 plants on it in some 428 articles. I wrote every one myself, no cut and paste.

 On a personal note, my rent is doubling. I need a place to move to. Currently renting a two-bedroom small house.  Looking for either a rental or place to buy.  Email Green Deane@gmail.com

                             To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.  

A sweet Goji berry and Ramalina, a lichen — also edible  — at Spruce Creek. Photo by Green Deane

Dandelions are edible but uncommon here. Photo by Green Deane

As you can see above there was one Goji berry still hanging on late Saturday. While called the Christmasberry it can be in fruit until April. We also saw drying fruit on a Foresteria and blueberries in blossom. They’ll ripen into berries about April. (April is the big month locally. Most the plants that fruit do so about April… the aforementioned and blackberries, cherries, wild onions, loquats et cetera.) Also worth mentioning were some plump Smilax berries we saw. They taste best when they look like raisins. I take black plump ones home then dehydrate them. At Eagle Lake Park in Largo the stinging nettles were more than a foot high, which is maximum height for our local variety, Urtica chamaedryoides. It has a horrible sting. The hollies are fruiting non-edibe berries and we saw a dandelion, rare for Florida. They like acidic soil and cool weather. Florida is a hot limestone plate. So we see them here and there mostly during the cooler months. 

Fumaria is not edible but is often found at the same time and place as Stork’s Bill and Cranesbill.

Also found this time of year are wild geraniums, usually Cranesbill or Stork’s Bill. (Why one is one word and the other two-words possessive is unknown.)  Botanically they are Geranium carolinianum and Erodium circutarium.  Neither is great foraging. In fact both are more medicinal than edible but they seem to get mention in a variety of foraging books. The problem is they can be extremely bitter. You might be able to toss a little bit of both in a salad or make a tea from the leaves but that’s about the extent of it. If you have what you think is a Cranesbill or a Stork’s Bill but it has more of a bottle brush blossom than five petal you might have the non-edible Fumaria, see photo left. It comes up this time of year and from a distance the leaves can remind one of the wild geraniums. They like to grow in the same location and have pink or white blossoms. I’ve never found a reference to this but some people have told me they also eat roots of the geraniums. To read more about the “bills”  go here. 

Brookweed in Spruce Creek Park.

You probably heard the old saying:  “A man with a hammer sees nails everywhere.” That is relevant to foraging. Once you learn what a particular plant looks like you will see it more often. That’s what’s happened with me and Samolus valerandi. Brookweed.  I first noticed in Jacksonville a couple of years ago. Then perhaps half a year later in Sarasota. A year after that I noticed it in Palm Harbor and Sunday in Port Orange. It likes to be near fresh water, can tolerate some brackish water and is a small plant with a naked flower/seed spike. Fortunately its flowering arrangement makes it easy to identify. Not much is written about the species, few published books cover it. Mild young leaves are edible raw and are high in vitamin C. That was important when scurvy was a common problem (which is making a comeback in some cities.) Persimmon leaves also have high amounts of vitamin C as dose Firebush berries.  Brookweed has a bit more history of use in Europe. Usually young and tender leaves are what’s eaten, older leaves turn bitter. You can read about Brookweed here. 

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

Foraging Classes: My out-of-town class this weekend is West Palm Beach, always an interesting sub-tropical walk. Looks like the weather will be good that class and for the Sunday’s class in east Orlando, 

Saturday February 19th,  Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. 9 a.m. to noon, meet just north of the science center. 

Sunday February 20th,  Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the pavilion next to (east of) the tennis courts.

Saturday February 26th, Tide Views Preserve, 1 Begonia Street, Atlantic Beach Fl 32233 (near Jacksonville Fl.) 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the parking lot. 

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

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

Sunday March 6th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. 9 a.m. to noon. 

Saturday/Sunday May 7th & 8th,  Honea Path, South Carolina, classes at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. each day. 

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

The Blewit’s violet color quickly fades. Photo by Green Deane

It was with great joy that I found this “choice” wild mushroom eight years ago at Boulware Springs. It’s a Blewit, or Lepista nuda. At first glance it looked like the plastic top of some discarded can under a vine but upon investigation it was a large, beautiful mushroom. At the time I took it to the EarthSkills gathering which then was in Hawthorn Florida, some 20 miles south of Gainesville. I taught on site the day before and there were several mushroom experts in attendance. That was my first mistake. I thought I was safe there. Was I wrong. Have you ever been mugged for a mushroom? There were many offers to take it off my hands but it went home with me and into me. After years of finding non- or barely-edible mushrooms it was my turn to discover a choice one. I revisit that location every year in mid-February, Blewit’s best season locally, and the coldest. Boulware Springs is also where I find Black Trumpet mushrooms beside trails under hickories when chanterelles are also out. 

Wild Garlic will be cloving soon.

In Largo Sunday we visited my favorite place for Wild Garlic. A native that is about nine inches high now but will be blossoming in a few weeks. What makes this Allium curious is that it puts a bulb on at the bottom end — like a pearl onion — and garlic cloves at the top end. This particular species is very pungent. It’s great for cooking or as a trailside nibble as long as you don’t mind strong garlic breath. Before it blossoms the entire plant can be used to make a very nice soup. Oddly there’s no extant record of southeastern natives using the plant and only three peoples had names for it, the Alabama, Chickasaw, and Muskogee. I call it good. I also spread the cloves around in damp spots. They start growing in late December or early January.

Green Deane videos are now available on a USB.

My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out and replaced by a 171-video USB. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  The USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page or click here. That will take you to an order form. Or you can make a $99 donation, which tells me it is for the USB (include a snail-mail address.)  I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. I had to stop making them as few programs now will read the ISO files to copy them. 

Green Deane Forum

Want to identify a plant?  Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk about, such as the one to the left. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food. Recent topics include: California Wild Mushroom Parties, A Good Reason To Eat Wild Garlic, Black Walnuts and Amaranth, Sea Salt and Plastic, Wild Mustard? Heavy Metals. Oriental Persimmons. What is it? Pine Cough Drops and Needles, Skullcap, Malodorous Plant? Another NJ Tree, Maypop? Roadside Plant, Unknown in Sudan, Please Help Identify, and Preserving Prickly Pear Bounty. You can join the forum by clicking on the button on the upper right hand side of this page.

Spurge nettle root, photo by Green Deane

A young mother wrote to me asking how to get rid of the spurge nettle, Cnidoscolus stimulosus. She said she had a couple of acres and the plants were all over the place, bothering her children and her dog.  I wrote back saying “lucky you. The roots are quite delicious, eat them.” She wrote back saying that I did not understand her. She wasn’t interested in eating them: She wants to get rid of them. I replied that I had two good students living very near her who would love to visit her property on a regular basis and dig them up. I added that she could mow the area constantly and in a few years the roots will become exhausted and the plants will die off.

The exchange led me to wonder what was missing? Or better still, what is, as they used to say, the operant factor? That factor is for most people food comes from a quick stop shop or a grocery store. most people don’t cook any more let alone forage or raise food.  In that way of thinking food does not come out of the ground in your suburban back yard. Even gardeners are viewed as a throwback and a tad eccentric. Here is someone who has a replenishing pantry of a staple crop that must be gotten rid of. Those spurge nettle roots easily could represent hundreds of pounds of wholesome, tasty,  food most of the year that does not have to be purchased or stored. Perhaps it’s time to consider a different approach: Train the dog and kids to stay away from the plants,the stinging plant is doing its best but it’s not enough.  To read about the spurge nettle go here.

On a personal note: I am still trying to find a place to rent or buy in southwest Florida. I have a line on something in central Florida but I’d like to have an alternative. Can be a fixer-upper 50 miles from the coast as long as it is zoned agricultural. If you know of place or anyone please contact me: GreenDeane@gmail.com

This is my weekly newsletter #495. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page. My website, EatTheWeeds.com, which is data secure, has over 1500 plants on it in some 428 articles. I wrote every one myself, no cut and paste. 

 To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Dandelions are sporadic locally. Photo by Green Deane

Dandelion blossoms, ten pounds of sugar, and two cakes of bread yeast became my first batch of wine. I was in grammar school at the time but an old hand by then having already made two five-gallon batches of beer out of cooking malt. The wine came out far better than the beer which was made in a five-gallon crock in the basement. (I had to use an oil lamp under it to keep it warm enough to ferment in the winter.) Back then all soda bottles took a cap and we had a capper for making homemade root beer. Thus most of the beer and later the wine went into 16-ounce used Coca-Cola bottles. I can remember one of our neighbors — a Mr. Gowen — getting quite drunk on that Dandelion wine one night. To an 8th grader that was success.

Dandelion after all the seeds have floated away. Photo by Green Deane

The Dandelions I used were huge with blossoms nearly two inches across. They grew in large colonies so it took very little time to collected several pounds of them (and one had the greens for supper.) Unfortunately that is not possible here in warm Florida. Dandelions hate hot weather which is why this abundant northern blossom is seen sporadically during our winter, and then often an anemic version of the real thing. Look around oaks in our cooler months. Dandelions are, of course, not only prime food but medicine as well. If you want to know more about them and a wine recipe you can go here.

Gooseberries come in several colors.

You won’t find wild Gooseberries or currants anywhere near The South. They like cool, humid weather: Think New England, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and west of there (and also possibly the tops of the Appalachian Mountain Chain.) There were several “blights” in the last century. One took out the American Elm and another the great Chestnut. A third took its toll on Gooseberries. They did not get the disease themselves, the White Pine Blister, but they were the intermediate host of the disease. As one might imagine a pine blister in the the Pine Tree State was serious business thus Gooseberries and currants had to go. Legions of Boy Scouts and WPA workers destroyed it where they found it.  But, I do remember seeing them in the wild. We often rode horseback over abandoned woods roads where there were also abandoned farm houses. There I saw Gooseberries and currants self-seeding. A ban on the plants was federally imposted in 1911 then shifted to the states in 1966. You can harvest Gooseberries now here and there at picking farms and no doubt there are some wild one still. You can read about Gooseberries here.

Sea Purslane mounds. Photo by Green Deane

Sea purslane is not seasonal but it does favor the spring by putting on a lot of new shoots. By the time autumn falls the plant has been isolating salt from the water which turns its stems red. Thus one uses green stems as greens (boiled, roasted or stuffed in a fish or the like you are cooking) and the red stems for salt or seasoning. The older stems also get a woody core so one usually does not eat them. Young greens can be tossed right on the grill and wilted for a wonderful flavor. Sea purslane will also happily grow in your non-salty garden. It competes successfully in salty areas but does not have to be in salty ground. If you grow it at home it is not salty. To read more about sea purslane go here.

Classes are held rain or shine or cold. (Hurricanes are an exception.) Photo by Kelly Fagan.

Foraging Classes: Heading north for Saturday’s class, dress warmly as Gainesville will be dipping into the low 50’s. 

Saturday November 6th, Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. Meet at the picnic tables next to the pump house. 9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday November 7th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. to noon, meet by the tennis courts. Remember this is time-change weekend.

Saturday November 13th, George LeStrange Preserve, 4911 Ralls Road, Fort Pierce, FL, 34981. The preserve is only about three miles from the junction of the Turnpike and I-95. It has no bathroom or drinking water so take advantage of the various eateries and gas stations near the exit.

Sunday November 14th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. 9 to noon. The park entrance is on South Denning. Some GPS directions get it wrong. 

Panera’s in Winter Park where we start and finish the Urban Crawl.

My annual Urban Crawl is coming up, my twelfth, on Frkiday, December 17th. A reasonable question is what about foraging in a city? There is some surprising research. Dan Brabaner is a geoscience professor at Wellesley College, Boston. With some undergraduate students they studied preserved food collected from fruit trees and the like in the urban Boston area. What they found was cherries, apples, peaches and herbs were relatively low in lead and arsenic. That is, a serving had less amounts of these toxins than the allowed daily amount for a child. The team also did not find a significant difference between peeled and unpeeled fruit. The fruit was low in toxic chemical because they are the furthest away from any toxins in the soil. This would apply to tree nuts as well. Leafy greens faired well, too, because they grow fast and 1) don’t have time to accumulate toxins and 2) most air pollution on them can be washed off. Brabander also analyzed foraged food from plants growing in the urban environment not growing on agricultural soil. These foods had higher micronutrients because they were not growing on worn-out agricultural soil. Calcium and iron were higher as were manganese, zinc, magnesium and potassium. Thus we know that not only do “weeds” pack more of a nutritional punch because they are wild but also because they can be growing in better soil. My Urban Crawl is a free class We meet in front of Panera’s at 10 a.m. We wander south to the college, stop at Starbucks, go east to the public library area, then back to Panera’s. 

Lady Thumbs are closely related to Smartweed.

Also happily blossoming now is Smartweed, a hot pepper substitute. We saw a lot of it last weekend in a private class in Mayakka City. There are actually two sources of heat on the plant. The leaves have quite a bite. The blossoms are hot and bitter. The blossoms can be white or pink and the plant always grows in damp places if not in water. One odd thing about the species is that it can also be used to catch fish. To read about Smartweed go here.  I also have a video about Smartweed, filmed in the rain if I remember correctly. You can view it here. 

Southern Wax Myrtle berries. Photo by Green Deane

Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Can you make a bayberry candle? Absolutely. Should you? If you have to, yes. If not you might want to reconsider. Southern Wax Myrtle berries are small. They have a little wax on them and why the species name is cerifera — wax producing. But it takes many gallons and a lot of hot work to get enough bayberry wax to mix with tallow (75/25) to make the famous smokeless candle that keeps away insects. No doubt hundreds of years ago it was worth it when folks had tallow from their own cattle, a lot of Bayberries and mosquitoes. Not so much today. You can also put the berries in your candle mold which is far less work. One can use the dried berries as a spice and the leaves like bay leaves or to make a tea. To read more about the Southern Wax Myrtle go here.

Stinkhorn Mushroom. Photo by Green Deane

There is a strange mushroom you can see this time of year that nearly no one eats, the Column Stinkhorn. It smells like a dead animal, not exactly appetizing. The edibility of the Column Stinkhorn is also debatable. Most list it as not edible and there are reports of sickness in humans eating mature specimens. However, at least one noted expert says when in the egg stage they are mild and edible such as on the left side of the picture. It takes me years of studying a mushroom before I eat it. I think this one needs more study. Their fetid aroma attracts flies which then spread the spores around. Some plants also do that. Pawpaw comes to mind. 

Green Deane videos are now available on a USB.

My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out and replaced by a 150-video USB. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  The USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page or click here. That will take you to an order form. I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. 

Green Deane Forum

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

Sea Grapes ready for cooking then fermentation. Photo by Green Deane

My latest country wine adventure is a test gallon of Sea Grape Wine. As most were recovered from the ground they were boiled first and for good measure sulphided as well. The problem with wine making, if there is one, is that it can take years to find out if you were on the right track and the right recipe. That is probably why home winemaking has a less than stellar reputation. The problem with Sea Grapes is they have a unique flavor. When you make them into jelly they lost that unique aspect and taste like apply jelly. I am hoping Sea Grape Wine will taste like Sea Grapes, not apple wine… 

We end on a sad note. A hiker in South Carolina, Devin A. Heald, 37, has died from eating Sesbania vesicaria, also called Bagpod. It’s in a group with Crotalaria, most if not all toxic. He ate it while hiking on the afternoon of Tuesday, the 26th of October, and died early in the morning on Thursday the 28th. It is understandably a difficult time for his family and friends. I teach students in my classes to avoid the legume/pea family. While there are notable exceptions almost all the plants in that group are toxic to humans. They do not want to be eaten. The suspected toxins with this species are saponins though I would not be surprised to learn lectins were also involved. The plants are common as they used to be used as an off-year nitrogen fixer, so called green manure. There are numerous reports of them sickening a variety of animals and fowl including chickens, sheep, cattle, hogs, goats and cats. Cattle, unfortunately, develop a taste for them and gain access when put on new pasture with the plants in the fall. Death from this species is brutally painful.

This is my weekly free newsletter #480. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page.

 To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Foraging class, Honea Path, S.C. The five cousins, lower right, are Lenard, Deane, Scott, Charlotte and Cherri. Photos by Donna Horn Putney

This summer’s foraging classes at Putney Farm in Honea Path South Carolina are now history, with four this past weekend. They were so well received we will probably do a weekend of classes there in mid- or  late September, weather allowing. We managed to get through the weekend without a significant storm at class time. South Carolina shares many species with Florida though one doesn’t often see them here. American Beech comes to mind. It was the favorite tree nut of my mother. Sourwood also gets to Florida, or so the maps say, but I’ve never seen it in the state. And of course there are a lot of Birches in South Carolina. The only ones I see where I live were planted. One surprise was my cousin Lenard planted a Moringa Tree... in zone 8A. Reports say with the right conditions it will survive there but is more suited to zones 9 and 10. In Central Florida the tree will easily grow 10 feet a year. Five Florida students, Brian, Derrick, Rose Ann, Tom and Valerie also attended which is dedication and for me very humbling. It’s an 8 to 10 hour drive, ten up for me, eight back. It was also a reunion of cousins, four firsts and one first removed. That doesn’t happen too often. 

Classes are held rain or shine or cold. (Hurricanes are an exception.) Photo by Kelly Fagan.

Foraging Classes on both coasts this weekend, Sarasota Saturday and Melbourne Sunday. This time of year weather becomes a constraint on classes. So next week will be Lastrange (before too much rain, it often floods) and in mid-august West Palm Beach because long-term forcasts put a lot of storms in south Florida in late August and September. 

Saturday July 24th, Red Bug Slough Preserve, 5200 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL, 34233, 9 a.m. to noon. Meet by the parking lot. 

Sunday July 25th Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. Meet at the “dog park” inside the park, 9 a.m. to noon. 

Saturday July 31 George LeStrange Preserve, 4911 Ralls Road, Fort Pierce, FL, 34981, 9 a.m. to noon. 

Sunday August 1st, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. 9 a.m. to noon. Entrance to the park is on Denning. Some GPS get it wrong

Saturday August 7th, Spruce Creek Park, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 32127. Meet at the pavilion, 9 a.m. to noon. 

Sunday August 8th, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. 9 a.m. to noon, meet just north of the science center. 

Saturday August 14th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the parking lot in the park on Bayshore at Ganyard Street. 

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

Sumacs are in blossom. Photo by Green Deane

What is that? It’s a common question locally now that Sumacs are in bloom. Their creamy terminal blossoms stand out looking somewhat exotic among the dark green foliage. The most common species here is Winged Sumac which is also one of the most widely-distributed sumac in North America. It’s found nearly everywhere though in different locales other species may dominate.  Where I grew up in Maine Staghorn Sumac was the common species and grew quite tall. I see them often when I visit North Carolina, Winged Sumac in South Carolina. The key to making sure you have an edible sumac and not toxic Poison Sumac or Brazilian Pepper is the location of the blossom and subsequent fruit. Edible sumacs have terminal clusters of medium to dark red berries covered with fine hair. In this case “terminal” means they are on the very end of  the branch, like the blossom on the left. Brazilian Pepper has pink berries that are further down the branch. Poison Sumac, which only grows only in wet places, has dull cream to green-cream berries also further down on the stem. To read more about Sumacs go here. 

Two and a half gallons of Jambul Wine before racking. Photo by Green Deane

Country Wine Update: A country wine is usually anything other than grapes made into wine. I have made wine for literally over 60 years (with some time off for bad behavior.) My first batch was Dandelion Wine way back in the early 60’s BC (Before Computers.)  My latest pitch is Cactus Pad wine as we have a lot of them around. Usually such wine is made from the “Tuna” the purple fruit of the Cactus. This is reasonable in that they are sweet and can have a raspberry flavor (don’t forget to wash off the glochids and be careful of the seeds, they can break teeth.) You could make wine out of cactus blossoms only but it would be a delicate white wine and probably would be better off as a flavoring for mead. As I am using tender young Nopales pads and aiming for a dry or semi-dry wine I decided to add a good amount of lime to see what that combination might produce. At the moment the wine is close to jelly which suggest some complex sugar molecules I did not count on. Cactus pads are edible as long as they are pads and have no white sap. White sap means you have made a mistake and have a Euphorbia. They are toxic. Still fermenting in my one-room winery is St. John’s Mint Wine. I have decided to put that in seven-ounce bottles so I have a couple of dozen I can share with future classes. The biggest problem to making wine is finding bottles to put it in.  

Soon most Saw Palmetto Berries will be turning gold then black.

As we are approaching August Saw Palmetto Berries are turning from green to gold. In another month they will be black and edible (so to speak.) Many folks find the flavor of Saw Palmetto berries revolting. I am not sure they are an “acquired” taste or a tolerated one. You will either be able to eat them or not. Basically they tastes like vomit. To be a little more gracious they taste like intense blue cheese with some burning hot pepper tossed in. Once you get used to them they are… endurable. But if you were hungry you would crave them in that they have all the amino acids humans need to be healthy. They are good for you even if you don’t like them. As with some fruit — Durian for example — the smell is enough to dissuade many people from eating them. Saw Palmetto berries will be ripening for the next month or so thus you have plenty of time to try one.

Green Deane videos are now available on a USB.

My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out and replaced by a 150-video USB. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  The USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page. That will take you to an order form. I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. 

Green Deane Forum

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

Your donations to upgrade the EatTheWeeds website and fund a book were appreciated. A book manuscript has been turned it. It had 425 articles, 1326 plants and a third of a million words. What it will be when the publisher is done with it next year is unknown. It will be published in the spring of 2023. Writing it took a significant chunk of time out of my life from which I have still not recovered. (Many things got put off.) The next phase is to update all the content on the website between now and publication date. Also note as it states above the 135-video DVD set has been phased out for 150-video USB. Times and formats change. Which reminds me I need to revisit many plants and make some new videos. 

This is weekly newsletter #466. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page.

To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Cutleaf Evening Primrose. Is it edible? Photo by Green Deane

The tall Evening Primrose of northern back yards.

Is it edible? The quick answer is no… maybe…. yes? The plant in question is the moth-pollenated Evening Primrose (whose blossoms open sunset to sunrise.) We have three species in locally, two are considered edible, the third is up in the air.  Oenothera biennis is called a “lost vegetable.” It was cultivated in the area of Germany for about a century. The cooked root is edible, shoots raw or more often cooked, flowers in salads or pickled. Young pods steamed. There are two cultivars, EP 10 and Saguin. It’s the Evening Primrose I grew up with in Maine, a rather tall plant for a root vegetable, one to two yards high. It supposedly grows in central and North Florida but I have never seen it locally. It’s listed in most of North America except Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Wyoming. The big debate is whether the plant is native to North America or is European. The other edible Evening Primrose locally is O. fruticosa, also called the “Wild Beet.” Natives parboiled the leaves then cooked them in grease. No mention of the root. Its seed capsules are club shaped. The primrose I see most often, however, is the “non-edible” low-growing O. laciniata aka Cutleaf Evening primrose. It is also the most common and has round seeds and short petals, an inch or less. 

Cutleaf Primrose blossom. Photo by Green Deane

Many years ago I asked Forager Emeritus Dick Deuerling if O. laciniata was edible and he flatly said “no.” But on consideration texture and or palatability was important to Dick and he could have said no because he didn’t like to eat the plant. He felt that way about Burnweed (Erechtites hieraciifloius.) He was well-known for saying while there are a lot of edible wild plants “I only eat the good stuff.” The Florida Native Plant Society says the seeds and leaves of the Cutleaf Evening Primrose were used as food and medicine by the Cherokee. It is not mentioned in Cornucopia II or Moerman’s Native American Food Plants.  To make things complicated there are 16 “evening primroses” in Florida, 11 native. I have tasted one blossom of the Cutleaf but not yet consumed one (I had a long, awful illness after tasting a Tropical Sage blossom once [Salvia coccinea.]  My blossom-experimenting days are behind me.) 

Note the black flecks in the upper blossom of the H. radicata. Photo by Green Deane

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

Also blossoming right now is our local yucca. Photo by Green Deane

Also blossoming now are our local yucca, Yucca filamentosa. While some wild edibles are under-rated perhaps the Yucca is over-rated. You will read in many foraging books that the blossoms are edible raw. Good luck with that. I have never found that so with our local species. Raw they have a wonderful texture and initial flavor but then a natural soap kicks in and leaves a bitter aftertaste that is quite disappointing. Cooked flowers, however, are quite tasty though you always have to knock out a lot of insects before cooking… well, you don’t really if you want some extra protein.  I usually boil the blossoms. The flower spike is also edible when very young.  Other parts are famine food. To read more about the yucca go here.

Classes are held rain or shine or cold. (Hurricanes are an exception.) Photo by Kelly Fagan.

Foraging Classes: Center State Saturday, east Orlando, and middle west coast Sunday, Sarasota. 

Saturday, May 1st, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. to noon, meet at the pavilion next to the tennis courts.

Sunday, May 2nd, Red Bug Slough Preserve, 5200 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL, 34233. 9 a.m. to noon.

Saturday, May 8th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet by the bathrooms. The entrance to Mead is on Denning not Pennsylvania. Some GPS get it wrong. 

Saturday, May 15th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. 9 to noon. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park.

Sunday, May 16th, Spruce Creek Park, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 32127. 9 a.m. to noon, meet at the pavilion. 

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

Green Deane videos are now available on a USB.

150-video USB would be a good spring present and is now $99. My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  The USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page. That will take you to an order form. I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. 

Green Deane Forum

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

Your donations to upgrade the EatTheWeeds website and fund a book were appreciated. A book manuscript has been turned it. It had 423 articles, 1315 plants and a third of a million words. What it will be when the publisher is done with it next year is unknown. Writing it took a significant chunk of time out of my life from which I have still not recovered. (Many things got put off.) The next phase is to update all the content on the website between now and publication date. Also note as it states above the 135-video DVD set has been phased out for 150-video USB. Times and formats change.

This is weekly newsletter #455. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page.

 To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Bottlebrush Trees are happy now. Photo by Green Deane

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.  Then along came Latin that liked to be soft and flowery. English, conversely, is punchy and muscular. It gets to the point quickly. When you have a choice while writing always opt for English-based words over Latin-based ones. Extinguish The Conflagration doesn’t say it as well as Put Out The Fire!  So when it came to a tree in which the leaves were used for tea it became the Tea Tree. And its oil became Tea Tree Oil with most folks forgetting the leaves can also be used for tea. The same down-to-earth approach was used with a very close relative to the Tea Tree, the Bottle Brush Tree, genus Callistemon. You can use the blossoms of the Bottle Brush Tree for tea or the leaves. The blossom tea tastes better and is slightly pink. Or, you can combine them.  You can also use white Bottle Brush Tree blossoms for tea. By the way Latin was used for scientific names because it is a dead language that doesn’t change because no native population speaks it. To read about the Bottle Brush Tree go here. 

Candyroot and be yellow or orange, tall and short.

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 right. 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.) I saw a lot of it last week in the flood area of the St. Mary’s River in northeast Florida. 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. 

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

An imported and naturalized tree that is fruiting a now is the Loquat. It’s a very common backyard fruit tree which has liberated itself into the landscape. Most of the Loquats locally fruit in the spring but there is a variation that fruits in the fall, not common. I have seen a lot of Loquats in fruit this season. While it is commonly called the “Japanese Plum” it is not a plum nor is it from Japan but it is in the greater rose family. The fruit is edible from tart yellow to sweet yellow. The green fruit is toxic particularly to children. You can read about the Loquat here.

Mulberries are green now turning pink.

On a 40-mile bike ride recently I saw a few other plants worth mentioning. Red Mulberries are starting young, green fruit. The young leaves are edible cooked. The unripe green fruit is mildly mind-altering but will upset the stomach. Try not to eat them. Also seen along the bike trail are blossoming Blackberries. There are two kinds of Blackberries locally, those that grow canes and those that crawl along the ground. Both produce edible fruit in April. Also noticed along the trail are Maypops. They are not unusual, in fact very common. But until they get a foot long or so they grow upright and look like a vertical plant. But somewhere between 12 and 15 inches the plant keels over and becomes the familiar vine that can grow a hundred feet or so. And if one looks closely here and there one can also find some bird-missed Creeping Cucumbers.

Classes are held rain or shine or cold…

Foraging Classes: One foraging class this weekend because of medical appointments. I am, after all, a septuagenarian. (It will take me a decade to get over that.) 

Sunday, March 14th, Wickham Park, 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the “dog park” inside the park.

Saturday, March 20th, George LeStrange Preserve, 4911 Ralls Road, Fort Pierce, FL, 34981. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet in the parking lot. 

Sunday, March 21st, Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. 9 a.m to noon, meet at the pavilion by the pump house. 

Saturday, March 27th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park.

Sunday, March 28th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. 9 a.m. to noon. The entrances is on the west side of the park on Denning. 

Saturday, April 3rd, Florida State College, south campus, 11901 Beach Blvd.,  Jacksonville, 32246. 9 a.m. to noon. We meet at Building A next to the administration parking lot. Whether the bathrooms are open or not is always a problem at this location.

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

Green Deane videos are now available on a USB.

150-video USB would be a good spring present and is now $99. My nine-DVD set of 135 videos is being phased out. They are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have a separate copy.  The USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. They are MP4 files. My headache is getting my WordPress Order page updated to reflect this change. We’ve been working on it for several months. However, if you want to order the USB make a $99 “donation” using the link at the bottom of this page or here.  That order form provides me with your address, the amount — $99 — tells me it is not a donation. Please include a snail-mail address.

Green Deane Forum

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

This is weekly newsletter #448 If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page.

 To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

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

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

Fruit of the Latex Strangler Vine. Photo by Green Deane

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

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

Foraging classes: Two favorite class locations are  on tap this weekend end, Mead Garden in Winter Park and Red Bug Slough in Sarasota. 

Saturday, March 6th, Red Bug Slough Preserve, 5200 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL, 34233. 9 a.m. to noon. 

Sunday, March 7th, Mead Gardens, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. 9 a.m. to noon. The entrance is on the west side off Denning  not the east side off Pennsylvania. Some GPS maps are wrong. Meet near the bathrooms.  

Sunday, March 14th, Wickham Park, 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the “dog park” inside the park.

Saturday, March 20th, George LeStrange Preserve, 4911 Ralls Road, Fort Pierce, FL, 34981. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet in the parking lot. 

Sunday, March 21st, Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. 9 a.m to noon, meet at the pavilion by the pump house. 

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

Clover prefers low nitrogen soil.

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

Bacopa monnieri can have four or five petals.

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

Violet Photo by Green Deane

There’s a huge variety of violets in North America ranging from Wood Violets to those that like to grow down hill from the septic tank. Its cultivated brethren is the pansy. Whether wild or cultivated violets are attractive, personable blossoms, usually on the sweet, viscous side. There are a couple of precautions, however. The first is to make sure the soil they are in — either a pot or bed — is wholesome and that the water they are getting is good. If they come from a garden center they might have pesticides on them. The other precaution is a bit more esoteric: Yellow blossoms tend to have a laxative effect. We saw these violets during out foraging class in Jacksonville this past weekend. You can read about violets here. I have a video about them here.

Green Deane videos are now available on a USB.

150-video USB or 135 video DVD set would be a good spring present and either is now $99. My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been selling for seven years and are still available. I have one set left. They are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have a separate copy.  A second option is a 16-gig USB that has those 135 videos plus 15 more. While the videos can be run from the DVDs the videos on the USB have to be copied to your computer to play. They are MP4 files. The150-video USB is $99 and the 135-video DVD set is now $99. The DVDs will be sold until they run out then will be exclusively replaced by the USB. This is a change I’ve been trying to make for several years. So if you have been wanting the 135-video DVD set order it now as the price is reduced and the supply limited. Or you can order the USB. My headache is getting my WordPress Order page changed to reflect these changes. We’ve been working on it for several months. However, if you want to order now either the USB or the DVD set make a $99 “donation” using the link at the bottom of this page or here.  That order form provides me with your address, the amount — $99 — tells me it is not a donation and in the note say if you want the DVD set or the USB. 

Green Deane Forum

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

Unprocessed cashews are not edible.

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.  Before Hurricane Irma we saw them in West Palm Beach. The storm took them out. You can read more about the cashew here.

This is weekly newsletter #447, If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page.

 To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Wild Violet. Photo by Green Deane

A common blossom that’s easy to identify is the wild violet. It’s cultivated brethren is the pansy. There are a huge variety of violets in North America ranging from field pansies to those that like to grow down hill from the septic tank. Whether wild or cultivated violets are attractive, personable blossoms, usually on the sweet, viscous side. There are a couple of precautions, however. The first is to make sure the soil they are in — either a pot or bed — is wholesome and that the water they are getting is good. If they come from a garden center they might have pesticides on them. The other precaution is a bit more esoteric: Yellow blossoms tend to have a laxative effect. You can read about violets here. I have a video about them here.

False Hawk’s Beard like cooler weather. Photo by Green Deane

Also making itself better know now is a Dandelion relative, the False Hawk’s Beard. While one can find it all year this edible favors the spring. It’s a very common lawn invader and can occasionally get up to a couple of feet tall. Young leaves are eaten raw, older leaves which can be tougher and a bit bitter, can be boiled. I have a Croatian friend who also cooks up the roots, too.  They can be easily distinguished from the Dandelion by the flower stalk which is branched (unlike the Dandelion which has one straight stalk.) Also the False Hawk’s Beard can have blossoms in all  stages of development at the same time, unopened,  open, and going to seed. I have a video on it here . You can read more about the False Hawk’s Beard here.

Classes are held rain or shine or cold. (Hurricanes are an exception.) Photo by Kelly Fagan.

Spanning the state the weekend with foraging classes. The Melbourne class is about full but there’s plenty of room still in the Sunday class in Port Charlotte. 

Sunday January 31st, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte. 9 a.m. to noon, meet in the parking lot at Ganyard and Bayshore. 

Saturday February 6th, Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. 9 a.m. to noon, meet at the pavilion by the pump house. 

Sunday, February 7th, Mead Gardens, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. 9 a.m. to noon. The entrance is on the west side off Denning  not the east side off Pennsylvania. Some GPS maps are wrong. Meet near the bathrooms.  

Sunday, February 14th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the dog park pavilion.

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

Sunday February 28th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte. 9 a.m. to noon, meet in the parking lot at Ganyard and Bayshore. 

Saturday, March 6th, Red Bug Slough Preserve, 5200 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL, 34233. 9 a.m. to noon. 

Sunday, March 7th, Mead Gardens, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. 9 a.m. to noon. The entrance is on the west side off Denning  not the east side off Pennsylvania. Some GPS maps are wrong. Meet near the bathrooms. 

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

Stinkhorn Mushroom. Photo by Green Deane

Many cheeses have a strong aroma. My mother likened them to dirty socks. She was not a cheese eater, nor did she eat mushrooms. Just as well. We have a very smelly mushroom which when young smells quite tasty but when past the juvenile stage smells like a dead animal. It’s the stink horn. There are many stink horns. This one is Clathrus columnatus. Opinions vary whether it is edible in the “egg” stage. I don’t conveniently see them that often in the “egg” stage to give them a try. Phallus ravenelii is definitely edible in the egg stage and has a flavor similar to radish. 

The Bay Bean has huge seed pods. Photo by Green Deane.

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

Pokeweed seeds before soaking in battery acid

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

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

Green Deane videos are now available on a USB.

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

Green Deane Forum

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

This is weekly newsletter #442. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page.

To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.