A fable is a story with a purpose, sometimes expressed as a moral. Generally fables are warnings based on the do's and don'ts of a particular society; they reinforce values like 'don't be greedy,' 'obey your parents' and 'don't trust strangers.' Snopes is loaded with modern fables. (Right: Wild Rose by wide eyed lib. Learn about their edible parts here.)
One fable that every forager hears is the Poisonous Plant Fable. It generally goes something like this: person learns about wild plants, person eats wild plants, person eventually (sometimes after many years of eating the correct plant) eats wrong wild plant and dies. To this day some people still believe that Euell Gibbons died from eating a poisonous plant, when in truth he died of an aneurysm.
Today I was picking lamb's quarters (Chenopodium album) when a young couple came up to me and asked what I was doing. I explained, gave them some to taste and then discussed a few ways to tell lamb's quarters apart from other plants.
Pictured: rose, epazote, raspberry, hackberry, dayflower, garlic mustard & mallow
"But all plants look alike," the guy said. Well, I explained, once you start paying attention to the details, plants are actually pretty easy to tell apart. It's like learning faces. You'd never mistake anyone for your mom, would you?" Her laughed, but I'm not sure he believed me.
Learning to identify plants is an innate skill. It uses exactly the same brain processes as identifying your mom's face or your cousin's house. Your brain develops a "search image" for a particular category of thing. It might be a broad category like 'animal' or it might be a specific category like 'German shepherd.' When you see something, your brain looks though its search images and finds the right one(s). Each time you look at a particular plant, your search image of that plant gets a little stronger until eventually identifying it is as effortless as breathing.
The Poisonous Plant Fable isn't just utter and complete nonsense-- it's essentially propaganda that prevents many people from learning which plants are edible and which aren't. And it's at least partially responsible for the rise of industrial agriculture.
Don't get me wrong: certain plants are deadly and you have to know what you're doing. But it simply takes observation and patience. Anyone can forage. And that includes you. Yes, you.
For a truly excellent discussion of just how pervasive this fable is, read Sam Thayer's article about the ultimate Poisonous plant Fable, Jon Krakauer book Into the Wild.
I hope the next time you hear a version of this fable, you'll be a little less likely to believe it or pass it on.
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(As always, if you're new to foraging and want to give it a try, please read the first diary in the series for some important information. For a complete list of all plants covered in the series, click here.)
Now for your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures of edible plants currently growing in my area. If you're considering foraging any of these plants, please read the linked diary where I discuss each in greater detail.
Epazote (Dysphania ambrosioides) is just coming up. The gently lobed leaves have a strong resinous smell when crushed. In addition to various medicinal uses, epazote gives many Mexican dishes their unique flavor. Learn more here.
Raspberry bushes (probably Rubus occidentalis) are in flower all over the place. Because the understory is not completely overgrown yet, now's the perfect time to keep your eyes open for these conspicuous white flowers. Then you'll know where to return in a couple of months. The flowers and leaves can be used for herbal tea, but any flowers you take probably won't set fruit. Learn more about raspberries here.
I've actually been trying to photograph hackberry flowers (Celtis species) for quite a few years, but because the flowers are green, inconspicuous and only last for a very short time, I'd never managed to get the timing right. This year I finally did. More info on how to identify and harvest hackberries here.
Asiatic dayflowers (Commelina communis) are just starting to send up their greens. At this point they look quite a bit like some grasses (none of which are toxic), but if you located some last year, it's a safe bet you'll find some in the same place. The leaves are quite mild and the flowers are tasty, but my favorite part is the little pea-like seeds. Learn more here.
I keep forgetting that I haven't included a picture of garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) yet this year. While it's not a green that most people would use as the base of a salad, I've made delicious pesto and hummus using it as a replacement for garlic. I also like to chiffonade a few leaves and toss them into marinara sauce at the end of cooking. Read more about garlic mustard here.
For some reason the leaves of common mallow (Malva neglecta) were never particularly tender this year. In other years, though, I use quite a lot of the leaves in salads, where they add a nice tang and interesting mucilaginous mouthfeel. Learn more here.
Thanks for reading, and come back next week when I'll be covering at least one new plant.
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If you'd like to learn more about foraging but missed the earlier diaries in the series, you can click here for the previous 42 installments, and here for RonV's 4 part mini-series on medicinal plants and how to use them. As always, please feel free to post photos in the comments and I'll do my best to help identify what you've found. (And if you find any errors, let me know.)
Here are some helpful foraging resources:
"Wildman" Steve Brill's site covers many edibles and includes nice drawings.
"Green" Deane Jordan's site is quite comprehensive and has color photos and stories about many plants.
Green Deane's foraging how-to clips on youtube each cover a single plant in reassuring detail.
Linda Runyon's site features only a few plants but has great deals on her dvd, wild cards and books (check out the package deals in particular).
Steve Brill's book, Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places is my primary foraging guide. (Read reviews here, but if you're feeling generous, please buy from Steve's website.)
Linda Runyon's book The Essential Wild Food Survival Guide contains especially detailed information about nutritional content and how to store and preserve wild foods.
Samuel Thayer’s book The Forager's Harvest is perhaps the finest resource out there for the 32 plants covered. The color photos and detailed harvest and preparation information are top-notch. His second book, Nature's Garden, is just as good. For an autographed copy of either book, order from Sam's website.
Steve Brill also offers guided foraging tours in NYC-area parks. Details and contact info are on his website.
Don Wiss’s website is a treasure trove featuring hundreds of photos of common northeastern edibles.
For well-sourced info on the medicinal uses of plants, Plants for a Future is a site I turn to time and time again.
Finally, the USDA plants database is a great place to look up info on all sorts of plants.
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