Rolandvue, 2nd Week June:Curly Dock,Burdock,Wood Sorrel,Joe Pye Weed

Yellow or curly dock(Rumex crispus) is taking over the hill on the south side of Cloverlea.  These are going to seed, which should be on branched stalks about one meter high.  The seeds have a sticky casing that either floats or sticks to clothing.  This adds to the plants invasive nature(was less   common last year).  Young leaves are a common forage, but there are warnings about oxalates which might require two sequences of boiling to protect the kidneys.

Mature leaves are bitter but can be ground into powder to get the vitamins and minerals. The large leaves are entire,lance-shaped,with a lighter yellow midrib.  It is in the buckwheat family.  Thayer likes the peeled stems raw, at least from a younger plant. Buckwheat like flour is possible but difficult due to the seed's hard fibrous husk.

The photos are a little more detailed since I have not seen an ocrea before and this is the first of the family.

From top left, there is a typical plant, the large leaf with wavy but entire margin and the yellowish mid-vein, the papery fibrous ocrea where the petiole meets the stem, and a close-up of the seeds.  At this point the seeds were still not too sticky. l tried stripping the mid-vein free and eating raw, not bad but fibrous at this maturity.

Burdock  have gotten very large this week, at the Charles St end of Rolandvue and the south side of Cloverlea.  The foragers are mainly interested in the deep root of the burdock, requiring digging down alongside the plant.  Do you gain enough energy to make up for the digging?  But the plant size is impressive.  The purple flowers will turn into the somewhat dreaded sticky burrs.  Again the yin yang, noxious invasive weed or prized asian vegetable?

large burdock stalk,too late for forage,watch for flowers and burrs.

Wood sorrel is on the Charm City farm list this week, the photo is from the 1009 Cloverlea driveway but it is everywhere. With the usual warnings this is relatively safe to try in moderation.  Like many plants it has oxalates. Flowering (small yellow) is done. Leaf like a shamrock.

wood sorrel,pleasant slightly acid taste,better out of the roadway and before  lawn herb spray.

occasional wood sorrel flower still remaining end of June

The plant in the next photos was a mystery until we looked back at the list from last year. It is the early growth of the Joe Pye weed with the whirl of leaves coming off the central stalk. Thought to be used more for folk medicine than foraging.  This was at the corner of Cloverlea and Rolandvue.  This is a rich area, but not unexpected.  "Edges" are one of the richest habitats and road margins qualify as edges.  Just better for virtual foraging not actual foraging.