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Post by happersilderness on Feb 28, 2011 8:27:29 GMT -5
This is a thread for wild edibles. But make sure you know the plant well and tell unique characteristics, if theres a poisonous look a like and what makes them different. Dont forget to say how to prepare them.
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Post by mark572 on Mar 1, 2011 2:26:00 GMT -5
The entire cattail plant is edible at some time or another. It's one of the most widely available food sources on the planet, and a staple of native American Indians 1.Open up the leaves in early spring to reveal the shoots. Once the fibrous green are peeled away, the white meat is visible. It can be eaten fresh of steamed. You can dice it or slice it to add to salads, too. 2.Scrape the slime from those shoots onto a cookie sheet and let it dry in the sunshine. This starchy substance is a good soup thickener and can be stored in its dry form for a long time. 3.Later in the year, when the flowering stalk grows, you can steam the green male flowering tip and eat it. It's been recommended that you dip it in butter, because it can be rather dry. 4.After the pollen develops, you can shake it off and add it to flour to make pancakes, muffins, cookies or other baked goods. The pollen can be encapsulated and taken as a supplement, similar to the popular bee pollen energy pills hat are popular. 5.After the flowers have gone to seed, parch the fluffy stuff so that the seeds get nice and toasted. Sprinkle them on salads or eat by the hand as a tasty toasted nutty snack. 6.Dig up the root masses in the winter and scrub them clean. Smash them into a pulp and soak in water to extract the starch for a high energy soup thickener. Please understand there is always a risk in eating anything wild. i my self have never eaten these but i sure know alot that have eaten them and enjoy these cattails.. Read more: How to Eat Cattails | eHow.com www.ehow.com/how_5129508_eat-cattails.html#ixzz1FKXNNzkf
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Post by happersilderness on Mar 1, 2011 8:08:22 GMT -5
When you say, leaves. Do you mean the long ones that are 1/2 an inch wide?
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Post by mark572 on Mar 1, 2011 8:51:50 GMT -5
yes hap all the long green blades are considered leaves.
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Post by happersilderness on Mar 1, 2011 19:20:31 GMT -5
Ok. What parts are edible in the spring? The blades?
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Post by mark572 on Mar 2, 2011 0:01:55 GMT -5
1.Open up the leaves in early spring to reveal the shoots. Once the fibrous green are peeled away, the white meat is visible. It can be eaten fresh of steamed. You can dice it or slice it to add to salads, too.
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Post by happersilderness on Mar 2, 2011 6:44:59 GMT -5
Thanks. I'll have to make a video on it this spring.
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Post by minnesotascott on Mar 2, 2011 7:56:45 GMT -5
Happer and M5, one thing to remember is that there is other plants that look like young cattail plants that are poisonous. Yellow Flag is one of such plants. I am at work right now but will do more research. But Google Yellow Flag and or other poisonous aquatic water plants.
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Post by happersilderness on Mar 2, 2011 8:13:15 GMT -5
What are the ways to tell them apart?
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Post by minnesotascott on Mar 2, 2011 8:39:27 GMT -5
Happer, i don tlike saying to look it up. but i woul dnot do it justice explaining them. Visit your library and check out some books. They best way is to study.
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Post by beaverbuster on Mar 2, 2011 8:59:20 GMT -5
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Post by happersilderness on Mar 2, 2011 10:12:18 GMT -5
ok scott
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Post by happersilderness on Mar 2, 2011 19:16:39 GMT -5
Scott. I looked it up and tell me if I'm wrong. But Yellow Flag looks shorter and looks like the leaves are thinner.. I just saw that from the pictures. And also it showed they have yellow flowers. Do they grow right away or later in the year?
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Post by minnesotascott on Mar 2, 2011 19:42:21 GMT -5
Yes happer when the Cattail is very young looks alot alike. there is other water plants you do not want to eat. They can make you very sick and or kill a person.
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Post by happersilderness on Mar 2, 2011 19:43:57 GMT -5
Do you have any idea how to tell them apart when there young?
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Post by minnesotascott on Mar 8, 2011 18:41:50 GMT -5
Yes Happer I do, but it would be to hard to explain it.
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Post by happersilderness on Mar 10, 2011 6:51:13 GMT -5
Ok. Where are these photos of the willow?
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