Most Watched Forager In The World
Hello there, I’m Green Deane and I’ve been foraging over 65 years or since I was a kid.
Long before I went to school my mother would hand me a table knife and a paper bag and tell me to go find some dandelion greens for supper. While doing that I noticed wild strawberries, later checkerberries, raspberries, apples and roses. My mother foraged as did my grandmother and great grandmother. I learned about plants long before I learned what their names were.
As a latchkey kid I also spent a lot of time alone in the woods: Hiking, camping, fishing, exploring rivers, stone walls, old orchards, vineyards, mountains, woods roads and old homesteads. I also made my first batch of home made cooking-malt beer then dandelion wine while in junior high.
After military service and college I moved from the land of ice and snow to orange groves and gardening year round. I studied locally with noted forager Dick Deureling and was a member of the Native Plant Society. Foraging is like rigging, you learn by doing.
I started giving wild food presentations about 20 years ago. Towards that end I created my “Itemizing” system to help beginners not only organize information
but to give them a successful method to investigate a plant and make sure key points are covered. Nearly all of my plant articles are organized with my system in mind and I wrote every word of every article, no cut and paste. I did and do my own research. A few years ago I started making wild edible videos for my friends. That has made me via You Tube the most watched forager in the world with several million views. I also started a foraging website some 15 years ago. I teach about wild edibles full time. My goal is to help people who want to know more about foragables to enjoy the process and be safe while doing so. While I am now based in Florida my website and experience includes northern climates and international foraging.
I hold a degree in music, summa cum laude, from the University of Maine and did two years of graduate study in communication at the University of Central Florida. I am the author of two published books and am an award-winning writer and photographer. Besides being a life-long professional musician and member of MENSA, my interests include cooking, cast netting, canoeing, kayaking, dancing, trying to play Bridge better, low-carb living, and visiting relatives in Greece. Somehow through all of that I also managed to unintentionally remain a bachelor.
While most of the articles are about plants and a few off-beat animals there are some editorials here and there. If you are a beginning forager you might want to get started with my videos and read the accompanying articles in that the first several dozen videos are in seasonal order. Learning a plant or two a month is quite easy.
You can contact me personally here. Thanks for visiting. Toodles
Beautiful site, you do a wonderfully thorough job on your posts. You should look into Korean cooking – Koreans eat EVERYTHING. There are dishes that feature “spring mountain weeds.” Wonder what that’s translated from? They are the ultimate foragers. You can buy dried bracken fern at any Korean market. I realize that it’s more fun to forage yourself, but some of us don’t have that luxury.
I have fond memories being with a group of hippies wandering in the woods around our farm when everyone was struck with the munchies (never mind why!) . I happily foraged through the miner’s lettuce and a variety of other things while everyone looked on in horror, convinced I would die. Next day, they all wanted to learn about the plants. Foraging fun!
Hi!
I very much enjoyed today’s walk. You are an exceptional guide and teacher. I look forward to my next outing with you.
Thanks,
Marc Eisenson
Please send me the list of plants we learned about … and tasted … today.
i also want to publish mt research papers and articles on edible weeds at eattheweeds.com
best regards
Dr. Amit Kaur Puri
What is your area of expertise, Dr. Amit? Where are you situated currently? Mail me your CV at my email address: mildred.jones88@yahoo.co.uk
Here in Australia for the past thirty years I have been teaching the value of using weeds in natural pest control, food for animals, food for the table, use in the compost bin, as a living mulch, liquid fertilisers, garden sprays, and healing the body.
Let me know when you publish I would love to read your book.
My book “Companion Gardening in Australia” covers most of the weed subjects I have mentioned. It’s now in its 9th edition. Written 20yrs ago, the book is now seen as an institution.
Keep up the good work.
Judith
We had so much fun with you today! Thanks for providing our group a fun and educational adventure. Our kids enjoyed learning about the different plants we can eat. I’ll be recommending you to others who are interested in your services. Thank you for your life-long work and teaching others what you know.
Hi. I signed up for your class but want to make sure it did it right. I want to go this Sunday (12/11/11) in Jax. Please confirm.
Thank you.
Dylan Cadwalader
Saint Augustine
Hi Green Deane,
I luv your site! I am an ole, not old, horticulter, who lived many years in Fla. I’ve grown and lived plants. I, like you, let my dandelions grow despite my neighbors.
When my husband needed a kidney transplant we left my beloved home in Fla. and headed to the deserts of California. I had to sadly leave my beautiful Beauty Bush.
My husband passed and I moved back near my family to my home in Virginia. I am so thrilled that I can find many of your editable weeds here! Spring gives me the wonderful moral mushrooms and much much more then I had in California.
I still miss my Beauty Bush and found it grows here in Virginia but have not located it. How could I get the seeds? Can you help me out?
Thank you for sharing your wonderful information.
Your friend Kat
PS. My cat looks like yours.
I can send you some seeds.
Great, contact me on my E-mail and give me details.
Thank you Soooo much! HUGS!
Hey! I should have looked at the other comments firs., What’s this?, I thought that I was the only Kat. So now you have a Kat in Calif and Florida.
I live in Trinidad & Tobago. I love your site. Iwill go throught the info you have there and then request/buy what I need
HI,
It is a great website. I am so glad that I found it.
I was wondering if it is possible on your website to look up edibles by region.
My second question: How much of North America do you cover?
Thank you.
I did consider adding regions but the logistics were something of a headache in that there are a lot of regions… well, that’s not entirely accurate. I thought about adding states and providences which meant a huge amount of work, more than 60 categories because plants don’t know political boundaries. As it were by regions I would need All of North America, Canada, United States, eastern Canada, western Canada, southern Canada, northern US, southern US, eastern US, western US, northeast US, southeast US, New England, Old South, Florida Puerto Rico Hawaii,Rocky Mountains,Desert Southwest, Texas, Mexico, West Coast, Southern West Coast, Northern West Coast, Alaska, High Plains States, Mid-west, Central Ameirica, South America, Great Britian, Europe, Northern Europe, southern Europe, Australia, Australia New Zealand, North Australia, South Australia, Eastern Australia, Western Australia, Northern Australia, Mediterranean Area, South Africa, Middle Africa, North Africa, Asia, North Asia, southeast Asia, Japan, World.
I would be tempted to put them under Region but that would make a huge list in the middle of categories.I could make it Zregions which would put the list at the end… I will have to ponder it. I would also have to go through each of the 1,000 of so plants and mark off the areas…Right now I usually mention in each plant article where it can be found.
While I am in Florida I grew up in Maine and have plants on my site from all over the US and Cananda. I also have expert friends on other regions for reference and consultations.
“I also have expert friends on other regions for reference and consultations.”
Fantastic site! I live in Norway… Do you know if there are any books, websites etc. for northern Europe/colder places?
Best regards, Tore
Yes, check out http://www.henriettes-herb.com... she’s a member here and is in your area. (Henriette Kress.)
Very grateful to all you’re doing and there are thousands more and growing who feel the same. Live between you and Tampa and sharing and networking living naturally, thriving naturally, is where we’re at! Trying to find the answer to this: Is the Heart-Leaf Stinging Nettle edible and as nutritious as the Urtica Dioica? Your page on this is not clear to me if you’re referring to the “famous, popular” nettle or the Florida one in regards to health benefits….or both? Even with extensive internet searching, the answer seems to elude me. Thanks so much for your reply.
The nutrition is roughly the same.
Green Deane:
I think the money I spent taking the tour of Mead Gardens in WP earlier this month with you was the best spent money of my life. The trek was fascinating and insightful. As a tour guide through the landscape you are wonderful and patient and I enjoyed that morning more than you can imagine. The time spent after the tour talking was great and I cannot wait to take another tour of some property with you. What a magical time. Thank you so very much.
I have a whole new perspective to walking through my neighborhood.
Stockton Reeves
I love your site for info, clarity and humor…and I love that photo of you up there at the top of this page—a person doesn’t usually get the opportunity to erupt into a full-face smile -&- chuckle in response to web-authors’ photos. What a pleasant surprise!! I was wondering how you fit all those listed accomplishments and interests into such a short life…are you one of those folks who only need 3 hours sleep? Please say you are–even if you are not. Practical Question: I wanted to forward your page on the Japanese Knotweed to a friend of mine (who is a gourmet cook) because she has been battling it up in Gloucester MA for a few years, and I’m thinking it might be good for her soul to at least harvest some next year. But— am I missing the place to check to “share” that page or is such a clickable place really not there? Thanks for it all, EB
I don’t think my site has the function. When I get a new webmaster perhaps it can be added.
A friendly FYI suggestion to anyone – who does not already know this –
In the old days – before Facebook or others came out with the Like or Share – Icon – Button – etc. –
Just – E-mail or Telephone – or now you can also – Text or Tweet, etc. – the person the URL – Link – to the home page – etc. – such as – https://www.eattheweeds.com/
Merry Christmas to All
Hi, I live in Santa Barbara, Ca., a professional plantscaper, specializing in edible gardens, and I’d love to grow “Loroco” here.
Do you know any source for seeds?
http://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/carth.asp?species=Fernaldia%20pandurata&sref=519794
Hi GreenDeane! It’s so nice to be able celebrate ‘weeds’ with like-minded folks! (what is a ‘weed’ anyway??). My property has jewelweed growing all along one side and this year I allowed the stuff to grow all over the place…good choice, too! Was helping an elderly client clean up their yard and got attacked by some sneaky poison ivy hiding in amongst other greenery. Went hope, took some jewelweed, and rubbed it on one really itchy spot and the itching stopped! Took some more, put in blender with baby oil, lathered in on my itchy legs and it really helped take out the itch!
Happy to have come across this site (was searching for edible forget-me-nots as in the sugar icing ones ☺ )
Moving to Alaska in the near future and will have a large garden that only has kiwi and lilac bushes in so far ☺
Can you recommend someone who gives classes in atlanta georgia.
That is where my sons and I live.
In my search window type in Resources. That will take you to a page with over 100 foraging instructors. Scroll down to Georgia.
About the posting re John McCrae of Guelph, Ontario and the
page in the Ladies’ Home Journal that the 1941 Michael book
references, that is not what was published in the November
annual Thanksgiving issue. It was an advertisement paid for
by Bauer and Black, surgical materials supplier, and there was
a side bar with the wrong name for the poem which first appeared
3 years earlier in the UK in Punch, and error about Dr. McCrae himself.
The illustration was of American doughboys, bandaged, rising to heaven, singing. Not quite the image in the poem re CEF “fallen” in spring 1915 !
Also this elderly lady would not have been at a meeting of the Young Women’s Christian Society in New York that fall. It was a meeting of the recalled overseas representatives of the YMCA, known confusingly today as “war secretaries” and she was briefly acting as a volunteer receptionist.
Love the site and channel! If you know of a “weed” expert in South Korea, please let me know. I live in Korea and want to know about my local weeds–but my Korean language ability is not good enough to read local books/articles. Or…if you don’t know anyone, why not come over for a week or two and shoot about 100 or so videos and that way I can learn!!!
Cheers and I hope to hear from you, but I know I might be asking for a needle in a haystack!
Shane
Hi, Green Deane,
I have not heard from you on the Beauty Bush seeds yet. Had a question about the silver Dollar Plany/ Lunaria Annua. I have heard that it was editable but not that tasty. I also heard that it can grow in Fl. I GOT seeds wanna trade .
thanks,
Hugs Kat
The roots of the Lunaria annua can be eaten raw if gathered before the plant blossoms. The seeds are a mustard substitute.
Hello Mr. Deane!
I’m new to wild foods and I’m looking for nettles, purslane, mallow and well just about any wild edible around. I’m going to start going to foraging classes but I was wondering in the meantime, are there any specialty stores around Los Angeles (or online order for that matter) where I can buy NOT the dried powders, but the actual wild plant as they appear in nature (for those not yet versed in foraging yet)?
Thank you and kind regards!
Google my friend Feral Kevin and ask him.
do you sell books on edible and non edible plants …if not can you recommend one for wild plants in florida
Unfortunately there isnt a good book on Florida wild edibles yet. But I know of a couple in the works. Until then my website will have to do.
Mr. Deane,
I’m a 24-yr old, starting a small-scale long-term organic vegetable farm in TX. You are like the grandpa I never had. Thank you for the sound advice. My generation is lost. I will do my best to help them, and lead by example. The same example that you and others lead by.
-William
Thanks… also check out Houston Wild Edibles.
I gave you the wrong e-mail yesterday. Please note “.dj” after “man.”
Re:”Do you have a farm” email I sent yesterday. Btw(by the way) I was up until 630 am, 22 hours after ingesting 6 bauhinia seeds,(((found a product that listed Purpurea extract as increasing metabolism and increasing energy…after last nights episode, yeah, id agree… to say the least))) 2 opuntia fruit, and about a dozen Surinam Cherries…Not sure if you’ve d ever fought the ants for ’em (cherries) but they change texturely…mango-esque….you may want to give them a shot once they fall…got a feeling they got some of the same terpenenes…
You do not look almost 60! I’m sold on edible “weeds”. 🙂 Thanks for all the information. We are on a budget, but want to continue to eat lean protein and veggies(Paleo ish). Substituting foraged foods has been really helpful! Another draw is the nutritional content which seems to be higher than your average grocery store veggies. Thanks again!
Alexandra in S. Va
thanks… I will be 63 this year.
Deane, Thanks for visiting my blog. I truly *slike* your story on the tropical almond. I always want to know the names of things. Everywhere I go, I’m asking, “What is it?” I dabble in edibles & medicinals & have a new devotional coming “soon” from AWOC.com Publishing, titled *Devoted to Healing with Herbs.* So happy to have found your site!
Hi Green Deane, Came to your site after getting fascinated with a weed I had to pull out from all over my lawn (black medic). My family thought I was going batty, of course. Your site is a treasure, god bless!
Hello,
I’m just as excited as everyone else to have found your website and youtube channel. As I said in my comment last night on your FB page, I was looking for info on pruning pyracantha, since I am currently in love with one of the two specimens I planted a year ago, and ended up discovering the jelly and sauce videos you made with the Pyracantha berries.
Two and a half years ago I moved to my parents’ former home in southern Italy, on 3 acres of land, and I have been obsessed ever since with learning about the plants that grow here spontaneously and not. But, as an Italian expression says, “It’s like making a hole in water”.
You are so lucky to have started learning in earnest as a child; until now most of my experience was with small backyards and raised beds in community gardens, and since I am 64 I feel like have to hurry up and learn!! No time to waste. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.
Anna Maria
I want to thank you for this awesome site and your weekly newsletters. I have been a mushroom forager in the Upstate of South Carolina for several years now, but it has only been in the past two seasons that my wife and I have really started to invest more time learning about other edible foraging foods. We started off only knowing things like chickweed, wild alliums, and a few others, but since then have been learning a great deal about all the various things that can be gathered out in the woods. One of your newsletters got me to look more into smilax shoots which happen to be popping up all over the place at the same time as the morels, and this spring making meals with both has been wonderful. I love finding interesting and informative blogs like this, so many many thanks again.
~Nathaniel Lord
Hi there. I think what you’re doing is wonderful. I especially appreciate finding out the history of each plant, from the root of their names to how they’ve been used over time and by who. Thanks!
One question for you, or for anyone actually, who may be sitting on a gem of advice out there. I recently came into contact with poison ivy, and like the twenty other times we’ve crossed paths, the ivy had a lasting effect on me. I used Tecnu scrub on it the moment I realized what had happened (I noticed small blisters on my skin), but it still persisted for almost two weeks, blistering and itching. My dad told me about some guys he worked with years ago pouring gasoline on their poison ivy rashes. My thought is that they did it for a drying effect, although my dad isn’t sure whether it worked or not. My question is, what’s the best, most effective course of action you’ve ever taken after coming into contact with poison ivy/oak? (Either after you realize you’ve touched the plant and want to prevent a rash, or after a rash has already broken out)
Wash with a detergent, NOT an oil-based soap. An oil-based soap makes it worse. I recommend Fels-Naptha, inexpensive, found in the laundry section of most grocery stores.
Where poison ivy grows, usually does jewelweed also. I have a tincture of the leaves to combat the poison. There are also homeopathic options – but it’s hard to tell if they work. I’ve gotten it very bad – systemically in fact once, so I try all these things. Technu works well for me, but you must remember too all the doorknobs you touched and also apply it to your shoes.
Green Dean,
Thanks for the fantastic website. I’ll be a frequent visitor from this day forth.
Love your videos/website, having only discovered them a few days ago. Like you I grew up foraging to some extent… we had a deliberately unkempt yard (mowed occasionally, but not ‘poisoned’ as my mother would say… In my backyard and along the river in Norfolk, Virginia, I ate dandelions, plantains, oxalis, wild chives, mulberries, crab apples, rose hips, lamb’s quarter, pyracantha, “snake berry” leaves and berries (Potentilla indica, aka “India strawberry”), and many others I knew in my youth, but haven’t thought of in years… later in college in Wisconsin, high bush cranberry, wintergreen (love the real thing, can’t stand fake wintergreen!), wild mustards, and on and on… took a wonderful ethnobiology class with a Bad River Ojibway tribal elder, who showed us his secret patch of wild leeks on the edge of the reservation. I’d gotten away from foraging for many years, but now that I am back in a house where I can garden, I find myself once again casting an eye to the lawn, which is full of dandelions and henbit, and other treats… so thank you for being such a wonderful resource to ease me back into my old ‘bad’ habit of foraging, which so horrifies my 8 year old daughter (it’s a mother’s job to occasionally horrify the children, lest they pigeon-hole us!).
Just a question really…but do you have to cook the pillbugs or can you just pick them up and munch?
You should cook them thoroughly.
My wife has an upset stomach. Our gardener handed her some weeds from our yard and said they were “cerce.” I cannot find anything on the web referring to such a plant. Any ideas? Thank you. Dan
Hi I’m an organic/heirloom gardener, I have loads of unusual edibles in my garden here in Seffner Fl. Where are you located? Do you come to locations to do classes?
Thanks for writing. Yes I do go to locations but I also have an active teaching schedule all over the state.
So I’ve heard there is a concern of lambsquarters leaves accumulating nitrates if grown in straight manure, but what about the grain, would it be safe to eat the grain of lambsquarters if grown in straight manure?
Thanks!
Glenn
Lambs quarters? Perhaps… but I think it would depend highly on what manure. The difference between chidken and cow manure is significant. More to the point certain amaranths do uptake nitrates particularly from agriculatural land… Palmer Amaranth is the worst. I have an article on that.
Hi Glenn, I will be visiting the Lake county area (Eustis) in November (2013), will you be giving any classes around the area then? I am new to foraging (Michigan) and have a home in Eustis, I would love to learn about florida foraging.
Glenn? Green Deane… I will be having classes in central Florida in November.
Good Morning Deane- One question… If you were to recommend one foraging book, what would that be? I look forward to your upcoming classes in the Gainesville, Ocala, Orlando area.
Thanks
Unfortunately there isn’t one for Florida though Pineapple Press might be coming out with one by Leggy Lantz.
Hi Green!
Just wonderihng, have you ever met the great Ray Mears of our time??
He does ecellent programms for the BBC and is a grand foorager!
Hello Green Deane,
I have been receiving your Newsletters for the past few months and really look forward to them.
I live in South Africa and have been working with herbs for the past 15 years.
I have become a champion of the ‘under dogs’ of the garden, weeds, and have written a small book on them , as well as giving talks on their virtues.
In herbs, Diane
Greetings Mr. Deane,
Just wanted to say that I am 52 years old, and I want to be like you when I grow up.
Hey there, wish I knew as much about wild plants as you although I am trying. So glad to find other people feel pretty much the same way, too.
You can join the Green Deane Forum. We chat about foraging all year.
Thanks for all the interesting information. I live in dry, hot Oman. Trying to save water, I decided to grow mainly edible plants. Therefore, I was very happy to learn that the everywhere growing Antigonon leptopus can stay in my garden. I found a huge amount of tubers when changing the soil in the pot and did not dare to eat them, although I think the local Indian market sells them. Did you ever get posts from someone in the Middle East who knows the local plants? Today I found sorrel in the mountains and happily ate them after a local gave the ok. Plants look different here than in Northern Europe. Omanis grew rich too fast and it seems knowledge from the poor times gets lost fast, too. But the good news is, that climate change might be for the better here: summers are cooler and winters a bit wetter 🙂
Hi, please could you tell me where I could possibly buy a large batch of 3 leaf clovers for a PR stunt that my company is looking to hold? This clover must be fit for human consumption as we are planning to put it in sandwiches for the public. Thanks, Melissa.
Almost any dairy concern could do that. But you should know more than a little clover can be an emetic.
Last year I was in Colorado on a horse that wouldn’t stop chomping away on these weeds along side the dirt road we were on. As hard as I pulled he just kept on going at it. I looked familiar so I took a taste and it was wonderful and I realized it was good ole Lambs Quarters. I hear that it grows everywhere but I can’t seem to find it in the Middleburg or Orange Park area. Can you let me know of a location of where I can find it? I was telling my foraging type friends about how great it is and they want to give it a try.
Thanks for your time, Shawn
If you mean Florida look in and around orange groves, especially small ones.
Green Deane
How do you know all about the plants? Did you learn about them in a book or on the internet?
Kelvin
I studied and wrote about them.
I find your website very interesting. I stumbled on to it while searching for “can I eat lemongrass?” I am currently growing lemongrass however, I bought it at a green house and I am not sure if it is the type that is meant for consumption.
I live in Oklahoma and there are plenty of plants that people like to search for mostly mushrooms, wild onions, blackberries, strawberries and more. I am afraid of even finding dandelion greens because I am not positive what is edible and what is not.
Lemon grass roots are sometime chopped up and eaten whereas the long leaves can be used to make tea. If it is a true lemon grass there should be no problem. The headache is a lot of things can be called “lemon grass” by sellers. Might the green house know the species?
Hello. I found your page about ragweed when I searched for “eating ragweed”. My mother came from the early 20th century food culture of Cyprus. When I was little, she made a stew from weeds in her garden and called the weeds by the Cypriot word for amaranth. English-speaking people who saw these weeds in her garden called them ragweed. Only in the last few years have I done a linguistic comparison concerning amaranth. It’s called “vlital in Greek, but the term my mother used in Cypriot Greek was “glintous”. I’ve. Eaten cooked amaranth and it reminds me of the texture of the plant my mother called “glintous”, but was supposedly ragweed. Amaranth does not taste the same as the “ragweed” stew of my childhood. Of course I do not know for certain if the weeds in my mother’s garden were amaranth or ragweed. The only way I could test this would be to forage young ragweed and cook it exactly as my mother did and do the same with amaranth so that I could compare them. My question for you: could young ragweed be mistaken for amaranth? Are they distantly related? What I know for certain is that we ate weeds from the garden. One was purslane. Another was ragweed and/or amaranth. Any help from you would be appreciated. Thanks.
P.S. Please excuse the typos. “Vlita” not “vlital”. “I’ve eaten” not “I’ve. Eaten.” Very difficult typing in the interactive box with a blackberry.
You might find this interesting.
http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/2/1/34
One more memory: we foraged dandelions every spring in a field near our house.
Comment and a question. I love your site for information and for ideas on eating things I’d never considered eating before!
Question: I read somewhere in my research to only gather elderberries from plants with reddish or purple stems at the flower/berry heads. I’ve doing that, but 20 feet away is a plant that looks the same, with leaves whose veins appear to head toward the end of the leaf or end at the serrarated tips, but the stems are light green, not purple/reddish. The flower heads and berries look the same. Are these also elderberries? I’m not sure about using them until I know. Thank you! Peggy
We have a long discussion about this on the Green Deane forum that you might want to read. The conclusion is some elderberry stem darken towards red as they ripen. It is not a different species, nor are the green stems one bad, just a matter if ripeness stage. The opinion also was the red stemmed ones tasted sweeter.
Hi,
2 things, first I just tried to pay for a video by master card and it said not available, would sending a Canadian cheque be ok?
Secondly would you be interested in coming to the Niagara Falls region of Canada to run a weekend course for my school as a guest instructor?
Kind regards
Carl
It should have taken it as I get requests from Canada fairly often. Your school is a possibility when I am in the north east.
I have a tree in back yard (in fact there are many of these trees all around here in North Florida.)
I need to know if it is edible as I want to make a tea from its green ” leaves”. Looking for ways to feed my cells great nutrients from the wild edibles all around me.
The tree makes me think of a “cedar” or Juniper, not sure if it is either.
Please help
Send a picture to the UFO page on the Green Deane Forum.
Hi , glad you are available . I learning about plants and I love it. Thanks for doing what you do .
Deane, The picture of the moving train, with lots of smoke, on a rural run, is contained in an article entitled non-green environmentalism.
Again thanks for your consideration. Peter Sturdy
Hi. I discovered your site via the story about cast netting. My husband is a retired commercial fisherman but still retains his licensing & cast nets mostly for mullet where we live in Sarasota County. I have a question: Is it now against Florida regulations to keep legal size reef fish from your by-catch? As you know, from time to time, when cast netting you might catch a nice mangrove snapper. Can we still keep these as long as they are caught in season & meet the mandatory length size of 10″?
Thank you for your help. You have a very cool website.
Have some pics of plants i need help identifying….is there a email i could send pics too…….one plant looks like the native plantain but the stringsinside the leaves do not run beside each other and its almost bright white under the leaves
You can post them on the Green Deane Forum on the UFO page, unidentified flowering objects… you might also want to look up flea bane.
Love this site. I found it when looking up a long list of plants I’d been given for a revegetation area at our farm in Australia. While I want to encourage the local native plants, it’s great to be able to make use of the knowledge of the weeds as well. I’ve made lots of links to your website from my blog at onebendintheriver.com about all our lovely adventures in the Australian bush. Thanks.
As a youth growing up in Kentucky, Missouri, and Arkansas, among other places, we had corn smut on some of our corn. As an adult and gourmet, I know it is huitlacoche and it is edible. We know live in Ohio and I would love to try and grow some. I am assuming the corn would need to be heirloom or open-pollinated. Do you have a name for a variety of corn that would grow huitlacoche? Thank you. I have been a boy scout leader for 28 years and, as a 12th grader, read “Hunting the Wild Asparagus”. Later in my senior year of college, I needed one more history class and took Utah history. In the class, I learned that, if the Donner party had known” there was enough edible vegetables and plants that they could have survived. That has led me on a life long study of edible plant life. Thank you. Pat
Hi Green,
I was recently on your foraging walk in Port Charlotte. I think I remember you saying that there isn’t currently a good book on Florida edible weeds, is that correct? I see there are a couple that include some weeds. Can you recommend any print reference?
Many thanks,
Evie
If you want a Florida book at this time the only one avaiable is Florida’s Edible Wild Plants by Peggy Lantz.
Came across your site while looking for information about cooking burdock root and am so glad I found you. Most of my plant knowledge is clinical medicine but I want a better understanding of herbs in the wild and as food. I look forward to exploring your site and making some delicious new dishes. Thank you for sharing your vast knowledge.
Sincerely,
Anne
Hi, I have an aquaponics system with 3 5′ x 100′ long beds. Problem: algae. Thinking seeds to grow edible aquatic plants to cover beds and toeat.
Would like your thoughts,
Thanks,
Mark
Musterd greens mixed with dandelions are real good eating !
Dean, you talked about the oils that were around when your grandparents were around in the early 1900’s. I try to use Olive Oil as much as i can, but we do have Canola Oil in the house. What are the oils that you use for cooking, etc.
Thanks for asking. I fall in the Paleo/Primal/low-carb side of things (eight years now.) I use olive oil, coconut oil, butter and occasionally palm oil. I save bacon fat (non-sulfided bacon) and now and then make my own lard (which is close in structure to olive oil. I prefer boiling to roasting. I’m also not above making my own butter.) I avoid non-situ seed oils — read polyunsaturated fats — which includes canola (rape seed) grape seed, sunflower oil, and safflower. Soybean oil I avoid because of its omega 6/9 content has been implicated in heart disease, I avoid flax seed oil because it is strongly associated with prostate cancer. And corn oil is rocket fuel for some cancers. On rare occasion I will deep fry a turkey and use peanut oil. When deep frying is done right no oil is absorbed.
What type of solar oven did you use in your youtube video. please email me at 3johntwo@gmail.com
Keep up the GOoD work
Dan
You can find it here:http://www.solarovens.org/
Hello Deane,
I found your videos on YouTube last evening and could Not stop watching them. I live in Northern Virginia and would like to know about foraging and edible plants native to this area. I’m brand new to this but very excited to learn. Do you know of a resource I can tap into in my area?
There is a drop down menu under “Foraging” and you will find there foraging instructors. Then scroll down to you state.
Hi,
I picked up a chaya plant at trichur in Kerala,India.I was told its edible like spinach and has medicinal value.We use Rice Bran Oil for our regular cooking.Can you elaborate on both.
Incidently I will be visiting my son this summer He stays in Hoboken NJ.
Regards
in episode 114 the rust removal one what type of battery charger are you using or would you recommend..?I have a Die Hard but it seems to stop or cut off after about 10 minus ..the bubbles are forming but after a bit it just stops..I can restart it for a similar duration but don’t want to watch the setup all weekend..Thanks
I had to go look. It’s nothing special, a Schummacher 6/2 dual amp charger, many many years old. It does 6 and 12 volts fast or slow. The only modification I did was put a switch in the line so I didn’t have to plug in and unplug it all the time.
Deane, I made a comment on lambs quarters a weed that is found in your garden that ever one wants to get ridge of . Look up the nutritional
value between Lambs Quarters and Spinach , you will be surprised !! I eat it raw and I also home can it . it tastes like spinach but milder to me . I use the smaller leaves when the plant is about 6to 8 inches . you can eat in in salads or steam it a little . You should try it , It’s been eaten for decades .
Hi Deane,
Been a reader of your website for a short time. Educational. Enjoy the articles.
If I’m mostly interested in foraging in Florida (or close by), how would you suggest I filter all of the information down to that most applicable?
Suggested references?
Thanks,
Tom
Follow the newsletter, either subscribe (free) or read it every week on the side in archives. Usually I highlight what is harvestable that week or season.
My small dog just ate some bites from a butterfly plant how dangerous is it?
Is the dog still on this plane? 🙂
I am looking for a a place to buy Japanese Knotweed Rhizome, I did not see that you sell this? – Could you help me by recommending the best place to purchase. I am in Colorado Springs Colorado
Thanks you so much
Please do not deliberately plant it.
Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum) is an invasive, and is listed as such in Colorado (https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/agconservation/japanese-giant-and-bohemian-knotweeds). In fact, all three are A” species in the Colorado Noxious Weed Act.
The World Conservation Union also lists it as one of the world’s worst invasive species.
New book of interest for those interested in other edibles:
Insects as Sustainable Food Ingredients:
Production, Processing and Food Applications
https://cricketpowder.com/insects-as-sustainable-food-ingredients/
Where have you been all my life!? No, but really! Just discovered your website and YouTube videos and am totally stoked. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
-Laurie from Gilroy, CA
P.S. Planning to try some pyracantha jelly soon. I have it growing in my yard. 🙂
Hello,
I would like to know if you can help me identifying a plant that is growing in my garden, but I do not know you how to send you the picture!
Thanks in advance for your help.
Sarah
You can send it to the email address on the About Page.
Some web sites day u can eat tiger Lily’s and some say no, they r poison. Some sites say u can eat day Lily’s and other sites say no. Which is correct?
Mine are correct.
Hey there GD. I just found you through casual youtubeing. Thought you were pretty knowledgeable so i wanted to see the “about me” part and this is amazing. I’m interested in experimenting with new finds but not wanting to encounter severe suffering. Glad to find you. 😉
Hi Green,
I have a tree with nuts on it that I cannot identify. Could you help me?
Sincerely,
Marshall Howard
Dear Green Deane – I am an herbalist in Western Massachussetts. Here we are using Sida acuta as part of formulas for treating Babesia a tickborne illness. Might you have any interest in wildcrafting some pounds of it and drying it to sell to me. it would be great to have plants harvested by a plant person from their local habitat as right now I am purchasing it from a distributor in Canada. Please let me know if you are willing to do this and what you would charge per pound. please email at bluecrowbotanicals@gmail.com
thanks and Be Well
Wondering if there’s any chance youd wnat to come over to our farm in Alachua on NOvember 11 to offer an Herb Walk for the folks who will be coming out here.
This is our second year and that is a most popular event, our friend who came last year can’t come, and everyone loves a good Herb Walk!!
Thank you for asking but I’m teaching in south Florida that day.
Hello,
I love your articles. I grew up here in Florida and I have always wanted to learn to forage. I eat smilax often and make balsam pear tea but that is the extent of it. I recently retired so I have lots of time. I travel from my home in Eastpointe Florida in the Panhandle, to my parents home in Fort Pierce and on to their other Home in Fort Lauderdale quite often. I would love to take a few of your classes if our paths cross. There isn’t a year on the dates for the listed classes? 2018?. Nowadays people disappear so often on the internet I’m not sure if your website is still current.
It is current. I just don’t know what I will be doing months from now so I date out six to eight weeks only.
Hi Deane, I think what you are doing is wonderful, but I do have one complaint. The font you use for your articles is very hard to read. Not a user friendly font, as there are no serifs and it it too long and tall, hard on the eyes. Try a roman font which is easier to read.
Thanks
Thanks for writing. I’m trying to get it changed.
Dean, hello! I am trying to post to the forum, have a username and password, but HOW to post is beyond me…I can’t seem to find my way…I have a blackberry nightshade in my yard and I want to post it…and taste them when fully ripe, falling into my hand…supposedly I see they grow in Australia( info on internet), but never saw them here.
Thanks!
KR
Research complete. Wow- exactly who and what I was hoping to find.
Hello Deane, I was wondering if larger leaves of the American nightshade ever have a purple or maroon on the bottom of the full grown leaves. I know on one of your YouTube videos, you said that if the younger leaves don’t have maroon and the berries are shiny (along with other characteristics) then I most likely have the right species. So can American nightshade have maroon on its older leaves?
Thanks!
Yes but usually plants like Soncus do that.
Plants and Music go together very well
If I may ask, what do you play ?
I had to pass proficiencies in most of them to graduate but I specialized in brass and bass. But I did a lot of big band ad combo work playing upright and singing.
I enjoyed your video on the passiflora family. I live in Hawaii and Inhave two varieties. I want to know if I dry the flowers or the leaves and flowers and consume them powdered, for I get the medicinal benefit?
Hello Dean ,
I found in my yard bitter melon but it is yellow and what I found out is you can’t eat it when yellow some are green,,so how are you to cook it when it is green .
Thank you !
Hi.
Any tips when it comes to foraging wild yams or foraging calories in general around Citra Florida? Is there a special spot around there for yams that you’re aware of? Have a beautiful 2020!
-Jacob
Where could I buy Salicornia Europea seeds?
Hello Deane
How can I grow my knowledge for plants? can you please tell me any tips or guide me, please…
Btw I’m always searching to many things on the internet, please suggest to me like that…
Thank You
Don
Thank you! I’m learning so much and I absolutely love it!
Purslane I’ve seen something that looks an awful lot like purslane but it’s not spurge it looks more like purslane than spurge but the leaves end in a point and the red stem is fury?
Hello Deane,
I just found your site in trying to identify a wild fruit, which I accomplished. Thanks for that. I plan to spend much more time reading your blogs. I would like to know if there is any way to meet you in person, in the future. I am now living back in Hillsborough County, Florida where I was born and raised.
Gene
Iread that duck weed helps in weight loss. Please tell me how to prepare it before eating.
Thank you.
I found a Jacquemontia tamnifolia in my yard recently and researched its food and medicinal uses. I found no information in North American literature and was surprised to be unable to find reference to it in Eat the Weeds. Surprisingly, I did find an article about its uses in Africa both as food and medicinal uses, here: https://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Jacquemontia+tamnifolia
Have you in fact done research on this plant and found it usesful? Thanks! Hope to hear back from you in my email!
Thanks for writing. I know it is a native to Florida but I don’t know much about edibility. A blue blossom in the morning glory group makes me cautious.
I am looking to purchase some Loguat seeds. I tried to order off of Amazon but they say that I am outside their delivery area to try a different vendor but I get the same message. Anyone having seeds please email me thanks
Can’t find how to sign up or subscribe. maybe it is me but I did a search for the word subscribe and nothing,
Thanks,
Ray
I recommend treating them like kidney beans, soak over night, change water then cook for a long time. Do not use a hot pot.
Hi
When I went on a walk with you end of last year at Meade Gardens you mentioned your book was coming out beginning of this year. Do you have a release date and where can purchase one?
Thank you and hope to see you in March
It is the beginning of next year though I turned it in a year ago.
Can you please tell me where I might find Erechtites hieraciifolius seeds to grow at home?
Thank you,
Carrie
I am interested in purchasing your book/video library on a USB drive, however before I do so I have some questions. First, are the plants organized by months or seasons? I am a novice forager and am still learning. It would be very helpful to access plants by months or season. It would also be helpful if I can access the plants by location i.e. in shaded forests, in sunny meadows, along wetlands etc.
Lastly, I just read your bio and would like to know the titles of the two book that you have written.
Thank you for your time. I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Only the videos are on the USB. The book will be on an app later this year.My other two books were not about plants.
Hey there I live in brevard county Florida and I am needing help identifying the usnea I found. Can I email you some pictures of what I found so I can be sure that I found usnea and not Spanish moss?
Mail to GreenDeane@Gmail.com
We recently did it eat the weeds tour with you at the South Florida science center, and we were wondering if you had a recipe for using cocoa plums in jam? Or any recipes for Coco palm? The big question we have is whether you can eat the pit?
Hi Green Deane,
Just wanted to drop a comment to let you know how awesome this site is. I was into foraging during quarantine, and as painful as that time in my life was, foraging was a great outlet for me. I’m currently living in a more urban area for college, so foraging is a little iffy, but the experience of learning about foraging is a precious memory and interest of mine. So, thank you for creating something that can serve people in hard times.
I’m currently studying to become a Music teacher, but one of my biggest hopes is that I can teach my future children at home, as my boyfriend and I have hopes of a homestead and a little bit of land one day. If I can, I will definitely cite your catalogue for material about foraging 🙂
Peace be with you,
Katie Ray
Hi, I would like to reserve 2 places for your 3/17 class in Largo, Fl. Thanks!
Thanks for writing. I have you down for the class. See you then.
Is getting diarrhea after eating cooked wild rose leaves a sign of detox, or a sign of a toxic plant? They still taste yummy and I find no revulsion, disgust, bad flavors or smells from the plant whatsoever.
Hey Dean. Alex from the port Charlotte walks last year. Doesn’t seem like your class schedule is upkept lately. When is your next port Charlotte walk or near there? You going to the permaculture convergence? Thanks