| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| judyofthewoods |
List of edible plantsHi folks, its been a long time since I've made an appearance here. But as you'll see, I've been a very busy little bee (with a few more invisible projects too), and come up with a list of edible plants , around 300 or so. One has to keep things to a managable size, so I kept the list short
You can view it as an HTML web page, or download it as a printer friendly PDF file. There is also a list in the making adapted for North America, and a few more lists on edible trees and special habitat plants. Hope this will be of use, and I welcome any comments and constructive criticism. |
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| nettie |
Hi Judy good to have you back! I wondered where you'd been!
The website looks fab. Unfortunately I can't read the PDF's on this computer but I'll take a look at work tomorrow 
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| judyofthewoods |
Thanks, nettie. I did miss downsizer, but knowing my addiction, and being desperate to get some luka, I had to resist. I know how one peep leads to another, to a comment...... | ||
| nettie |
That's it. You're trapped again now....... 
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| dougal |
Well, now you are back, I do hope you'll stay hooked! | ||
| judyofthewoods |
Looks like it! | ||
| dpack |
thankyou
pdfs downloaded |
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| sean |
Welcome back. I'll take a look at the lists tomorrow, bed-time now. | ||
| alison |
Hello Judy
Good to see you back here. 
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| bernie-woman |
Absolutely - fantastic lists Judy - you asked for some constructive criticism - there are a couple of typos on your webste homepage
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| cab |
Nice work Judy!
Going to mull over your lists properly at lunchtime. Looking good. |
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| Treacodactyl |
Nice to see you pop in for a visit Judy.
A couple of questions on the list, is there no copyright issues, not with the names but some of the details? Is there any seaweeds in the lists? |
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| cab |
Technically, seaweed species are not plants, they're protists. But thats a pretty wierd technicality... | ||
| Mr BlueSky |
Excellent work Judy. Well done you
Oh, and welcome back
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| tahir |
Welcome back Judy | ||
| judyofthewoods |
Thank you all for your comments and wellcomming me back into your fold. Its nice to see all the familiar faces. Tahir, you look wild with that long hair you've grown now. Treac, there is a list of coastal plants and seaweed comming up. The list is written, but not coded yet. Same goes for trees and shrubs, and wetland plants. They won't be anything as extensive, but a useful addition. As for copyright, as I understand it, the knowledge/information is not copyright, and words only to some extent. You could not copy someone verbatim, but if you extract some information and put it together in a new way, using your own words, you should be OK. I gues few authors write anything totally from scratch. I have collated a list of edible plants with key information in abreviated form, which should not infringe anyone's intellectual rights. It is probably best to use the list in conjunction with a good wild food cookbook and guide. Has anyone seen Johnny Jumbalaya's website countrylovers ? Some mouthwatering photos of wild cuisene. Good website too. | ||
| tahir |
You don't appear to have aged at all, good healthy living eh?
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| Treacodactyl |
Great, I look forward to it. I just thought I'd ask about the copyright but it looks like you have it covered.
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| Gavin Bl |
Following on from the thread on Celandines, this list seems to categorise them as dodgy/not very pleasant or in survival situations....
I understood that they didn't taste amazing, but this seems to be a bit beyond that. What do folks reckon? In fact, it categorises three-cornered leeks in the same way, another recent discussion topic.. cheers Gav |
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| cab |
I rekon that you'd really struggle to make yourself ill with celandines, and that three cornered leek is probably little more dangerous than garlic. | ||
| dpack |
judy's list is sound
more to add though
please |
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| judyofthewoods |
The third category is not just unpalatable, dodgy or unsafe plants, but also those which are not very widespread or common. Some are included in that list, not just to safeguard humans, but to also protect plants. I have seen the result of irresposible foraging of chantarelles, which never recovered. With foraging being quite popular these days, I would not want to encourage masses of people going after a relatively small amount of wild flowers, especially when they have to be dug up.
One of the reasons the list is split into three groups is that I am also working on a guide with a page for each featured plant, and had to keep the first two groups to a managable size (both in terms of printed volume, and work involved researching and writing up the details), and just chucked the rest into the third group. Some of the lines are blurred, and it was almost a gamble into which group to put some of them, so I just erred on the side of caution, especially where plants could be easily mistaken for poisenous ones, or where they would only be rendered safe through some treatment, whether cooking or whatever. I've seen photos of flowers on Flickr, which any one of us on here would recognise instantly, but the person had no idea what it was, also calling a jackdaw 'raven' or 'crow'. Us bewellied folk find it hard to understand how little some folk know about fauna and flora. A Canadian government website mentioned poisenings through foxglove contaminated comfrey herbal remedies, and that by professional pickers! Easy to see how, when you give something a casual glance. To some extent its a bit like a point system, plants in the first group score high on one or more: availability, nutrition, flavour. Even though Japanese knotweed contains oxalic acid, it is also high in Vit C, is fairly palatable (always a subjective rating), is very available, and also contains a substance which is being investigated as an anti tumor drug - resveratrol. No doubt in my mind, it belongs in group one. Lesser celendine root is actually quite palatable (I liken it to Jerusalem artichoke - though I only tasted one plant for research), but to make a meal of it, requires a hell of lot of plants, all dug up (illegal too, if its not on your land), destroyed for ever. The casual forager may also mistake it for other buttercups, and it is recomended that it be eaten with some care, so the overall score is rather lower. But as local populations can vary greatly (I have never seen a three cornered leek around here), and foraging trafic too, the guide will be customisable, and a template included so that plants can be included into the main group. I am starting out with a smallish group of fact sheets, but in time will expand it, and make the sheets available whenever ready. Research is ongoing. So far I have just collated some information from various sources into a handy format, and included some of my own experience, but I have yet to try most of the plants mentioned. One of the reasons I started the project was to make foraging easier for myself, have the most essential information at my fingertips, and to learn more about wild food. Now I am beginning to wonder if I should still plant greens, when I can just step out and pick some 'weeds'. I certainly haven't bought lettuce in ages with nutritious dandelions available all year, slug proof too, and no weeding to do. Can there be any easier gardening? Now if only I had some Ground elder..... |
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| Gavin Bl |
Hi Judy
I wasn't trying to undermine what had been done, just noticed those two as they had been discussed recently, without much reference to them being questionable in any way.. which didn't seem to tally with the list. It was just for my own clarification really. cheers Gav |
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| hedgewitch |
Depends if you're a vampire or not? 
Great resource, Judy. And great link through to the wild food site - some interesting recipes on there 
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| judyofthewoods |
Don't worry, Gav, I didn't feel undermined, but thought its best to clarify, as the reason did not seem that clear. I will update the explantation shortly, and will probably add a little more info, once distilled. It is also good to get feedback, as what goes on in my head is usually clear to myself at the time, but may look different from another perspective. One must not take it for granted that because you know what you are saying, means its easy to understand [sic]. The best example for that is going back to your notes after a while, and saying to yourself 'what the hell did I mean by that?!' Thank you for your feedback, and the encourtaging words.
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| wildfoodie |
hi Judy,
super website - you have been a busy bee! wildfoodie (formerly wildfood junkie) |
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| cab |
Ooh! New name!
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| wildfoodie |
ooh! electric cucumber ava!!
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| judyofthewoods |
cab's avatar is getting eclectic, or should that be electric
Thanks wildfoodie re website. Yes, very busy, and more to come soon, I hope. |