Edible Plants: Common Milkweed
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ย. 2024
- Common Milkweed ("Asclepias syriaca") has several different edible parts. Young shoots are edible but I leave their leaves for Monarch butterfly caterpillars to eat. Its buds, flowers and young pods are edible as well. Be sure to avoid Dogbane, a non edible similar lookalike. Two notes: Avoid getting sap in your eyes--supposedly it can cause irritation & possibly blindness (?!? --according to a few sites--I hadn't heard about this in my research); 2)This video is a longer revision of an older, shorter one that appeared in my Summer film.
great video. very thorough
Thanks- i try to be informative but there's always more to learn!
It is always a treat to watch your videos, thank you for your dedication.
...and thank you for your support.
Thank you for making these videos! They are so informative and important. I hope you keep these going!
I'll try--it's fairly time-consuming but fun to do.
Thank you so much for this
...& thanks for taking the time to thank me!
Yay for the Common Milkweed! Back in the 1980s, in southern Michigan, there was so much common milkweed everywhere - a real weed, lol. It was one of my favorite spring shoots, right up there with wild asparagus for quality eating - so tasty. If folks knew how good they are, maybe there would be enough for us and the Monarch butterflies!
Thanks for your videos. I enjoy them a lot, and learn from them -- and appreciate that you know your plants and actually eat them, too. I just watched somebody else's new foraging video, where they pointed to plants -- and misidentified 3 out of 4 species. They didn't even get them in the right plant families. So extra thanks for balancing out a wild food day, lol. Have a great foraging spring!
I try to be as thorough as I can when I talk about potential plants to eat. I don't want anyone to consume anything that might hurt them.
Milkweeds are such valuable plants. Because of their connection with Monarchs , more & more people are appreciate these plants instead of considering them as weeds.
One of my viewers had a negative reaction to eating milkweed pods. I never encountered anyone until now who became ill after eating these; so always eat small amounts of any new food to see how your body reacts.
Great video 👍
Thanks!
blanche I think you are a dream. I so wish to have your knowledge of the woods one day, i am a budding forager myself but at 20 I am still learning. You have a wonderful way of placing your words, its a wonder to listen to and it fills my heart with joy. if I ever go to America one day I would love to have a day foraging with you! I hope you never stop your videos
I'm much older than you but still learning about the natural world and its gifts! I started exploring plants when in high school when there wasn't much info about wild edibles. But now...the internet (in spite of some problems) has connected people like you and me from across the world who have similar interests and knowledge to share. I so appreciate your compliments! Where do you live? I bet there are other folks there to meet and learn from. I wish you green blessings and an exciting journey of discovery...
Awesome!!!
So the "Fox" likes these too?:-)Thanks!! ( I too am a fan of the X-Files.)
Love great informative videos! Just a little confused about when they begin to throw up shoots an when they bloom. In the beginning you said they begin to grow in June ( when comparing the shoots of Dogbane& milkweed) and then said they bud ( flowers) in mid to late June. Is that an error or do these plants mature real quick? I have crocuses that sprout and bloom with in a week so its very possible. I was under the impression that they took a while to bloom as the on MW plant I have was very slow. In fact it never bloomed so maybe somethings wrong with my plant
Plants growing in different areas may have different bud/bloom times. (ie, A plant that gets full sun vs one that's in a shadier spot.) Also weather may have an influence of appearance of buds/flowers.We had a drought this year and everything was slowed down.
Mine was the one you show. Not the wrong one. Not dogbane, none of that. I took a course in herbs & have collected them for 20 years. It is exactly what you show. Please warn people. There's another herb I got a reaction from - Polkweed or Polk Salad. I ate some of its roots {like small potatoes} & my noise swelled up, got sick, threw up, then I was OK. This milkweed was MUCH WORSE except my nose did not swell up. Also, when you eat SKUNK CABBAGE, my herb doc {Dr. Richard Schultze} did not tell me, THE MOUTH TINGLES FOR HOURS! I mean 4-5 hours! He just said it was GOOD FOR YOU so I ate some in my swamp! Just a few bites & the tingling occurred. Uncomfortable & confusing.
Oh oh oh! Poke root is poisonous--it's used CAREFULLY in herbal medicine. I 'd NEVER recommend eating it! I[ve eaten YOUNG Poke greens but only after boiling them in 2 waters. I warn that some people have adverse reactions to them.These used to be a staple down South, not so much here in the eastern part of the US.
And Skunk Cabbage? I'd NEVER eat that. First of all it stinks so much when it's cooking, to me, that 's a warning to Stay Away!!!
Be careful about who you get info from. I've tried all the foods I recommend in my films; if a person says to try a food but HAVEN"T EATEN IT THEMSELVES, consult other sources before eating.
I wish you better results with any wild-or cultivated --foods you may encounter in the future...
@@thederb720 I eat plantain, dandelion, milk thistle, yellow dock all winter in tea, White Cedar for tea. I was trying to widen my horizon's. Want to try burdock but when I dug up the root it was hard as a rock, could not even use it. But I should try again as I have hundreds of them around here. I also have wild St. John's Wort all over my 3 acre lawn - wild areas. I believe in wild herbs but the people giving recipes are not warning us enough. Warn people!🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺💀💀💀💀💀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀☝🤌🤌☝☝🦧🦧🦧🦧🦧
@@thederb720 Forgot I also have made soup with Nettles {I used to call them devil weeds & stomped them out for years until I found out they were healthy - was taking them in pill form!} & red clover tea all winter - I threw red clover blossoms all over my lawns & now have enough, which I dry, to drink in tea for 6 months.🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌳🌳🌳🌿🌿☘🌺🍀🍀🍃🍃
@@GuruRasaVonWerder Maybe you tried burdock at the wrong time? Since it's a biennial, roots are best to collect from 1st year plants at the end of its growing season (Fall) or from second year plants at the very beginning of their season (Spring). In summer, all the roots' energy has gone into producing leaves and flowers. Yes, caution when eating new plants (even ones bought in a supermarket) is a must. In all my (more than 55) years in foraging, I never encountered anyone who had a negative experience with milkweed buds but that doesn't mean that a problem couldn't arise.
@@thederb720 thanks a lot. some day I will try it again. Right now I'm collecting dry yellow dock seeds for tea, I have hundreds of big plants with it
The buds dont have to be tightly closed. I dont wear gloves because getting sticky is half the fun of it! 😉
You're right buds can be eaten when partially open. The stickiness makes you aware that you're communicating with the plant :)
Thank you for your videos, they're so informative and the food that you make always looks so good!
I appreciate your support!
Thank you for your response!
THANK YOU for your recipes with this milkweed plant I have alot of them growing in acres of my fields,I tried to cook some up but they were to tuff to eat, I will have to watch for them next year. I can't imagine all the things you could do with these plants!
Perhaps they were too tough because they weren't ay the right stage for eating? (If plants have "gone by" then they can be unpleasant to consume!)
Blanche Cybele Derby ...can’t wait till next year so I could try your recipes with the milkweed. They had seeds in them , that’s why they were tough, good thing I only did 2 to try. I thought they were as you put it, gone by.
@@crossedlightning1 Yes, it's important to get them at the right time!
Milkweed is such an amazing and useful plant!
I've been eating all edible parts (shoots, leaves, flower buds, flowers, pods and silk) of Common milkweed raw or cooked (no changes of water) for decades. The stalk fibers make an excellent primitive cordage/twine. The stalks (Friction Fire: Hand or Bow Drill), stalk fibers (Friction Fire: Rudiger Fire Roll), ovum and silk (Percussion Fire Ignition: Flint & Steel) work well as primary components in primitive fire starting.
All that and Monarch's too!
I agree! You seem well versed in using the plant in practical ways, something I'm not doing--yet...
Eating wild plants helps you live longer! For the people that want to live a long healthy life, you should try to eat some plants in these videos.
I'd like to think this is true but who really knows? My mother ate a terrible diet & she lived to be 94...
This is great....thank you!
I appreciate your support.
So you can’t eat the adult leaves?
You could, but the monarch caterpillars may eat them too so i don't usually bother with them.
Ok thank you!! I love your recipes!! I just started eating wild edibles.
One of the best things about wild edibles is that you can substitute them for cultivated ones in recipes like pesto & soups.
Too dark
Hello Blanche! I believe this is the 1st video of yours on the here and now that I got to watch (not being years old) no matter the age of them I love them all, but it’s apparent I’ll leave another that I love (when this popped up) for u! Which I left instantly! Normally I’ll finish watching the video then go to the pop up (well, the ones I’m into). all other videos just show u to eat the pods, that’s why I love ur videos, because you tell and show it all!!! Question??? U said NOT all milkweeds r edible, did I hear correctly? If I meet a milkweed, and the the descriptions of it r the same as the one u show here, means it’s edible? OR do all milkweeds have same identification, but all r not edible??? I’m confused. Thank you Blanche, I Thank you for all that you teach me, you are a wonderful blessing!!!
I did say that all milkweeds aren't edible . The orange one I pictured , butterflyweed ("A.tuberosa") is not edible. There may be other milkweeds that are edible--Sam Thayer in his excellent book"Forager's Harvest" mentions two:"A speciosa" which is found out west & "A.exaltata" in eastern part of the country but I've never encountered either.
Sooo...I stick with the common one which, true to its common name is much more common across the US.--more likely to be the "right'"one!! All milkweeds share some similar characteristics. If in doubt, and you find one you believe is ok, take a photo or pick a leaf, bud & flower & bring to a nature center & have someone help you with id. It's good to be cautious.
A half a cup of olive oil!?
if you feel that's too much. lessen the amount as well as the amount of the lemon juice (ie: 1/2 cup olive oil to 1/8 cup lemon juice as well as the other ingredients in the dressing)
Thank you very much for these videos.
I'm pleased you like them!
I hear the sap can cause blindness if accidentally rubbed in the eye. Is this true? Accidents happen.
@Yumcha Brea- i don't think so lol
--I hadn't heard anything about it until I read your comment & searched several sites on the web that warned about the sap being dangerous to the eyes. So just in case, I added a caution re. the sap in my comments (located above, under the publishing date.) I've used the sap to rub on minor cases of poison ivy (lucky I haven't had any encounters with it recently) and boy did it sting--but it stopped the itching...
@@thederb720 that's lovely. Thank you for looking into it further and adding it into the description.
@Yumcha Brea- you're evil.
Lovely video, Blanche. Very informative, as usual. Pretty as a picture scene of you playing with milkweed 'feathers' in the wind. I wonder if their latex can be harvested as "rubber"? I think dandelion milk has been used as a rubber alternative, before, in industry. Big plantations in Russia. Hmm. I got sent a lovely hand pump bottle of geranium rose bathroom freshener from some mountain herbal people in Colorado. 🌹 The rose scent was so sweet I was sorry when the bottle ran out. I once came across a geranium/pelargonium that had leaves that smelled exactly like fresh Granny Smith apple. 👓🍏 I think they also come in other 'flavours' like chocolate 🍫, coconut 🥥, lemon 🍋 and peppermint 🍬. yummy! 😋
Someone once showed me a cutting of lemon pelargonium/geranium that had sprouted roots in a glass of water on their window sill. i was very impressed with such an instant plant!
You were spot on about wondering whether Milkweed latex could be used as a rubber substitute. In World War II, natural rubber was hard to come by, so United States scientists tried to turn common milkweed’s latex into a rubber-like substitute but unfortunately its concentrations were too small for mass production.
Right here in the state of Ohio, research is being done of using the latex from the root of the Russian dandelion ("Taraxacum kok-saghyz"-- NOT our common dandelion) as a natural rubber substitute since the Asian supply is depleted, (see the TH-cam video "Our Ohio: Buckeye Gold" for more info on this.)
Geraniums are wonderfully fragrant plants-love them!
@@thederb720
That video was amazing! Life would be very different without rubber!
I agree--but in the past, working conditions for the native peoples who harvested it were brutal. Let's hope new sources of rubber can be collected without cruelty to others.
Blanche, you're the best. As my girls get older i am more and more thrilled to get them in the back country to show them everything you know.
Wow! I just published this & you found it! Thanks for your compliments. It's so important for the next generation to become knowledgable about what the natural world has to offer us.
Thanks again. Timely.
Glad you liked it.
that song is AMAZING! swell done!
i always try to find music-- from all genres-- that fits my subject (not always easy!)
It’s funny you said pad Thai, because I’m thai🤣😂👍🙏
I used a play on words: I called my recipe "POD Thai" since i was using the pods of the milkweed. It was a punny take on "Pad Thai"-- an entree that so many people (me included) love to eat. :)