Cattail Video with Blanche Derby

Foraging Cattails

Common cattail (Typha latifolia) and narrow leaf cattail (Typha augustifolia) are easy to identify and easy to eat wild edibles, and produce some of our favorite edibles--pollen, the early "hearts", and the flower spike pulp. Cattails grow in open marshy areas, along slow moving rivers, in some tidal marshes, and shallow ponds. They prefer full sun and mucky ground. The sword-like leaves grow from the base of the rhizome beneath the mud, to about 4-8' tall. A very early shoot is edible, gathered by cutting it from the rhizome. The heart of the leaves is edible in early spring before the flower stalks grow. The flower stalk is produced from the center of each leaf cluster, and it contains both the male and female flower parts. The immature flower stalk can be collected to cook and eat like corn-on-the-cob. As it's protective leaf unfurls, the upper male flower produces the pollen that will fertilize the lower female part which will develop into the brown, hot dog-on-a-stick seed head most people are familiar with. The dried hot dog makes great tinder for fires. Late in the autumn through winter and in very early spring, the rhizome can be gathered and processed as a source of starch.

The excessive rain this spring has prevented us from gathering the hearts. Either it is raining too much all day, or all the extra rain yesterday flooded the swamp and we can't reach the cattails because of the high water. All we own are knee-high rubber boots, perhaps a purchase of chest-high waders is in our future. The hearts are gathered by grabbing the outer leaves of each leaf cluster, and pulling them away from the center. Then we firmly grasp the center leaves and give it a pull, and it releases easily from the rhizome. The lower 4-6 inches of the leaves are white and very tender with a taste similar to cucumber. They are easily added to salads and pickled, but Gillian like them best raw. We'll have to wait until next year to get more.

Gillian holding unpeeled flower stalks

Already the flower stalks are up, and we have been able to cut some and bring them home. The protective leaf is peeled, and we boil up the male and female flower parts like corn. The female part is usually lighter green, and does not produce much food, but the darker male part produces an abundant pulp. We also remove this pulp raw and use it in recipes like chowder and griddle cakes. The taste is similar to corn.

If the flowers are allowed to mature, the male parts produce large amounts of pollen. We gather the pollen by using a gallon jug with a hole cut into the side. Robert bends the pollen-laden flower stalk into the hole, and shakes it around. The plastic jug holds most of the pollen inside, although some always escapes and Robert comes home covered in yellow dust. Then we sift the pollen once in a metal sieve to remove debris, then again through a tea strainer to remove bugs and flower bits. The pollen is then spread out on a sheetpan and left to dry, and we store it in the freezer in a glass jar. We add the pollen as a nutritional and flavor boost to pancakes, biscuits, and in yogurt and oatmeal all year.

Cattail Pollen pancakes with wild strawberry compote

We have not tried gathering the rhizomes to make a starch, but may try it later this fall. We read about digging the rhizomes from the mud and peeling them to expose the center core. Then the cores are pulled apart and washed with water to separate the starch from the tough fibers. The water is allowed to sit, as the starch will settle to the bottom and can be dried for use like flour. Samuel Thayer gives a great description in his book "The Forager's Harvest" of how to process flour from cattail rhizomes. We also recorded Blanche Derby talking about cattails in a video.

Foraging Report 06/12/2011

Northern bay laurel

In typical New England fashion, the weather has been crazy hot one day, chilly and rainy the next. The growing season is already about 2 weeks behind due to the extended winter. This week we went to the seashore in search of blooming roses (Rosa rugosa) for the fragrant petals to use in a syrup and wine. Both the white and pink roses were blooming, and Robert gathered about 2 packed gallons. We also grabbed a few branches from the northern bay laurel (Myrica pensylvanica) to replenish our supplies. We add the leaves to soups and beans just like commercial bay leaves. They bay laurel is so plentiful in our area, it is easy to keep a fresh bunch of leaves around.

Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) flowerbuds are plentiful right now. We gather one bud cluster from each plant in densely populated open fields. The flowerbuds are still tight, and resemble broccoli. The buds are good in recipes like a crustless quiche, or puréed soup. The flavor is similar to green beans. We are also attempting to make some brined and pickled "capers" from the unopened buds. We accidentally took home a teeny tiny Monarch caterpillar, and I noticed it when I was washing the buds for a recipe. I put it in a bug box,and have been feeding it fresh milkweed leaves and flower buds every day, and he it tripled in size in 3 days. Gillian loves to peek in on the caterpillar every morning and evening to see how much it has grown. We hope to keep it alive through butterfly stage and release it.

We are having a bit of trouble finding a suitable cattail (genus Typha) foraging area. We hope to gather some of the hearts for snacking and maybe pickling, we hope to gather some pollen, and we hope to gather the immature flower stalks to cook like corn on the cob. The narrow-leaf cattail (Typha augustafolia) is abundant in Preston, but the yield for pollen and flower stalks is so much lower compared to the common cattail (Typha latifolia). Most roadside ditches are unsuitable due to pollution, and many swamps are off limits because they are private property, or too deep to access on foot. Our gathering methods do not kill the plants, as the cattails spread through their rhizomes under the water or wet ground. We will keep our eyed opened!

Ramps pesto twists

We were happy to attend a potluck and tour at our organic and biodynamic CSA farm this past weekend. Woodbridge Farm is located in Salem, CT. We have picked up our first 2 weeks of food shares, and the greens are fantastic. The potluck was open to all CSA participants, but many might have been scared of the overcast and cool weather. Our small group gathered in the barn for potluck lunch, we brought some ramps pesto bread twists. The group then took a tour of the farm, and there were so many wild edibles! Organic farms are an ideal place to gather wild food since there is no spraying for weeds (herbicides) or for bugs (pesticides). The farmers know many of the "weeds" already, and we were able to talk about a few more and their edible properties. The kids enjoyed some red clovers (Trifolium pratense), honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), and monkey tails--the tendrils of wild grapes (genus Vitis).

Milkweed Recipe - Cream of Milkweed Flowerbud Soup

Our common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is making flower buds in abundance this week. Milkweed usually grows in open fields, and along recently disturbed areas. The young buds look like broccoli, but the taste is more like buttery green beans. As the buds age, the flower stems elongate, and the flower bud cluster become floppy before the flower opens. For this recipe, we pick the younger, tighter buds. Each milkweed stalk will usually have 2-5 clusters at the top, and maybe 3-6 more clusters along the stalks where the stalk meets the leaf stems. To forage responsibly, we pick just one cluster per plant in an area with a large population. The clusters will ooze white "milk" when picked, and sometimes there will be beetles, ants, or Monarch butterfly caterpillars in the tight clusters. Give the clusters a quick shake and wash to clean them before cooking. I like to use a roux and an added potato to thicken my cream soups, instead of heavy cream. The result is still velvety smooth, and rich tasting.

Cream of Milkweed Flowerbud Soup             makes 4-6 servings

1 T oil
2 T butter
1/2 small onion, diced
3 T flour
2 c. milk
1/2 c. vegetable broth
1 medium russet potato, diced
3 c. milkweed flowerbuds
1 c. shredded sharp cheddar
1 c. boiled milkweed flowerbuds for garnish

1. Heat the oil and butter together and sautée the onion until translucent.
2. Add the flour and whisk to cook the roux for 30 seconds over medium-high heat.
3. Slowly pour in the vegetable broth, milk, and diced potato, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Bring the thickened soup to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and cook 8 minutes, stirring often.
4. Add 3 c. washed milkweed flowerbuds and cook 8 minutes longer, stirring often.
5. Purée the soup in a blender, or with a hand blender until smooth. Stir in the shredded cheddar, stir until the cheddar is melted. Serve garnished with the boiled milkweed flowerbuds.

Milkweed flowerbuds

Foraging Milkweed Video

Milkweed

Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is a food source that gives several edible parts during different times of the year. Last year, we made an effort to try almost all of them. Milkweed grows in open fields and meadows, roadsides, along forest edges and near river bottoms. It is found in eastern North America, except for the deep south. It will grow in dense colonies, sometimes filling a field with green stalks. Milkweed is commonly known as a food source for the Monarch Butterfly caterpillar.

Common milkweed is a tall perennial herb that rarely branches, an important identifying characteristic to differentiate milkweed from dogbane, a poisonous look alike. The leaves grow in opposite pairs along the stalk with short stems. They are elongated ovals, veined and thick. The stalk and undersides of the leaves are covered with fine hairs that can be viewed under magnification, another important characteristic. The flower bud clusters appear in spring, looking a bit like bunches of broccoli. Once the flowers open, they can range from white to pink or purple, many times a combination of colors. From each flower cluster, only 1-4 pods will eventually appear in mid-summer. The pod are teardrop shaped, green, and usually bumpy or covered in soft green spikes. The pods will grow to 5 inches long when mature and contain seeds and silk that helps the seeds "fly" to their next destination. All parts of the plant will exude a white, milky latex sap if broken.

We had read about a bitterness associated with the plant and the sap, and possible poisonous characteristics of the sap. We also read some strongly worded arguments about the non-bitterness of milkweed. Most people who have actually gone out and really tried milkweed seem to agree that it is not bitter, and does not need to be boiled in 3 changes of water to make it safe to eat. We decided to go a safe middle route, and boiled our milkweed once for about 8 minutes. All parts we tried after a initial boiling-the shoots, flower buds, and pods-were very tasty and not bitter at all. I will admit that once we used the boiled parts in a recipe and the milkweed was cooked again, it tasted even better. Milkweed is a wonderful addition to recipes as a vegetable, it's flavor resembles green beans.

In the spring, we went to open areas that we knew had milkweed growing in them last year. Sometimes you can find the dead, dry stalks from last year. The shoots are best picked when they are 6-12 inches tall. At that stage their leaves are still partially closed along the stems. They are tender and can be gathered without a knife by pinching the stalks off. We boiled them and ate most of them plain with a pat of butter and a shake of salt. These are great spring vegetables.

Next come the flower bud clusters. We picked them when the clusters were still fairly tight, the stems of the flowers will elongate and the cluster will become much looser and floppier right before the flowers open. At this stage, the flower bud clusters look like broccoli. We boiled them about 2 minutes and tasted them with butter and a bit of salt. Again, they tasted a bit like green beans, only with a more velvety texture. After an initial quick boil, we keep some in the fridge to add to stir-fry vegetables. Then we cooked them in a quiche and in soups, and they tasted even better. We also made a caper-like condiment with the brined and pickled buds. We did not taste the open flowers yet, although they are edible.

The pods came very early last year with all of the rain in the spring and high heat last summer. Pods on different plants are all in different stages of readiness, so we went out for multiple harvests. The pods we gathered to eat are actually immature, the insides were completely white and the outside green shell was still tender. We picked pods between 1-3 inches long. Robert boiled them for 5 minutes, and some were popping open. We tried them plain, but the flavor was greatly improved when we then chopped and stir-fried them with soy sauce. I also took the boiled pods, split them along their seam, removed the white pre-silk, and stuffed them with a cream cheese, jalapeno and red onion mixture and baked them topped with breadcrumbs. I stuffed some other pods with buttered basmati rice mixed with the cooked pre-silk, and baked those in a yellow pepper sauce. The pods make another fantastic wild vegetable.

For a video about foraging milkweed with Blanche Derby that Robert filmed this past weekend, click here.

Black Locust Recipe - Black Locust Flower Syrup

Black locust infused sugar

Making syrups to mix into drinks and dilute with seltzer is a common Hungarian tradition. Ripe fruits or fragrant flowers become the flavor components for the sugar syrup, ascorbic acid is added as a preservative and tart flavor booster. We get powdered ascorbic acid (vitamin C) at GNC in an 8 oz bottle and it lasts for a long time. Here we used black locust flowers (Robinia pseudoacacia) as the flavoring agent, and mixed it with seltzer for a refreshing drink. Robert rims the glass with sugar infused with more black locust flowers for an even more fragrant flavor. The syrup is added to seltzer or water at a 1:7 ratio to make the final drink.

Black Locust Flower Syrup                       makes about 4+ cups of syrup

2 1/4 c. water

3 c. sugar

2 c. packed black locust flowers

3 T ascorbic acid powder

1. Heat the water to boiling and add the sugar. Remove from the heat, and stir until the sugar dissolves.

2. Allow the sugar syrup to cool to 80°F, then add the black locust flowers. Let the flowers steep in the syrup for 24 hours.

3. Filter out the flowers and give them a squeeze to extract all the flavor.

4. Remove 1 cup of the syrup, and warm it up. Add the ascorbic acid, stirring to dissolve it. Pour the syrup back into the rest, mixing well. Store in airtight containers.

Black Locust flower cluster