EatTheWeeds: Episode 55: Firethorn, pyracantha

[roargathor]

And my mother always told me those things were poisonous growing up.... WRONG!

[MrNativeDancer]

Great Video, here is a tip Guys, to remove the seeds, gently squash them with your fingers in a bowl of water, the seeds will all sink and your will be left with just the fruit in your fingers.

Oh and by the way MR Green Deane, my Grandmother used to make the best Fire Thorn Jam in Europe and probably in the whole world. My Grandmother could de-seed them faster then we could eat them haha Hope this helps?

Mint and Fire Thorn Sauce, let me tell you is AWESOME on baked potatoes! Try it

[ObiWanGinobiliTopFan]

@MrNativeDancer Thanks for the tips man! You seem to know a lot about wild food..I just started getting into it and doing a lot of research..I plan on living totally green and living off Mother Earth because it's clearly the best way to live (not to mention, becoming educated on how to live off the Earth is smart because it could save lives when when economy/society collapses and is thrown into chaos, which we all know is very likely to happen in the near future)..

So you're from Europe?

[LeonRFpoa]

Geene Deane is the Mr. Wizard of weeds.

[makeyoulush]

Do berries with broken skins matters? I'm also thinking that pulp from older berries may contain less pectin?

[EatTheWeeds]

Berries crack when the get older but unless there is mold or the like it does not concern me. Older berries might contain less pectin.

[Gwoana]

Can you make a video on how to prepare it?

Thank you!

[aredditor]

Well sir, it was just as you described it, and not at all off putting. That would be fantastic if you could explain or direct me to instructions on how to filter out the seeds when making a jelly out of it. Unfortunately Australian ladybug (Rodolia cardinalis) has not naturalized where I live here in Lancaster Ca, as pyracantha is heavily infested with cottony cushion scale here.

I watered all the Chenopodium album I did not earlier pull up in my yard, LOL. Never thought I'd ever do that.

[EatTheWeeds]

As I say in the article on my website, you cook the pyracantha fruit whole then strain out the seeds.

[villenvicious]

Hi Dean, great video I'm just finding out about your series and I'll be watching alot more heh.

We've got neighborhood kids who like to cut through our backyard by jumping our back fence and coming out our front gate. I fear for these kids when our rottweiler puppy gets a bit older! So, now, after seeing that 8 year old firethorn, I went out and bought 6 myself.

Any good tips for helping them grow well along a fence in Dallas-area Texas? Any help would be greatly appreciated, 5 stars!

[EatTheWeeds]

They train very easily and grow quite quickly. They do like sun, however, so trying to get them into shade or having them shaded will not work at all. I suggest you train them to grow on the top of the fence. They will make quite a barrier.

[mojomike]

You have to get the seeds out by boiling and straining because the seeds are poisonous, but boiling doesn't release the toxins? Or are they so tiny and hard they really don't matter, especially fresh?

[EatTheWeeds]

No, that is not how it works. There is a chemical in the seeds of most members of the prunus family. When the seed is chewed and swallowed that chemical reacts with the sulfuric acid in our stomachs and produces the cyanide. A few you can tolerate, but not a cup of seeds or so. The seeds in the red elderberry act the same way.

[mojomike]

I see, so they have to be crushed for the necessary enzyme action to take place, but if boiled whole the enzymes are inactive and they can be safely strained out?

[EatTheWeeds]

No, two separate things altogether. When we digest seeds the digestion causes small amount of cyanide. Boiling does nothing good or bad to the seed. Crushing the entire fruit including the seeds (of some Prunus members) then letting it sit around to "cure" inactivates the compound that can cause cyanide, Then that material is further cooked completing the process. Some tribes, for example, ate only the pulp of the chickasaw plum, other crushed up the entire plumb, let it sit, then cooked it.

[EatTheWeeds]

Thanks for the comments. I've been told I can put my blog addresses in the descriptions but I don't know if that can be done or not. As for updates... I am running out of season. I think a video I am finishing today will be the last for a while.

[chaseantarctica]

It's surprising this series doesn't get a lot more attention than it currently does.

[EatTheWeeds]

Well, I don't know what that means... I started uploading videos and plants almost a year ago. So far I've had some 70,000 views and 18,000 visits to my website. That's not in the Brittany Spears range but for the topic it's not bad. How would you increase attention?

[chaseantarctica]

I guess I didn't consider the possibility that, as a topic, botany does not get a lot of attention on YouTube, But yours are certainly some of the better videos on the topic in terms of caliber of information, entertainment, and consistency of updates. The video tags are all on the mark, so I don't have any ideas for increased traffic. It just seems like these easily merit at least a few thousand views each. YouTube should have a more comprehensive classification system, like Wikipedia.

[Khono]

Just an idea, Green Deane, but perhaps you can find places that could use your expert advice (like Yahoo answers, which I've begun to frequent) and post links to your site or your videos with your post, like sourcing. Not only would that possibly attract to your vids/site those who read your posts, but google rates sites based on how often they're linked by other sites (among other things). But yeah, your videos are great. The only other thing I can recommend is to keep up the great work :)

[Jefferdaughter]

@EatTheWeeds - Write articles for publication. Try 'Mother Earth News', 'Grit', and any other that you can think of with a readership that is interested in living closer to the land. (Another great idea: write a book! Preferably organized by the season in which the plant yeilds useful parts, with both good identification/range info and info on use. Selfish suggestion, really, as I would love to buy such a book!)

[EatTheWeeds]

I know what you mean. Only doctors, who often give out poor medical advice, are allowed to give it. Their track record in nutrition is extremely poor. Their view is reductionist whereas food is gestalt. They prefer lycopene over the tomato (because they can't test the entire tomato.) My mottoes are trust the cow not the chemist, and if your great grand mother would not recognize it as food, don't eat it.

[OxEyeChai]

Its almost ilLegal to offer any kind of medical advice. But I normally eat my apples whole. I like the saying "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" "But if you miss a few Weeks then try some pyracantha". Higher MIC'S perhaps? Maybe not, but the Maloideae sub-Family generally make good health food, and really nice blossoms, which is a good Soul food.

[MatureHealth]

I think I've seen these plants around here. I'm going to have to look around the neighborhood now.

Thanks for another great video Deane.

[EatTheWeeds]

Thank you... I should have done it in the spring when the trees are really heavy with fruit but my second season came on so I thought why not... watch out for the thorns. They are deceptive and very sharp.

[AirForce194]

You are lucky to live in the south where you can grow all year.

[EatTheWeeds]

Luck? I intentionally moved here 31 years ago because I was tired of snow and cold weather. But yes, I am fortunate to live here. In this part of Florida it is cool from Christmas to Valentines Day. There are usually a few light frosts and an occasional light freeze.

[MonicaLewandowski]

Is that chemical the same as vitamin b-17 otherwise known as laetrile and used in the treatment of various cancers? It is found in most fruit seeds, apple, apricot and tastes similar to Amaretto? Apparently, the cyanide is deemed harmless until it comes in contact with cancer cells, in which case it is released by contact to enzymes found in the cancer cell and the cyanide destroys the cancer. I don't know, just thought I'd ask. Thanks Green Deane.

[EatTheWeeds]

I think, essentially, it is. It is actually released by digestion. I don't know if B-17 is injected or ingested. It is a controversial issue. My mother, who is 84, eat the seeds of every apple. In fact, she eats the entire apple, stem, core and all.

[fbt2007]

Happy holidays Green Deane!

[MadBadVoodo]

Happy Thanksgiving

[odin422]

Happy holidays.

Cant wait for next years lessons