Nature

Several years ago I was asked to conduct a nature discussion with a group of Boy Scout Leaders. My topic was 'Don't Kill Your Weeds, Eat Em'.

We discussed many different weeds, which grow in these Allegheny Hills that we all know or are familiar with. Perhaps some of you know a particular weed by a different name, but never the less most weeds are edible if cooked properly. I might add that I have tasted some of them and they were delicious, while others I would pass up quickly a second time. So, I'll pass them on to you.

I doubt if there was ever a hunter of large or small game who has not, at one time, come in contact with a large growth of GREENBRIER. It is practically impossible to go through one of these patches. Each stock or vine can reach a length of ten to fifteen feet and are covered with extremely sharp thorns. It can usually be found growing in ravines, hillsides, fence rows and vacated gardens.

About the latter part of May or early June the new shoots begin to appear. These shoots are so tender they will snap into pieces just like a green bean. Small pieces of these shoots actually can be eaten in the raw, or they can be prepared as a salad with a sandwich. Some families prepare this plant in the same manner as spinach.

I am certain everyone is familiar with the little BLUE VIOLET. It is one of our first Spring flowers. The Pennsylvania Dutch found years ago that this little plant, including the flowers were quite tasty, so they used it as their spring tonic just as many country families use dandelion. In the past several years tests were made on this little plant and results indicated it was extremely rich in vitamin C.

It is also possible to make a jam from the blossoms of violets. For a salad, the leaves should be gathered hen young and tender and cut with shears or a knife. They can be cooked in the same way as dandelion.

There is one minor danger, persons eating large amounts of this plant may find that it acts as a laxative.

Over the years I have torn out literally tons of CHICKWEED from my garden and yard. This little pest is found in nearly every part of the world. It derives its name for the reason that young chickens love this plant as well as do many birds. It thrives in our yards twelve months of the year.

Many families use this plant in various ways. It can be blended with herbs to make a 'green drink', or it can be chopped in with vegetables to make a delicious 'tossed salad'. This weed can also be cooked and will be just as delicious as spinach. Because the leaves and stems are so small they will cook almost instantly. Some like to eat it raw, however, its flavor can be greatly improved by the addition of a few herbs or small amounts of onion.

Almost forgotten is an old wives recipe, which includes drinking a broth, made from boiled chickweed plants. It was believed it had the power to remove excess fat from the body.

I doubt if our present generation has ever given a thought to trying our common milkweed as a food product. It is edible, if prepared correctly, and gathered at the proper time. Actually it might be considered as four types of food. The young shoots not over six inches tall can be prepared like asparagus. The young leaves can be served similar to spinach while the unopened flower bud is prepared like broccoli, and the young pods can be cooked in the same manner as okra.

To prepare this plant to an edible state the bitter liquid must be removed by boiling the plant three or four times. The old liquid is poured off each time. Boiling should be at least one or two minutes. Placing the weed in cold water and then bringing it to a boil does not remove the bitter liquid from the leaves or stems as much as the quick immersion in boiling water.

Long before the public could go to a neighborhood store and buy their 'greens', they had to gether and many times grow their own varieties. The most popular spring green was the lowly DANDELION plant. I am not suggesting that we use the plant, which we repeatedly cut back with our lawnmowers, nor plants that grow on the edges of our highway. I am suggesting the plants found in the fields where they are allowed to grow freely with no contaminants from car fumes which the leaves do absorb.

Each spring this plant was a part of the food served on the farmers's table. The elderly loved it; the young were forced to endure it. Every farmer's wife had her own favorite recipe of preparing dandelion leaves, and-or roots. It is an excellent food when prepared properly.

We cannot omit the old standby CHICKORY. There is an old saying 'you can eat your chickory and drink it too'. Quite often stalks of chickory are gathered with dandelion because the early shoots resemble each other. This plant grows nearly everywhere. It can be identified by its blue flowers which bloom from July to frost. I allow it to grow on the border of my yard and an alleyway. The plant grows three to four feet tall and makes a nice border each year with its hundreds of blooms which open only in the mornings.

In the spring when the leaves are tender, they are cooked as ‘greens’ or can be used as or in a ‘tossed salad'. It equals dandelion as a 'spring tonic' food.

Chickory roots can also be used as a vegetable such as a substitute for parsnips, or they can be used as a 'coffee substitute'. To prepare your brew, dig a number of roots, clean thoroughly and place them in an oven and roast until hard and brittle. They can now be ground into a meal of flour consistency Several spoonsful are added to a cup of boiling water. Hope you enjoy your brew.

Another obnoxious garden weed is the LAMB'S QUARTERS. One of its most common names is pigweed. Some may even refer to it as wild spinach. It seems each part of the country has its 'pigweed'. The plant I have in mind is the one so common here. It grows in fields, gardens and barn yards. The scientific name by botonists is 'chenopodium album'.

Small shoots, six to eight inches high should be gathered. They do require a longer period of cooking that our garden spinach. One odd thing about this plant is that when you wash the small stems and leaves, you will discover upon removing them from the water, they will be dry. When they are boiled they lose this property.

It may be a surprise to know that JEWELWEED can be used as a food as well as a 'remedy' for poison ivy. Many people believe this weed is poisonous to eat so very few ever try it. It, too, has the same unwettable qualities as the lamb's quarters. If you will immerse a stem in a glass of water, the plant will appear to be silver in color.

The plant is composed mostly of water, so when picked it quickly wilts. The young plants can be cooked like green beans. Drain the water after boiling, season with butter, salt and pepper if you wish. They can also be used in a cream sauce on toast and is equal to asparagus in quality and flavor.

I doubt if there is a country boy or girl living who has not had a BURDOCK seed burrs in their hair at some time. Usually it required scissors to separate the burr from the hair. This plant is also a curse to the hunter and his longhaired dog. This weed can be found along roadsides, fields and often gardens.

The roots of this plant are delicious when properly prepared. It is best to use the first year root rather than those with second year flowering stocks. They are rather hard to remove from the ground because they grow several feet long. The entire cover of the root must be peeled, then cut crosswise like carrots and cooked for about thirty minutes in water to which l/4 spoonful of soda has been added. This solution is then drained, the sections are seasoned with butter and salt.

Not only may it be amusing to you to know that BURDOCK is edible, but you may be further surprised to know that these roots are being sold in Japanese markets in Chicago, and Japanese farmers in Hawaii also raise this weed for their markets. They call it 'GOBO'.

The lowly PURSLANE found in most gardens is another weed that can be used as a 'green' or salad. It has been used for centuries in India and Persia. It is a low or ground hugging plant. The most popular way to cook this weed is to fry several slices of bacon in a skillet then when the bacon is done, add about a quart of the purslane and stir until the entire material is coated with the bacon drippings. Additional cooking for about ten minutes and season with salt and vinegar makes a delicious dish.

To top any one of these weeds with a good refreshing beverage, why not make yourself a 'pink lemonade'. Steep about a quart of red fruit clusters of the staghorn sumac in cold water for about an hour, then pour off the liquid and sweeten to your taste.

Much to the surprise of all you readers, these are not new recipes. Most of these weeds were used by the early colonists. Many of our present day weeds were brought to the new world from Europe where they originally were grown for food. After they arrived here, the new plants found the soil much to their liking and over the years they spread almost from shore to shore.

As a note of warning, it is advisable to everyone who might desire to use these plants, please be certain you know what you are using. For instance, the sumac found growing in swampy areas is poisonous. Only the type that grows in hilly areas should be used. Sometimes plants can be confused with others that resemble it.

Since we have written about the plants we can eat, we feel we should devote some space to the plants we should NOT eat.

Very few persons are aware that many plants in our gardens and yards are poisonous and therefore should definitely be avoided.

According to botantists, there are over seven hundred species of plants in North America, which can cause harm or even death to man and animals. It is not our intention to list all those plants. To do so, would take hundreds of pages and several years of research. What I want to do is list here a few plants, which we come in contact with in our every day association in our homes and surrounding areas.

When the potato is left exposed to the sun's rays, it will turn green. This green part should be cut off and thrown away. It is poisonous. So is the small green seed which sometimes grows on this plant above the ground.

Apple and pear seeds when eaten in quantities can cause death. Also, the inside of pits of peaches, plums, cherries and prunes contain a poisonous substance. Eating the leaves and twigs of the cherry tree can result in death.

Holly and mistletoe berries are poisonous if eaten, however, the settlers learned that making a tea from the leaves of mistletoe could cause an abortion, yet, a concoction of this same plant was found to have the ability of stopping bleeding in childbirth.

Our lowly buttercup we see growing everywhere in the summer is poisonous if taken internally. So is the Jimson weed we find growing in many barnyards.

The bark and roots of the locust should be avoided, even though the foliage and flowers make an attractive addition to our landscapes.

Other poisonous plants are mountain laurel, rhododendron and several varieties of wild cherries.

Many do not know that larkspur, oleander, pink lady's slipper and poinsettias are poisonous, so are most lilies, particularly the lillies of the valley. We must not overlook the beautiful casteroil plant. It, too, is dangerous if taken internally, especially the seeds. Almost everyone is familiar with the poison ivy vine. The poison oak is not known as well as the former plant. Remember the old addage "Leaves three, let be"?

I was surprised to read recently that if one were to go on a diet of eating onions only for several days, death would likely result. It seems there are certain properities in the onion, which tends to destroy the red blood cells in our bodies.

The leaves and vines of our tomato are very poisonous, and, so are the leaves of the rhubarb. The stock of this plant is safe to eat, and so is the fruit of the tomato. It is a part of our daily food.

Unless one is definitely able to recognize the difference between poisonous and nonpoisonous mushrooms, our advice is to let them alone. Many persons are poisoned accidentally each year because they made a mistake in identifying the plant correctly.