... so I had to take a leak......

D

DOC-CANADA

Joined
Apr 14, 2006
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A leek, that is.

Today was one of my days off and what a beautiful day it was, although a bit warm - 26 C. (79 degrees F. for English speaking folk - I hate you, Trudeau :mad:) I decided it would be a good day to check on this year's leeks (ramps for you southern folk), Allium tricoccum for pitdog :rolleyes:

I know of only one Leek patch locally and it is at the other end of the city, so off I went. I was not to be disappointed because this year's crop looked as good as last year's. I wanted to take Phil and kgd there, on Earth Day, but we ran out of time. Anyway, today's pictures (These are Leek pictures, Mentor :rolleyes:):

Here is a picture of the Leek field. The green you see in the distance is all Leeks.

Leekfield.jpg


A close up:

Leekscloseup.jpg



Some Leeks wanting to come home with me.(with the obligatory knife porn - Japanese Hori Hori knife.)

Leeksreadytocomehomewithme.jpg


A couple more pictures of the area.

couplemoreleekshots1.jpg


couplemoreleekshots2.jpg


After 'taking a Leek', I decided to check out another couple of areas. I hiked up to a local waterfalls - Sherman Falls, for those in the area. A view of the hike in:

onthewayintoShermanFalls.jpg


Some Day Lilies and the creek

DayLiliesandthecreek.jpg


~more to come~
 
A close-up of Trout Lily (Yellow Fawn Lily, Adder's Tongue, Erythronium americanum) - an edible plant.

TroutLily.jpg


Here's a picture of the falls.

ShermanFalls.jpg


Here's some little critter that was also checking out the place. Anybody know what he is?

somekindoflittlecritter.jpg


Here's another couple of little dudes.

foundtheseinterestinglookinglittled.jpg


These interested me quite a bit, so I pulled one up to get a better take on it. Looks like a little Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), basically a plant you should avoid, culinarily, because of calcium oxalate crystals, that you don't want to know about firsthand, but with certain procedures, can be edible.

closerlooklittledude.jpg


Anyway, then I headed to another falls (Tiffany Falls).

I saw this plant and at first (from a distance) I thought it was Cut-leaved Toothwort (Dentaria laciniata) but as I got closer, I saw that the leaves were wrong. I didn't have any plant books with me, so I will have to go back for a positive ID, but I think it is one of the other Toothworts.

isthisToothwort.jpg


A shot of Tiffany Falls

TiffanyFalls.jpg


All in all, it was a very pleasant day - warm temperatures and no bugs (yet).

Hope your day went as well.

Doc
 
Ahh...good to know about the calcium oxalate...same crap is in diffenbachia (too lazy to grab the guide for spell check) I remember playing with that damn plant as a kid. Nothing like burning numbness everywhere...

Great pics btw...
 
Nice pics, Doc! You definitely need to get a sign for your door that reads "Doc is leeking: Back in one hour".

Do you have any leek recipes to share? I diced this weekend's haul up and tossed them in a skillet along with red potatoes and garlic - the perfect side dish for a fillet of trout.

All the best,

- Mike

PS. I could pilfer a few of the leek shots and add them to my thread to make up for my lack of photos, but that just wouldn't be honest :D .
 
Thanks guys,

Mentor, I have a lot of Leek recipes, just not any I've ever tried - I'm not much of a cook. I have been looking for a Leek/Potato soup recipe, though.

I only gathered the ones in the Hori Hori picture and they are going to make the acquaintance of a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches.

Was the garlic and leek combination somewhat redundant, or did you feel the dish benefited from both?

Doc
 
Thanks for lesson, at least for me. Taught me a fair bit there. Thanks for sharing the info, and backing the info up with pics.
 
Awesome pics - those falls like they could be a nice refreshing place to relax on a hot summer day.
 
Doc, I always look forward to your threads and this one certainly didn't disappoint.
Great pics and as always, great information.
Thank you.
 
Hey G.P.

Great shots. That 1st waterfall shot is excellent.

Can you help me out. I am tring to figure out what is exactly wrong with the leaves on the plant that makes it not Cut-leaved Toothwort.

I am home with my daughter today and I keep your program at work.(I have more free time there)

I found this page and it looks the same as your pic to my untrained eye.

http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/cutleaf_toothwort.htm
 
Great picts Doc.
Enjoy the ramps.
We had steak with sauteed ramps for dinner last Sunday. Yum!

What part(s) of the trout lilly are edible?
 
tonym said:
Hey G.P.

Great shots. That 1st waterfall shot is excellent.

Can you help me out. I am tring to figure out what is exactly wrong with the leaves on the plant that makes it not Cut-leaved Toothwort.

I am home with my daughter today and I keep your program at work.(I have more free time there)

I found this page and it looks the same as your pic to my untrained eye.

http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/cutleaf_toothwort.htm
Click to expand...

Hey GS,

Good question. The leaves are unlike those of Cut-leaved Toothwort (Dentaria laciniata) that I'm familiar with. Leave it with me - I'm going to check it out more closely, the next time I'm in the area (which could even be today, depending on where the powers-that-be send me).

To further complicate the problem, a quick check with Britton and Brown says that the Toothworts (Dentaria spp.) can hybridize.

I'll post the results here, as soon as I have them.

GP
 
Nice pictures and good information doc. With all those falls and that water, I'm glad you didn't come across any Bladderworts while taking your leek.
 
Great pics once again Doc !

Do ya know if I get Ramps over where I am ? I can't ever recall seeing any !!!!
 
Sharp Eye said:
Great picts Doc.
Enjoy the ramps.
We had steak with sauteed ramps for dinner last Sunday. Yum!

What part(s) of the trout lilly are edible?
Click to expand...

Sorry Sharp Eye, I missed your question before.

"Cooked green, cooked vegetable. The very young leaves can be boiled for 10-15 minutes and served with vinegar. The deeply buried, bulblike corms can be boiled for 20-25 minutes and served with butter. One of our more attractive spring flowers; use the bulbs sparingly and only when abundant. Warning: Trout-lily may be mildly emetic." (Edible Wild Plants, Lee Allan Peterson, Houghton Mifflin, 1977, ISBN# 0-395-31870-X, page74)

I have never eaten them yet, but I do know somebody that developed anaphalaxis from them. OTOH, my buddy Phil and kgd have both tried them, maybe Ken will jump in here.

Pitdog, it looks like you're out of luck, bro. Check distribution map.

Doc
 
Am I the only one that opened this thread with thoughts of Bear Grylls grossing me out? :D
 
Thats great knowledge Doc... Any particular books that you would recommend for CA??? Im slowly so slowly learning the plants.

Sasha
 
sasha said:
Thats great knowledge Doc... Any particular books that you would recommend for CA??? Im slowly so slowly learning the plants.

Sasha
Click to expand...

I'm sorry Sasha, but I have no knowledge of the plants in your area (and way not enough in mine :( )

Wish I could help you. Maybe another forum member in your area can speak up?

Doc
 
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