Fruit foraging in Port Charlottte Photo by Green Deane
There was much fruit to harvest during our foraging class in Port Charlotte last Sunday. Not pictured is Natal Plum or surinam cherry. Most abundant was cocoaplums though in few weeks the Java Plum with out fruit them all. The mangos are on the back side of their season. The podocarpus arils will ripen now to mid-august, twin berries will fruit for several months and the ground cherry will have a fall season. The invalasive Brazilian Pepper berries will be around for several months.
Ripening Twallow Plums. Photo by Green Deane
I need to record a video this week about Tallow Plum. A shrub near me is ripening and I haven’t done a video on that species. First I had to find my movie camera and then the charging cord. As I am out in the country I have no idea how easily the video will upload but I’ll solve that when it happens. The tallow plum has tasty fruit and is easy to identify. For decades I found them only in coastal location but in the last few years I have found them inland at three location, Ft. Mead, The West Orange Bike Trail and in Lithia. Recently in Melbourne at Wickham Park we did not see any though they are usually found there.
Monarda punctata, Horsemint, Beebalm. Photo by Green Deane
Wild mints can be prima donnas: Once on stage they hate to get off. Locally we would expect to see Horsemint, Monarda punctata in full bloom by September but it has pushed the season and can be found now. The species can also flower for several months. This week I saw a nice stand along a bike trail in south Vousia County, exactly where one would expect to find it: On a dry bank up from the trail. You can also find it in the same area near roads especially roads that cut through a sand hill. Look for the showy pink bracts. If you want to read about Horsemint you can go here.
Foraging classes are held rain or shine, heat or cold. Photo by Nermina Krenata
Foraging Classes:
August 5th, Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St., Gainesville, FL 32641. 9 a.m. Meet at the pavilion by the pump house. At this location I always get either poison ivy or ticks. Dress carefully.
August 12th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. Meet at the bathrooms 9 a.m. This class will be attended by the company publishing my book (see below) to create some publicity material.
For more information, to pre-pay or to sign up go here.
Pindo Palm can fruit almost anytime. Photo by Green Deane
When something is ripe or ready to be harvested varies, a window of a few weeks is normal for most species but often can be extended. Pindo Palms can demonstrate that. I normally start looking for Pindo Palm fruit at the end of spring. Memorial Day reminds me their season is coming soon. By June I am usually eating some here and there. We are now early-August and I had my first Pindo Palm fruit today in Central Florida. The palm’s fruit is one of my favorite wild edibles. I definitely do not have a sweet tooth — in fact I carry the gene for fruit sugar intolerance — but Pindo Palm fruit is one I really like so I keep a close eye on them. While they like late spring and early summer you can find an odd one here and there fruiting around Thanksgiving or Valentine’s Day. They are also a hearty palm and can take a lot of cold temperatures. The transluscent kernel in the seed is also edible and has a strong coconut flavor. It is also easy to remove unlike the kernel of the Queen Palm.
Sugarberries/Hackberries are starting to ripen.
There is a tree you should be scouting for now so when the fruit ripens next month you’ll have some already located. As in real estate so in foraging: Location, location, location. Hackberries (also widely know as Sugarberries) like to be near but not in fresh water. You can often find them about 10 feet above the local water table but I’ve seen them as low as three feet. Usually you can find them up the bank from the water. Older Hackberry bark will often be warty, sometimes heavily so. Leaves have uneven shoulders, and on the back side of the leaf notice three prominent veins at the base, unusual for tree leaves. The small-pea sized fruit is green now but will ripen this month or early September into a burnt orange. The entire fruit is edible though the seed is hard. To read more about them go here.
You get the USB, not the key.
150-video USB would be a good end of spring present and is now $99. My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy. The USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page. That will take you to an order form. I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually.
Green Deane Forum
Want to identify a plant? Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food.
Now being printed is EatTheWeeds, the book. It should have 284 plants, 350-plus pages, index and color photos. Several hundred have been preordered on Amazon. Most of the entries include a nutritional profile. Officially it will be published Dec. 5th (to suit the publisher demands) apparently to appeal to the winter market but can be delivered by mid-October
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