Dioscorea alata root. Photo by Green Deane
The first Eat The Weeds newsletters more than a decade ago were monthly, and had to be mailed individually. Now they are weekly and cost $80 to send. Over the years there have been more than 10,000 subscribers. While pondering what to put in the 600th issue something unusual presented itself: A yam root.
The two most common yams locally are Dioscorea Bulbifera and Dioscorea alata. Locally the latter almost always puts on a large edible root, the former does not. Their seasons are also staggered, the Bulbifera first up in the spring first to die off in the fall. Last week I went to a location near Deland where I have dug up many Alata roots. As the vines are not sufficiently up now I did not find any vines to follow to locate roots. Except one. Thus I dug it up and it was not an Alata root, below right. It seems like a Bulbifera root — new to me — different shaped than the Alata and a common edible in Australia (after processing. There it is called the cheeky yam.)
Dioscorea Bulbifera roots? Photo by Green Deane.
The Alata root is usually vertically orientated like a lumpy liter bottle with a hard stiff top (see top picture.) The ones I dug up were more horizontal, smaller, less lumpy and hairier. The question is did a Bulbifera put on a root here in Florida? And if so what to do with it? In Australia their Bulbifera root is roasted, then riced and soaked in a river for a day to remove “toxins ” (which might be the plant steroid, diosgenin.) Then it is roasted a second time and eaten. What is confusing is the vine with the “bulbifera” roots resembled the Alata vine, that is it had pointed leaves rather than heart-shaped. And the vine had the Alata Z-twist. Besides the roots being the wrong shaped, it was also way out of season for the Alata and was the only Dioscorea vine up. Perhaps it is a hybrid. At the present it is a mystery though a local adult hog tried to carry the root away, so perhaps edible.
HARVESTING NOW: Wild garlic, this tasty member of the allium genus begins it seasonal growth in December, and by March hasn’t changed much in appearance except larger. But in April it begins to put small garlic-like cloves on top. Over the month they grow roots, and drop off just in time for seasonal rains to float them downstream to start anew. We also found a few ripe blackberries which usually ripen in April as well. Judging by the number of pink unripenen fruit blackberry season is a bit slow this year. And without more rain the mushroom season will be late, as it has been for several years.
Foraging classes are held rain, shine, hot or cold. Photo by Nermina Krenata
Foraging classes: The classes this weekend will be mid-state and the southwest coast.
Saturday, May 11th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. Meet at the bathrooms. 9 a.m. to noon.
Sunday, May 12th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Meet at Ganyard Rd and Bayshore. 9 a.m. to noon.
For more information on these classes, to prepay or sign up go here. The cost is $30 per adult (the class is usually three hours long and examines five-dozen or so species.) If cost is a hardship email me at: Green Deane @ gmail.com.
Green Deane Forum
Tired of Facebook and want to identify a plant? The Green Dean Forum is up and running again. Have you come to dislike Facebook, then join us on the forum. 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.
You get the USB, not the key.
172-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. Most of the 172 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.
Finally, the book Now in its second printing. 274 plants, 367 pages, index, nutrition charts and color photos. It’s available in many locations including Amazon. Most of the entries include a nutritional profile. It can also be ordered through AdventureKeen Publishing.
This is weekly newsletter #600. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page.
To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.
Hi Green Deane! I am in St. Augustine. I have a few different varieties of yam in my garden…I don’t know exactly what I have because I bought them from the Asian market and they weren’t labeled clearly. Two years ago, after temps froze in the winter, the yams took several months to send up their vines…I kept waiting for them to grow, thinking the freeze must have killed them. The vines eventually grew in the summer! This year, it didn’t freeze in this part of St. Augustine, and so while the vines did die back a little due to chillier temps, not all the vines died back to the ground, and some put out new vines this year MUCH earlier than they did two years ago. All of my (edible) yam varieties are sending out their vines (some thorned, some not) already! Could it be due to the lack of freezing temperatures in many part of Central and Northeast Florida? Air potato vines also grow rampant in my yard, and they never even died back much this winter.
Pretty please come back up to Princess Place Preserve in Palm Coast!