Litchi Tomato

Foraging is a treasure hunt because with perhaps 6,000 edible species in North America there is always a surprise now and then such as the Litchi Tomato.

The husk (calyx) shrinks as the fruit matures

Some people call it a wild tomato, others say it’s naturalized or an escaped crop. Some refer to it as an “heirloom.” Common names include Sticky Nightshade (not at all original)  Morelle de Balbis, and Fire & Ice Plant (I have no idea why.)  It can be found not only in gardens but in the wild around the world. A native of South America, particularly Paraguay, it’s a hardy nightshade that reseeds itself and gets along quite nicely without man’s attention. So even though you may cultivate it, the wandering botanical often strikes out on its own.

Young husk (calyx) with typical yellow/orange thorns.

In North America its distribution is rather unconventional. Going around the rim states of the US it is found from Oregon south and east to West Virginia excluding New Mexico. Then it goes to the mid-Atlantic states skipping Maryland. It is also recorded in Massachusetts and Ontario. You will have to look at specific state maps to identify the counties the Litchi Tomato has been found it. A tough member of a fragile family it can take a light frost even temperatures down to 25F. In warmer climes it overwinters (and gets more spiny!) A bushy indeterminate, it does, however, need more than one plant to cross pollinated.

Blossoms can be white, light blue or mauve.

In its native South America the Litchi Tomato has been used in local dishes since before written records. And most unusual for this genus it has spines yet is still edible. Usually plants in this genus with spines are very toxic if not deadly. This is also why, particularly here in the southern United States, one must not mistake the Horsenettle — Solanum carolinense –for the Litchi Tomato. The results could be much illness if not death. Interestingly, since the Litchi Tomato does have spines (technically prickles*) it has also been use as a hedge around gardens, to keep animals out. It’s also a trap crop for potato cyst nematodes and has been in cultivation in Europe since the 1700s. The plant, however, is banned in South Africa. In Australia it is found in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Victoria and possibly Victoria.

The fruit, red when ripe, is one-half to inch, yellow inside with many seeds.

The fruit develops in a husk (calyx) that is totally covered with spines (unlike the Horsenettle which has spines but no husk.) Then the husk, which is slightly bullet shape, folds back to reveal a bright red cherry-tomato like fruit. Interior flesh is yellow and seeds resemble cherry tomato seeds. Its texture is similar to a raspberry and the taste is tart like a sour cherry. The fruit is ripe when it can be removed easily. If it resists it is not ready to eat.

In small amounts the dried roots, with that basal part of the stem, were used as a diuretic to treat kidney issues and high blood pressure. The roots were also chewed to induce abortions. See Herb Blurb below.

Unripe fruit are slightly bullet shaped

As for the botanical name this is going to be a little confusing.  Part of its name is easy and part difficult. Solanum (so-LAY-num) is the easy part and means sun. Sisymbriifolium ( sis-sim-bree-ee-FOL-lee-um) is more convoluted.  Sisymbrium is from the Greek sisumbrion (??????????) and means sweet-smelling plant. It’s what Greeks called the bergamot mint. A Tumbleweed Mustard, which is not sweet smelling at all, was named Sisymbrium because the mustard leaves looked similar to the bergamot’s leaves. The Litchi Tomato’s leaves look similar to the Tumbleweed Mustard so it was called Sisymbriifolium, meaning leaves that look like the mustard that look like the bergamot … And botanists think they really make it clear and easy for us mere foraging mortals.

Other common names include: Alco-Chileo (Spanish), arrabenta cavalo, dense-thorn bitter apple (English), doringtamatie (Afrikaans-South Africa), espina colorada (Spanish), fire and ice plant (English), jeweelie (Argentina), joão bravo, jua das queimadas (Portuguese), jua de roca (Portuguese), klebriger nachtschatten (German), litchi tomato (English), liuskakoiso (English), manacader, morelle de balbis (French), mullaca espinudo, ocote mullaca (Spanish), pilkalapis baklazanas (Lithuanian), puca-puca (Spanish), raukenblatt-nachtschatten (Austria), red buffalo-burr (British Isles), revienta caballo (Spanish), sticky nightshade (English-United States, United Kingdom), tomatillo (Spanish), tutia (Spanish), tutia o Espina Colorada, uvilla, viscid nightshade (English-United States, Australia), wild tomato (English), wildetamatie (Afrikaans-South Africa.)

World wide, it is reported in: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Congo Republic, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, North and South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States.

*Prickles are outgrowths of the epidermis and not modified branches, which are spines.

 Green Deane’s ITEMIZED Plant Profile: Litchi Tomato

IDENTIFICATION: Solanum sisymbriifolium is an annual or perennial erect to about a yard to one meter in height. The stem and branches are sticky, hairy, and armed with flat, yellow-orange spines up to half inch (15mm) in length. The oval to lance shaped thorny leaves have stems a half inch to two inches long (1-6cm) and are hairy above and below with stellate and glandular hairs. The leaves are pinnately divided into four to six coarse lobes and may be up to 15 inches long (40cm) and half as wide. Flowers emerge from the foliage and are internodal, unbranched racemes composed of one to ten perfect (staminate) flowers. The five-parted flowers are white, light blue, or mauve, about an inch (3cm) in diameter, and have a hairy calyx a quarter of an inch (5-6 mm) long. They smell like fish. The fruit is a red, succulent, globular berry from a half inch to an inch (12-20 mm) in diameter with pale yellow seeds.

TIME OF YEAR: Similar to tomatoes depending on the climate.

ENVIRONMENT: Similar to a tomato, rich soil, ample sun, moderate, steady watering. Treat them like a tomato except set them out a bit later when its warmer. In exchange they fruit a little longer. The Litchi Tomato is found along roadsides, waste places, landfills, and disturbed fields. A good place to look in farming country in around manure piles or compost bins. In Australia it likes eucalyptic woodlands

METHOD OF USE:  Like tomatoes. A healthy plant will produce about a quart of fruit each. Some folks like to put them thought a sieve to remove the seeds. From a culinary point of view they respond well to some sweetness which then gives them a sweet and sour appeal. Surprisingly I could not find the plant mentioned in Cornucopia II, which is kind of the forager’s Bible for edible plants around the world.

Seed source:  $3 at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

 Hot and Spicy Litchi Tomato Chutney: Recipe from  Mother Earth News

Four cups green tomatoes, sliced into small shreds, measure after slicing; ? 2 1?2 cups whole Litchi tomatoes, hulls removed; ? 6 dates, seeded and coarsely chopped; ?4 garlic cloves, each sliced into 4 pieces ?lengthwise; ?zest of 2 limes; ?1 tbsp or more hot pepper, finely minced; ?1/2 cup white vinegar; ?2 tsp mustard seed, crushed to meal-like consistency; ?1 tsp fennel seed, preferably Indian Lucknow fennel; ?1/2 tsp ground cinnamon; ?1 tsp cumin seed?; 1 cup green raisins; ?1 cup chopped mango or under-ripe peach; ?1 cup slivered almonds; ?2 1?2 cups honey or 3 cups sugar.
Combine all ingredients in a deep pan and cook over medium-high heat for 20 minutes, or until thick. Remove from the heat and lift out the fruit mixture with a slotted spoon and put it into hot, sanitized preserve jars standing in hot water. Reduce the remaining syrup over high heat until thick like honey, and then pour this over the hot fruit and seal. Allow to mellow two weeks before using. Yields approximately four 12-ounce jars.

Herb Blurb

J Ethnopharmacol. 2000 Jun;70(3):301-7.
Isolation of hypotensive compounds from Solanum sisymbriifolium Lam.
lbarrola DA, Hellión-lbarrola MC, Montalbetti Y, Heinichen O, Alvarenga N, Figueredo A, Ferro EA.
Source
Pharmacology Department, Faculty of Chemical Sciences, National University of Asuncion, PO Box 1055, Asuncion, Paraguay.
Abstract
The crude hydroalcoholic root extract (CRE) of Solanum sisymbriifolium Lam. has formerly been shown to have hypotensive activity both in normo-and hypertensive rats. Hypotensive activity-guided fractionation of the CRE was performed in anaesthetized normotensive rats, which led to the isolation of the active principles. The intravenous (i.v.) and intraperitoneal (i.p.) values of the CRE in mice were found to be, respectively, 343 and 451 mg/kg, and no lethal effect was caused by doses up to 5.0 g/kg when administered by oral route. Depression of locomotion, increase of breathing rate and piloerection was observed in a general behavior test with doses up to 200 mg/kg i.p., and 1000 mg/kg p.o., respectively. Increase in the gastrointestinal transit was found using 0.1 g/kg, whereas at doses of 0.5 and 1 g/kg, no significant activity was observed in comparison with the control mice. Hexanic and butanolic fractions induced a remarkable hypotension in anaesthetized normotensive rats in doses of 1, 5, 7.5 and 10 mg/kg i. v. Two compounds isolated from the butanolic fraction induced a significant decrease of the blood pressure, HR, amplitude of the ECG and breathing rate when injected in a dose of 1 mg/kg i.v; and both systofic and diastolic, blood pressures were affected in a proportional mode. The hypotensive effect of the two compounds were not influenced by pretreatment with atropine and propranolol; and the pressor response to noradrenaline was not affected by any of them which suggests that neither a direct muscarinic activity, beta-adrenoceptor activation nor decrease of sympathetic vascular tone (sympatholitic activity) are probably involved in the mechanism of hypotension. The present study shows that the CRE of S. sisymbriifolium contains at least two hypotensive compounds whose characterization is under way.
PMID:
10837991
[PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

Hypotensive effect of crude root extract of Solanum sisymbriifolium (Solanaceae) in normo- and hypertensive rats.

PMID:

8941862

[PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

Insect Cuisine by Shochi Uchiyama

On this site are several articles about edible insects (among other creatures.) Below is an expanding collection of more than 50 edible insects. I plan to localize it. There is, depending on who’s counting,  an estimated 1,462 species of edible insects.  While the numbers fluctuate this includes about 235 species of butterflies and moths, 344 species of beetles, 313 species of ants, bees, and wasps and 239 species of grasshoppers, crickets and cockroaches… yes cockroaches… Insects are commonly eaten in 13 countries by two billion people. They provide not only economical and excellent nutrition but new flavors and textures as well. I personally have eaten several insects below, in one form or another, some times in juvenile form or adult, a few both, usually intentionally.

The list has a world view though the families of edible insects most often found in North American where I am based are: Grasshoppers (Orthoptera acrididae) crickets (Orthoptera gryllidae) metallic wood-borers (Coleoptera buprestidae) long-horn beetles (Coleoptera cerambycidae) weevils (Coleoptera curculionidae) mealworns (Coleoptera tenebrionidae) bees (Hymenoptera apidae) and ants (Hymenoptera formicidae.)

While there are exceptions the following insects are usually avoided: Adult insects that either sting or bite; insects that are covered with hair; brightly colored insects; disease-carrying insects; any insect that gives off a strong odor and spiders, which are not insects… too many legs…  (and when the site was upgraded the photos were displaced. Still working to get them sorted out.)

Acorn Grub

Acorn Grubs:  Inside many acorns in the fall is a small grub, cream colored, tan, a reddish brown head, no legs and fat in the middle. It eats bitter acorn meat but is not bitter itself. The grub can be eaten raw — chewy — or cooked, buttery with no hint of oak or tannins. Laid by one of several beetles, the grub will grow in comparison to the size of the acorn. Eventually it will chew a small hole in the leathery shell and squeeze out. As it is pliable the hole will be much smaller than the grub but the grub will squeeze through. Then a mother moth will come along and put her eggs in through the hole left by the grub. Those grow into a worm with legs. Those are edible, too according to entomologist I know. One more thing: If you cook the grubs do it slowly or break them open. They can explode. To read more about acorn grubs click here. To see my video click here.

Agave Worms

Agave Worm: Actually larvae, they were never associated with booze until 1950 when they were added to mescal as a marketing gimmick. Now they are associated with Tequila which is technically a mescal product. Also known as the maguey worm, they are the larvae of either the Hypopta agavis moth or the Aegiale hesperiaris. When not pickled in alcohol they are coral in color but fade when preserved in methanol. The “worms” are a common food without Tequila in Mexico

Best parched or roasted

Ants, Carpenter: While the name might fit they should have been called syrup ant, or sap ants. Some 99% of their diet is liquid, usually from aphids or vegetation. They’re called carpenter ants because they build nests in wood. In the process of hollowing out a dead log or a damp house support they leave a pile of sawdust. Among the largest ants in North America then can be any color but are usually black, sometimes red, sometimes a combination. They are smooth bodies and release a foul odor when disturbed, hence eating them raw, while possible, is not the best means of consumption. They also nip harmlessly but annoyingly. Native Americans parched them. They would make a large screening basket out of willow then put the entire ant’s nest and hot coals in the basket then winnow out the ants, ashes, parts of the nest and coals.

Escamoles

Ants, Escamoles: Escamoles are the larvae of the large and venomous black Liometopum ant, which makes its home in the dried, woody parts of maguey and agave plants. The eggs resemble cottage cheese with a buttery, nutty taste. As one can imagine the large, toxic ants don’t give up the eggs easily making them expensive plus they are available only seasonally.  Called “Insect Caviar” they are often served in guacamole or sauteed with butter, onion, cilantro and epazote. They can be up to 60% protein.

Leaf Cutter Ants

Ants, Flying: Tequila is not the only thing served with salt and lime. Called Sompopos de Mayo in Guatemala Flying Ant queens are collected and roasted on a clay griddle with salt and lime juice. The flavor is on par with  buttery pork rinds. Available in May, which is the beginning of the rainy season, only the back end is cooked and eaten. One can buy them already separated by vendors.

Honeypot Ant

Ants, Honeypot: Found in areas like South America and Australia they were a delicacy for the Aboriginals. Honeypot ants are an ant’s solution to storage problems. The big-belly ants are fed nectar causing their abdomens to swell. The nectar-like substance is then used to feed other ant. The problem is ants aren’t a collective of dummies. The Honeypot Ant are buried deep in the hard packed earth, some three to five feet down and you have to contend with irritated ants every foot of the way. But in a time when there was no sugar or candy Honeypot Ants were the original treat, a comfort food even if it does have legs that wiggle. They are closely related to carpenter ants.

Leaf Cutter Ant

Ants, Leafcutter: Thirty-eight or forty-seven species of ant are called leafcutters, depending on who’s counting. They are also called Hormigas Culonas in Spanish which means ant with a big butt. I never could figure that out because their heads are much larger than their buts. Leafcutter ants use foliage to grow a fungus for food. The species are divided into two genera, Atta and Acromyrmex. If you’re wondering, the Attas have three pairs of spines and a smooth exoskeleton. The Acromyrmex have four pairs of spines and a rough exoskeleton. They can have nests 100 feet across containing some eight million ants. Bon appetit. Their flavor is like a bacon-ish pistachio. In Colombia they are the local “popcorn” at movie theaters.

Lemon Ants already plated

Ants, Lemon:  For such a little ant it has a large name: Myrmelachista schumanni. Found in the South American jungle their claim to fame, other than tasting like lemons, is they exude a kind of herbicide — formic acid — that kill all plants in a large area except the one tree they nest in, the Duroia hirsuta. Wait, you say, isn’t formic acid the acid makes fire ants fiery? Yep, but the Lemon Ants don’t sting you with it and that is why they taste lemony. They prefer the Duroia hirsuta because its branches are hollow thus they are out of the weather and protected.  One Lemon Ant’s nest is thought to be 807 years old and three million strong. Tiny, you break off or open a branch and have at them, a jungle treat.

Weaver Ants Bite

Ants, Weaver: There’s good news and there’s bad news. They are edible. They also bite. Take a look at the picture. Several ants are tugging on a leaf to make a nest with. See those jaws holding the leaf? They can bite you, too. So, you either collect them carefully and cook away or… you grab the ant from the front, crushing it and eat the back end. These ant eat other insects so they are aggressive. They have been used at least 1,600 years as biological controls in and around gardens and the like. Weaver ants are completely arboreal, read you will find them on plants, in shrubs and on trees, not in the ground. Their eggs are sold in Thailand and the Philippines and taste creamy. The adults are sour and have been mixed into rice for flavoring. One particular species in Australia, Oecophylla smaragdina, is called the Green Ant because is back end is green. They bite but not badly, irritating rather than painful. One opens the nest and reaches in for the eggs. You crush the eggs and ants together and down they go. The lemony flavor and aroma clear congestion and the like. They also are used to make a lemonade like drink. For some unknown reason the ants do not get bacterial infections, which is of interest to scientists. In Asia weaver ants are red.

Wood Ants’ Nest

Ants, Wood: I suppose one could eat adult wood ants but its their eggs that are usually on the menu. Also called Formica Ants, they make large debris nest mostly in forests. A large Wood Ant’s nest can be raided a couple of times a year without harm. On a sunny day put a tarp on the ground. Put branches and the like on the tarp then fold the tarp over the branches leaving a sunny spot in the middle and shade around the edges. Dig into the nest and dump the ants, eggs and debris into the middle of the tarp. The ants will carry the eggs away from the middle to the shade where you can collect them. Eaten raw or cooked their flavor is similar to shrimp.

Bamboo Worms

Bamboo Worms: Find the Grass Moth, find its larvae, and you have a Thailand treat, Bamboo Worms. Like the Agave Worm above, not really a worm, it is usually served fried. These are a gourmet treat. You can buy them from vendors on the street or dried and bagged for international shipments. During their life cycle the larva eat their way up through several sections of the bamboo and when ready to emerge they return to the bottom to eat their way out. Most locals know when this is to happen and the worms become food.

Bee Larva

Bees: Yes, the ones that occasionally sting you because you irritated it. While adult bees are eaten, usually roasted, sometimes ground into flour, more popular is bee larva. They are baked, fried or deep fried. Thus cooked bee lava become flaky, their flavor nutty to caramel. Pallets disagree with opinions on taste ranging from sunflower seeds to shrimp to pork cracklings. Cooked bee larva are also often covered in chocolate and sold as a gourmet item, particularly in Mexico.

Big Fella Bogon Moth

Bogong Moth, Agrotis infusa, is a migrating night-flying moth in Australia. They gather in high elevation caves in the summer months in huge quantities, a fact not missed by the Aboriginals. They would travel from the lowlands to eat the tasty, high protein — 24% — fatty food that is also high in potassium. The moths were either killed or stupefied by the heat and smoke then their bodies collected. After collection the moths were cooked in sand and stirred in hot ashes. This burned off the wings and legs. They were then sifted through a net to remove their heads. Then they were eaten. Sometimes the cooked moths were ground into paste and made into cakes. “Bogong” may mean “Big Fella.” Aussie tucker cafe Ironbark in Canberra serves a brandy-flavoured bogong moth fritter with boab root.

Maggoty Cheese, Casa Marzu

Casa Marzu: Perhaps this should not be included but… It’s a Pecorino cheese that has been allowed to rot and become permeated with fly maggots, specifically Piophila casei. The sheep-milk cheese not only gets infested with maggots but they also digest the cheese and relieve themselves in the cheese, adding the flavor. Actually the acid in their digestive tract breaks down the fat in the cheese. The result is a smooth, very strong cheese. The cheese is eaten, maggots and all. The European Economic Union made it illegal for a while but it is now viewed as a “traditional” food and thus legal. Incidentally, the maggots can jump up to six inches.

Centipedes on a stick

Centipedes: Generally said centipedes are preferred over millipedes. Centipedes, however, have pincers and can bite but once the head is removed they are tiny crustaceans for consumption after cooking. Millipede definitely have to be cooked and are found as a street food in Asia. Some millipedes some have little hydrogen cyanide glands and can exude foul smelling liquid if handled. That’s why the street vendors charge the prices they do. Centipedes are insect eaters, millipedes are vegetarians. Centipedes have one set of legs per segments, millipedes have two sets of legs per segments.

Cicada

Cicada, Katydids: There’s some 2,500 species of Cicadas, which is dead Latin for “tree cricket.” Greeks call them tzitzikas after the sound they make. Periodical cicadas, found only in the Eastern US,  can live underground for up to 17 years before emerging and molting into adults. Other Cicada are annual. Right after molting they are soft and tasty. Female cicadas are plumper and preferred fare. In some species the Cicada can get up to six inches long. They are usually skewered and deep fried, or fried. Incidentally, in Ancient Greece the upper classes preferred Cicadas to locust. Local Cicadas can be green, brown or black.

Deep-Fried Cockroach

Cockroach: Yep, La Cucuracha. They are not only very edible but very clean. Of course, the main idea is to raise them intentionally and feed them a healthy diet such as fresh fruits and vegetables. It takes at least 48 hours to clean out their digestive system. Not the brightest of insects they can live several days without a head, eventually dying from lack of water. They can be eaten toasted, fried, sauteed, or boiled. Don’t eat them raw. Large hissing cockroaches taste like greasy chicken.  I have not tried Florida’s hissing palmetto bugs yet. They smell bad when alive. I’ll let you know.

Fried Crickets

Crickets are probably the most widely consumed insect. Even American Natives were known to roast them up along with grasshoppers. The natives would dig a relatively deep hole in a field and put wood in it. Then they would drive the insects in the field towards the hole. Once the insects were in the hole the fire was lit. When the flames died down they had a bug in. Crickets are about as inoffensive as an insect can get. They are eaten fried, sauteed, boiled, and roasted. Don’t overlook their relatives, the mole crickets.  Also see Kamaro.

Egg batter for dragonflies

Dragonfly and Damselfly: Do you know how to tell the difference? Damselflies fold up their wings, Dragonflies do not. They are eaten in Indonesia and China, larval and adult form. In Bali they are caught with sticks smeared with a sticky sap. Eaten boiled, fried, or grilled on the barbie. Wings are usually removed before cooking unless going over the charcoal. Here they are being dipped in egg before cooking. Boiled in coconut milk with ginger and garlic is also a favored means of preparation. Photo courtesy of Girl Meets Bug.

Choice Dung Beetle

Dung Beetle: The name says it all. They live under fresh cow dung. Before you hurl your supper let’s ponder this for a moment. Commercial dung beetles are cleaned, dehydrated and seasoned. While indeed inhabiting cow patties those cows are living off off organic grass and rice plants and the patty is just predigested fodder. Despite their humble beginnings dung beetles are among the most tasty of insects, crunchy and full of protein. Usually they’re fried. In South America white dung beetles are on the menu and are often cooked with pork and vegetables. “Cleaning” means their abdomens are removed before cooking. Photo courtesy of Girl Meets Bug.

Fly Pupae

Fly, House: You’re not going to want to hear this but the common house fly is like so many edible insects. Its pupae resemble red capsules and have a fatty acid similar to fish oil. Eating them provides a bit of crunch with a rich flavor, some say like blood pudding. They can be parboiled and fried, or just fried. Given the habit of some flies it best to raise your own on wholesome fly food.

Eaten raw or roasted

Golden Orb Spider, Giant Wood Spider:  Among the few spiders that are eaten is Nephila maculata, found in warm areas of the Pacific. Here in the southern U.S.  we have a relative, Nephila clavipes called the Banana Spider. Will have to try one when the opportunity presents itself. The Nephila maculata is eaten raw or roasted (sealed in a green bamboo tube over fire until the tube is blackened. The spiders split open.)  The flavor, with salt, is a cross between a raw potato and lettuce with a peanut butter after taste. A close relative to the Nephila is also eaten, the tent-web spider, Cyrtophora moluccensis. While nutrition and flavor are factors so, too, is size. All of these spiders are on the large size making them worth the calories expended to collect them. Adult female Nephila have about three grams of protein each. Don’t confuse the Nephila with a toxic spider of the same common name from South America, the Phoneutria fera, which looks like a skinny tarantula. They don’t look alike at all but have the same common name. The Nephila is called the Banana Spider because the back end often is yellow. The Phoneutria is called the Banana Spider because it hitches rides north on bunches of bananas and is poisonous.

Grasshoppers Galore

Grasshopper: Not all grasshoppers are edible. Look for solid colored ones, black, green or brown. Multicolored ones can be toxic, as is the huge lubber here in Florida. In Mexico  grasshoppers, called chapulines, are roasted then eaten with chili and lime. Native American did the same thing with grasshoppers as they did crickets, drive them into a deep dug hole in the middle of the field with wood in it then light a quick fire and have roasted hoppers. They are a good source of protein and calcium. In Africa the Nsenene grasshopper is a Ugandan delicacy. Some farmers eat grasshoppers raw after removing the guts.

Tomato and Tobacco Hornworms

Hornworm:  Tomato and Tobacco Hornworms can be fried but there is a word of caution. The plants they are usually found on, tomato and tobacco leaves, are not good for humans to eat. So unless you raise the hornworms on a specific diet wild hornworms have to be either starved for a few days or fed food they like and we can eat. Fortunately, green peppers fits that need perfectly. Their flavor is a combination of tomatoes, shrimp, and crab. If it has a red horn is a tobacco worm, black horn is tomato worm. You would have thought they would have reversed that. Entomologists are apparently no more logical than botanists. To read more, click here.

June Bugs

June Bug: June bugs (Phyllophaga) are a fairly safe bug for anyone to start with because there are no toxic look-alikes and they tend to eat inoffensive stuff, read organic matter. They can also be eaten as a beetle or larva. I’m sure you’ve seen the larval stage. You turned over a spade of soil and a large larva curled into a C. That’s a June bug.  The flavor is on the buttery, walnut side. Native Americans roasted them on coals. We can fry them up, or if you have enough, throw them in the hot air popcorn popper. Remove legs and wings before eating. Those parts just don’t digest well. Green June bugs is a similar species and also edible. One way to catch them is to shine a bright flashlight on a white sheet at night. Happy Collecting!

Kamaro is another name for Mole Cricket, a very ugly and expensive lawn pest… if you keep a lawn. In the Philippines where they are called Kamaro and are a sought-after delicacy, cooking styles range greatly, though there are a couple of themes. Some like to stir-fry them without any oil or flavoring, preferring a taste they give off that way, slightly like liver. Once cooked you can eat them totally but most folks prefer to take off claws, legs and wings. To read more about the Kamaro cum Mole Cricket click here.

Squeeze but not too hard, buning off hairs is optional

Kanni, which is sometimes included with the Mopane Worms below, is a different species and some 58% protein, 11% fat. It also has zinc, calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, iron and trace elements of copper and manganese. Scientifically Cirina forda, it’s a caterpillar collected from the sheabutter tree, or also from the ground around it. The larvae are squeezed of frass but not too hard or they lose an esteemed yellow liquid. They are then boiled and dried in the sun before eaten. Kanni is a widely used regional ingredient in vegetable soup.

Body Lice

Lice: It’s stock caricature to have monkeys pick lice off each other but what about people? In the Life, Letters and Travels of Father Pierre-Jean de Smet, S.J., 1801-1873  the Belgian Jesuit wrote on page 1002: “I have seen the Cheyennes, Snakes, Utes, etc., eat vermin off each other by the fistful. Often great chiefs would pull off their shirts in my presence without ceremony, and while they chatted, would amuse themselves with carrying on this branch of the chase in the seams. As fast as they dislodged the game, they crunched it with as much relish as more civilized mouths crack almonds and hazel-nuts or the claws of crabs and crayfishes.” In fact a louse has been found in human coprolite in Mexico that is 826 to 2512  years old. As they are blood consuming insects we might not want to eat them live theses days…  unless of course they are your own….

Locust Taco

Locust: The Ancient Greeks were of two opinions about eating locust. The upper classes preferred cicadas whereas the lower classes preferred locust. Shepherds ate locust. Politicians did not. Locust were also dried in the sun, ground into powder and mixed with milk.  Interestingly, by 100 AD, some 500 years later, the Greeks had abandoned eating insects. Locust are usually eaten dried without wings and legs. Natives in various place put the insects live in a long bag and shake them from one end to the other, back and forth. The legs and wings are then winnowed away and the bodies are put out in the sun to dry. Some desert people boiled locus in salt water first then dried them.

Longhorn Beetle Grub

Longhorn Beetle: There are some 20,000 species of Longhorn Beetles, and not all easy to sort out. We are interested in then ones that created their name. They are called “longhorn” because often their antennae are longer than their bodies. We have native Longhorn Beetles and a rather destructive import from Asia that destroys trees. Eating them is your civic duty. Look for a large grub with large chewing parts in wood. Willow, Popular and Cottonwoods are preferred as well as Maples in the northeast.

Mealworm and stages

Mealworm: Mealworms are perhaps the first non-leggy “insect” a person intentionally eats. Long used in the pet trade they have been favorite of entomophagists for a long time. Inoffensive, easy to raise, easy to cook, tasty. I started to raised them when I was caring for wildlife, from baby blue jays to infant squirrels. I still have a batch of them. Mealworms are the larva of the Darkling Beetle. They are often prepared boiled, sauteed, roasted, or fried. They have a nutty flavor. Edibility of the adult beetles is debatable. You might find one of my videos interesting.

Midge Fly

Midge fly: Locally they are called Blind Mosquitoes. Sometimes they become so thick that lakeside businesses have to spend a lot of money clean the outside of their buildings and cart millions of their little carcases away. Some places in Africa folks press them into solid blocks then cooked the blocks to make a food called Kunga Cake. The male Midge Flies are easy to identify by their fuzzy antenna. I used to feed then to a pet jumping spider.

Mopane Worm

Mopane Worms eat leaves of the Mopane Tree and are a multi-million dollar industry in Africa. The main problem is unpredictability of harvest which lasts for about three to seven weeks depending on the rainfall. Mopane worms, called “macimbi” and scientifically Imbrasia belina, fetch a higher market price than beef. The main thing to remember if you collect them alive is to squeeze the juice out of them before salting and drying. Once dry rehydrate them then cook in oil and garlic. Another way to process them is after the frass is squeezed out they are roasted on coals to burn off the hairs. Any red coloring indicates the worm has not be cooked enough. Then they are dried.

Get revenge by eating mosquito eggs.

Mosquito Eggs: Here’s your chance for revenge for all those times a mosquito has gotten past your defenses and took a blood donation. Very common in Mexico mosquito eggs are dried then roasted. You’ll often find them wrapped in a tortillas or served with a squeeze of lime or lemon.  The eggs are laid by mom mosquitoes in trees near lakes. Mosquito eggs are about one-sixteenth of an inch long, dark colored, and larger at one end Interested? A small bottle sells for about $50.

Pillbugs

Pillbug: These used to be a fairly common food in England and parts of Europe. Also known as sowbugs, roly polys, and  woodlice, they’re terrestrial crustaceans related to lobsters, crab and shrimp. The better tasting ones are the ones that roll into a little ball when disturbed. Two factoids: They change sex and don’t urinate. To read more about pillbugs click here.

Preying Mantis and tofu

Praying Mantis is the correct spelling though “preying” would have been accurate, too, in that it is an insect eater itself. They can range greatly in size. The same rule that applies to some plants applies to mantises: Young and tender. They are usually fried, as are Walking Sticks, and taste like a cross between shrimp and mushrooms.

Rhino Beetle’s Three Stages

Rhino Beetle: Setting aside the issue of size the Rhino Beetle is one of the strongest creatures on earth. When motivated it can lift 850 times its own weight. The beetle and its larvae are both eaten. The grub is high in protein, calcium, and phosphorous. Good sized, they are fried, grilled, roasted and stewed. Like Dragonflies they can also be cooked in coconut milk. Grub fat is used like butter, once clarified.

Sago Grubs

Sago Grubs: At least one palm weevil makes its edible way into North America, perhaps a couple more. The larvae of the palm weevil are esteemed wherever they are found, Florida to Malaysia to New Guinea. Sago grubs are often cooked coated with Sago flour and wrapped in Sago leaf. NOTE: that is the true Sago Palm, Metroxylon sagu, not the ornamental cycad called a sago palm [Cycas revoluta] which is very toxic to man and beast. The latter is also a cockroach high-rise. Personally I would avoid any bug found on a Cycas revoluta. Its toxin causes liver failure. Just make sure you have the right “Sago.”  Palm weevils that feed on the true Sago Palm have a bacon flavor and are like most palm grubs full of fat.

Young and tender Sapelli caterpillars

Sapelli Caterpillars, Imbrasia oyemensis, is considered a delicacy and one of the few green caterpillars on our list along with the hornworms. They are valued for their flavor and the fact a lot of them can be collected in a short amount of time, calories in calories out. They are small and firm, very suited to drying and preservation. The caterpillars fall from the Sapele Tree, Entandrophragma cylindricum, during the rainy season and at that time of year provide 75% of the protein of the Pygmies consume. Their name is also spelled “Sapele” and the tree they feed on Aboudikro.

Silkworms

Silk worm, in my opinion, are highly overrate as food. True silk worms are no longer found in the wild. They are a byproduct of the silk industry. A huge byproduct. I’m not convinced they are eaten and popular because of taste but rather because they are available and there’s so many of them. We have silk worms because of silk not taste. They are sold by street vendors in most of Asia. If I remember correctly they are also canned and exported.

Scorpions on a stick

Scorpions: Several scorpions are found in North America. To read about the locals click here. Like silkworms above, scorpions are found skewered and fried in Asian markets. They taste like crunchy crabs. Whether to eat the tail or not is a matter of personal taste. Cooking destroys the protein-based toxin.

Dried Stink Bugs

Stink Bugs, Jumiles: Just as some plants straddle the edible non-edible line so, too, do some bugs among them the stink bugs. High in B vitamins, their flavor varies greatly depending upon what they’ve eaten, the species, and how they are processed. Some of them are also nearly indestructible and survive cooking. Often times they are added to stews for flavor (some taste like cinnamon others mint. Others are eaten as the food itself, particularly in Mexico. In parts of Africa stink bugs are collected by hand. The live and dead stink bugs are then separated The lives ones are put in a bucket of warm water and stirred. This causes them to release their stink. The bugs are then dried and are ready for consumption. The separated dead bugs have their heads removed then their bodies squeezed and the juice wiped off. They are then boiled and sun dried.  Once dry they can be eaten as is, fried, or are cooked with a little water and salt.

Usually Deep Fried

Tarantulas: No doubt more than one hungry human has downed a tarantula or two, whether before the invention of cooking or not we cannot say. But tarantulas weren’t really on the menu until the 1970s when many Cambodians were near starvation following political upheaval. Survival skills turned a big hairy spider into a national craze that has not slackened in the decadess since. Usually well-cooked with salt, oil, sugar and garlic one starts with the legs which remind you of crab. The abdomen is soft and squishy, the flavor is nutty with a musty after taste. You’ll either like it or you won’t.

A taste for termites

Termites: I read once that termites are the perfect food for humans. They have all the essential amino acids we need. That’s certainly good news. Too bad flavor was left out of that equasion. Termites don’t taste bad per se. They taste like minty wood, or at least the ones that live in the jungle do. Maybe the ones in desert mounds taste like minty sand.  Could be worse, like tarantula tummies. In some places they are so well liked termites are eaten raw straight out of the mound with a straw. I wonder if they slurp. Another way to collect termites is to put a bowl of water under a light source at night. The termites fall into the bowl. Usually they are roasted, the wings are removed, a little salt is added, and bon appetit.

Walking Stick

Walking stick: Like Praying Mantis Walking Sticks fall betwewen the entomological cracks regarding who they are related to. More diverse than Praying Mantises they can be an inch long or 18 inches. A popular edible in  Asia and New Guinea, they taste, as one might expect, leafy. Some prefer only particular a foliage so feeding them alternative diets for a couple of weeks to moderate flavors might be called for. In one species the leg can be used for fish hooks.

Wasp: Japanese Emperor Hirohito like boiled wasps with rice. Surprisingly I learned that when I lived in Japan decades ago when he was still Emperor. Wasps, like bees, are eaten as larva and adults, cooked which takes a lot of the sting out of the stinger. The larval form is preferred over the adult. Their flavor is butter and earth. In Mexico entire paper wasp nests are collected, cooked, nest and all and made into a sauce. In other areas the nest is collected and put next to the fire to roast the lavae inside. Wasps are generally put into two categories, social and solitary. Solitary wasps tend to build nesting burrows or small mud nests. They’re not on the menu too often. Social wasps tend to build paper nest they use for one season. The sting of the social wasp is usually worse than that of the solitary wasp because it uses its stinger for defense. Solitary wasps use their stinger to paralyze prey. That is why the sting of the social wasp hurts more. Also they usually don’t loose their stinger upon stinging so they can sting multiple times. Wasps are important agriculturally because they consume most agricultural insect pests. And not all wasps have wings. The “velvet ant” Dasymutilla occidentalis, is a wingless female was that is so flexible that while being held by the front end she can sting with the back end.

Giant Water Bug

Water Bugs might be even more off putting than tarantulas. They’re not small and you might have seen one in a movie or a nightmare once. Also called Toebiter because they do the giant water bug is popular in Thai cuisine. It is eaten whole, steamed or fried, and is the unseen special ingredient in several sauces.  Raw they smell like green apples which doesn’t mean much when they have a hold of your toe… or the like. Steamed, they are aromatic like a banana with the flesh of a white fish. I see then now and then in Florida.

Farm-raised Wax Worms

Waxworm: Waxworms have got quite a reputation in the west as one of those innoffensive offensive edibles. They are the larvae of the wax moth. Fed on a diet of bran and honey they are roasted or sauteed tasting like a cross between a pine nut and an enoki mushroom, very fatty. With those flavors, as you might expect, they go good with butter… then again nearly everything goes good with real butter. In the wild waxworms live off bee larvae.

Wichetty Grubs, raw or roasted

Wichetty Grub: Without Ray Mears perhaps most folks outside of Australia would have never heard of the Wichetty Grub. They are so large and nutritious that 10 a day provides all the calories and nutrition an adult male needs. Eaten by Aborigines, they are dug out of roots and eaten raw or cooked, often roasted in coals or over a fire. They have a strong egg yoke flavor, and like many grubs are surprisingly chewy. Ah… c’mon.. if a kid can eat one so can you...

River Insects

Zaza mushi: I ate a lot of strange things when I lived in Japan but never got around to Zaza-mushi. On some of the outer islands where old ways and local customs still hold sway you can eat things that are as myserious as haggis.  Zaza mushi is the larvae of aquatic caddis flies that live at the bottom of rivers. The name comes from “zaazaa” the sound the Japanese use to immitate flowing water, and “mushi” which means insects… River Insects. The Japanese just don’t hear things like we do. To them a cow says bow-wow and a cat niki-niki.

Cooler weather often creates multi-trunks in the Norfolk Island Pine. Photo by Green Deane

Over the last couple of months this newsletter has mentioned the Bunya Pine often. Locally they fruited this year producing dozens of huge cones with edible seeds. Even a Bunya in Mead Garden dropped some cones proving it was a Bunya not a close relative, the Monkey Puzzle Tree, which also has edible seeds. Forgotten in all of this is the third common member of the Araucaria clan, the Norfolk Island Pine, which is actually far more common.

Ripe Norfolk Island Pine Cone

The Norfolk Island Pine, or Norfolk Pine, also produces a pineapple-ish cone with edible seeds. They are common in warm, humid coastal areas because the species is quite salt tolerant. At one time the greater family included a huge amount of species ranging over much of the earth. But botanists tell us that most of them died out along with the dinosaurs leaving just a few species ranging from South America to Australia. While in its native habitat the Norfolk Pine can reach 150 feet high and 10 feet through in North America it is often a house or office plant popular because it somewhat resembles a Christmas tree. I can personally attest they are more popular than the Bunya Pine, the number of which locally I can count on one hand. Norfolk Pines are common in landscape here with several just down the street, but not fruiting this year.

All the members of the genus are know for being very symmetrical.

In some areas the species, which is officially “vulnerable” because of native rarity, is banned. This is usually in areas that are warm enough for it to grow but sometimes have a colder than usual winter with frost or light freezes. Vero Beach, Florida, is one such community that has banned the tree. Frosts can leave the tree supported by a spindle of inner wood which the first strong windstorm can break. The tree is also on the state’s invasive species list though it is not as big a problem as many other species. It has also had a name change. For a long time the Norfolk Island Pine was called Araucaria heterophylla. Botanists now say that was misapplied and the Norfolk Island Pine is actually Araucaria columnaris. It’s seeds are still edible. The Araucaria angustifolia also has edible seeds.

The Hairy Cowpea has well-known relatives.

Catching a second seasonal breath before our mild winter is the Hairy Cowpea, or Vigna luteola. It has two better known relatives, the Black Eye Pea and the Mung Bean. One can reliably find Hairy Cowpeas near bodies of fresh water; stream banks, pond edges, ditches, lakes and the like. But every now and then you will find it growing in what appears to be a dry spot. Generally, though, it is a near-water edible. One usually find them while looking for ground nuts which also like it damp. Hairy cowpea’s seeds are edible cooked and the yellow blossoms are edible raw or cooked though if I were going to eat a lot of blossoms I would cook them. Raw they are a trail side nibble.  One note about yellow flowers in general: They tend to have a laxative affect. To read more about the Hairy Cowpea, go here.

Black Saw Palmetto berries are the best for eating.

Yes, Saw Palmetto berries taste like vomit. There’s really no way around that. One might stretch that flavor to blue cheese with a lot of hot pepper. Or, as the original English taster, Jonathan Dickerson said in the 1690’s, rotten cheese soaked in tobacco juice. They are coming into season now and for the next two or three weeks. For medical uses they can be collected when gold or black. For eating purposes — don’t laugh — they should black but solid. One can eat them if they are dehydrated and wrinkled a bit but the flavor can be more intense. The berries are actually highly nutritious, and good medicine, too. As every taste is acquired, except perhaps for mother’s milk, one can learn to like Saw Palmetto berries, some even like them from the start. They are very easy to find this time of year just look for any flatwood scrub. Hint: If you are going to taste one, have some other strong- flavored food on hand and water to help rinse the taste away if you don’t like it. If you don’t rinse that flavor away it will last for quite a while, just as the taste of vomit can. To read more about the Saw Palmetto, go here.

Wild Persimmons must be soft to be eaten.

If Saw Palmetto berries are the ridiculous this time of year, then Persimmons are the sublime, if you get them ripe. Unripe a Persimmon will insult your mouth. Ripe they are soft, sweet, tasty leaving you wanting more. There’s a saying that Persimmons aren’t good until there is a frost. As we don’t have frosts here in Florida until perhaps January that is not a requirement. The best Persimmons are the ones you have to fight the ants for. But you can also find ripe Persimmons on trees as well. Either location they should be burnt orange in color and soft. If they are not soft they will be astringent and not edible. Persimmons are a common tree and usually found growing near each other. What happens is a female tree will fruit for many years with her seeds being distributed nearby via animals. So when you find one Persimmon if you look around you will usually find more. Persimmons are a transition tree and are most commonly found along the edges of road, paths, fields and streams. For my local readers a common place to find them is along the West Orange Bike Trail west of Ingram Road in Ocoee. To read more about Persimmons click here.

FHC 2014 is organized by Emily Ruff

A reminder the Florida Herbal Conference 2014 will be held in Deland again this coming February. Susan Weed will be the among featured speakers. And again this year there is an early bird special for those who sign up before Oct. 31 and use the code EATTHEWEEDS. For the third year in a row I will be leading weed walks at the herbal conference, a challenge in winter on dry ground. The walks are usually first thing in the morning when the air is cool and camp fires warm. Although it is the Florida Herbal Conference it draws teachers and students from all over North America. And as mentioned above you get a discount because you read this newsletter.

Always get an expert’s identification with mushrooms.

You don’t have to eat mushrooms to appreciate them. With a wide variety of colors and shapes they are always interesting to look it.  Some people just like the challenge of identifying them. They comprise a subterranean world of life of which we only see a tiny part, the mushroom. Since mushrooms are nearly all water they don’t reproduce well unless there is water. This week there had been enough rain for flooding which means in the days to come there should be mushroom popping up all over the place. Besides lawns look for them under trees with which many have a positive symbiotic relationship particularly pines and oaks. And again never eat an unidentified mushroom. But you can enjoy them for their beauty.

There has been a change in newsletter policy. The subscription base has become so large that the newsletter is becoming expensive to mail every month. To that end we might start adding ads to off set the cost. Also subscriptions will no longer expire if the newsletters are not being opened after mailing. Every endeavor has growing pains and this is one of them. Thanks for your understanding.

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Eat The Weeds DVDs are now available.

Even though my foraging videos are for free on the internet some foragers like to have their own copy. My nine DVDs have 15 videos each, from 01 to 135, and come in nine cases each with a picture of yours truly on it. In the process of moving the videos to DVS some of them were enhanced slightly from the version on the Internet. In a few months I hope to have volume 10 available as well. I print and compile the sets myself so if you have any issues I handle it personally. There are no middle men. To learn more about them or to order the DVS click here.

Blue Porterweed for tea, beer and salads…

Do you like mushrooms but want to avoid some of dangers that come with fungi foraging? Then there is a subtle solution: Blue Porterweed.

Found in flower gardens around the world and native to Florida the Blue Porterweed earned its name as a source for tea that tasted like porter beer. Someone had the fermenting idea to add yeast and sugar to a lot of tea and get a brew that tastes similar to porter beer, hence the name. The flower garden variety usually grows up and the local native grows horizontally. The blue flowers, raw, have a subtle flavor of mushrooms. You can read more about the Blue Porterweed here. Oh, and how did porter beer get its name? The same way porter steak did. Porters — baggage handles in old central London — worked all hours and needed quick food. Shops set up to meet that need and out of them came several dishes and named items.

The Mail brought a letter that said in part: “I’ve enjoyed reading articles on your website and just finished, from video one, number 68…   I’ve forage some cleaver, chickweed, lactuca and berries.  I want to forage more, so badly, but I admit, videos like 68, scared the hell out of me…. To make matters worse, my father, nervous about the concept of foraging, tells me a recent story he read where a foraging expert took out a group, they foraged what he said, and they all died from what they ate!  So you can imagine my trepidation.”

I do recall a story about someone who was not an expert, or even an amateur, getting a few people ill. Two years ago 18 mushroom hunters in Italy died in one week, and not one from eating mushrooms. They fell off cliffs or got loss. Still, not a good record.  At least two men were sickened by mushrooms in 2011 in North America and perhaps saved by a drug based on a herbal treatment for such things, milk thistle. The plant has a history of helping sick livers. In these two cases patients who might have needed liver transplants didn’t. This I know: If someone ever slips a mushroom I think is a bad one I will raid the health food store of milk thistle. To read the entire milk thistle story click here.

Milk Thistle

As for getting ill from foraging, statistically you have a greater chance dying from lightning. Most plant poisonings are children trying toxic ornamentals in their own yard. The next largest group is children trying toxic ornamentals in their neighbor’s yard. On the herbaceous side a woman died from foraging in 2010, a man in the mid-1990, a man and a boy in ’75. The boy didn’t eat a toxic plant but made a whistle out of one. More folks die from mushroom poisoning but they’re usually immigrants who mistake some toxic western North American mushrooms for some edible Asian ones. If you avoid mushroom and members of the hemlock family (poison hemlock and water hemlock) your chances of dying from foraging are extremely small. As one doctor told me they can save you from almost any plant poisoning. The key is to get your stomach pumped out within an hour, preferably 40 minutes. That is the golden window. Forty minutes. Better still, just don’t eat any toxic plants. To see the deadly water hemlock,  and an edible confused for it, click here.

Identifying wild plants is not difficult. You can tell the difference between a cat and a fox, a fox and a dog. Plants are no different. What is far more likely than you being made ill by a plant is being ill by the polluted ground or water the plant is in. By study you can virtually eliminate getting poisoned by a plant. Being poisoned by pollution is far more difficult to protect yourself from. I know the thought of eating a wild plant is scary, but what I find far more scary is not knowing the quality of the soil and water.

Bidens alba, or Spanish Needles, Beggar Ticks.

One of the reasons to forage for wild food is to get better nutrition for less cost than agricultural crops or if you’re an herbalist better medicinal materials (For example I never buy lycopene. I use use the fresh arils of the and save at least a dollar a day.)  Wild plants are in constant competition with their pests, which you can define as bugs and fungus or even lack of water, sun or fertilizer. The plants fight back with antioxidants, polyphenols and the like. Often a wild plant will  pack more nutritional punch than its cultivated counterpart. We know this also extends to organic produce, or at least tomatoes.  A recent University of Barcelona study shows that organic tomatoes have higher levels of antioxidants than non-organic ones. In our own back yard a species used as a cooked green, Bidens Alba or Bidens Piloso, has twice as much nutrition as spinach but not the oxalates.

13-foot, 55 pound pirogue

Food is where the water is. It makes no difference whether that water is fresh or salt. The flora and fauna will change but food is where the water is. How to get on that water is a different issue. Getting wet while getting food is not a huge issue in the good ol’ summer time. It’s another matter in chilblain winter. Kayaks are light and maneuverable but can’t carry much and don’t lend themselves to leaning for that choice plant. A small canoe is good but can be tippy, and a big canoe, while stable, can be heavy. This is said with some experience. I have a 12-foot kayak and an 18-foot canoe. Catch a big fish in the kayak and it’s in your lap. What little storage space there is for wild edibles is a rocky twist behind you  in the stern. My huge canoe is great for a month in the wilderness and can hold a lot of food. But it is hard to navigate in small places and at 85 pounds it’s a bit for one man to portage to and fro. Lately I’ve been trying out a pirogue (said PEE-row or PEE-rog.) Pirogues are Cajun flat-bottom canoes with angled, low sides.  Small, stable, easy to maneuver, and light they also have a shallow draft. They are inexpensive, far less than canoes or kayaks. Pirogues are for ponds, slow streams, and shallow marshes, exactly where a forager and some fishermen go.  The one on the left is rated for two adults but they had better weight no more than 150 pounds apiece. This particular pirogue easily holds the paddler, a cooler, tackle box and a dog in front. Green Deane is raiding local lakes with it.

Class Schedule: I swing down to the southern end of the state this weekend, add a new location on the 22nd, and I’m still planning a teaching trip up to the Carolinas. To sign up for any  class below, click here.

Saturday, July 14th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, 23157 Bayshore Rd., Port Charlotte, FL 33980. 9 a.m. Please read the directions below carefully. We meet at the west end of the park, not the fishing pier.

Sunday, July 15th, Dreher Park, 1310 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405, 9 a.m.

Saturday, July 21st, Mead Garden, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. 9 a.m.

Sunday, July 22nd, Lake Alfred, Florida. Site TBA. 9 a.m.

Friday, August 10th, Jervey Gantt Recreation Complex, 2390 SE 36th Ave., Ocala, FL, 34471, 9 a.m.

Saturday, August 11th, Boulware Springs Park, 7902 S. E. 15th St.,  Gainesville, 32601. 9 a.m.

Sunday, August 12th, Florida State College,  11901 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville, FL, 32246 9 a.m.

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