[HN Gopher] Edible plants that grow in the shade
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Edible plants that grow in the shade
Author : mooreds
Score : 137 points
Date : 2022-01-08 16:08 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.onegreenplanet.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.onegreenplanet.org)
| altgeek wrote:
| The Sweet Cecily, as a member of the carrot family, resembles
| poison hemlock. Anything with that flower and leaf pattern
| immediately sets off alarm bells in my head when I see it.
|
| See https://www.growforagecookferment.com/poison-hemlock/
| culi wrote:
| As do most members of the carrot family to be fair. These are
| some of the most delicious and edible plants! It's not actually
| that hard to learn to tell them apart to be honest. Any
| gardener who's watched their plants grow would probably be able
| to tell the difference
| [deleted]
| b3morales wrote:
| You are right to be cautious, but the mature plants are easily
| distinguished with a little care.
| freeqaz wrote:
| I was thinking about this as well. It also looks like Queen
| Anne's lace lol. If anybody is going to go forage for this,
| please learn to ID the poisonous relatives first!
| b3morales wrote:
| Queen Anne's Lace is wild carrot, _Daucus carota_ , which is
| not poisonous.
| DennisP wrote:
| Yes, the point is that it looks similar to water hemlock,
| which is extremely poisonous.
| hinkley wrote:
| About 75% of QAL flowers also have a single black umbel in
| the center of the flower. Not the best eating then from
| what I gather, but in addition to the texture of the stalks
| that's a good indicator.
| derbOac wrote:
| Yes, just to emphasize this: in this case "wild carrots"
| actually means just that. Carrots from the grocery store
| and Queen Anne's lace are two subvarieties of the same
| species.
| hinkley wrote:
| I was told this about Queen Anne's Lace, which I let have the
| run of my property for about 18 months because my ground was
| compacted and the insect community absolutely loved it. I just
| don't see the resemblance the way some people claim.
|
| I haven't tried to eat any of it though. The roots smell
| amazing but I have been trying to grow parsnip and carrots
| already and that's enough carrot family for one kitchen. I am
| however starting to replace the QAL with the native carrot
| family, since I want to maintain the pollinators but I'm
| quickly crowding out reasonable places to let it grow. I guess
| we'll see how good my eye is at telling them apart when young.
| MandieD wrote:
| I fried up some of the teeny, tiny roots, and they tasted
| nice, but were so tiny that harvesting enough for more than a
| garnish would be impractical.
|
| The cough syrup made from the leaves is my favorite -
| soothing, but no other medicinal effects, and I find the
| taste to be a bit comforting. "Spitzwegerich Hustensaft" is
| the general thing to look for in German.
| hinkley wrote:
| Mine are quite large. By fall they are carrot sized.
| MandieD wrote:
| Found my mistake, too late to edit my previous comment:
| the plant I know as "Spitzwegerich" is not what you and
| other English speakers call Queen Anne's Lace at all! I
| have no idea where I got that as the English name for
| Spitzwegerich.
|
| "Spitzwegerich" (has several names in English, none of
| which are Queen Anne's Lace)
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantago_lanceolata
|
| The leaves are the most interesting part, but I've eaten
| the heads and roots, too.
|
| Do NOT attempt to make cough syrup from Queen Anne's Lace
| greens.
| hinkley wrote:
| Oh yeah, plantain spread everywhere with the settlers.
| It's quite a different plant. I think I've seen it used
| more as a poultice than something you consume.
| mattmaroon wrote:
| In ohio we have pawpaw festivals! Even most of the people where
| they grow have never heard of them, because they don't transport
| well enough to be sold, but those who have can't wait for the
| season. I didn't know they could grow in full shade though.
| dexwiz wrote:
| In Indiana they seem to be making a comeback. I have seen them
| on specialty menus a few times, but I find them to be awful. I
| am not a picky eater, and have sampled some other things in
| this list like ramps, but I don't think I will eat a paw paw
| again. Maybe I haven't had them prepared properly, but they
| seem like a Depression food. My grandpa talks about eating them
| when he was little, and I have only seen them resurrected in
| niche settings.
| Baeocystin wrote:
| I think you might have had some bad ones. Ideally, they have
| a mild, sweet flavor, and the name 'custard apple' is quite
| appropriate. They aren't durian- there shouldn't be any
| strong flavors or smells present that might be off-putting.
| dpeck wrote:
| There seems to be a growing interest in pawpaws. Stories about
| them were featured on a lot of food podcasts this fall and
| seems like it's the "it" uncommon food at the moment, or staged
| to be.
|
| It will be interesting if anyone is able to bring them to
| market at scale, it seems like agriculture departments at
| several universities have programs to work on different
| varietals with better shelf-life and shipping characteristics.
| ghastmaster wrote:
| > I didn't know they could grow in full shade though.
|
| A hike through the woods in southeastern Ohio will make this
| fact obvious. I miss the area and love coming across a stand of
| pawpaw in the understory. The leaves are so big. It feels like
| walking in the jungle. I miss the pawpaw festival in Albany,
| OH.
| foobiekr wrote:
| Pawpaws are in the family containing
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annonacin though, so not
| exactly something one should consume in bulk.
| mooreds wrote:
| Hmmm. Wonder if they'll grow in Colorado. I see they are hardy
| to zone 5.
| Tagbert wrote:
| We grew them in Kansas, so same latitude. While they grow in
| the understory, I suspect they would not like to grow under
| conifers.
| pvaldes wrote:
| Under conifer is dry shadow that is probably the most
| complicated place to grow anything.
|
| Callicarpa americana can stand semi-shadow and the tiny
| berries are edible in jelly.
|
| Asimina hates being too dry.
| [deleted]
| vesinisa wrote:
| There are important considerations for the correct use of the
| elderberry that this article omits. The roots, unripe berries and
| seeds are poisonous.
| mrspuratic wrote:
| This, though cooking neutralises the toxin (cyanogenic
| glycosides) in the seeds. Am lucky enough to have a few
| (European) elder trees already established in my garden,
| homemade elderflower cordial diluted with sparkling water is
| the best summer drink.
| mod wrote:
| My uncle has made elderberry jam and wine, both of which were
| fantastic.
| jdfx3 wrote:
| What disgusting AD laiden rubbish is this? I cant even read the
| article, the quality on HN is slipping.
| DennisP wrote:
| I suspect most people here have ad blockers. I don't see any
| ads on the article.
| Nursie wrote:
| We put a black elder (black lace, IIRC) in a shady spot in our
| front yard in the UK, and it absolutely thrived. Had to treat it
| for aphids annually, as they would absolutely smother the new
| growth in Spring otherwise, but apart from that it was low
| maintenance and very vigorous.
|
| The sprays of flowers were lovely and could be harvested for
| elderflower syrups and even wines. The berries were less
| reliable, I did harvest some and turn them to syrup one year, but
| the flavour was not that great (I added the syrup to a homebrew
| saison in the end, but wasn't a huge fan of the result).
| bingdig wrote:
| so many ads
| TedDoesntTalk wrote:
| And auto-playing video with audio. I closed the tab pretty
| quickly.
| rdtwo wrote:
| Actually a good collection. Might still be a seo spam blog but at
| least this article was decent
| OkayPhysicist wrote:
| In the shade of California redwoods, Redwood Sorrel is a a pretty
| tasty treat. I'd describe the taste as akin to green apple skins.
| They are a bit too sour to eat large quantities of in one sitting
| (as a kid in my Boy Scout troop learned the hard way).
| kaycebasques wrote:
| I've been going deep into a mycology rabbit hole the last few
| weeks. I had an "aha!" moment when I realized that there are many
| edible mushrooms that don't require much sunlight. It's obvious
| in hindsight but I was still thinking of fungus from a plant-
| centric worldview: they're kinda plantlike and therefore kinda
| need sun. But they don't. Many (all?) of them get their
| sustenance by breaking down whatever complex chemicals they find
| in their physical proximity. Sunlight doesn't need to factor into
| the equation much at all. So long as they have a rich substrate
| full of nutrients some will happily grow in a closet. Again
| pardon if this is painfully obvious but it was an "oh wow" moment
| for me. I'm personally going to start with oyster mushrooms
| because they seem to be somewhat superheroic at their ability to
| break down stuff (even incredibly toxic stuff).
|
| Also like I said I'm new to all this so anything and everything
| I've said can be wrong. This is just the general gist I've gotten
| so far.
| mrfusion wrote:
| Would this be useful for space travel?
| ip26 wrote:
| From a food production standpoint, they are still fundamentally
| sun-powered.
|
| Mushrooms are delicious, but their most _interesting_
| opportunity in the food supply might be vitamin D. Shine some
| UV on them, and they produce high levels just like people.
| kaycebasques wrote:
| Yes I've heard that tip to leave mushrooms out in the sun for
| 20 minutes prior to eating to majorly boost their vitamin D
| content!
| SuoDuanDao wrote:
| I had a cool moment along these lines when observing my
| parents' garden. They were growing squash in garden soil, next
| to table mushrooms on wood chips with the idea being the table
| mushrooms would convert the wood chips into additional garden
| soil over time. The mycelium colonized all the wood chips, but
| the fruiting bodies came up predominantly where the substrate
| was shaded by squash leaves because that was the most humid
| part of the mushroom patch. A cool example of accidental
| companion planting!
| Cerium wrote:
| If you have not run across it yet, there is a fairly good video
| set "Let's Grow Mushrooms!" by Marc R Keith [1]. Don't be put
| off by the intro that suggests you can grow magical varieties.
| This video series is focused on basic techniques needed for
| growing mushrooms as well as some practical techniques for
| growing oysters.
|
| [1] https://www.mushroomvideos.com/
| colordrops wrote:
| You may have heard this trope before but mushrooms are closer
| genetically to animals than plants.
| Scoundreller wrote:
| Yeah they breathe in O2 and breathe out CO2, just like you
| and me.
| Retric wrote:
| So do plants at night.
| nunb wrote:
| And their protein is more usable by our digestive systems
| than plant proteins.
| TedDoesntTalk wrote:
| I thought they are mostly chitin?
| kaycebasques wrote:
| This fact became viscerally true to me when I tried
| chanterelle for the first time a few days ago. Texture and
| flavor was so close to chicken that my partner and I (both
| vegans) had the weird uncomfortable sensation of accidentally
| eating meat!
| azinman2 wrote:
| When was the last time you had chicken? Personally I'd
| never confuse the two, although I do love chanterelles.
|
| That said, I had some porcini inside of a ravioli where I
| thought I was eating part of a meatball that went with it
| (eg meat-like, compared to a meatball, versus actual
| unadulterated meat).
| kaycebasques wrote:
| Admittedly it's been a few years but I have eaten quite a
| lot of chicken in my lifetime so I don't think it's a
| matter of me forgetting the experience of the real thing
| sokoloff wrote:
| Reminds me of the Matrix Tasty Wheat scene:
| https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2oEnJfZ9joY (63s long)
| hahamrfunnyguy wrote:
| Wow, I don't think chanterelles taste anything like
| chicken. I've only had them a couple of times, but to be
| they have a really strong and complex flavor that is hard
| to describe. The texture is firm but not chewy, like many
| other kinds of mushrooms.
| throwawayboise wrote:
| I tried some "beyond beef" the other day and thought it was
| nothing at all like beef. But maybe if you're vegan it's
| the closest alternate.
| derbOac wrote:
| Try chicken of the woods. It's even more so in my opinion.
| derbOac wrote:
| Fiddleheads have been linked to cancer pretty conclusively I
| think. E.g.,
|
| https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/fiddlehead-ferns...
|
| I'm pretty supportive of agricultural diversity and native plant
| consumption and cultivation, and also harvest a lot of wild
| plants for my own use. But fiddleheads are one thing I no longer
| eat.
| couchand wrote:
| As the linked article points out, it's bracken ferns that have
| been linked to cancer. If the ostrich fern suggested in the OP
| is also a carcinogen, the Smithsonian article doesn't mention
| it.
| derbOac wrote:
| Yeah I was reading some articles and was going to edit my
| comment to reflect that. Last I read, ostrich ferns were
| still suspect but there wasnt so much evidence suggesting
| they were carcinogenic either.
|
| Part of the confusion over ostrich ferns are periodic
| incidents of poisonings they can't explain. But in those
| cases, there usually are undercooked fiddleheads involved.
|
| But yes, ostrich ferns are probably ok, or at least are less
| of a concern, if cooked.
| interestica wrote:
| I had no idea hostas were edible!
| zwieback wrote:
| Came here to say the same thing. I have lots of Hostas and they
| keep getting too big. I will eat a good amount of them next
| spring!
| pvaldes wrote:
| I suggest to be extra careful with this info. Convallaria is
| very toxic and children could mistake it by a Hosta or an
| Allium ursinum with terrible results. Is not a joke.
| Polygonatum is also dangerous. Lots of shadow plants are
| poisonous and this includes practically all that sprout like
| Hostas in the shadow and in temperate areas. Some of those can
| be eaten in -small- amounts after being processed. Trillium and
| Paris are very poisonous, Asphodelus can provoke a heart attack
| easily. Even if is edible after some particular processing, It
| just don't worth the risk.
|
| Ferns store cyanide and must be cooked. They can provoke canker
| if eaten regularly.
|
| And there are also other things to consider. Hosta leaves grow
| once in the year. Eat the leaves and you will have an ugly
| plant for a whole year (or a dead plant). They are famous to
| keep the cuts in the leaf for the entire season. There is not
| much point into spending money in expensive garden plants with
| a long life if you want to eat them later.
| zwieback wrote:
| Edible yes, but do they taste good?
| legerdemain wrote:
| Elderberries are moderately poisonous raw.
|
| A number of these other plants do produce edible fruit, but in
| quantities too limited to be meaningful to a household.
| semireg wrote:
| Wow, I never knew hostas were edible. Now I wonder why we don't
| see these at the farmers market. I wonder what effects repeated
| yearly harvest does to the health of the plant. With asparagus
| there's a clear window of opportunity then you let the plant
| recover for the remainder of the year. Really cool to see this...
| will research more in the spring!
| barathr wrote:
| Here's a more California oriented list of edible plants that grow
| in the shade:
|
| * Chilean Guava (Ugni molinae)
|
| * Pineapple Guava (Acca sellowiana)
|
| * Babaco (Vasconcella x)
|
| * Passiflora antioquiensis
|
| * Passiflora "Mission Dolores" (P. antioquiensis x P. parritae)
|
| Here are a few more that only need partial sun in California:
|
| * White Sapote (Casimiroa edulis)
|
| * Cherimoya (Annona cherimola)
|
| * Pakistan / Persian Mulberry (Morus sp.)
|
| * Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica)
|
| * Surinam Cherry (Eugenia uniflora)
|
| * Tree Tomato (Solanum betaceum)
|
| * Coffee (Coffea arabica)
|
| * Ginger (Zingiber officinale)
|
| * Turmeric (Curcuma longa)
|
| * Starfruit (Averrhoa carambola)
| smallerfish wrote:
| I moved to the tropics and have been learning a whole new fauna.
| Some stuff that will do well in the understory includes:
| jaboticaba, caimito, acerola (aka nanking cherry), borojo,
| biriba, pitanga and, believe it or not, a lot of citrus (we have
| wild limes on the jungle edges, and are planting more cultured
| varieties). I have a very early stage fruit blog going at
| http://fruitytropics.com, in case anybody's interested.
| mint2 wrote:
| I wish I could find a jaboticaba at a reasonable price in
| SoCal. They seem to grow okay but the one nursery I went to
| look at them they were very expensive because they're rare
| here. Also they were mature plants kept in too small pots
| longer than they should have been so I didn't get one of those
| ones.
| pvaldes wrote:
| In Jaboticaba look for a plant with several trunks branching
| near the root. The trunk is the part holding the fruits so:
| more trunks, more fruit.
|
| Price in fruit trees is relative. They pay for itself. If you
| really want one just buy it when is big. Is an expensive
| investment in terms of time, the sooner you start and the
| bigger plant, the better.
| thunderbong wrote:
| > I moved to the tropics and have been learning a whole new
| fauna
|
| I think you meant 'flora'
| samstave wrote:
| It was the meat of his comment...
| smallerfish wrote:
| Haha, indeed. Well, too late to edit
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