Top ten plants

[Adi007]

Youngest is best ... the older they are I find they get more bitter. They are, however, still edible.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Youngest is best ... the older they are I find they get more bitter. They are, however, still edible.

Just don't eat too many of them.

The French call them "pissenlit", which means "wee the bed".


Keith.

 

[Gary]

Ash and Hawthorn are a good call - although teas can be make from loads of stuff and the bramble, nettles on my 'off my head' list would cover it.

Top ten list isnt conclusive - I live in an area of beech and Oak so my top ten will be differnet to say Bothyman who lives in a area of - heather and gorse - or some who lives in Arizona whose area who be Mesa and cactus for example. Point is your top ten would be area specific but by concentrating on and throughly learning the top ten most common you have excellent foundations to build upon - more importantly you will also realise you probably know more plants than you think.

:super:

 

[Fallow Way]

my top five for my part of the world would be,


Rosebay willowherb - edible roots/leaves/stem, tinder, cordage, infusion
Cats tail - edible stem/roots/seed head, tinder, insulation, basketry, cordage
Nettle - edible leaves, cordage, infusion
Scots pine - cordage, edible neddles/bark, infusion, glue
Silver Birch - tinder, edible leaves, soap, cordage, basketry

 

[Gary]

Nomad,

Rosebay willowherb out on the canadian plains and such exposed places tends to grow with a east west orientation - i.e to face the sun and so you got a rough compass too. As well as a thickening (pith) for stews and the likes.

Nettles can also be used as a tea or a dye - mix the leaves with chicken cuppa soup! Iron rich and tasty.

Silver birch as well as being a good carving wood you also got sweet sap to drink and the leaves can be used as a tea too its also a good wash to use on skin complaints.

But that proves the point at least - 5 plants many uses! :super:

 

[Ed]

Nettles can also be used as a tea or a dye

I have used it as a dye and it produces a yellowish/gold colour.... problem is that the colour soon runs unless you prep the wool prior to dying by boiling in a solution of alum and water for a few hours.... then the colour stays fast ;-)

Wonderful things plants.....

Ed

 

[Gary]

Ed have you ever tried using salt or urine as the setting agent?

I've used salt ok myself but never tried the urine method.

 

[Ed]

Ed have you ever tried using salt or urine as the setting agent?

I've used salt ok myself but never tried the urine method.

Ummm no I havn't. Do you use it before or after the dyeing?

Depending on the herb/plant you use, sometimes the wool has to be prepared first before dying, while others need to be fixed after the dye is applied.

I'd like to find some more natural mordants(sp?)... All my notes on this came from my grandmother (who also taught me to spin/weave/knit and sew) which I think she learned during the war (WWII)... hence some of the odd chemicals used that were available at the time.

Any help with natural mordants would be great.


Ed

 

[jakunen]

Sorry guys, browser was playing up so didn't see the 2nd page...
Best time is when they're young, before they flower. They tend to have less of the bitter milky sap, which is what can be the dangerous bit to some people.
On the toxicity of dandelions, and indeed any plant that contains milky sap, it is very person specific. I know a person who eats raw Goats Rue, yet I have scars on my arms from just touching the stuff...
The only thing that you really have to worry about is its diuretic properties (hence the French name of 'pis-en-lit').
Of course, as well as being regional, it is perforce seasonal too - nettles make better cordage when they are young, in the spring...

 

[Adi007]

My top plants would be the following:

Beech
Blackberries
Cattail
Chestnut
Dandelion
Elder
Nettle
Plantain
Thistle
Wild onion and wild garlic

Forget about edibility tests and dangerous nonesense like that (I'm horrified how often I come across this on the web - the edibility test should only be used as a last resort under dire circumstances as it can be fatal!!!) and worrying about tropical and jungle plants (unless you plan on going there of course!) and learn these simple ones!

 

[jakunen]

Of course, as well as being regional, it is perforce seasonal too - nettles make better cordage when they are young, in the spring...

And just to prove me wrong, I found a whole clump of young nettles... :?:

 

[Adi007]

And just to prove me wrong, I found a whole clump of young nettles... :?:

Probably saw them is a cut or strimmed area and it's secondary growth. Nettles know how to grow!

 

[jakunen]

It was in an area under a hazel that had been cut back as it was blocking half the path. I assume it had been dormant and with the recent weather decided to take the available space before somethign else did...

 

[Tvividr]

Hi...
Alick: if you read my post in the Plantlore-thread yesterday, you may know that eating Dandelion is not good for you! Dandelion is toxic in bigger amounts! I don't know anything about coffee making from plants, but I know that you must not eat Dandelion. Why RM is showing this plant as edible in his books, I don't know! :?:

Hi...This quote is from a danish man who is very much in to the hole plant thing and has solid knowledge on nordic flora:



And to translate to english: Dandelion... I have never mentioned dandelionroots as edible. On the contrary they contain different connections which is definately not healthy for the human organism. Don't worry. You will not take any harm, of having tasted the roots; but don't eat them!
Well this is the info that I have been given and i'm gonna' stick to that.

I have never ever heard that dandelion is poisonous in such a way as being harmful to eat, drink or use as a medicinal herb! In fact I have heard the exact opposite : “Dandelion is one of the most complete plant foods on earth. All the vital nutrients are conveniently contained in a single source, in quantities that the body can easily process and fully absorb” – herbalist Gregory Tilford.
Yes, dandelion has white sap which is a sign generally referring to poisonous stuff, but dandelion has been used for food and as a medicinal herb for centuries without doing any harm to people. I have eaten dandelion "a lot", as several others in this thread, and not one of my books states that dandelion is poisonous in any way.
I am running a course in bowmaking starting tomorrow and for the rest of this week, but in the coming weekend I'll check a reference book on medicinal and edible plants - the book is compiled by chemists and based on scientific work done on edible / medicinal plants used in Norway for ages. The book is at my mother in law's place and she has worked as a chemist for some 15 years or so.

Nyttevekstforeningen (http://www.nyttevekstforeningen.no/) - the Norwegian organisation for useful edible and medicinal plants does not list it as being either dangerous or poisonous - on the contrary they mention it as being a useful plant.

The Swedish website on plants "The Virtual Flora" on http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/welcome.html notes that dandelion is both nutritious and rich in vitamins.

That the Swedish Army manual does not list dandelion does not mean that is poisonous, as there are far too many useful plants out there to be mentioned within the pages of a field manual.
The Swedish survival book "Overleve på naturens vilkår" (Norwegian edition) by Lars Fält - one of Swedens most experienced survival experts and head instructor for the Swedish Special Forces, and also working together with Ray Mears - and Steffan Källman (also a well known army survival expert who has done scientific work on different survival aspects), lists dandelion (Taraxacum vulgare) as being edible and especially the roots being useful and very nutritious... (lots of carbohydrates - mainly inulin, which may be more readily available to humans by cooking. I can list the nutritional values if anyone is interested). Lars Fält and Steffan Källman are also the authors of the Swedish Army Survival manual. They were also deeply involved in starting the Swedish Survival Guild (http://www.survive.nu/english.html) which incidentally has a pic of a dandelion somewhere on the front page.

Tom Brown, the well known (and controversial !) American survival expert also list dandelion as "one of the great all-around" plants for medicinal and food use.

Not to mention the "Dandelion Guru" Peter Gail - http://www.edibleweeds.bigstep.com/homepage.html. He writes the following on his webpage (with regard to poisonous roots please note what he says about that) :
"Most of us are told that dandelions are edible when they are at their bitterest --when they are in flower like they are now. We taste a leaf, shrink back in horror, and never try them again. In truth, they are no more bitter than their relatives endive and chicory, and are so nutritious and health-promoting that it is worth learning to serve dandelions with foods that mask the bitterness.

Here are some more tips....
For the Leaves
Gather them when they are young, in the spring before the flower buds appear. After they have finished flowering, cut them back to the top of the roots, and harvest the young greens which come back all the way into November. They will be just as good as spring greens.

Dandelions growing in the shade are bigger and less bitter than dandelions growing in full sun. Harvest there whenever possible and plant dandelions under pole beans, tomatoes and other tall crops which will shade them.

Dandelions for sale in supermarkets most of the year are Italian Dandelions, which really are blue-flowered chicories, not true dandelions. They have the same healthful properties, but are coarser and more bitter.

Until you get used to it, you can mask the bitterness by serving dandelions between slices of bread, with sweet and sour or raspberry vinaigrette dressing, with meats, cheeses, pasta, seasoned tomato sauces, and fruits.
For the flowers
The flowers, separated from their bitter green bases, are sweet to the taste. Different recipes call for everything from the unopened buds through fully-opened flowers. Make sure you are getting flowers at the stage required by the recipe for the best results. If getting fully-opened flowers for dandyburgers, muffins, cookies, omelets, waffles, jelly or wine, gather them early in the morning when they are still closed. They are easier to process.

To get rid of the green base, hold the flower between your thumb and forefinger. Pinch hard at the base, while moving thumb and forefinger in a twisting motion. This will immediately loosen the yellow flowers from the green base, especially if they are freshly picked. Using this method, you can easily prepare a cup of flowers in five to six minutes.
For the Roots
Dandelion roots are so nutritious and health promoting because they are the winter storehouse for all the nutrients gathered and produced by the plant. Hence, dandelion roots are best gathered from October through March.

The roots are very efficient miners of all the minerals available in the soil. They are not discriminating. If they are present, the roots will suck up lead, mercury, and other minerals, as well as pesticides, in proportion to the amount that is present in the soil or air. Studies have shown that it is safe to collect dandelions 75 feet from the road, or behind a structure like a house or barn which blocks airborne pollutants from getting to them. Dig deep. Get long roots. These can be grated into salads or stir-fries as the Asians do, or roasted and made into a coffee substitute.

For a delightful beverage, air-dry the roots for several days uncut. Then cut the dried roots into one-inch sections, and roast on a cookie sheet at 250 degrees for 2 to 4 hours, turning regularly so that they brown evenly, until the odor coming from the oven smells like coffee. Grind as needed, and use as you would coffee."
Direct link to this quote is http://www.edibleweeds.bigstep.com/generic.html?pid=8

And I think that I could check and list a whole lot of other resources on this plant, but now I really wonder, what is the name of the guy you refer to, and what is his background? Any website links - even in Danish ?

 

[Adi007]

Excellent dandelion write-up Tvividr. :biggthump :You_Rock_

I've looked in every resource that I can find about dandelion and I can't find anything negative about them save for the reference that they are a diuretic and can cause bedwetting. However, this may have been a name given to the plant by people in the days when we didn't drink huge quantities of diuretic drinks such as coffee and cola. I've eaten dandelions without flooding either my bed or sleeping bag! However, back before coffee, tea and cola, it might have been quite an effective diuretic!

 

[TheViking]

Hi...

We have to make sure, we're all talking about the very same plant!

Taraxacum officinalis

This info is proven by chemists and scientists. When i started bushcraft, I thought it was edible too, but then i found out that Dandelion contains the substance 'taraxin'. Taraxin is a non-glycodic substance bound with bitter-substance. This bitter-substance can cause problems with metabolism (can cause vomiting) and heart-rythm.
You need to eat big amounts before it gets directly dangerous. And it varies from person to person.

There is no doubt that the roots can be used as coffee etc. and the leaves in salat, but it contains these substances and it is a scientific fact. :biggthump Dandelion also contains different 'saponins' which is chemical substances, in connection with the substances used in south american 'arrow poison'. The 'saponins' in dandelion is not poisonous for the human body in small amounts.

Remember: never said it was deadly poisonous...! Only in bigger amounts (i cannot say what 'a big amount' is)

 

[TheViking]

I think i'd better keep quiet now. I believe in my source and all you believe in yours, which is for good reason, cause I thought the same in the beginning. Buuut, I trust my source....

But perhaps it's more the principle in eating a toxic plant! I will never (by principle) eat something that is the least toxic, and then you can say that all plants are toxic in bigger amounts and then you wouldn't be able to eat anything 'natural'. Hehe :biggthump

So off I go! :biggthump :biggthump

 

[Adi007]

I think i'd better keep quiet now. I believe in my source and all you believe in yours, which is for good reason, cause I thought the same in the beginning. Buuut, I trust my source....

But perhaps it's more the principle in eating a toxic plant! I will never (by principle) eat something that is the least toxic, and then you can say that all plants are toxic in bigger amounts and then you wouldn't be able to eat anything 'natural'. Hehe :biggthump

So off I go! :biggthump :biggthump

I'm not disagreeing with you Viking ... there are plenty of foods that we eat that if we eath them in large enough doses that will kill us (I've read that if you drink too much water you can die from a heart attack ...).

However, as with anything to do with the outdoors, if you aren't comfortable with it or in any doubt, you are doing the right thing in avoid it! :biggthump

 

[jakunen]

Was just talking to my mother about this.
During the second world war, and after, dandelion was apparently grown as a cash crop. the leaves were forced and used a chicory substitute and roots were roasted and ground for coffee. My grandfather was a market gardener and it was one of his 'crops'.
The family ate and drank quiet a lot of it and never suffered any adverse affects, too much coffee acts as a diuretic anyway...

 

[TheViking]

Hi...

My top 10 would be:
Blackberries ( :biggthump )
Blueberries
Raspberries
Elderberries
Wood sorrel
Wild apples
Beechnuts
Cattail roots
Beechleafs
Nettles

As you can see, I like berries a lot. But be careful. If you only eat berries you get such a stomach-ache..... :shock: