Help needed with plants

[BushTucker]

Hi all

I am not green fingered, I know spuds, cabbages and carrots plants, but can you give me advice on these from my garden, and let me know if they are edible and prep for them ie eat raw or cook.

I dont know this one!!

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Nor this one!!

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Dock...

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Clover...

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Chick weed...

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Any extra info would also be very helpfull, even pics of other plants for identification..


Thanks all

Don

 

[BushTucker]

Wot, no one, lol

 

[Butchd]

Bottom one looks like goosegrass, sometimes called cleavers. Edible I think and certainly has mecidinal uses for wound healing, hence cleavers as in sticking a wound back together.

 

[BushTucker]

Oh, interesting, I use dandylions for stomache complaints sometimes

 

[silvergirl]

First photo is a cranesbill, limited medicinal value, not sure that its edible.

Second looks like dandelion to me. Good for young leaves in salad, roast the roots as a coffee substitute.

Next you're right its dock.

Then, it looks like clover, but is actually wood sorrel. Can be put in salads and added to foods to give a pleasant sharp tang, but don't eat too much. Taste a bit like rubarb or sour apples.

And yes cleaver, sticky willy etc.

 

[BushTucker]

Why not eat too much, does it have a side effect??

 

[Matt Weir]

Why not eat too much, does it have a side effect??

It contains oxalic acid. Not good in high doses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalic_acid

Matt.

 

[BushTucker]

Christ, thanks matt that was a scary read, I will give it a very wide berth.

 

[JonnyP]

Christ, thanks matt that was a scary read, I will give it a very wide berth.

No need to give it a wide berth, its very good to eat, but in small doses, try one, its a bit zesty and will remind you of apple peel. Did you find it around woodland, there are many cultivated varieties of oxalis, but if found in woodland growing wild, the chances are it is wood sorrel....

 

[Matt Weir]

Christ, thanks matt that was a scary read, I will give it a very wide berth.

LOL

Don't get too hung up mate. Spinach (Mmmmmmmmmm spinach and lamb curry) also contains oxalic acid. Wood sorrel is very tasty so don't be scared, just don't pig out.

It's like everything - most things in excess are essentially bad for you but a little of what you fancy does you good The body is a great machine and will take care of itself in general.

EDIT: Oxalic acid is destroyed during the cooking process so spinach curry will contain less than fresh picked sorrell (I seem to remember that as a plant dries levels also reduce but am willing to be corrected).

Matt.

 

[BushTucker]

It was found In my garden, but there were at one time lots of fir trees around it, at the moment its growing at the side of my metal shed..

 

[stuart f]

Hi Bushtucker,the second photo looks like Prickly Sowthistle(Sonchus oleraceus). You can eat the root but it can be rather bitter,but in saying that if you use the roots before the plant flowers it is far less bitter, and if you soak them in water for 1 to 2 hours that will help, also it is related to Dandelion and will have a white sap like the dandelion. hope this helps.

 

[BushTucker]

Well thanks all, maybe a new forum can be started allowing pics of plants with explanations of where to find and its uses.

 

[chickenofthewoods]

Here's some info for you (in reverse order!):

Goosegrass/Cleavers/Sticky Willie. Galium aparine - L.
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Galium+aparine
http://www.countrylovers.co.uk/wildfoodjj/clevchik.htm

I also gather the very young tips for salads. They have sharp edged stems and leaves and older shoots feel very strange on the tongue (ouch) when raw so always pick young for this.

Wood Sorrel (common) Oxalis acetosella white or pale pink flowered
Wood Sorrel (Yellow) Oxalis stricta
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Oxalis+stricta
All the wood sorrels have the shamrock leaf and taste tart & sharp like lemons. Use raw in moderation or cooked (which is supposed to destroy the oxalic acid).

Wood Sorrel Sauce
This is based on chimichurri, a classic Argentinian herb sauce. Serve it with grilled meat, poultry or seafood; use it as a marinade; or add a few spoonsful to potato salad or bean dishes. Serve with Grilled Venison Steaks, below.

1 jalapeno pepper, stem removed
4 to 6 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves, broken up
1 teaspoon fresh marjoram leaves
2/3 cup (tightly packed) wood sorrel leaves
2/3 cup (tightly packed) parsley leaves
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Remove seeds and veins from jalapeno if you prefer a less spicy sauce. In food processor, combine jalapeno, garlic, bay leaves and marjoram. Pulse until finely chopped. Add wood sorrel and parsley; pulse until finely chopped. Add vinegar, oil and salt; pulse until well blended. Add salt to taste. Serve at room temperature; refrigerate leftovers for up to 5 days. (About 2/3 cup sauce.)

Dock (Broad-leaved) Rumex obtusifolius L.
http://www.livinginseason.blogspot.com/2006/09/dock.html
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Rumex+obtusifolius

I find these bitter raw, although some sources suggest blanching them. I have sucessfully used them as cooked greens though. You can also harvest the seed and use it like a grain. IRRC it was one of the seeds found in the stomach of the Tollund man bog body.

Prickly Sow Thistle Sonchus asper L.
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Sonchus+oleraceus
http://www.wildfoodforagers.org/thistle2b.htm

There are various types of sow thistle & it's a bit hard to tell what yours is. Smooth sow thistle is supposed to be vitamin rich. Prickly sow thistle needs the spines removing before use (obviously!). I have tried neither yet. Let me know how you get on! Look for the countrylovers website which has loads of recipes and ideas, it's very good.

Dove's Foot Cranesbill Geranium molle
http://www.herbalremedies.com/cranesbill-information.html#2
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Geranium+molle

I'm unsure about the edibility of this one, but it does have some medicinal applications.

Use the names both common and latin for searches and you might be surprised at what you find. Hope that helps!

 

[BushTucker]

Wow, thanks very much, i will do more research because I have found another 6 plants in my garden that arnt your normal flower types.

 

[locum76]

are we sure thats sow thistle, it looks like some sort of brassica to me...

 

[Jumbalaya]

First plant could possibly be one of the geranium family... someone mentioned a cranesbill... but there is another plant that this leaf reminds me of but cannot for the life of me remember name. sorry.

2nd is Smooth Sow-Thistle [Sonchus oleraceus], one of several STs and the best of the three yellow-flowered ones. If you get the plant in its young state as the one pictured appears to be the bitterness in the leaves can me ameliorated by a tasty sauce [tomato for example], otherwise the best solution is the cut the leaf into one-inch pieces and soak in tepid water for an hour, and repeat, then cook.

3. Broad-leaved dock. Emergency food only. In foulness terms older leaves and roots leave a lot to be desired. If you can recognise emergent sprouting leaves when they are only an inch or less in length, then they are just a possible pottage green... along with a good flavoured sauce.

4. Now, without the flower this is not quite possible to give a definitive answer... If there wasn't any background grass mixed in with the plant I might have put it down to Wood Sorrel [Oxalis acetosella], however the appearance of grass suggests that this might have been found in a garden habitat which suggests that the plant could be Yellow Sorrel [Oxalis corniculata] which is found in gardens and waste ground. It has a yellow flower, while the similarly shaped leaved wood sorrel has a white flower. Both are equally edible in terms of supplying a acidy-lemony flavoured leaf green.

Last picture IS cleavers/goosegrass [Galium aparine]. By the time you get to the size of the plant pictured you are really looking at stripping off the leaves from the stems which will only provide your jaws with chewing exercise. The best time to get goosegrass is when the autumn shed seeds sprout in Novermber/Deecember. By about Jan/Feb. the shoots are really too chewy to be cooked in their entirety.

JJ