What are the good and bad roots?

[rich59]

I was thinking about roots - available all the year round and wondering what are the no nos.

A couple of specific questions:-

Dock leaves - have a good tap root. Any good?

Foxglove - also has a good root. Any good? Digitalis (a heart drug) is extracted from it, but does cooking make it safe?

Others - nettles, wild carrot. What about bindweed?

What about others?

 

[Toddy]

Good thread
I get dye from them all apart from the foxglove.....it's not a tap or bulbous root, it's kind of a mass of thin threads coming from a central base. I thought the leaves were the source of digitalis
Nettle roots are used for bindings, there was a thread about this one not so long ago.
I know that pigs and chickens will eat bindweed roots, don't know if we can, or would we want to?
Dockens are really cheugh, not an edible one, I'm sure.


Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Pappa]

pigs and chickens will eat bindweed roots, don't know if we can, or would we want to?

Pigs will eat the leaves, stems and roots of just about anything. They will even clear thickets of brambles if they are penned into the area for long enough. They are perhaps the best way of clearing an overgrown are without the use of herbicides.

Pappa

 

[martin]

Have a look here for which part of the plant you can use,

 

[match]

Firstly, all parts of the foxglove should be considered poisonous and not eaten.

As to the others, nettle root is edible, but the tops are usually tastier and less likely to have a diuretic effect on you

Dock roots are again edible, but do have high concentrations of chemicals like oxalic acid, which are not too good eaten in large quantities.

Wild carrot is definitlely edible, but incredibly difficult to distinguish from other umbellifers such as hemlock - avoid unless you're absolutely sure.

Sweet Cicely is another umbellifer with edible roots, but again this is only easy to locate when in season, and could again be confused with hemlock (although it smells and tastes strongly of aniseed).

As to other edible roots, your best bet is burdock - which is easy to identify, available all year round (although a bit tough in winter) and tastes really good!

Another edible root is silverweed, but this is not as common as burdock.

Ramsons (wild garlic) have rots that taste like garlic or spring onions, and can be used in the same way.

Pignuts are also very tasty, but these are more seasonal, and there's a knack to digging them up...

These are some of the ones I can recommend, but there are lots of others - however roots are often a more concentrated source of chemicals in plants, so always be absolutely sure you identify correctly!

 

[locum76]

there may some feral horseradish kicking about if you're lucky. watch out for dock roots, they taste rank.

 

[The Joker]

Water Lily rhizome's are edible on mature plants.

Bitter Vetch available Sept/Dec root tastes like sweet chestnut.

Evening Primrose the root is good boiled and tastes like Parsnip.

Sea Holly roots can be eaten boiled or roasted.

Wild Parsnip.

Salsify has an edible black root.

Chicory root edible but can be bitter, best made in to coffee.

Dittander root can be used in the same way as horse radish. (but rare in uk)

Arrow Head starchy slightly bitter root tastes a bit like potato (do not eat raw)

Reedmace and Common Reed edible roots and rhizome.

Dandelion root can be eaten like a vegetable or roasted as a coffee.

Fennel roots are edible.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[Toddy]

There's always lesser celandine too.
I was told that the Russian eat the roots of Greater Rosebay Willowherb (fireweed), boiled like potatoes. I hadn't heard this one so I gave it a try..... When I was little and being taught the gardens, etc., part of the way of telling whether a plant was harmful was by the particular nippy, dry, burning effect on the inside of the mouth just behind the lips.....well this plant hit all of the *don't eat* signs. Has anyone else heard anything about this plant as being edible?

Not surprised that the dockens taste bad....I use them as a natural dye fixative as well as a dye.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[The Joker]

Rosebay Willowherb or Fireweed, The young shoots can be steamed like Asparagus. The leaves can be cooked or added to salads. The root when the plant has died back in the autumn can be scraped clean and used as a vegatable.

 

[Toddy]

Rosebay Willowherb or Fireweed, The young shoots can be steamed like Asparagus. The leaves can be cooked or added to salads. The root when the plant has died back in the autumn can be scraped clean and used as a vegatable.

Did you try it? Does it taste *right* to you?
I've made tea from the leaves, it's quite good. You pick them youngish, crush them and leave them in a bundle to ferment for a few days, then spread them out on a teatowel and leave them to dry crispy. Break up and store in an airtight tin. Just use like Tea.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[The Joker]

Did you try it? Does it taste *right* to you?
I've made tea from the leaves, it's quite good. You pick them youngish, crush them and leave them in a bundle to ferment for a few days, then spread them out on a teatowel and leave them to dry crispy. Break up and store in an airtight tin. Just use like Tea.

Cheers,
Toddy

Hiya Toddy, I have tried lightly boiled young shoots, I thought they had a slightly sweet cabbage type taste. I wouldn't say it was my cup of tea , I think its one of those you should do a tolerance test with as I don't think it agrees with everyone.