EatTheWeeds: Episode 01: Why Learn About Wild Foods

[livyrocks101]

I love eat the weeds because of is informative personality nature

[ramblingjerry]

You haven't done any videos in a while. I hope you will continue, They are very informative and enjoyable to many many people.

[EatTheWeeds]

@ramblingjerry I've been busy getting the new website up and running, and teaching. But I do plan to do more videos.

[giddymoon]

WHy on earth would you cook them up..which kills all the good stuff in it?

[EatTheWeeds]

@giddymoon Because many of them cannot be eaten raw. 

[giddymoon]

@EatTheWeeds So the one you picked up cannot be eaten raw?

[EatTheWeeds]

@EatTheWeeds It depends on which one you are referring to. For example, the sonchus is an excellent green cooked. It is bitter raw and can upset the tummy.

[HappyBirthdaySANTA]

hey, how are you Green Bean? i was just wondering what plants would be good to make into a body wash soap/shampoo?

[EatTheWeeds]

@HappyBirthdaySANTA Green Deane... any water you soak amaranth or chinopodium seeds in would work well... or yucca root...

[HappyBirthdaySANTA]

@EatTheWeeds hahahaha, sorry bud thought it was bean... Thanks for the info & all your knowledge expressed on your videos it's really amazing! Cheers!

[randallschecter]

@EatTheWeeds thanks for the info!, i know nothing of botony, and im very hungry.

[TheOpenDialog]

@ElohimLee I agree

[FacetsOfTruth]

Cool deal! I had never seen your first episode before. It's great to see when you first got started. Really glad you did, brother.

[TheOpenDialog]

I found it to be funny at 6:20. Just grabs a plant and starts munching away again.

[iPurgolder]

I admire your knowledge of wild plants.

[Lettermark]

I like the message: being aware of wild foods gives you a clearer grasp of whats going on environmentally. i.e. particuarly pollution.

[leahcimrac]

I really want to go raw and eat wild foods also, but I have a very bad eyesight due to being born with Cone Dystrophy. How can I eat this way if I can't even see the colour of the plants?

[EatTheWeeds]

@leahcimrac Color is not the only identifying charcteristic of plants. There are leaf shape, leaf arrangement, stalk shape, blossom arrangement, taste, environment, time of year. I think it could be done.

[1Ladybuilder]

Great information... and I very much agree on the point of the soil being healthy. I grew up on the Indian River (Central Brevard) and read Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (given to me by my mother) after dead dolphins kept washing up on our river bank. Dad was an Alabama farm boy.. who taught us at a young age the importance of 'good dirt'.

[EatTheWeeds]

@1Ladybuilder The intercoastal was a great place to be... except when the seaweed was dying.

[JanColdwater]

LOL. You made me think of that saying that you should never go shopping on an empty stomach! You shouldn't sit in your back yard! LOL

[memillanf]

latin a dead language??

[EatTheWeeds]

@memillanf Yes. A dead language is one that is no longer learned as a native language. No one is raised speaking Latin. More so that is why it was specifically chosen to describe plants because unlike living languages Latin is no longer evolving.

[Jsimmons67]

@dourcynicbass Dept of the Army's "Guide to Edible Plants" about $9 at bookstores or Amazon. Or go to Google eBooks type in Edible Plants & request "free" versions

[dourcynicbass]

anyone have good info on wild foods in Central Texas

[EatTheWeeds]

@dourcynicbass If you go to my website and click on instructors then scroll down you will find at least one in Texas.

[Jsimmons67]

@dourcynicbass Dept of the Army's "Guide to Edible Plants" about $9 at bookstores or Amazon.

[EatTheWeeds]

@dourcynicbass It depends.... This is a good book but it is not a "guide" in that it has few descriptions or pictures: Edible and Useful Plants of Texas and the Southwest: A Practical Guide By Delena Tull. If you can ID plants already then it is a good book. If you can't then you'll have to grow into it.

[ninjadude126]

there was fiddle heads all around you

[EatTheWeeds]

@ninjadude126 Thanks for the suggestion, but the ferns around me do not have edible fiddleheads. 

[RonRay]

Deane, I have now watched all of your videos. As of this date, 120 of them!

Thanks to you, I know much more about edible plants (and other things), than I did just a few days ago. (yes, I do need to get a life but no, I have nothing better to do.) I truly believe this was the most enjoyable education (in part) I have ever received!

You are an interesting person with very contagious knowledge!

I will definitely be watching for your next installment.. and the next... etc.

Thank you Mr. Jordan.

[EatTheWeeds]

@Kalaharijay It doesn't grow around here or I'd do a video on it.

[SimilkameenSlayer1]

thanks for the info! 

[JoeSkylynx]

Hey! Like the video :D

Recently a good friend of mine was talking to me about native tribes throughout Arizona, and how they survived.

One of my questions was, "What natural plants are edible in Arizona?" cause as far as I'm aware of 45-70% of natural plants in Arizona are posinious or have a decent amount of thorns. I was wondering if you have any idea what is ediable in Arizonan dish.

[EatTheWeeds]

@JoeSkylynx You might want to look at Edible and Useful Plants of Texas and the Southwest, A Practical Guide, By Delena Tull. Also, look at my website under "foraging instructors." I have six listed for Arizona.

[OldSchoolAmerican]

@JoeSkylynx Go to arizonabushmandotcom for some videos of edible plants in AZ

[HairdoChicken]

Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge! I have a garden and cultivate many types of edibles. I also have a forest around me full of forage here in the mountains of SE Oklahoma. I would like to teach my children how to identify the wild foods growing all around us. Your videos will now be used as part of our homeschool agenda.

[kmdental36]

Im excited to see the rest of your videos and see your web page. Do you have any info on wild plants in Washington State? Thanks

[EatTheWeeds]

The majority of the plants I have articles and videos about are found in your area. Not all but certainly the majority.

[skulls2348]

could you do videos about plants from TN pls I hunt and fish alot and was wondering about the plants around here like which one i can and cant not eat pls reply

[wesley111111111111]

how do you spell the plant at 5:05? stegus floridana? and afinus?

[EatTheWeeds]

@wesley111111111111 Thanks for writing. Stachys floridana

[gwynedd1]

@BogMonkey53

It depends on how well you know your yard. Some people have no experience with plants. I knew what many weeds were but did not know I could eat them. In other cases I replaced green things that took up space with native shrub edibles I ordered from a nursery which can fast track the process and bring the wild food to me.

[EatTheWeeds]

@BogMonkey53 In your own back yard? No. Someone elses back yard, yes.

[fossnaomi]

loving your videos... many thanks. am taking a gardening/agrarian skills class... we ate weeds last saturday and they were delicious... caused me to look for more info and wala!!! found you :)

[AlisaCobriana]

I saw a link to this youtube channel on SurvivalBlog (I like the idea of preparedness and being self sustainable etc) I think it's really neat and very nice of you to put together a project like this! I'll make sure I go through and watch all of the videos, even if I live in a different sort of ecosystem. I'm sure there'll be some overlap! ^-^

[skullylovesroland]

How you pronounce a dead language!

you funny!

just found you, very interesting and heavy!

thanx for the inspiration!

[Founderant]

I have leaned a lot from your videos and have linked to them on the" Americans Networking To Survive" website.

Great Information!

[EatTheWeeds]

Thanks

[TeacherPhilEnglish]

funny video. I haven't seen lichen. I live in British Columbia. Maybe I should look harder.

[EatTheWeeds]

Thanks... it's everywhere... probably left some on the moon.... Now that's an idea...

[questone100]

love your vids. can u plant store bagged potatoes, and get potatoes?

[EatTheWeeds]

Yes but... you are far better off going to a farm or seed store and getting potatoes specifcally raised to be sees potatoes. They breed true and have less disease.

[questone100]

thanx, will do.

[drunkalien6]

Yes you also would idealy like to get some organic ones. The ones from the store are most likely GM.

Google "Rats GM Potatoes"

[questone100]

thanx, im just starting out.

[be4its2late]

There are lots of good books on edible trees and plants in Florida. They don't seem to touch on weeds. can you recomend any good books for identifying them. Central Florida area.

[EatTheWeeds]

No I can't, at least not for Florida. I am in central Florida and my website is about as tailored to this area as it gets. By the way I am holding a foraging class on the 29th in Melbourne.

[luvtheearth1]

Hi Deane! I just found your videos a couple of days ago and now am watching a few every day and taking notes. So much great information and love the website too! Thank you for bringing the issues of environmental pollution to light in such a positve pro-active way! You go!

[mfreda]

chop purslane with onion,olive oil,salt,lemon and some summac, make into little Galzone like pies and put them in oven untlil dough get that golden cooked color.. and voila

[mfreda]

Mr Green,

on this first video you showed a little sorrel weed which you happily ate. I could not get the name right. Can you mention it again? thanks

[EatTheWeeds]

Oxalis corymbosa... there is also locally O. articulata and O. intermedia. They are all the same, just varying in leaf shape.

[mfreda]

thank you..that was quick. BTW my wife makes excellent purslane pies, I'll be happy to get the recepe for you.

[EatTheWeeds]

Thanks, that would be nice.

[EatTheWeeds]

IF you can identify plants here is one:

Edible and Useful Plants of Texas and the Southwest

A Practical Guide By Delena Tull (over the internet)

If not I would go with Edible Plants of North America by Elias and Dykeman 2008 edition (2008 edition is important.) Found in most bookstores.

[b1gje55e]

Im looking for a good field guide for native Texas edible plants. I can't seem to find one worth purchasing.

[420bmxer]

hehehe he said my friends and Jew XD

great video, i like all your facts about edible weeds

thank you for this information

[skecanj]

Great series!

[EatTheWeeds]

Oxalis corymbosa. Yes, I did a video later on on Oxalises.

[Abstker]

Thank you so much! I'm going to go find some right now!

[Abstker]

How do you spell that plant you said tastes like rhubarb? and do you have a video on it or an archive on your website? Thanks, love the show!

[Khono]

Err, I posted this a few hours ago but the comment didn't show up, so here it is again:

WOW, 15,873 views! And 99 ratings!! Congratulations, Green Deane!

[EatTheWeeds]

Thanks... I would have never guessed... I would re-edit it and up load but I'd lost the stats so I won't.

[Khono]

Haha:

"Quite tasty. Mm, should have washed the sand off that first."

[abyssquick]

No freeze for 7 years... I sure chose a great year to plant small jackfruit last spring didn't I?

[EatTheWeeds]

Freezes happen.... a jack fruit... wow...

[abyssquick]

Can't help myself, I'm a fringe gardener. Jackfruits are among my favorite fruits. I now have 6 small trees.

My tree survived, albeit a bit damaged. It is rapidly regrowing. I'm in Englewood, so we only dropped to 28 degrees for a few hours.

They do survive these freezes if they can be coaxed into establishing. A man in town has a 20' tree planted back in 2003.

They are slightly frost-hardy trees. They need a handful of seasons to establish before they can take periodic arctic cold fronts.

[2Halifaxion2]

Apparently organizing rock structures against trees, depending on the type of rock (color, density etc.) is a great way of conserving heat for plants. Any rocky area on land is a great place to put a heat loving plant such as a palm.

[adolthitler]

Try covering the plant in the evening as the sun is going down with a cloth or tarp. That should help with first season or two and with luck they will be the cold winters.

[bowmasterpigo13]

you can eat the ferns in the background lol u missed that one

[EatTheWeeds]

While some ferns produce an edible fiddle head, the ferns behind me, Nephrolepis cordifolia, do not.

[17Revolution76]

I read some time ago that you could make a medicinal tea out of the roots of ferns.

You wouldn't happen to know if it only works with a particular species would you?

[EatTheWeeds]

Several fern roots were used as medicine, among them polypodium virginianum, polystichum acrostichoides, and pteridium aquilinum.

[17Revolution76]

Much appreciated. I'm eager to see if these plants can effectively treat the symptoms of asthma or if they can open the airways at all as I've read. The pharmaceutical companies make enough money..

Keep up the great work, I'll be recommending these brilliant videos to anyone else with respect for nature.

[EatTheWeeds]

Thanks... look into mullen. The Indians smoked it to relieve symptons of asthma.

[jgfergus]

Thanks for posting this great video. I get Lamb's Quarters, Dandelion and Purslane from my garden up here in Canada. But I need to identify others.

[FightUni09]

Takanis!

I just found your great videos after posting my dalliances into wild eatery.

I am enjoying your website and learning a lot. Thank You

[grymmtymm]

i love the part at 4:30

[PartisonConfederate]

I am going to start at square 1 and watch them all again to get a better grasp and absorb and take it all in. As you have seen from my posts, I am from East Texas and most if not all of the weeds you go over, might be in my back yard. Thanks for your great videos and keep up the great work.

[EatTheWeeds]

Oh my.... even I don't watch them.... they do get better... and remember, there are more in depth articles on my website, just click on "go to archives" and go down the alphabet

[unicron24]

do you have any videos on Chamomile? great job on the videos

[EatTheWeeds]

No, it doesn't grow well here, but it does where I grew up in Maine. It was the most common weed in the dirt driveway, had a smell of pineapple. If I visit New England I will make a video of said

[unicron24]

thanks for the speedy reply,,,hope you travel soon,,,,thanks once again,

[nogov4me]

Mr. Green Deanes, sounds like Mr. Green Jeans, I think your videos are great. I can't wait to start making some salads from weeds I've collected in my backyard and the green spaces around Berlin. If there is a food shortage, those who know where and how to look, will not go hungry. Great information.

[vwstevevw]

Is there a "smoke the weeds"?

[EatTheWeeds]

Nope.... gave that up when I left college way back in the Dark Ages....

[j3wmunji]

Any particular reason you gave up?

[EatTheWeeds]

Yes. I found more interesting things to do.

[DavidandJeannie6]

Great reply. :)

[TheLifeWeLiveEh]

that's awesome

[EatTheWeeds]

Thanks.... the videos get better....

[THEGUVNOR91]

good vid mate, have they all naturally grown in your garden or have you put them together 2 show? aha i now dont have 2 worry about my food budget thnx :D gd wrk!

[EatTheWeeds]

They all grow there. And the videos do get better as you go along.... somewhere around video 20 I get the format right.

[whiskerchild]

The first several plants you showed, we couldn't see very well.

[EatTheWeeds]

This is true... It was my first video ever and I had no idea what the camera could do (actually it doesn't do close up well.) Somewhere around video 20 things get better. Also, all of the plants I mention I did videos on later on so one can see them better.

[wilsonpwt]

Your videos are much appreciated. I have been watching and saving them since this first one :-).I have a feeling more and more people will be learning to "eat the weeds"

Thank you, Paul Turner

[EatTheWeeds]

Thank you...I've made some mistakes and I'm trying to make them better but ...dang.. life some times gets in the way.

[Khono]

Hmmm, you know, I think it'd be cool if you revisited the topic of polluted edibles again which you touched on in this video. Maybe a video where you walk along industrial land or agricultural land or next to a highway and point out all the plants that'd be edible if we didn't keep dumping our waste on them. Just thought that'd be cool. Heh, you've come a long way since this vid!

[EatTheWeeds]

Good idea... it's been a year....

[thehealingpot]

that is a GREAT idea. It is nice the mr. green deane has provided this space and like minded people are able to learn from each other ... totally made my night.

[X340N3]

Wow, I am very glad to have found your channel! I also live in central Florida. Tampa to be exact. That's great to know about Florida Bettany.

The best definition I have heard for the word weed is a plant out of place. Since weeds like trash can be another man's treasure.

[EatTheWeeds]

Thanks.... the videos get better over time. I just finished #70 today

[RES1ST0R]

you chopped the poor bee off the plant at the end!!!

[EatTheWeeds]

Didn't chop.... didn't have more video

[mdemory]

I just sold my car and ride my bike everywhere - this is gonna bring me one step closer to being green. Thankz bro

[frithar]

What a WONDERFUL idea for a series!  I can't wait to tell friends about this.

[EatTheWeeds]

Thanks for subscribing.

[manofreedom]

I'm an MD and I have wanted for a long time to research what plants the native americans used for medicines.  I have a large idian artifact collection that I have been putting together since I was a child and these were very smart people that where in touch with their environment. I have a great amount of respect for the ancient american cultures and I am going to follow you very closely to increase my knowledge base and pass it on to my sons.

[EatTheWeeds]

Thanks for writing. There are a couple of things you can do regarding native medicinal uses. James A. Duke co-authored a book on the medicinal uses of wild plants (He's a PhD in botany.) It's called: Medicinal Plants. The other thing you can do is see if a book has been written on the ethnobotany of your area. That would focus on medicinal uses by the natives of your area.

[DecimusAquila]

Thank you for this, I love self sufficiency and this is a great video. I already eat wild strawberries and onions but I didn't know about this other stuff thanks!

[EatTheWeeds]

You're welcome. There are hundreds of wild edibles. It is really a case of learning to identify and find them.

[jokertim777]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge, you seem like a gentle and kind soul. Do you have a rule of thumb for how far from a road you should be before eating any plants to avoid the pollution you mentioned?  20 feet? 200 yards?

[EatTheWeeds]

Oh... I made video one a full year ago this week... and I try to be good... as for havesting and roads... The only problem with country dirt roads is dust. But as you go up the quality of road you encounter more pollution. Interstates are quite bad, but not all is lost. Uphill from a busy road is usually safe even with in 10 or 20 feet, down hill from a tarred road or better usually isn't unless you're a couple of hundred feet away.

[ripsyd]

great vid man.

thanks

[EatTheWeeds]

thank you... there are 63 more and they get better.

[coldarcayne]

can you get high off this stuff

[EatTheWeeds]

No. These are edible plants that produce no special effects. While there are many wild plants that can get you high, the problem is the amount to get high is also extremely close to the amount that will kill you. The safest intoxicating plants are already well-known. The rest are NOT safe substitutes. However, if you join your local native plant society they take field trips and often stumble across marijuana in the wild.

[coldarcayne]

oh to bad :(

[felichec]

I need to buy a good pair of speakers, couldn't hear much, sound is too low...

[Psychogenius018]

I'm beginning to think Rousseau was right after all.

When "civilization" collapses I want to be in your tribe. You'll be the head plant shaman/guru. We'll partake of the magic mushrooms together.

[EatTheWeeds]

Good point, except it wasn't a garden, but my back yard.

[Psychogenius018]

I've gotta learn this stuff; forget a depression, I'm starting to think this economic crises is going to send us into another dark age. I've gotta learn how to graze.

[EatTheWeeds]

The survival skill that is the quickest to learn with the biggest pay off is fishing. Hunting requires more skill and a weapon and ammunition, where as one can make their own hooks, line, pole and nets. Foraging for wild plants takes the longest to learn of those three and produces the least food for the work, but it is an essential to survive should every thing fall apart. Also, since it is the hardest to learn you'll have less competition... everyone will be exhausting the fish.

[Psychogenius018]

Ditto. I've gotta get a bow and learn to use it. I have the highest admiration for your knowledge of foraging. It's freer and more beautiful than agriculture...nature does all the cultivating...it's like a return to Eden. This brings to mind the story of Diogenes of Sinope when he said, "When I saw the child drinking water from his hands I broke my cup."

[AClearDeepBlue]

You and my mother would get along so well. She's always out in her backyard, with her field guide, picking and eating the wild veggies. We live in Jacksonville, FL so we probably have many of the same plants that you talk about. Very informative videos. Thanks!

[EatTheWeeds]

First the back yard, then the world....as for the videos, thanks... when I first started I had no idea what the video software could do...

[EatTheWeeds]

Thanks... white clover is tastier... also, clover should be fresh or thoroughly dried. Never eat fermented clover, as in silage or wine, it can thin your blood to the point of dying.

[certifiedhealthnut]

it essential we learn from this brother, in a pinch we would have to eat the wild weeds...especially the DANDELION & RED CLOVER

[sandgardendick]

Just wanted to say thanks. I'm new to you, I'll watch much more, but I already know that yours will remain a favorite site...

[EatTheWeeds]

Awe... that's nice, thanks....

[EatTheWeeds]

Thanks for you post. The sap is bitter, but is edible. It makes a good glue. I think it would clump in tea.

[EatTheWeeds]

Thanks. Unfortunately the answer varies. Organic pesticides can be gone in a matter of hours, but some hydrocarbon pesticides last decades, 30 years at least, some more. 200 people died from lawn pesticides in the US in 1950, by 1995 it was 8 so things are getting better. Chemicals have half life so as soon as applications are used they begin to degrade. The key of course is not using more.

[Khono]

As I was watching your vid I wanted to ask you which lawns were safe to eat from. How long after the last herb/pesticides were used is it safe? During the last two minutes of your video I found myself nodding as I'd had the same thoughts (though you brought a lot more experience to the ideas than I can yet). I thnk that you made a wonderful, clear, informative video here and I hope you keep up the great work :)

[thrivesurvive]

yay! I made it to your web site. 5th try was the charm. :)

[EatTheWeeds]

Great! As far as eating raw foragibles... many can be eaten that way but I suspect they have gone out of favor because they tend to be bitter and that is a flavor least cultivated in our society. And of course, some plants are toxic raw, poke weed, for example.

[thrivesurvive]

thank you very much. :)

[thrivesurvive]

I can't seem to get to your web site. :(

I am a raw vegan, and I was wondering about eating wild edibles raw. I noticed you eat a lot of them raw, but many of the books I have leafted through seem to focus on cooking weeds, which makes me wonder if they do that because it's necessary, or just to make it taste better. How wonderful it must be to sit in one spot and find so many wondferful edibles within arm's reach. Do you have a book?

[SuzyKabloozy]

Hey Green Deane, awesome video. I've got your website open in one window, and your YouTube videos in another. You've further intensified my perpetual dilemma -- throw the bleepin' computer down and go outside, or keep readin' merrily along while another beautiful day goes by. Regardless of which choice I ultimately make, your knowledge is a boon to me, so thanks. One ruefully ironic note about your video -- the ambient noise(cars, a train, an airplane)sums up our modern predicament perfectly.

[EatTheWeeds]

I hear you loud and clear. I can go 50 miles in any direction and still be bothered by the same noise. It is pollution. One of the things I like about western Crete is at night there is no unnatural sound or light.

[partyguy420]

ahh i live in the greatest place in the world other then occasional military jets over head every now and again...

the best way to learn about vegitables is your grandparents or great grandparents... thats where i learned mine from... also hunting and fishing... god i love the country....

darrington, washington is a great place other then around the saw mill....

[EatTheWeeds]

On my mother's side she foraged, her mother did and my great grandmother did...on my father's side they always foraged and still do. The quickest way to learn now is with someone because they can tell you the essential to look for, what to avoid, build confidence in your skills, and save you time. That why I recommend the Native Plant Society. Good folks, inexpensive.

[missvitreous]

Cool video! Too bad about pollution...

[haroldhatesmaude]

Why can't you live in Oregon? Know of any good people or ways of finding one in the Salem, Oregon area?

[haroldhatesmaude]

Thank You for this! More, please!

[EatTheWeeds]

This first episode had to be severely edited to fit the time slot. They will be smoother in the future. Again, always check with a local expert before eating any wild plant. Green Deane