pokeweed

[gfweb]

I don't trust most foragers. @gfron1excepted.

 

Too many bad things that a sloppy, ill-trained forager can fob off as  safe food.  If I can't recognize it as safe on my plate it won't eat it.

 

 

[chromedome]

10 hours ago, gfron1 said:

If in doubt, throw it out. Everything is edible ONCE.

 

A year or two ago, I read an article about hemlock water dropworts in the UK, a plant with parsley-like leaves and a white parsnip-like root that's arguably the most toxic thing growing in the northern temperate zone. A quote from the expert cited in the article stuck in my head:

"Eating it means you'll be dead by tomorrow, and today will be the worst day of your life."

[gfweb]

8 minutes ago, chromedome said:

 

A year or two ago, I read an article about hemlock water dropworts in the UK, a plant with parsley-like leaves and a white parsnip-like root that's arguably the most toxic thing growing in the northern temperate zone. A quote from the expert cited in the article stuck in my head:

"Eating it means you'll be dead by tomorrow, and today will be the worst day of your life."

I was just thinking of  that too.

Foragers scare me unless they are pros who really know their shit.

[TicTac]

14 hours ago, gfron1 said:

I don't serve it but it is very authentic to what I do. The folk wisdom is to boil 2 or 3 times with no lid; boil, rinse, repeat. I don't bother because there are plenty of other greens to make for people not to like.

 

As for confusing with elderberries...not even in the same ballpark nor season. Study the shape of the berry clusters to make ID easy. And then realize that elderberries came and went back in July and here we are in September...

 

If in doubt, throw it out. Everything is edible ONCE.

 

Believe it or not, I still saw elderberries (though on their way out) on my bike ride this morning!

 

For context, I am in Southern Ontario.

[chromedome]

On 9/24/2019 at 5:31 PM, teonzo said:

@Paul Bacino, you should consider yourself really lucky since this story could have ended really badly. And you should take it as a lesson for the future. Foraging wild stuff is not a joke, you must be really careful and know what you are doing. Confusing phytolacca americana with sambucus nigra is a HUGE error, their fruits are really different. When foraging elderberries you must be really SURE of what you are doing. For example the fruits of sambucus ebulus are really similar to the ones of sambucus nigra (elderberries), big problem is that sambucus ebulus is poisonous. Elderberries are toxic when eaten raw, you must cook them, even after cooking it's better to eat them in small doses due to the diuretic effects.

Please be much more cautious in the future.

 

 

 

Teo

 

 

As a coda to this portion of the discussion, I offer the following:

https://nypost.com/2019/09/25/columbia-professors-homemade-flu-remedy-seriously-backfires/