Waterleaf is an interesting edible wild plant that does not get a lot of press in the wild food media. The local species I know is Fendler’s waterleaf (Hydrophyllum fendleri), a native perennial that grows from Colorado’s Front Range west, in damp to moist soil from 5,500 to … [Read more...]
Don’t Forget the Tumble Mustard
If you’re looking to make use of local wild greens, why not give tumble mustard (Sisymbrium altissimum) a try? Tumble mustard—a non-native species from the Middle East thought to have been introduced to North America years ago via contaminated crop seed—is found throughout much … [Read more...]
Let Us Appreciate Wild Lettuce
This year I’m ready for the prickly lettuce—not just a few, scraggly, rescued rosettes from the xeriscaped yard of Gregg’s parents’ house, but for vast, tender carpets of prickly greens, like what grows in the fields and old agricultural places on the outskirts of Denver, … [Read more...]
Denver Mustard Mania
I’m just back from a two-day spring foray in Denver, where I visited old places with old friends and new places with new friends, along with a few solo missions—looking for wild edible plants, of course. How nice it is to see spring springing up down low (around 5,000 feet), … [Read more...]
I Fought the Prickly Pear Cactus and Won
Apparently I’m not the only one to have gone about prickly pear cactus the wrong way the first time around. Allow me to relive that fateful day two years ago on a Malibu, California hillside where I endeavored to pick a plump prickly fruit bare-handed only to suffer the instant … [Read more...]
