Wild Summer and Fall Plant Foods: The Foxfire Americana Library - Foxfire Students (2011)

SUMMER AND FALL WILD PLANT FOODS

FLAVORINGS

Some wild plants are used mainly as accents, or seasoning, in salads or with other potherbs.

Wood sorrel (Oxalis filipes, Oxalis corniculata)
(sour grass, shamrock)

Wood sorrels are delicate small plants, with clover-like tri-divided leaves. They have small, bright yellow flowers. They are found in open woodlands, on damp trails, and as a weed in gardens or cropland. The leaves have a deliciously tart taste, but must be used sparingly, for they contain oxalic acid. Sometimes they are called “sweet and sour” for the leaf stems are sweet and the leaves themselves are sour.

ILLUSTRATION 50 Sour grass or wood sorrel

Wood sorrel lemonade: boil leaves 15 minutes, cool, strain, add honey and lemons.

Fish sauce: one cup of chopped leaves mixed with a spoonful of flour, melted margarine, and a tablespoon of vinegar. Spoon over fried fish. OR: chop leaves into melted butter or margarine, add salt and pepper, and use over fish.

Wood sorrel cream sauce: two cups of finely chopped sorrel, water, sugar, salt, pepper, and one cup of sour cream. Cook and drain sorrel, add sour cream and seasonings. Mix well and use over other greens.

Dill (Anethum graveolens) (family Umbelliferae)
(dilly weed)

Dill is an annual which grows to four feet, with striped, hollow stems, and finely cut, very odorous leaves. Flowers appear in rather good-looking, large, flat, yellow-green umbels. Dill will naturalize as a garden weed, and grow in waste places.

The leaves are the main flavoring ingredient in dill pickles. Dill water was used for stomach troubles. It is also used to flavor vinegar, beans, and salads. The seeds are also edible and used as flavoring in salads and cooked vegetables.

ILLUSTRATION 51 Dill weed

Fish sauce: chop dill fine, blend with melted butter, pour over fish, OR: mix together ¼ cup butter or margarine, half teaspoon salt, dash pepper, half teaspoon dill weed (or seeds), one teaspoon parsley. Spread over fish and broil.

Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) (family Compositae)
(bitter buttons)

Tansy is a tall herb, with dark green stems, and very strong-smelling, deeply cut leaves. The stalks are topped by a cluster of yellow button flowers. This European plant has naturalized along roadsides and is found around old gardens. It was planted in orchards in the belief it would keep pests away from the fruit. Leaves were rubbed on new beehives to make the bees feel at home. People used to gather tansy to flavor puddings, omelets, salads and cheeses, and special cakes called “tansies.”

ILLUSTRATION 52 Tansy