Search: Sour orange

Seeds of the Pindo Palm fruit are intensely flavored. Photo by Green Deane

Pindo Palm can fruit almost anytime. Photo by Green Deane

It would be convenient if Pindo Palms fruited regularly. As it is they favor the spring but one can find them dropping fruit almost any month. Recently one near me in a Lowe’s parking lot was shedding a lot. I like to eat the fruit and make wine from it often. This past week I made jelly. Making that preserve is a skill and not one of my best (neither do I bake well.) I usually end up with syrup. The species is also called the Jelly Palm because in the past before we had stores providing us with food and supplies one could make jelly from the fruit without having to add any sugar or pectin. My other object this week were the seeds. 

Pindo Palms are usually short and stalky. Photo by Green Deane

I cooked the fruit then let it cool. Then I squeezed the fruit to soften the fibers and release more juice. Once I drained that for the jelly I separated out the seeds and let them air dry. A little bigger than garbanzo peas they are easy to crack. The seed inside tastes intensely of coconut though the flavor is a bit more complex than that. Maybe a hint of cocoa? Regardless they are tasty and we ate some at both of my foraging classes this past weekend. You can also eat the fruit, then crack the uncooked seed and eat it.  To read more about the Pindo Palm go here, to see a video go here. 

Canna are natives of North America though it took decades to discover that

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. 

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

Foraging Classes: The next two weeks are supposed to hurricane free so attending classes should be easy. 

Saturday September 11th, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. 9 a.m. to noon, meet just north of the science center. 

Sunday September 12th, Colby-Alderman Park: 1099 Massachusetts Street, Cassadaga. Fla. 32706. 9 a.m. to noon, meet near the bathrooms. 

Saturday September 18th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte. 9 a.m. to noon, meet at the parking lot at Bayshore and Ganyard Street. 

Sunday September 19th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.

October 9th and 10th, Honea Path, South Carolina, classes at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. each day. 1624 Taylor Road Honea Path, SC 29654.

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

For small plants Indian Pipes/Ghost Pipes get noticed often. Photo by Green Deane

Several plants were called “Indian Pipes” where and when I was growing up. One of them is the Monotropa uniflora. Living more like a mushroom than a plant it sprouts up in various edibility conversations. It helps focus the issue on exactly what “edibility” means. Other than allergies, edibility does imply it will not kill you or harm you in any significant way. But “edibility” does not have to imply tasty. As forager emeratus 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.

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

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

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

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.

Tallow Plums are tasty wild treats. Photo by Green Deane

Found a lot of Tallow Plums this past weekend. It’s a good time of year to find them. Bright yellow fruit on short spiny bushes. We’ve mentioned them several times in previous newsletters. This weekend they ranged from Sarasota to Melbourne. While they are listed as growing in the central part of the state I have only seen them in two locations mid-state over the past 30 years: On the West Orange Bike Trail in Winter Garden and Ft. Mead park south of the powerlines. They ripen from sour to sweet and tart. Always a popular find. And on Labor Day we actually did a mushroom walk finding chanterelles, milk caps, and boletes. A bit of a treat was finding a few early-season persimmons. One aims for October locally but persimmons can be found ripe from late August to early January. 

This is weekly newsletter #473. 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.

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

Yes, there are land crabs in Florida and the rest of the gulf coast. Water Blue Crabs  are a often seen and caught for food. Land Crabs can be more elusive. Scientifically Cardisoma guanhumi, they are generally considered to be a creature of the southern end of the state and around the gulf to Texas. In Brazil they were a major food source until over harvested. They have been officially reported as far north as Ponce Inlet, which is a little south of Daytona Beach. This specimen was seen in Princess Point Preserve about 50 miles further north… that might be a record. They are out of season from July 1 to October 31st. The limit is 20 per person per day or no more more than 20 in your possession at one time.  Also, no person shall harvest or attempt to harvest them on, upon or from the right-of-way of any federal, state or county-maintained road, whether paved or otherwise, or from any state park. Interestingly they are vegetarians but do occasionally eat each other. With one claw larger than the other they can give you a memorable pinch. Cardiosoma means heart-shaped body.

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

Foraging Classes: Visiting two areas on the east side of Florida this weekend, Port Orange and West Palm Beach. 

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.

Sunday August 15th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. till noon. Meet at the pavilion next to the tennis courts. 

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

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

Horsemint (Monarda punctata) will be easy to find for several months. Photo by Green Deane

This is the time of year to go looking for some favored and avoided wild edibles. One usually starts looking for grapes now as their season is usually full swing by early September. In Ft. Pierce last weekend we saw quite a few single-tendril grapes in season. At the above mentioned Princess Point there were ripe forked tendril grapes (which represent the two large grape groups locally.) Also Podocarpus arils are ripening and August is their usual season. They are a very common hedge species. Also easy to find this time of year is Horsemint, its pretty pink bracts make it easy to spot in sandy areas. This past week we also harvested a lot of Chanterelle mushrooms and Milk Caps, choice foraging food. On the other side of the possible menu Saw Palmettos will ripen soon.  In a word they taste like vomit. They do, however, have all the essential amino acids humans need. 

Goldenrod is ruderal. What does that mean? Read the article. Photo by Green Deane

Also seen blooming now is Goldenrod. It is a bit of a treasure hunt and disappointment. The treasure hunt is that one species is better than all the rest for tea, Solidago odora. It does grow here, has an anise flavor, but is hard to find. It’s reported in most counties but is not common. Goldenrod grows in about half of the United States, southwest to northeast. Other Goldenrod species can also be made into tea, perhaps all of them particularly for herbal applications, but they don’t taste anywhere near as good.  In fact, after the “Boston Tea Party” of 1773 halted tea imports colonialists drank Goldenrod tea and even exported some to China. It did not catch on. However, every time I see a Goldenrod I pull off a leaf and crush it hoping to detect the tell-tale anise smell. It’s a golden treasure hunt.

Pindo Palm can fruit almost anytime of year. Photo by Green Deane

When something is ripe or ready to be harvested varies. A window of a few weeks is normal for most species but often can be extended. Pindo Palms can demonstrate that. I normally start looking for Pindo Palm fruit at the end of spring. Memorial Day reminds me their season is coming soon. By June I am usually eating some here and there. We are now early-August and I had my first Pindo Palm fruit today in Central Florida. The palm’s fruit is one of my favorite wild edibles. I definitely do not have a sweet tooth — in fact I carry the gene for fruit sugar intolerance — but Pindo Palm fruit is one I really like so I keep a close eye on them. While they like late spring and early summer you can find an odd one here and there fruiting around Thanksgiving or Valentine’s Day. They are also a hearty palm and can take a lot of cold temperatures. 

I find Russian Thistles in front of hotels on Daytona Beach. Photo by Green Deane

We shouldn’t forage along railroad tracks and you can blame it all on the Russian Thistle. This species, best known as the tumble weed that rolls across the wild west in movies, came with immigrants to southern South Dakota in the early 1870’s. Best guess is it contaminated their flax seed. By 1895  it reached New Jersey and California. The question was how? A professor who worked for the Department of Agriculture figured out the trains were spreading the seeds coast to coast. It was a remarkable idea at the time and brought him much fame. His solution to the unintentional distribution? Kill plants long railroad tracks. Thus began the practice of putting down some mighty and long-lasting chemicals to kill weeds sprouting amongst the iron rails. Railroad tracks are a good place to find seeds to take home and plant but not to find food. There have even been a few reported deaths from foraging along rail road tracks.

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. 

Creature-eaten pineapple.Photo by Green Deane

Incidentally, if you’re patient you can raise pineapples from the tops of pineapples you buy at the store. However, they have to be extremely ripe to be sweet and a lot of creatures like to eat them. Wrapping pineapple in fencing will usually stop raccoons and possums from sampling but not a bird or two. It also take a couple of years to raise them (same with bananas.) 

This is weekly newsletter #468. 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.

Ripe and unripe Kousa Dogwood fruit. Photo by Green Deane

Wild Apples can be bitter. Photo by Green Deane

Kousa Dogwood, Sassafras, Wild Carrots, Birches, Apples… all species that don’t grow locally or are difficult to find but are common in South Carolina where I have classes this weekend. Wild Apples are particularly interesting. Every apple seed is totally different than the parent tree. There was only one “Granny Smith” apple tree. One Golden Delicious. One MacIntosh tree. They were cloned to make a commercial crop. That can take decades, a century in the case of the Granny Smith originally from Australia in the 1800’s. There used to be thousands of different apples on the market (and plums.) Mechanical farming a century ago diminished those. And if the Wild Apple you find is bitter don’t despair: Bake or roast it. That often makes them sweet. You can read about Wild Apples here. By the way one of the odd thing about Birches is that folks who have an allergy to Birch often have an allergy to bananas, or the reverse: Those with an allergy to bananas are often allergic to birches. A video on Sassafras is here. 

Lactifluus luteolus, an edible Milk Cap. Photo by Green Deane

As one might infer the rains of late have caused a widespread mushroom flush. I started and moderate five Facebook pages on mushrooms. Those pages are getting thousands of posts. Among the edibles are chanterelles, boletes, various milk caps and some of more exotic ones such as Jelly Fungus (snow and wood ears.) At the same time toxic ones are growing, too, from deadly Amanitas to gut-wrenching False Parasols. One way to learn mushrooms is to join and follow the Florida Mushroom Identification Forum which has several published authors and experts. The other pages are Southeastern U.S. Mushroom Identification Forum, Edible Wild Mushrooms, Edible Wild Mushroom Florida and the Orlando Mushroom Group. 

Podocarpus arils. We do not eat the seed. Photo by Green Deane

As mentioned a couple of weeks ago Podocarpus will be coming into full season soon. In my foraging classes we are finding a few ripe arils here and there.  They are tasty and quite grape-like. Locally hedge-Podocarpus tend to be in season in August. Occasionally there is a Podocarpus tree that ripens in December (a different species I presume.) The shrub is in season for a month or more. Look for them in landscaping around homes, churches, and college campuses. They are also edible when they look like raisins (don’t forget to throw away the seed on the end. We don’t eat that.) To read more about them go here, for a video, here.

Foraging Classes are held rain or shine or cold.

Covid prevented my classes in South Carolina last year so we’re looking for good attendance this year. And later this month I have classes from Melbourne to Sarasota to Port Orange. 

Saturday July 17th, Classes at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m at Putney Farm, 1624 Taylor Rd, Honea Path, SC 29654. To preregister email me at GreenDeane@gmail.com or putneyfarm@aol.com. Walk-ins welcomed. These classes are $20 for adults, children free. 

Sunday July  18th, Classes at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m at Putney Farm, 1624 Taylor Rd, Honea Path, SC 29654. To preregister email me at GreenDeane@gmail.com or putneyfarm@aol.com. Walk-ins welcomed. These classes are $20 for adults, children free. 

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

Sunay 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. 

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

Japanese Knotweed. Photo by Green Deane

I am not sure it was with interest or amusement when I read about the Olympic Knotweed Working Group in Port Hadlock, Washington state. They have a knotweed problem that requires organization to combat it. That reminded me of the the Olympic stadium virtually half way around the world in London. It was a site of knotweed infestation and under British law the soil had to be removed and dealt with severely. That added 70 million pounds to the cost of building that stadium. That’s way in excess of  $100 million dollars. Knotweed can break up concrete so it really had to be removed completely where the stadium was built.  In Washington state there’s was an on-going study of how various herbicides and their application can kill of this edible weed.  It’s fairly common in cooler climates and I’ve see a lot of it in the Carolinas. If I remember correctly it is also a commercial source of the anti-oxidant resveratrol. If you want to know more about knotweed click here.

Fruit pulp tastes like raspberries.

In both foraging classes this past weekend we ate raw cactus. As we didn’t have a fire to burn the glochid off either the pads or fruit I cut them off which always leaves a few in my fingers or clothes. I can verify they itch for a few days. Cactus are native to 46 states excluding Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont — the farthest away from their origin in central America. They are native to southern Alaska and parts of Canada. Cactus have been naturalized in many parts of the world. Malta comes to mind where they are living fences and a “traditional” source of wine and spirits even though they are native to Mexico and southward. They used to be mostly in one genus, Opuntia but now are in Opuntia and Nopales. 

Peppervine is an iffy edible. Photo by Green Deane

Putting on black fruit now is the controversial Pepper Vine, Ampelopsis arborea. It is closely related to the edible grape but also closely related to the toxic Virginia Creeper. It’s one of those plants that some folks say is definitely toxic and others say definitely edible. My personal experience is that it is not edible but I know some credible foragers who say they have eating the ripe berries for a long time with no issue. No doubt the problem has to do with annual calcium oxalate production. In small amounts it’s tolerable. In higher concentrations it can cause skin problems or internally upset digestion. Pepper Vine (so-called because the fruit can give a pepper-like burn) apparently can make little to a lot of the chemical each year, varying greatly. Another possibility is method of preparation. Some people juice the berries and let the juice sit in the refrigerator which allows the acid to precipitate. The juice is then carefully decanted through two coffee filters and used. If you do so proceed with caution. The other caution is that Pepper Vine and Wild Grapes can grow intertwined and you can get some Pepper Vine fruit in with your grapes. This also can happen with Virginia Creeper. Pick your grapes carefully. 

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

To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

The edible cashew “apple” an aril is the largest part of the fruit.

Cashews are high in potassium.

The Cashew belongs to a rather toxic group of plants, all closely related and some of which we eat: Poison Ivy, Poison Sumac, Mangos, Brazilian Pepper, Pistachios, and Cashews. While the cooked cashew “apple” and roasted nut are edible the shell’s jell is extremely toxic. Mother Nature does not want you eating those nuts and protects them mightily. Not surprisingly the tree itself looks mango-ish. Many people get a poison ivy like rash from touching mangos. They can, however, usually eat mango if someone else peels it. Like the Ginkgo tree, if you don’t  clean up Cashew debris it can leave a toxic litter. We used to visit one often in my foraging classes until Hurricane Irma destroyed it.  

Nature protects the nut with a caustic brown jell.

The Cashew apple, which can be eaten raw but is safer processed, has per 100 grams 124 mg of potassium, 67 mg of phosphorus, 10 mg calcium, 49 mg vitamin C, 2 mg iron, 3.2 mg fiber, 53 calories and 23 mcg beta-carotene.  The unsalted cashew nut contains 583 calories, 14.85 grams of protein, 47.96 grams fat, 31.71 grams total carbohydrate, 2.9 grams fiber,  548 mg potassium, phosphorus 475 mg,  magnesium 252 mg, calcium 44 mg, sodium 16 mg, iron 5.82 mg, zinc 5.43 mg, copper 2.153 mg, selenium 11.3 mcg  B1 (thiamine) and B2 (riboflavin) 0.194 mg each, B3 (niacin) 1.358  mg, B6 (pyridoxine) 0.248 mg, B9 (folate) 67 mg, choline 59.2 mg, Vitamin E 1.24 mg, Lutein+zeaxanthin 22 mcg, vitamin K 37.2 mcg and  in a separate study 7 mg ascorbic acid. 

Raw cashews are extremely toxic topically.

Cashew trees are planted for three reasons:  They look attractive– make a good shade tree if you clean up under them —  and produce edible parts (with proper preparation.) The tree, which is native to northern Brazil, has large leaves and pretty pink blossoms. Like the Podocarpus there is an aril then a seed on the end. The cashew “apple” is a swollen part of the stem rather than the ovary. It can be yellow to red, is high in vitamin C, juicy and slightly acidic. Rather than eaten out of hand — the “apple” can make the mouth feel fuzzy — it is often used with other fruits and juices via blending. The nut is in a kidney-shaped double shell with a caustic brown liquid between the outer shell and the inner testa that will quickly burn your skin or mouth. The cleaned nut is edible raw but roasted is better and that can reduce allergic responses. Eating them raw is dangerous and difficult because of the caustic chemicals and allergies to the parts that are processed away. After drying the unshelled seeds are soaked for a few days in water. The seed is cooked in oil (210 C) for two minutes then cooled in water. Then they are shelled, dried, and the papery coating — the testa — is removed. The shells with nuts inside can also be fried in an open pan but that is more iffy in that the shells can squirt the bad jell. The smoke is also toxic, don’t breath it in. Another method for the brave is to freeze the shell/nut and shell it while frozen peeling away the acidic jell. Wear heavy gloves and goggles. Work fast. Know that cashew production is the source of questionable labor practices where they are produced.  

Cashews have a burning liquid between the nut and the shell.

Young cashew shoots can be eaten and the “apple” cut in to pieces, blanched, dried, then cooked like a vegetable. In fact it is far more popular where they grow than the nuts. The “apples” also dry well and can be made into jam or wine. They can also be feed to livestock — minus the seed. The “apple” contains five times more vitamin C than an orange and more calcium, iron, and B1 than bananas, avocados or citrus. They are also a good source of magnesium, phosphorus and copper. Cashews bloom in winter so you have to have a warm winter.

Botanically the tree is Anacardium occidentale, Anacardium is Greek with a Latin ending that means heart-shaped — referring to the shape of the aril. Occidentale means western (usually European.) Native to tropical America from Mexico and the West Indies to Brazil and Peru. It has few pests or diseases. 

Green Deane’s Itemized Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION:Spreading evergreen perennial tree to fifteen tall; leaves simple, alternate, obovate, hairless to eight long, six inches wide, pointed or notched, not teeth, short petiolate; flowers numerous in terminal panicles, six to eight long, male or female, green and reddish. The cashew-apple is shiny, red or yellowish, pear-shaped, soft, juicy, six to eight inches long, two to four inches wide; seed surrounded by a hard shell oily, said oil is poisonous causing allergenic reactions in some. 

TIME OF YEAR: Fruits in wet weather, three months from flower to fruit. 

ENVIRONMENT: Grows in almost any soil but does not tolerate salt or frost. 

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Apple edible raw better cooked, seeds processed. 

Loquats are starting to ripen. Photo by Green Deane

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

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

Year-old loquat wine. Photo by Green Deane

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

Wild Garlic/Onion puts cloves on top of the stalks. Photo by Green Deane

Now is the time to start looking for wild garlic/onions. There are seasonal weather influences. Near Gainesville by this time of year I would expect to find wild garlic with cloves. But because of low rainfall both wild garlic and chickweed were behind season. Because of seasonal variations you can find wild garlic locally from now to April or so. What is unusual about Allium canadensis is that it has an onion-like bulb, a strong garlic-scented stem, and grows garlic cloves on top of the plant. To read more about wild garlic go here.

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

Foraging Classes: Heading to a favorited site in southwest Florida this weekend, Port Charlotte at Bayshore Park along the Peace River. 

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.  

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. It wasn’t chickweed as far as the eye could see, but almost. The location: Little Orange Creek Nature Park, Hawthorne, Florida. The event: The Florida Earthskills 2015 gathering. I taught two wild edible plant classes there then a separate class in Gainesville.

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

Chickweed, Stellaria media, has five deeply incised petals. Photo by Green Deane

As for seasonal edibles they are abundant: Chickweed, Pellitory, Cleavers, Wild Radishes, Wild Garlic/Onions, Hensbit, Nettles, Maypops, Oxalis, Sweet Clover, even some frost-brave Poke Weed. And can find Blackberries in bloom as well as the Eastern Redbud. Just because there might be some frost on the palm don’t think there isn’t any food foraging this time of year. It is prime season for many species that are spring and summer plants up north. They find our winters just right and the summers too hot. In Central Florida one does not find an acre of chickweed, but 150 some miles to the north it was quite abundant. Chickweed is highly seasonal and is easy to identify. The main elements we are looking for are a line of hair on the stem that changes sides at every leaf node, a stretchy inner core, five white petals that look like 10 because the are deeply incised, and it tastes like corn silk. If you want to read more about chickweed you can go here.

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

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

Lamb’s Quarters is mild like spinach. Photo by Green Deane

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

Toxic young Butterweed can make one think of mustards. Photo By Green Deane

It’s time for another warning about Butterweed. It’s a toxic plant this time of year that’s been out for a while but seems to be flushing now. I learned it as Senecio glabellus but now some are calling it Packera glabella. This plant can put you in the hospital with serious liver damage. It is not on par with deadly mushroom but it’s down the same sickening road. There was a case in Southwest Florida just a few years ago. From a forager’s point of view it can — from a distance — resemble wild mustard or wild radish. On closer inspection it clearly is not a mustard. The blossoms are not a yellow cross and the leaves are not sandpappery. Growing in wet spots, Butterweed delivers its load of alkaloid pyrrolizidines without warning. Most alkaloids are bitter. Butterweed leaves are very mild in flavor and have a pleasing texture. Mustards do not. It’s in the Aster family which is 1) huge with some 22,000 members, and 2) plants in that family usually are not toxic.  You can read more about pyrrolizidines here. 

Bulrushes have edible roots. Photo by Green Deane

An often overlooked wild edible is Bulrush, which we saw this past weekend. This tall sedge gets second billing to the another common watery inhabitant, cattails. While there are several species of Bulrush locally the two one sees most often are Scirpus californicus and S. validus. Used like cattails, the easiest way to tell the species of Bulbrushes apart is to look at the seed tufts location and color of the seeds which introduces an important point: The experts tell us there are no toxic sedge seeds thus if you have a sedge you have a source of edible seeds. On these species the seeds are small but are easy to harvest (if you have a boat or a canoe.) To read more about Bulrushes and to identify sedges in general go 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.

This is weekly newsletter #446, 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.

Chickweed mixed in with Dollarweed, or, potassium, vitamin E and B12 for free. 

Dollarweed and Chickweed. Photo by Green Deane

Jewels of Opar sound right out of a movie.

Learning wild edibles has a sense of discovery to it. One day a friend said she had an edible in her yard with a strange name: The Jewels of Opar. If that sounds like something out of a Indiana Jones movie you’re close. It was novel with the Indiana Jones of his day: Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar. It was the fifth book of Edgar Rice Burroughs and appeared in 1916. The plant is supposedly native to warmer areas of the United States. However, Dr. Daniel Austin did not include it in this 909-page book Florida Ethnobotany. 

Related to Purslane Jewles of Opar are used in similar ways. One source, Cornucopia II, calls it the Caruru and Flameflower and says: “The leaves and stems are blanched and used in green salads, cooked in soups, or eaten like purslane.”  Others call it Javense Ginger and say the long orange root cause be used that way, as a flavoring. A Chinese report says the roots can be stewed with meat. Because of that report and another we know some of the leaves nutrients.

Talium paniculatum can be used like purslane.

100 gram have 15 calories, 1.19 grams of protein, 0.31 grams of fat, 2.02 grams of fiber, 0.939 grams of carbohydrates. Potassium is 304 mg, calcium 78 mg, magnesium 61 mg, sodium 5.1 mg, iron 4.71 mg, phosphorus 0.73 mg, zinc 0.27 mg, no vitamin A or C reported but it has 1316 mcg of beta-carotene which is a vitamin A precursor. 

Botanically the Jewels of Opar are Talinum paniculatum. (tah-LINE-uhm puh-nick-you-LAH-tum.)  Talinum is new Dead Latin for a native Sengal name for the plant. Paniculatum means like a panicle. Unfortunately its reporting is sporadic, a few counties here, a few counties there, from South Carolina to Texas. No doubt it is more wide-spread but has not be officially found by an official botanist and approved by an official botanical state committee. It is listed in five areas in Florida. 

The species is somewhat tart because of oxalic acid. Hexane extract proved “outstanding” against Micrococcus luteus and Candida albicans. The species has Campesterol, stigmasterol, and sitosterol. 

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

Jewels of Opar distribution

IDENTIFICATION: Mucilaginous leaves are flat, glossy, to four inches long, half as wide, growing in thick whorls, has whispy pink flowers and dark red fruit. Roots are long and orange. 

TIME OF YEAR: Year round

ENVIRONMENT: Moist areas, well drained soil, warm weather, intolerant of frost, prefers full sun but can grow in partial shade. 

METHOD OF PREPARATION:Shoots and leaves eaten raw or in stews and soups,  Used in folk medicine extensively used ornamental. 

Chickweed is happy now. Bright green foliage in gray lawns. Photo by Green Deane

Our tasty winter green chickweed  is in its glory; lush, full, blossoming, happy to be alive. With such healthy plants it was easy to find the identifying characteristics: stretchy inner core, a single line of hair on the main stem that switches 90 degrees at the nodes, a five-petal blossom that looks like 10 petals, and uncooked chickweed tastes like raw corn. We saw a lot of it in Ocala Sunday. 

Henbit, one of the few “sweet” springtime greens. Photo by Green Deane

When lawns aren’t mowed food grows. The weather is perfect and winter plants a plenty.  We saw the large acorns of the Chestnut Oak, by far the largest locally. In abundance during our foraging classes were Sheep’s Sorrel, Oxalis, Latex Stranger Vine, Pellitory,  Black Medic, Wild Geraniums, Horsemint and Henbit. The latter was a favored spring time green with Native Americans because it’s mild rather than peppery. While in the mint family it is not minty. It’s edible raw or cooked. An edible relative, “Dead Nettle” looks similar but is more purple.  Henbit is called “Henbit” because chickens like it. It’s usually found in sunny, non-dry places. To read more about Henbit go here.  Surprisingly what we didn’t see in Stinging Nettle. 

Shepherd’s Purse Photo by Green Deane

During the class the seasonal mustards were also on display. Poor Man’s Pepper Grass was everywhere. But we also saw mild Western Tansy Mustard. Hairy Bittercress was found nearby as was a plain old mustard. Also well-represented this past week was Shepherd’s Purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris, a much milder relative of Poor Man’s Pepper Grass. They have similar blossoms but differently shaped leaves and seed pods. The Shepherd’s pods look more like hearts than “purses.” One interesting aspect about Shepherd’s Purse — photo left — is that I personally have never seen it growing south of the Ocala area. It’s found in 18 northern counties of Florida, one west central Florida county, Hillsborough, one southern Florida county, Dade, and throughout North America. It’s just kind of sparse in the lower half of the state. 

Our native Plantgo is in season.

There are Plantains that look like tough bananas and there are Plantains that are low and leafy plants. They are not related. Just two different groups with the same common name. Low-growing Plantains can be native or non-native. The one pictured right is native, the Dwarf Plantain. As a genus the plants are well-known. The leaves are edible raw when young. As they age they become more bitter and stringy. Cooking makes them palatable up to a point. Then they move into the astringent medical realm. As such they are used on bites, stings and to help puncture wounds heal. The seeds are edible once produced and are the source of the commercial dietary fiber, psyllium. When finely ground the seeds are sold under the brand name Metamucil. There are numerous species of Plantagos (Plantains) with at least five common locally, P. virginiana, P. major, P. lanceolata and P. rugelii the latter which strongly resembles P. major. They are all used the same way. (P. rugelii is pink at the base of the stem.) One problem beginning foragers have is confusing young Oakleaf Fleabane leaves for Dwarf Plantain leaves (they are both rosette-ish, low-growing green leaves, hairy with fibrous threads in the stem.) But the Dwarf Plantain is essentially a long skinny hairy leaf with a few teeth. The Oakleaf Fleabane is much fatter, has lobes, and does resemble oak leaves found on more northern species. You can read about the Plantains here and I have a video here.    

Wild Radish are reaching peak season.

Mustards like chilly weather, or at least locally they do. You can see Wild Mustards and Wild Radish not only along roadsides now but in various fields from farm land to ignored citrus groves. The two species are used interchangeably and look similar. However Wild Radishes tend to be serpentine rather than straight and tall like Wild Mustard. They also have lumpy seed pods, or, more lumpy than mustard seed pods. Usually you will find a stand of one or the other. I don’t recall finding both in the same patch. Blossom colors can range from yellow to white with streaks of purple. But the leaves always have the biggest lobe on the end farthest from the plant. Look for them in sunny areas with fertile soil. Not native they came from Eurasia in the 1700s. And note the seeds can remain viable in the soil for up to 60 years. To read more Wild Radish go here, and for Wild Mustard, here.

Calliandra Haematocephala is toxic.

A toxic powder puff shrub we see this time of year is  a native of Malaysia. It’s a small tree that was in the pea family but has been moved to the Mimosa group. It is not edible in any way. It’s just pretty, which has its own value. The name is slightly interesting in that it is all Living Greek mangled by new Dead Latin. Calliandra is a combination of Kallos (beautiful) and Andros (man) but is to mean — when poetically translated — “pretty stamen” (the male part of the flower which creates the powder puff.) Haematocephala means “blood head” or in this case “red head.” Thus pretty stamen red head. You could even stretch it to “pretty redheaded man.” The common name is Red Powder Puff. 

Classes are held rain or shine.

Foraging Classes: Two classes this weekend, Saturday in West Palm Beach and Sunday in Winter Park.

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

Sunday, January 10th, 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. 

Saturday, January 16th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the dog park pavilion. 

Sunday, January 17th, Spruce Creek, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 32127. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet that the pavilion (first right after house.) 

Saturday, January 23th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. to noon, meet at the pavilion by the tennis courts. 

Sunday, January 24th, Red Bug Slough Preserve, 5200 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL, 34233. 9 a.m. to noon. 

Saturday January 30th, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL, 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the dog park. 

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.  

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

Canna can grow in a garden or a pond.

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

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

To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Chickasaw Plums are starting to ripen. Photo by Green Deane

Chickasaw Plum leaf tips have red terminal glands. Photo by Green Deane

This was a “Prunus” foraging week. While rummaging around our usual class location in Gainesville we sampled Chickasaw Plums. They are just beginning to ripen and should be around for about a month. The Chickasaw Plums were not completely ripe but give them a week or two.  Black Cherries are also ripening but are often more difficult to find because the birds also like them. Cherries and plums are in the same genus, Prunus, so it’s not surprising they are ripening at about the same time.  Also setting fruit are the Flatwood Plums but they are different story and are included in my related article. I have a video on the Chickasaw plum here, Black Cherry here. To read about the Black Cherry go here, the Chickasaw Plum, here.  Incidentally, renovations at Boulware Springs appears to be stalled and they are also removing the portable toilets. Looks like I will be needing another location for classes in the area. 

The Indigo Milk Cap is edible and easy to identify. You’ll find them for several months.

It’s been a strange week for edible wild mushrooms. Ringless Honey Mushrooms favor the fall but the right weather conditions in the spring — May specificially — can cause a minor occurrence of them. This this week there were sporadic reports of said about the South. I have even seem them on a Banyan in West Palm Beach in July. Also seen this week were a few mushrooms in the Milk Cap group. They all used to be Lactarius. Some still are but others were renamed Lactifluus (as if mushrooms weren’t confusing enough.) I saw a couple of hots Milk Caps this week — hot as in peppery — and also the one shown left, Lactarius indigo. It is indeed a pretty mushroom and edible though its texture can be a tad grainy. With rains between now and the end of the month the summer mushroom season should get a good start. Hopefully by mid-June the Orlando Mushroom Group (OMG!) can have a forage. 

Note the long stem on the middle leaf.

You’re probably seeing a lot of this or will be seeing a lot of it and wondering what the  species is. This little plant with the little yellow blossom is Black Medic. It’s generally considered edible and like many weeds is from Europe. That kind of excludes it from being a significant Native American food (though some sources call it that… It’s a long story.) The headache is that from a distance of about five or six feet (where most people’s eyes are from the ground) Black Medic can look like Hop Clover. Here’s quick way to tell them apart: Hop Clover tends to have red stems, Black Medic has green stems covered with fine white hair and has a longer stem on the center leaf. After the two species go to seed they are easy to sort out: Black Medic has black seeds… hence the name. Hop Clover brown seeds. I personally don’t view Black Medic as much of an edible but you can read more about it here.

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

The resumption of foraging classes is going well and in time as it is an interesting growing time of the year. I use a portable address system so all can hear and keep the distance they are comfortable with. Foraging is treasure hunting for adults and a good way to get out in the sunshine… and sometimes rain. 

Saturday, May 23rd, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. Meet at the “dog park” inside the park. 9 a.m to noon. 

Sunday, May 24th, George LeStrange Preserve, 4911 Ralls Road, Fort Pierce, FL, 34981. 9 a.m. to noon. THIS CLASS IS CANCELLED AND WILL BE RESCHEDULED AT A LATER DATE.

Saturday May 30th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. 9 a.m. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park.

Sunday, May 31st, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. Meet at the parking lot. 9 a.m. to noon. 

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

No plant produces more starch per acre than cattails.

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

Green Deane videos are now available on a USB.

Changing foraging videos: My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been selling for seven years. 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 15 more are now available on a 16-gig USB drive. 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 over three weeks. However, if you want to order now either the USB or the DVD set make a $99 “donation” using the link at the bottom of this page or here.  That order form provides me with your address, the amount — $99 — tells me it is not a donation and in the note say if you want the DVD set or the USB. 

Podocarpus is setting. Photo by Green Deane

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

Loquat wine mellowing.

If any of you follow my Facebook page you will know I resumed making wine. I did it for literally 30 years. When I moved five years ago I stopped but the Covid-19 lockdown got me back into it. (Couldn’t go too many places and there were fruit trees ripening in the neighborhood. Ya work with what ya got.) I actually kept most of the equipment and have made up for lost time with eight musts going. Only two surprises so far. I misread a float that you use to record at the beginning and end of a fermentation to know how much alcohol and sugar you have. It indicated a reading that defied the laws of physics of this universe until I realized with older eyes I was missing a decimal point… or is it dismal point?… dim-sal point?  And a batch of orange wine was lollygagging so I gave it a stir then it geysered onto the floor. Perhaps why I stopped wine making is coming back to me now… I am working on some grape wine. I’m not as bad as Tom Good on the British show Good Neighbors. He was (in)famous for his “pea pod wine.”  I never made a video on crafting wine but I did one on making real vinegar from scratch. I also have one on making a quick one-week hard cider.

Blue Porterweed blossoms taste like raw mushrooms.

Do you like mushrooms but want to avoid some of dangers that come with fungi foraging? Then there is a subtle solution: Blue Porterweed. Found in flower gardens around the world and native to Florida the Blue Porterweed earned its name as a source for tea that tasted like porter beer. Someone had the fermenting idea to add yeast and sugar to a lot of tea and get a brew that tastes similar to porter beer, hence the name. The flower garden variety usually grows up and the local native grows horizontally. The blue flowers, raw, have a subtle flavor of mushrooms. You can read more about the Blue Porterweed here. Oh, and how did porter beer get its name? The same way porter steak did. Porters — baggage handles in old central London — worked all hours and needed quick food. Shops set up to meet that need and out of them came several dishes and named items.

Do you know what these are? They’re fruiting now. Photo by Green Deane

Want to identify a plant? Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk. 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.

Like all mustards Sea Rocket has four-petal blossoms. Photo by Green Deane

We had a chance to visit Anna Maria Island — thanks Frank — and saw a surprise: Sea Rocket. It is not a surprise to find Sea Rocket on a beach. In fact that is about the only place you find it, and literally right in the sand. What was surprising is that we found some in May. It’s a winter species and definitely likes cooler weather. It was, however, heavily seeding so the season is closing. It has a typical mustard flavor to it and the seeds taste like Dijon Mustard. There are several species and Florida’s usually has two: Cakile lanceolata and C. edentula though there might be some subspecies. C. lanceolata tends to have pointed seed pods, C. edentula blunted seed pods. References say you can find them in the spring and summer but I have found them only in late fall to spring. C. edentula tends to be the dominant on the east coast and C. lanceolata the west coast. My article on them here.

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What’s blooming now? Wild Pineapple. We saw this attractive specimen in Gainesville.