and cattails grow all around the country, so let’s look at what they have to offer.
Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
One of the most nutritious of foods, dandelion leaves provide more vitamins A, C, E, K, and B complex, plus the minerals iron, calcium and potassium, than any commercial vegetable. Even the blossom provides vitamin A, calcium and magnesium.
Sheep Sorrel (Rumex acetosella) Sheep sorrel provides vitamins A, D, E, B complex and C, calcium, iron, magne- sium, sulfur, zinc, potassium and phos- phorus plus the flavonoid rutin. Kids love this European perennial on account of its great flavor.
Cattails (Typha spp.) Immature cattail flowers are a good source of protein and essential fatty acids (both rare in plants), as well as a number of trace minerals. The pollen provides the same nutrients, plus vitamin A. People pay premium prices for bee pollen, an energizer, in health food stores. Cattail pollen is identical, except that people, instead of bees, gather it, and it’s free.
Renewable Bounty
Wild edibles are a renewable natural resource that requires no husbandry from mankind; all we have to do is not build houses and park- ing lots on top of them. In addition to providing nutri- tious food, many of these plants have a rich, global history as remedies and healing agents. They are the forerunners, and in some cases still the source of, virtually all modern medicines. Of course,
use of pictures is es-
sential in accurately identifying wild plants. My illustrated books and the Internet are handy and portable resourc- es. A good place to start is Foraging. com and the Green Links section of my website.
Nature provides us with an open-ended curriculum to study in every season. Exploring local parks and uncultivated areas shows what they have to offer. Foragers will return home embracing an abundance of viable veg- etables at the height of their goodness, with a deeper feeling and appreciation
for humanity’s role in Earth’s ecosystems that is unobtainable in any other kind of classroom.
Steve “Wildman” Brill is a natural- ist who specializes in edible and medici- nal wild plants. He leads tours through- out the greater New York area for school, day camp and museum groups, as well as the general public. His books and DVDs include The Wild Vegetarian Cookbook. Connect at Wildman
SteveBrill.com.
August 2010 39
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56