Archive for the ‘edible wild’ Category
Chicory – (Cichorium intybus L.)
Along the Trans-Canada near Jemseg, one colony of Chicory has taken hold. Its bright sky-blue flowers catch the eye as the usual roadside vegetation rolls by.
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Also known as Blue Sailors and, in French, chicoreé, Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) is a tall plant, found along roadsides and in other waste places.
Chicory has basal leaves resembling those of the Dandelion. When broken, the stem exudes a white milky fluid.
The bright blue flowers of Chicory occur along the length of the almost leafless and somewhat zig-zag stem. Each flower is formed of a central involucre of tiny blue flowers and a disc of larger ray flowers. The rays are square-cut and fringed. The flowers follow the sun, closing by noon, or on overcast days.
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Chicory is a useful plant. Its young leaves are edible as salad greens or as a pot-herb. The roots can be dried and ground to make a coffee substitute or supplement. The root of Chicory has soothing properties to balance the edginess caused by caffeine. The roots of Chicory are large and very deep. I tried to pull them by hand, but a shovel will be needed to harvest the roots in the compact soil of the roadside.
~ When I see these flowers, I am reminded of my grandfather, my mother’s father. I never knew him, but I have a couple of photographs of him as a young man. I have made a small study of his mother, my great-grandmother, so I know quite a lot about him. ~
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The flowers of Chicory remind me of his eyes, since they were the same startling blue. He was also a tall man, another feature of the plant.
The other name for Chicory, Blue Sailors, also reminds me of my grandfather. He was a sailor, entering the navy when he was only fifteen. I know from various records that he served on at least two naval vessels, the USS Nebraska and the USS Pensacola. As so often happens when I see photographs of ancestors, there is a familiarity about his features.
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Blue Sailors
Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.)
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at the roadside
weeds surge as waves
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on the sameness of ocean,
a buoy lifted,
a sudden swell of Chicory
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tall, like my grandfather,
the blue ice of his eyes
its blunt petals, the square-cut of his jaw
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joined the navy at fifteen
dressed as a sailor, headed for sea
USS Pensacola, USS Nebraska
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his tie, a sapphire ribbon
toothed or frayed
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© Jane Tims 2012
Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant.Partridge-berry (Mitchella repens L.)
One of the evergreen plants in the spring woodland is a little vine called Partridge-berry. It trails, low to the ground, in shady, mossy woods, sometimes covering moist banks and hummocks with its shiny greenery.
Partridge-berry (Mitchella repens L.) is also known as Twinberry, Snakevine, Running Fox and Two-eyed Berry. The word repens is from the Latin for ‘creeping’.
The leaves of Partridge-berry are small, ovoid and opposite on a vine-like stem. The leaves have a bright yellow midrib and veins, giving them a clear outline against the background of dry leaves.
The flowers are white or pinkish, and bell-shaped. They occur in pairs – the two flowers are closely united at the base, sharing a single calyx. As a result, the bright red berries are two-eyed, each showing two blossom scars.
This time of year, in July, Partridge-berry has flowered and set its berries. The berries are dry and seedy but edible, with a slightly aromatic flavour. They are a good nibble along the trail or can be used as emergency food. The berries are ordinarily eaten by birds, such as the Ruffed Grouse.
Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant.~
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common names
( Mitchella repens L.)
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1.
Running Fox
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a glimpse of red
between hairmoss and hummock
the fox slips into shrewd spaces
seeks the vacant way
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2.
Snakevine
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a twist and a Twin-berry
trail woven and worn
mottled and mid-ribbed
Mitchella meanders
over feathermoss, under fern
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3.
Partridge-berry
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Ruffed Grouse pokes and pecks
tucks a Two-eyed Berry in his crop
lurches on
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© Jane Tims 2012
growing and gathering – barriers to eating wild foods
One of the themes in the poems I have written for my manuscript on ‘growing and gathering’ local foods concerns the ‘barriers’ to eating local foods, especially wild local foods. Edible wild plants are everywhere around us… why don’t people make more use of them?
The barriers to gathering and eating wild foods are:
1. knowledge – although most people can recognise and even name a few plants, only a few can identify and name every plant they see with certainty. It you eat a plant, you need to know you won’t be the victim of mistaken identity. Sometimes very closely related plants are quite different when it comes to their edibility. A simple example is the Tomato: the species we eat is Solanum lycopersicum Lam.; a plant from the same genus is the poisonous Common Nightshade (Solanum ptychanthum L.). The fear of mis-identification and poisoning oneself is a barrier to eating local wild plants. Also, people can vary greatly in their sensitivity. One person can eat a plant without effect while another cannot because arthritis is aggravated.
berries of Common Nightshade are poisonous… later in the season, they are red and quite beautiful… children should be warned that all red berries are NOT good to eat
2. access – in order to eat wild plants, you have to know where they grow, you have to be able to go there, and you must have access. Many people live in urban or sub-urban areas where some species of wild plants just aren’t found. Even if you have transportation or live in a rural area, access may be a problem. There may be a lush field of raspberries just up the road, but if there is a locked gate, better get permission!
3. peril – sometimes picking wild plants for food has an unpleasant or dangerous side. Some plants are poisonous. Picking berries may mean avoiding sharp thorns! Sometimes berry picking takes you on a heads-down journey far from the point where you began… you may get lost! You can look up and not recognise where you are or how to return to your point of origin!
4. contaminants – some locations may not be suitable for collecting and eating wild plants. For example, plants along busy highways may have high levels of some contaminants. Berries or other plants growing along the roadside may carry a burden of dust, making them unpalatable. I wouldn’t make a cup of Sweet Fern tea from the dusty leaves in this photo!
5. convenience – Sometimes gathering or producing wild foods is too demanding of time and energy. I love collecting maple sap and boiling maple syrup each spring, but it is hard work and takes days to accomplish. Sometimes you know there is a patch of berries just down the road, but other demands on time take precedence.
6. competition – Wild animals also like edible wild plants. You may run into a bear while picking berries, or face a moral dilemma when you realise you are keeping the squirrels from a food source! My garden is always under attack and the battle often seems to outweigh the benefits of having a garden. This year the enemies are slugs, bunny rabbits and shadows (too much shade).
7. complacency – Sometimes I think, most of the barriers I’ve listed above could be overcome. But a barrier not so easy to negotiate is one of separation from nature and the associated complacency. It has become normal not to seek our food in the natural spaces around us. We go to the grocery store, pick up what we need, and take the easiest route in our exhausted lives. Even gardens are not as common as they once were. In my mother’s generation, gardens were the norm. This partly came from long traditions of growing food, but also from the concept of the ‘Victory Garden’, begun during World War II in order to conserve resources and boost morale.
World War II poster promoting the Victory Garden (Source: Wikimedia Commons, original art by Morley)
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The only way I know to return to a simpler life is to take small steps and take them often, so they become habit. Here are some suggestions:
- visit the Farmers Market in your community, to obtain fresh produce and to know the history of your food;
- stop at those market stands along the road and buy produce in season. In our area, vendors sell lobster, smelt, fiddleheads, strawberries and apples this way;
- if you have an apple tree in your yard, or wild raspberries in a field nearby, pick them and enjoy;
- if your apple tree needs pruning and some TLC, talk to a knowledgable person and find out how to return it to production;
- dig the fishing tackle from the garage and take the kids fishing;
- grow a pot of fresh herbs on your back deck;
- learn about one wild plant, find a place where it grows, be certain of the identification, and use it! Then find another!
coastal barren, coastal bog
On our vacation to Nova Scotia last month, we revisited the Peggy’s Cove area near Halifax. I spent a lot of time along this coast years ago, but I had forgotten the unique wildness and beauty of this landscape.
We explored two habitat types, the dry and rocky barrens, and the wet coastal bog. As we found each new plant, I felt like I was greeting old and well-loved friends.
On the higher areas, growing in the thin soil on the bedrock were several species. One of these included Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum L.), a small moss-like plant with spiky leaves and small pink flowers. Later in the season, these will bear edible back berries.
We also found Three-toothed Cinquefoil (Sibbaldia tridentata (Aiton) Paule & Soják) with its three leaflets and the characteristic three teeth at the tip of each leaf. The leaves are thick and outlined in red at this time of year. Later in the year the leaves turn bright red. The white flowers each have five petals, and are starry with stamens.
In the low-lying, boggy areas, we found a ‘merriment’ (my word) of Pitcher-plants (Sarracenia purpurea L.).
The leaves of these insectivorous plants are shaped like vessels. Insects climbing into the leaves encounter downward pointing hairs. They are trapped! Eventually they drown and are digested in the water at the base of the ‘pitcher’.
We also found another carnivorous plant, the Round-leaved Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia L.). The leaves of these plants are covered with tiny hairs… these exude a sticky liquid and trapped insects are slowly digested. For more information on the Sundew, please visit my post for October 31, 2011, ‘Round-leaved Sundew’. https://nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com/2011/10/
All was not gruesome. We also found Arethusa (Arethusa bulbosa L.), a member of the orchid family. This beautiful pink orchid is also known as the Dragon’s Mouth.
Overall, our trip to Peggy’s Cove was a wonderful adventure. We plan to return in the early fall, when the Crowberry and the other edible plants we saw have set their berries.
Have you ever been to Peggy’s Cove and what did you think of the coastal landscape and the plants growing there?
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© Jane Tims 2012
Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant.a moment of beautiful – mustard fields in bloom
the space: a field along the St. John River
the beautiful: mustard in bloom
In some of the cultivated fields along the St. John River, acres of mustard are in bloom. Mustard is common here, in both coastal and inland areas, along roads and in fields. In the last weeks, I have found two species, Black Mustard (Brassica nigra (L.) Koch) and Field Mustard (Brassica rapa L.) also known as Rape, or Bird’s Rape.
Mustard is an herb of medium size, with pale yellow, four-petalled flowers in terminal clusters, and large lobed leaves. The seeds are contained in pods; each pod ends in an elongated beak.
Mustard is well-known for its uses. The young, basal leaves may be cooked as greens or used in salads. Clusters of unopened flower buds can be cooked like brocolli. The tender seed pods are pickled, or used in salads.
Mustard’s best-known use is as a spice – the seeds are collected, dried and ground to make hot yellow mustard. I have a spot staked out to collect the seeds as they ripen in August, since I want to dry and grind some seeds for my own mustard.
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sandwich
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green leaves
between brown earth
and summer sky,
finished with
a generous smear
of mustard
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© Jane Tims 2012
Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant.growing and gathering – picking berries with friends
As I am deciding how to organise my poetry manuscript on ‘growing and gathering’ local foods, I am considering the themes of the various poems. I think these themes will become the sections in my manuscript.
One of the first themes to emerge, perhaps the easiest to examine, is about ‘relationships’.
Although I have often picked berries alone, my best memories are of picking berries with members of my family. Both my Mom and Dad loved to pick berries. My Dad was a fast picker and I was always in silent competition with him to pick the most berries… I never won. My Mom picked berries quickly, but took the time to enjoy the fresh air, the blue sky and the expanse of the berry field. When I think of picking berries with her, I feel calm and a little lazy. My relationship with my mother-in-law was also shaped by our many berry-picking experiences; when I pick raspberries, I hear her quiet laughter in the breeze.
As I write poetry for my ‘growing and gathering’ manuscript, I have explored my relationships with the various people in my life.
Some of these are based on real experiences I have had picking berries or gathering greens. Examples include poems about trying to find an old berry field, now grown over, or how changes in a relationship can be observed over the years in the annual picking of berries. Although most of the poems are about plants, I have included production of other local foods – so a poem about beekeeping, for example, explores how two people interact during a small emergency.
In other cases, the gathering of local foods is a metaphor for some aspect of a relationship, whether good and bad. At least some of these metaphors are related to the characteristics of plants or animals – for example, the serrated edges of leaves, the slipperiness of a trout, the gentle feel and fragrance of Bedstraw, or the bitterness of taste common to so many ‘salad’ greens.
Some of the metaphor is based on the place where plants grow. Examples include the seclusion of many berry-picking spots, or the physical spaces created by rows of corn plants.
As I look over the Table of Contents for my manuscript, I realise some poems will be stronger if placed within another theme. So I have moved, for example, a poem about picking berries over a three-week period from the theme on ‘relationships’ to a theme about ‘change’.
This consideration of the themes in my poetry has given me a good start to organising the poems, and identifying gaps I have to fill. I know now there are lots of gaps, and many poems yet to write!
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Bitter Blue
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of all the silvery summer days we spent none so warm sun on
granite boulders round blue berry field miles across hazy miles
away from hearing anything but bees
and berries
plopping in the pail
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beside you I draped my lazy bones on bushes crushed berries and
thick red leaves over moss dark animal trails nudged between rocks
baking berries brown musk rising to meet blue heat
or the still fleet scent
of a waxy berry bell
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melting in my mouth crammed with fruit sometimes pulled from
laden stems more often scooped from your pail full ripe blue pulp
and the bitter shock of a hard green berry never ripe
or a shield bug
with frantic legs
and an edge to her shell
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Published as: ‘Bitter Blue’, Summer 1993, The Amethyst Review 1 (2)
Published on www.nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com on July 31, 2011
© Jane Tims 2012
Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant.Pineapple Weed (Matricaria matricarioides (Less.) Porter.)
I bear weeds no ill-will. When I pull them in my garden, I am just helping my vegetables to get an edge in the great competition. Also, as you now know, I consider many ‘weeds’ to be edible and delicious. But, in one case, I cheerfully stomp on the weeds and consider the benefits to outweigh the sorrow.
When I went to meetings at our provincial Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries, I had to follow a wide path of concrete slabs to get to the door of the building. In the cracks between the slabs grew a small, rather pretty weed. I loved to step on this weed, or pick it, to smell its fragrance. The weed is Pineapple Weed and, crushed, it smells just like pineapple. Its scent is also reminiscent of Garden-camomile, or Hay-scented Fern.
Pineapple Weed grows along roadsides and in waste places, wherever the soil is disturbed and competition from other plants is low. It is an inconspicuous cousin of Garden-camomile (Anthemis nobilis L.) and looks a little like Camomile except the flowers have no white ray-florets. The leaves of Pineapple Weed are very finely divided and feather-like.
The generic name Matricaria comes from the Latin word matrix, meaning ‘womb’, a tribute to its reputed medicinal properties. The specific name matricarioides means ‘like Matricaria’ since it was originally considered to be another species.
My husband tells me, as a child, he used plants of Pineapple Weed as miniature trees when he played with his Dinky cars!
To make a pale yellow, pineapple-scented tea, steep the fresh or dried flowers of Pineapple Weed in hot water.
Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant.
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Matricaria
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two in the morning
and the canister of Camomile
yawns empty
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crush Matricaria
steep a sprinkle of flowers
in water, tea the color
of straw
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surround of pineapple
hay-scented fern
sleep
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© Jane Tims 2012
Ground Juniper (Juniperus communis L. var depressa Pursh)
Last fall, when I made our Christmas wreaths, one of the greens I gathered was Ground Juniper. It was so prickly and difficult to handle, I decided not to use it again. However, since I am now looking at plants from the point of view of edibility, I want to take another look at the Common Juniper bushes growing on our lake property.
Ground Juniper (Juniperus communis L. var depressa Pursh) is a low, evergreen shrub, growing in bogs and on barren soils in abandoned pastures. The specific name of Ground Juniper, communis, means ‘in clumps’. The branches of Ground Juniper take the form of a dense, oval mat, spreading horizontally across the ground.
Ground Juniper is also known as genévrier in French. The name of the spirit ‘gin’is derived from this word since the oil of the Juniper berry is used to flavor gin.
The needles of Ground Juniper are a yellowish-green. They are flattish, three-sided and have a whitened stripe on the lower surface.
one branch of the shrub turned over to show the white stripe on the underside of the needles
The bluish, waxy berries are actually cones. They are light green at first and mature over three years to a dark blue. The berries of Juniper appear covered by a whitish powder.
The berries of Ground Juniper are woody and hard, but edible in small quantities as a spice for meat, especially game. They have a resinous odor and a sweet taste, and are crushed, dried and ground to release the flavour.
The young berries and young leaves can be also boiled in water for ten minutes and then steeped for another ten minutes to make a tea.
The berries are known for their medicinal properties and so should be used sparingly and with caution.
Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant.~
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Ground Juniper (Juniperus communis L. var depressa Pursh)
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boughs spread horizontal,
hug the ground
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cones disguised as berries,
leaves as needles
all, dusted with powder
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waxy berries glow
like blue planets, offer themselves –
we harvest, reach, mindful of sharps
and moon-dust, the true distance
between pasture and sky
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meat spiced with wooden berries, ground
and sorrows drowned in jiggers of gin
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© Jane Tims 2012
limits of the tide #4 – Orach (Atriplex patula L.)
Orach (Atriplex patula L.) is a common inhabitant of coastal areas in New Brunswick. It lives in sheltered locations on the upper shore, out of reach of the highest tides.
The leaves of Orach are fleshy and arrow-shaped. The margins of the leaves are variously toothed and the lowest teeth point outward (‘hastate’, similar to the leaves of Sheep Sorrel in the June 8, 2012 post under the category ‘growing and gathering’). The leaves are grey to bright green and lighter on the underside of the leaf. Orach is a highly variable and poorly known species with respect to taxonomy.
Orach flowers from July to August. The flowers are like many seaside plants, inconspicuous and small, in the axils of the leaves.
Orach is tasty and salty. It can be used in salads, or cooked in boiling water for 15 minutes and served like spinach.
Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant.
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hunting the orach
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I know the place where the orach hides –
out of the way of the rising tides
between the rocks and deep in the sand,
with his halberd drawn, he makes his stand
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© Jane Tims 2012
limits of the tide #3 – Sea-blite (Sueda maritima (L.) Dumort.)
Another edible coastal plant is Sea-blite (Sueda maritima (L.) Dumort.). Sea-blite is a low-growing plant, often forming mats on the shore. Sea-blite can also be found at inland locations, near salt springs.
Sea-blite has thick, linear leaves. The flowers are small and fleshy, and grow in the axils of the stem. At this time of year, Sea-blite is still a small, inconspicuous plant. Later it will grow to between 3 and 5 dm.
The leaves of Sea-blite are very salty, and can be used as a source of salt in soup or stew, or an ingredient in salads. Used as a pot-herb, they should be cooked for 10 to 12 minutes in two to three changes of boiling water, to reduce the salt content.
Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant.~
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persuasion
Sea-blite (Sueda maritima (L.) Dumort.)
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fingers of Sea-blite
poke the salt air,
rebuke the salt sea
crave attention –
pick me! pick me!!
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fingers of Sea-blite
point politely at the pot
propose, diplomatically,
add a little more salt
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© Jane Tims 2012
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