The AEthelmearc Foresters Guild has issued a challenge to folks in the Known World who are interested in Forestry! You can check out all of the guidelines and such HERE in the event you would like to join us in exploring the outdoors.
One of the items is to identify and forage three edible plants and explain how to use them. For this I have chosen Bushy Aster, Sheep Sorrel (sour grass), and White Goosefoot.
REMINDER - Foraging can be dangerous, and it is easy to misidentify plants or mushrooms. Please take your time learning what plants are, as well as what harmful lookalikes there might be before consuming anything. Please verify all plants you harvest with multiple sources before using.
One of the items is to identify and forage three edible plants and explain how to use them. For this I have chosen Bushy Aster, Sheep Sorrel (sour grass), and White Goosefoot.
REMINDER - Foraging can be dangerous, and it is easy to misidentify plants or mushrooms. Please take your time learning what plants are, as well as what harmful lookalikes there might be before consuming anything. Please verify all plants you harvest with multiple sources before using.
The sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella) is one I have talked about here before. It grows in abundance in our yard and has distinctive fish shaped leaves. It loves to grow on disturbed land which is why I think that it grows close to the house here. This plant is actually native to the British Isles and Eurasia, and is something my persona might have known.
This plant is edible, with the caveat that it is very high in oxalates, so should be eaten in moderation and avoided by those with kidney stones or otherwise compromised kidneys.
The taste is sour and lemony, and it is one plant that is a regular for me to add to soups or pottage instead of lemon if I want to add a sour element. You can read about one of my favorite uses, with parsnips and onion, as a pottage HERE.
This plant is edible, with the caveat that it is very high in oxalates, so should be eaten in moderation and avoided by those with kidney stones or otherwise compromised kidneys.
The taste is sour and lemony, and it is one plant that is a regular for me to add to soups or pottage instead of lemon if I want to add a sour element. You can read about one of my favorite uses, with parsnips and onion, as a pottage HERE.
This type of sorrel also has a number of cultivated varieties as well, including blood sorrel which I grew in my garden 4 years ago and which jumped the pot and I can now forage for it amongst my tomatoes and squash plants. Like it's wild cousin, it also has that pleasant lemony taste and can be chopped and mixed into salads.
Next up is the Bushy Aster (Symphyotrichum dumosum) one of several plants that is also called Frost Aster. This one is native to North America, and has no common counterpart that would have been known to my 14th Century English persona.
It apparently is used as a medicine by Indigenous people. Several varieties of this plant are enjoyed as a tea by others. Purportedly the flowers and small leaves are also edible in salads and the roots can be added to stews. I have seen information that asters are toxic to dogs, but also have seen articles stating it is safe. I would play safe and keep this one away from pets without knowing more.
I tasted the leaves and they were pleasant very mildly green tasting (not what I consider a harsh green which tastes to me the way cut grass smells). I brewed a small cup of tea to test out and it made a very pale yellow tea that tasted similar to chamomile, but without the underlying "funk" taste that causes me to avoid chamomile tea. Interesting is that the bit I left in the cup (I tend to forget my beverages and leave a trail of half drank cups wherever I roam) was a pretty shade of green several hours later.
There are dozens of blooms on each plant, so I foraged only enough for the cup of tea and left the rest to the pollinators.
It apparently is used as a medicine by Indigenous people. Several varieties of this plant are enjoyed as a tea by others. Purportedly the flowers and small leaves are also edible in salads and the roots can be added to stews. I have seen information that asters are toxic to dogs, but also have seen articles stating it is safe. I would play safe and keep this one away from pets without knowing more.
I tasted the leaves and they were pleasant very mildly green tasting (not what I consider a harsh green which tastes to me the way cut grass smells). I brewed a small cup of tea to test out and it made a very pale yellow tea that tasted similar to chamomile, but without the underlying "funk" taste that causes me to avoid chamomile tea. Interesting is that the bit I left in the cup (I tend to forget my beverages and leave a trail of half drank cups wherever I roam) was a pretty shade of green several hours later.
There are dozens of blooms on each plant, so I foraged only enough for the cup of tea and left the rest to the pollinators.
 |  |
For my third plant, I choose another old favorite, White Goosefoot (Chenopodium album) also called Lambsquarters.
Like the sheep sorrel, this one is native to Europe and Eurasia. The leaves are edible cooked, but can be mildly toxic raw (and also do not taste great that way on older plants, so perhaps that is a warning, lol). It is a nutritious plant and I learned this plant is cultivated for food in India and it is also a relative of quinoa.
I will often gather a handful of the leaves when I am cooking a curried sweet potato and spinach dish that I very much love.
The seeds are also edible and if they are ready to harvest soon I might add them to bread. (If they are not ready soon, someone here might be pushing to cut down the massive bush obscuring the window before I can use them). The unripe seed pods have a very mild, pleasant taste.
The University of the District of Columbia has two fantastic PDFs that you can download that have more INFO and RECIPES.
 |  |
RSS Feed