Local Herbs and Spices

[2Knives]

I'm in the West, Central Texas area. Does anyone know of any good natives herbs or spices I might find out around the fencelines or pastures??

 

[3 stinky dogs]

Isnt there sage evry where out there ? maby ramps as well ?

 

[bezoar]

The first thing you need to do is get a book that deasl with identification of herbs. And when you are completely completely certain that you have identified a herb as safe, you then need to look at where you find it.

Most lonely little fields once used to farm, and the ditches on teh roads next to them can contain a large amount of pesticide such as chlordane, etc. Eating that herb will cause bad affects to ones health. And dont forget that that rule applies to just about every little weed bed next to a place that has been fertilized, etc.

And when you feel comfortable about what your eating, save a small sample of the plant your eating in a container with a slip of paper identifing the date, time, and amount you are eating.
Good idea when multiple species look alot alike, here is a mushroom example.
Theres a mushroom, there are 3 varieties of it, and they are IDENTICAL in every way. 1 species you can only eat the stems, the second you can only eat the tops, and the third you can eat the whole thing.. someting like that needs a sample for poison control.

 

[smokeblower]

We have a spring loaded with mint and some sassafras bush/trees around an old cabin site that make a fine tea.

 

[PaulN/KS]

We got a local "herb" that grows in the ditches and pastures around here,folks call it "K weed".Don't know if it's good for cooking tho...

 

[2Knives]

We call K weed loco weed around here. I heard it makes you hallucinate. Any way, the reason i was asking is because i was planning some trekking this fall and i was looking for something that the good lord provided to season my supper with. Ya know, something native and something i could find anywhere. Like i said any input would be great. As for the sage, none that i know of. I know for a fact that green tumbleweed is good for cooking but so far that's all i know. I heard from an old cowboy ( the only person i know who made their living as a FULL TIME REAL DEAL COWBOY) told me that mesquite beans will give you colic so to aviod them unless absolutely nessecary. But surely there's something else out there. :hmm:

 

[adbranaman]

I have a cook book called "Indian Cookin'" by Herb walker.I haven't tryed any yet,but they list these spices.Coltsfoot salt- burn it to ashes and it tastes like salt.Canadian mint, spearmint, and peppermint.Winter green.Seeds from black mustard plant. Sweet bay from sweetbay trees also called swamp magnolia or swamp laurel.Dry and crush the leaves.Bush spice also called Benjamin bush,wild alspice,or the fever bush. Used like allspice. wild ginger. I know you can also find wild onion and I think wild garlic.Theres a lot of good lookin recipes in it too.

 

[Bullmoose]

Try watercress it seems only to grow in running water, looks a lot like clovers, it taste like a radish, good fried with your potatoes.

 

[shmrck1]

I know you can also find wild onion and I think wild garlic.Theres a lot of good lookin recipes in it too.

Bluebuck56,
Not sure about garlic but i have used wild green onions in soups and stews. It is abundent in
the areas i travel in Ohio.
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

[AZ-Robert]

i was planning some trekking this fall and i was looking for something that the good lord provided to season my supper with. Ya know, something native and something i could find anywhere.

I have a book titled A Field Guide to the Plants of Arizona, published by The Globe Pedquot Press. Don't know if something similar is available for your region, but this is an excellent reference, with color photographs of each plant, along with a description that includes any uses the plant may have. For example, it tells me that Native Americans steam and eat the flower buds of the Buckhorn Cholla; and that pioneers ate the roots of the Yampah, which taste like carrots and can be ground into flour; and that while the seeds, bark, and root of the Thorny Locust shrub are poisonous to humans, the flowers were eaten raw by Native Americans; and that the fruit of the Switch Sorrel can be used as a substitute for hops; and that the poisonous Soapberry can be used to make, you guessed it, soap.

That said, the book is organized to help the reader identify unknown plants, or to learn about a plant he has identified, but is not easily indexed to find "all edible plants," etc. The big advantage it has, of course, is that it is written for this part of the country. Most of the guides to edible plants that I have seen are geared to the eastern seaboard.

You might try talking to the folks down at A&M - maybe there is something of interest in their bookstore. Or you could try contacting their Cooperative Extension:

http://texasextension.tamu.edu/ag_nr.html

 

[adbranaman]

Wild garlic = Allium canadense found in open woodlands,fields, and prairies. I found it in "Edible Wild Plants" by Thomas S. Elias and Peter A. Dykeman. This is a really good book, but it doesn't go into medical uses.

 

[redwing]

Some years back, they found 3 hunters dead in a camp up in the Wind River Mtns. They had been picking herbs most likley thought they had watercress. What they had was was water Hemlock. Make sure you know what you have before you chow down.

:nono:
:redthumb:
Redwing

 

[adbranaman]

Thats very true.I picked what I thought was a wild tomatoe.It was really bitter so I spit it out.Later I found some real wild tomatoes(they have a husk around them) and they were sweet and tasty.

 

[adbranaman]

Just thought I'd mention that what I call wild tomatoes are called" Ground Cherrys " by others. :thanks:

 

[Riley/MN]

Mom always had ground cherries in the garden. I liked them. Now I see tomatillas in the grocery store. I haven't tried them, but they must be related. The tomatillas are much larger, though.

 

[redwing]

Tomatillas are small green tomatoe like fruit with a brown husk. They are used in Mexican foods such as Salsa Verde they do not taste like tomatoes.
Ground Cherrys in the west are small berries that grow close to the ground. I doubt that they have any relation to the wild cherry tomatoes that grow back east in Indiana. I would think that ground cherrys grow in Minn. as they grow in Neb. and other Plains states. The small wild tomatoes that grow in the lower midwest have a husk and are some what like a mexican tomtillas.
:redthumb:
Redwing