Cattails
Cattails are among the most useful wild plants known to man. They may be found near most any body of water, from ponds and creeks to swamps and ditches. That said, it is important to make sure they are not growing in contaminated water if you plan to eat them. Cattails can be eaten most any time of year, although the root tubers can be very difficult to harvest when the water is frozen over with hard ice. The tuberous roots may be prepared like potatoes or Jerusalem Artichokes. The inner part of the tender shoots in spring are my favorite, and more of interest to this book. You can peel them and eat them raw or cook them. They taste like cucumbers! I especially like to pickle them. The mature stalks are also very good raw or cooked… somewhat like asparagus. The very young seed heads can be cooked and eaten with butter as you would corn on the cob. The pollen may be used as a flour to make pancakes and even mixed with wheat flour to make bread. The leaves make excellent cordage.
Cattail Pickles
Ingredients:
½ pound or more of fresh, peeled Cattail shoots
Apple cider vinegar
Water
Dill
Garlic
Coriander Seed
Mustard seed
Whole Black Pepper corns
Sugar
Salt
Crushed red pepper
Instructions:
Scale to quantity. Bring equal parts water and vinegar to a simmer. Dissolve in salt and sugar to taste, add the spices and herbs. Pour over the Cattail shoots and let pickle. You can keep them in the refrigerator or can them for shelf storage. I am not giving any recommendations on how much sugar, spices and herbs to use, because that is up to your taste. I would use 1 tablespoon of plain salt, though. If you like your pickles a bit sweeter, cloves are a very nice addition to the pickling spices. All that said, I prefer to make fermented pickles using just a salt and sour kombucha brine, along with the spices and herbs, instead of vinegar. Use a fermentation lock, and the pickles should be ready in 4-7 days. Fermented pickles are preserved, so no canning or refrigeration is necessary but I think the pickles taste better cold.
Chickweed
Like Dandelion and several other “weeds”, most (if not all) of the several varieties of Chickweed or Stellaria, were brought to the Americas by immigrants to be used as food and medicine. What makes Chickweed unique is that, as the name implies, it was also propagated to be used to feed chickens. For humans, it takes a lot of Chickweed to make a meal! Chickweed is a small, tender plant that doesn’t amount to much on the plate. But, it is very nutritious. With a little care and cover, Chickweed can be grown year ‘round, and this fact alone has made it valuable for preventing scurvy and providing a few calories in the winter and the “hungry gap” – that is the period of early spring when you have planted seeds, but nothing is available in the garden. Many of the most popular wild spring edibles filled this gap for our ancestors. Chickweed is so hardy, and grows so easily, that it has been beloved from the hottest parts of ancient Greece to the highest Alps of Europe. Fresh, tender Chickweed is the perfect addition to a salad. It is very nice in soups. It cooks down so dramatically though, that a big bowl full of Chickweed makes a small serving on the plate. Chickweed is very mild in flavor, and not bitter or peppery at all. So, if you like milder potherbs, toss some in with your Mustard and such. Herbally, it is often used as a tea. While Chickweed is a very nice wild edible, and even better grown in the garden where you can ensure having an abundance, it certainly makes one realize how desperate our ancestors were for vegetables in winter and early spring… imagine needing a handful of chickweed and some Henbit just to survive or to keep your teeth from falling out due to lack of vitamins… thank God for canning, the electric freezer, the garden, and yes, the grocery store!
I especially like to combine Chickweed with fresh sweet corn cut off the cob, green peppers that are either hot or sweet, so poblano is perfect, cheese, milk or cream. Of course, Chickweed comes in much earlier than corn and peppers, so this is a very good way to use frozen corn and peppers – I always blanch and freeze some for winter. You can also use dried peppers, rehydrated in some hot water. Any combination along these lines, especially with some broth or stock, makes an excellent corn based chowder with the addition of salt, pepper, cumin and cilantro. The same combo, minus the broth and milk, can be combined with some masa (fine cornmeal) and lard, wrapped in corn husks, steamed and topped with a little hot sauce to make some excellent tamales.
Chickweed and spring onions along with some cheese and eggs makes a great omelet. The flavor is fresh, green and sweeter than spinach. I would be hard pressed to think of a savory recipe in which Chickweed would not be a welcome addition!
Plants For A Future tells us:
Medicinal use of Chickweed: Chickweed has a very long history of herbal use, being particularly beneficial in the external treatment of any kind of itching skin condition. It has been known to soothe severe itchiness even where all other remedies have failed. In excess doses chickweed can cause diarrhoea and vomiting. It should not be used medicinally by pregnant women. The whole plant is astringent, carminative, demulcent, diuretic, expectorant, laxative, refrigerant, vulnerary. Taken internally it is useful in the treatment of chest complaints and in small quantities it also aids digestion. It can be applied as a poultice and will relieve any kind of roseola and is effective wherever there are fragile superficial veins. An infusion of the fresh or dried herb can be added to the bath water and its emollient property will help to reduce inflammation - in rheumatic joints for example - and encourage tissue repair. Chickweed is best harvested between May and July, it can be used fresh or be dried and stored for later use. A decoction of the whole plant is taken internally as a post-partum depurative, emmenagogue, galactogogue and circulatory tonic. It is also believed to relieve constipation and be beneficial in the treatment of kidney complaints. The decoction is also used externally to treat rheumatic pains, wounds and ulcers. The expressed juice of the plant has been used as an eyewash.
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Disclaimer
The information on this site is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease or condition. Nothing on this site has been evaluated or approved by the FDA. I am not a doctor. The US government does not recognize the practice of herbal medicine and their is no governing body regulating herbalists. Therefore, I'm just a guy who studies herbs. I am not offering any advice. I won't even claim that anything I write is accurate or true! I can tell you what herbs have "traditionally been used for." I can tell you my own experience and if I believe an herb helped me. I cannot, nor would I tell you to do the same. If you use any herb I, or anyone else, mentions you are treating yourself. You take full responsibility for your health. Humans are individuals and no two are identical. What works for me may not work for you. You may have an allergy, sensitivity or underlying condition that no one else shares and you don't even know about. Be careful with your health. By continuing to read my blog you agree to be responsible for yourself, do your own research, make your own choices and not to blame me for anything, ever.
