A new project and a request......

[KiljoyKutlery]

Doc,
this is my main focus this year also..infact, my entire woodsbumming time will be spent studying edible plants and IDing trees as well. I have been out the past two weekends and its been slow going, not many new shoots yet..I did find some lilies also, and some mullen, a few others..but I just got Maty's video from TonyM, and I have few feild guides..I should go into next winter with alot more knowledge.
EDIT, I found several pine tree tops that broke off during the ice storms, and I am going to harvest the inner bark next weekend, if my camera is working, I will take some action shots.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Great stuff Doc - but based on the picture below, I think you have to maintain your Bravo's a little bit more fastidiously

Obviously, k, you are not yet up on your knife makes. Obviously anything this big and bulky, yet fully functional and affordable has to be a Becker - a BK-37Kabar, in fact.

This sounds great but the pics are blocked for me:thumbdn:

Why can't you see the pictures, HD?

this is a dead giveaway to Doc... check the base of the stocks in the cross section is oval its good (Lilly or cattail) if its round, leave it in the ground(iris)

Thanks for that Rick, but what about Daffodils?

Doc,
this is my main focus this year also..infact, my entire woodsbumming time will be spent studying edible plants and IDing trees as well. I have been out the past two weekends and its been slow going, not many new shoots yet..I did find some lilies also, and some mullen, a few others..but I just got Maty's video from TonyM, and I have few feild guides..I should go into next winter with alot more knowledge.
EDIT, I found several pine tree tops that broke off during the ice storms, and I am going to harvest the inner bark next weekend, if my camera is working, I will take some action shots.

Hey Gene, what is Maty's video?

Doc

 

[Rick Marchand]

Thanks for that Rick, but what about Daffodils?

hmmmmmm are you saying that Daffodils in your neck of the woods have multiple buds on a single stem? All mine look like this.... with the exeption of the occasional "double header" I find...

EDIT**************

I looked back to my previous post.... it was confusing..... I meant the stem in the yellow circle was the dead givaway. The base cross section being oval was just an extra identification tip.

here is a daffodil root shot....

 

[kvaughn]

We gathered a mess of early garlic mustard and wild chives and steamed them on Sunday. Very tasty and healthy too! It seems like spring is really late this year. The plantain, wild violets,jewel weed and mullein should be up by now but I'm not seeing anything here yet. Another good reference book besides the Brill book is " Edible Wild Plants -A North American Field Guide" by Outdoor Life books. It has color pictures as opposed to line drawings-KV

 

[DOC-CANADA]

hmmmmmm are you saying that Daffodils in your neck of the woods have multiple buds on a single stem? All mine look like this.... with the exeption of the occasional "double header" I find...

Hey Rick, I'm probably more OCD than you, but I wouldn't rely on a dead stem, lying on the ground, as proof positive of what the green shoot is. An indicator, only. Besides, I have no experience with garden flowers and was not aware of how many buds they have.


EDIT**************

I looked back to my previous post.... it was confusing..... I meant the stem in the yellow circle was the dead givaway. The base cross section being oval was just an extra identification tip. Thanks for the clarification. I didn't know where you were going with that.

here is a daffodil root shot....

That's an excellent shot. Where did you find that? Have any more?
A progressive picture like that would be an excellent resource for all plants - showing how they look at the different stages of growth, which is where I'm trying to go with this project.

Thanks, Rick, as always, for your input.

Doc

 

[Rick Marchand]

Hey Rick, I'm probably more OCD than you, but I wouldn't rely on a dead stem, lying on the ground, as proof positive of what the green shoot is. An indicator, only. Besides, I have no experience with garden flowers and was not aware of how many buds they have

I wouldn't go with JUST that... It's just one of the many pieces of the puzzle. The root cluster is the most reliable signpost. I just like looking at the whole picture.

Last Spring, we approached a group of shoots and the guys were wondering wether it was cattail or not, we were still 25yards away when I ruled out cattail in a moment of clairity(no dead stalks laying around from last year's growth!) I recognised the shoots when i got closer... but then showed them the round vs oval crown method. The final confirmation was when we pulled one out and saw the single bulb... daffydillies!..... iris around here, have an irregular shaped root(rhizome) that reminds me of ginger.

as for the root picture... I just googled "daffodil root", "iris root"....



Ps those daylilies of yours are in my favorite stage for eating right now!!!! delicious and so juicy!!!


cheers


Rick

 

[DOC-CANADA]

I wouldn't go with JUST that...Hey Rick, I didn't mean to imply that you did. I'm just cautious to a fault It's just one of the many pieces of the puzzle. Agreed! The root cluster is the most reliable signpost. I just like looking at the whole picture.

Last Spring, we approached a group of shoots and the guys were wondering wether it was cattail or not, we were still 25yards away when I ruled out cattail in a moment of clairity(no dead stalks laying around from last year's growth!) I recognised the shoots when i got closer... but then showed them the round vs oval crown method. The final confirmation was when we pulled one out and saw the single bulb... daffydillies!..... iris around here, have an irregular shaped root(rhizome) that reminds me of ginger.

as for the root picture... I just googled "daffodil root", "iris root"....



Ps those daylilies of yours are in my favorite stage for eating right now!!!! delicious and so juicy!!!


cheers


Rick

Thanks Rick.

Doc

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Good Friday, as it turned out, was indeed a good Friday - not too cool and lots of sunshine.. My buddy Phil came down and we went out 'Stalking the Wild Asparagus' Because of advanced stalking skills, we managed to sneak up close enough to prevent escape by our quarry. Here's Phil (Homo sapien) with one of them, dead-to-rights.

We took a ton of pictures (the joys of digital cameras) and got out for about a 6-7 hour hike.

I won't drive you crazy with all the plant pictures, but will include a few of the more interesting ones.

I'll start out with a couple of the poisonous ones.

You should all recognize this - not a Spring shoot but left over berries from last fall.

Hopefully, you identified it as Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron rybergii).

This next one is one of the first wildflowers to bloom in the Spring. It has brilliant white flowers and an unusual leaf shape. It is Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), so named because of a reddish/orange sap in the root of the plant.

Now on to some reportedly edible ones -

Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum)

"Cooked green. The young leaves (before the flowers appear) are excellent boiled for 5-10 min. in 1 or 2 changes of water and served with vinegar." (Edible Wild Plants, Lee Allan Peterson, Houghton Mifflin, 1977, ISBN# 0-395-31870-X, page 44)

This plant is young Catnip (Nepeta cataria)

"Tea. The dried leaves make a pleasantly soothing tea when prepared like oriental tea."(Edible Wild Plants, Lee Allan Peterson, Houghton Mifflin, 1977, ISBN# 0-395-31870-X, page 140)

Thought I'd better insert a knife picture before the yelling starts.

And, of course, the oft-requested in-hand shot

This is a Hori Hori knife - a Japanese gardening knife. More information can be found here.

I've never used one before, but it turned out to be exceptionally well suited as a foraging tool. The blade is very sturdy, for prying up plants, and is relatively narrow to ease digging down into the dirt amidst the roots and rocks. It's on my to-buy list.

I'm going to finish off with a plant that you've already seen and that's Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara). I've included it because I thought it was a particularly good picture.

Anyway, Happy Easter, everyone.

Doc

 

[tonym]

Great pics G.P.

I have been looking for Bloodroot, but am coming up empty...

I know its not edible, but as a careless knife nut, I like its antiseptic qualities!!

 

[DOC-CANADA]

GS, yesterday was the first time I've seen it this year. As you can see by the picture, they haven't been up too long.

GP

 

[kgd]

Hey Doc - you guys seem to be ahead of us - I'm having difficulty understanding that one..
Well the trout lillies are out on parade right now - carpeting the forest floor. I think we'll start to see them flower next week.

Here a few unknowns for you:

 

[SouthernCross]

G'day kgd

I might be wrong on this, but that bottom one looks like wild strawberry.


Kind regards
Mick

 

[kgd]

I'm pretty sure you nailed that one Mick!

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Hey Doc - you guys seem to be ahead of us - I'm having difficulty understanding that one..
Well the trout lillies are out on parade right now - carpeting the forest floor. I think we'll start to see them flower next week.

This is an interesting one. Please, follow up on it - I'd like to know what that is. Maybe take a picture every couple of weeks up to flowering, then we can have a comprehensive image study.

Yes, I think we are a week or two ahead of you - maybe the proximity of Lake Ontario? Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) leaves are out here too, but I didn't see any flowers yet.

Doc