Foraging prickly sow thistle: pictures, flowers, leaves & identification for Sonchus asper

Latin Name: Sonchus asper
Common Names: Prickly sow thistle, spiny sow thistle, sharp sow thistle, rough milk thistle
Season: Early spring
Edible: Yes 
Flavor: Good
Medicinal and nutritional value: Vitamin rich, antioxidant strong, liver and kidney purifying 
Identification difficulty: Beginner

The leaves of this plant are at a good stage for harvest

Despite the texture, prickly sow thistle is one of the edible wild plants I look forward to the most every spring. 

If you can work around the prickles, which is easy enough to do when planning dishes that need to be pureed (like sauces and soups), you are rewarded with a wonderfully rich leafy green. The flavor is generally very mild with only a slight bitterness, comparable to swiss chard or belgian endive, to add complexity. Most everyone who eats leafy greens will enjoy properly prepared prickly sow thistle. 

Perhaps even better, prickly sow thistle is extremely common 

Nutritional & medicinal benefits

The sow thistle family (Sonchus) is one of the ones where a significant amount of research has been done into nutrition and potential medicinal benefits. Sow thistles have long been accepted as health foods, associated with liver and kidney purification. 

Recent studies have shown that the sow thistles, particularly the prickly sow thistle, are antioxidant powerhouses. Antioxidants have been shown to reduce the effects of aging, both on the body and mind. They also lower your cancer risk. 

While antioxidant extractions are available in pills, syrups, etc., studies show that the best way to gain the positive effects of antioxidants might simply be to incorporate a large number of antioxidant-rich foods into your diet. 

All three sow thistles were found to be rich dietary fiber and in vitamin E, though smooth sow thistle (Sonchus arvensis) had the highest concentrations. Like most leafy greens, sow thistles have a lot of valuable minerals, including potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, sodium and selenium. Smooth sow thistle is the best of the 3 for potassium, common sow thistle has the highest concentration of iron and prickly sow thistle offers the most calcium. 

As an added bonus, sow thistles DO NOT have large amounts of oxalic acid, even though they exhibit red coloration. They contain less than 10% of the oxalic acid found in spinach or swiss chard, for example, and less than 5% of the oxalic acid in purslane. 

To learn more about the antioxidant properties of prickly sow thistle, check out this article from the National Library of Medicine. 

To learn more about the nutritional qualities of the sow thistle genus, please read this article from the National Library of Medicine. 

History as a food crop

There are three, common, wide-spread sow thistles: Common sow thistle (Sonchus oleraceus), prickly sow thistle (Sonchus asper) and smooth sow thistle (Sonchus arvensis). They are native to Europe, particularly the Mediterranean regions. They are now found throughout temperate North and South America, Australia and New Zealand, the Middle East, and much of Asia and Africa. 

A good-sized haul of prickly sow thistle leaves,
ready to cook and eat

Our earliest record of sow thistles as a food comes from the ancient Greeks, who considered it to be strengthening, and used the non-prickly varieties in salads, especially during winter time when greens were scarce.

Europeans in the middle ages valued the sow thistles for animal feed. The name "sow thistle" comes from farmers feeding the plant to sows with piglets; it was believed that this plant increased lactation.

As traditional agriculture became the standard in Europe and European colonies, like the U.S., sow thistles came to be regarded as common weeds, and a great deal is spent to eradicate them. 

But that is not always the case in areas where sow thistles have spread. 

As European agricultural practices spread with colonization, many native species of plants, which were essential food sources for the native peoples, were wiped out. Eurasian plant species had evolved a centuries-long history of competition, due to exposure to other plant species spread via trade routes. As a general rule, these plants could out-compete native species, which is why dandelions, plantains, sow thistles and others are considered common weeds today. 

But many native peoples have embraced the "weeds" traditional agriculture rejects, and have used them to supplement or replace native plants that have been decimated. Sow thistles in particular are consumed by the Māori of New Zealand and the by the native peoples of the rural Brazilian rainforest regions.

In addition to the three most wide-spread sow thistles there are many regional species, especially in Africa and some hype-local species in places like the Canary Islands, some of which are used for food. 

Foraging for Goldenrod, Avoid Poisonous Ragwort

Young goldenrod shoots growing up from
last year's dead plants. This is probably
the best age for the stalk + leaf combo

Identification difficulty before blooming: Novice 

Identification difficulty after blooming: Beginner

Goldenrod shoots and leaves are in season right now. 

There are over a hundred species of Goldenrod, all of which are members of the genus Solidago, and they are mostly native to the Americas, although some come from Eurasia. There are far too many to learn each one, though in time you will become familiar with the varieties that live near you. 

And there will be a goldenrod near you, as varieties of the plant are available from parts of South America, all the way north into Alaska and the northernmost Canadian provinces.

Goldenrod is generally considered to be an easy plant to identify, and it is, so long as it's in bloom. 

Before the flower blossoms, goldenrod has several look-a-like species, at least one of which is poisonous, and I don't think this look-a-like gets enough attention in the foraging world. 

But before we go over that, let's talk about goldenrod in general.

Goldenrod taste and uses

These goldenrod plants are about 4ft tall,
at this stage you can break off the top 
5 inches, as long as it is tender.
The leaves are also good here.

The entire above-ground portion of goldenrod is edible. The most common use is a tea, brewed either from the young leaves or the flowers, with the flower-tea more often served chilled. Tender leaves can also be eaten raw or cooked, though they are strongly flavored and are best mixed in with other greens, like in a salad. The young shoots (under 6 inches or so) and tender tips of growing plants can be used as a cooked green, though they are also quite strong in flavor. 

Leaves and plant tips should only be used before the flower buds form, after that they loose flavor and become tough.

You have to really enjoy strong-flavored plants to like goldenrod. The flavor has been described as similar to licorice, though I personally disagree. Perhaps some varieties do taste like black licorice, but in my experience, Forager Chef's description of "the Aster flavor" is more appropriate. It has a strong flavor unique to the aster family, which is otherwise hard to describe. 

Foraging: Identification of edible, young spring pokeweed / poke sallet

Identification difficulty: Novice

This post is a long time coming, I really should have made this post a long time ago. You see, it's bothered me for a while that pokeweed, Phytolacca americana, is such a popular edible wild plant, such a well-known plant, such a historically significant plant, and yet there is so very little info out there helping identify it when it's young and harvestable. 

There is a ton of info to help identify the mature plant, which is very easy to ID. But as I wrote once before, you can't EAT pokeweed when it's mature -- it becomes fatally poisonous. 

But in the early spring, they young shoots and leaves can be harvested, and, if properly prepared, are safe to eat -- even delicious. Like the best baby spinach you've ever imagined. 

It's such a popular food of the American South that it's been a part of our nation's cultural heritage, even becoming the theme of a hit song, Poke Salet Annie, in the late 1960s. 

If you've been curious about how to safely identify pokeweed when it's young, you've come to the right post!

Common places to look for pokeweed

Pokeweed is a transitional understory plant. Transitional meaning it thrives in the transitional period where as field and meadow become forest. It gets crowded out fairly easily by trees, so you will rarely find it in deep forest, instead look for small forest clearings (usually where a massive old tree has fallen, leaving an open space), on the edges of meadows or farmland and along man-made or animal trails. In nature, "washes" -- places where spring rainwater frequently comes down the sides of hills, clearing out small trees, frequently grow pokeweed.

This pokeweed is too mature to eat.
But it is growing in a classic spot: on
the edge between a field and woodlands

Pokeweed seed reproduction is very complicated. The seeds can't germinate UNLESS they've been swallowed and digested by a bird--exposed to that specific mix of chemicals inside an avian GI tract--and deposited in the highly acidic bird feces. 

However, if pokeweed roots get broken up, any piece of root about 2-3" long can grow a new plant. For this reason, human activity can spread pokeweed around like crazy. During excavation, construction and earth-moving, people may inadvertently break up a pokeweed plant, creating dozens more at the edges of construction, where the root-bearing dirt has been deposited. 

Consequently, look for pokeweed for along the edges of suburban developments built within the past 5 years, or along any area kept clear of trees by human activity: farms, parks/playgrounds, the edges sporting fields and along trails are all good places to look. 

The most pokeweed I personally ever saw was when my parents had their new Connecticut home build in 1990, when I was 10. The land had been farmland until the early 1900s, at which point it had been allowed to grow feral, reverting to forest, with tree ages not that much older than 50 years at most. There were also several clearings. In one of those clearings, where my parents build their house, there must have been at least one pokeweed plant, because when they dug the foundation, they disturbed those roots. For several years after, we had literally HUNDREDS of pokeweed plants surrounding the clearing of our home, until eventually small saplings started to grow into small trees, forcing the pokeweed out. 

Young spring pokeweed identification 

Many North Americans already know mature pokeweed by sight. It's hard to miss, as the plant can grow 6 feet tall and equally wide, in arching red boughs, bearing large, deep green leaves and 4-6 inch clusters of deep purple-black fruit on red stems.  

The problem is, by the time pokeweed is easy to spot and identify, it's well past the point where it can be safely eaten. This post will help you identify young pokeweed in the spring, when its safe to consume (after proper preparation): 

Super young pokeweed growth. Note the stalks of last year's plants in the background

Dried up old fruit is the 
best way to pre-find pokeweed

Finding young pokeweed

When it first pokes out of the ground, pokeweed will mostly be visible by the leaves, which at this stage will be bright green, almost neon, wrinkled, ruffled at the edges, and with very prominent underside veins. 

Pokeweed is perennial: once established, it will regrow from the roots year after year. For that reason, you can find pokeweed before it grows by finding last year's plants. 

The stalks of pokeweed plants are long, hollow tubes that are beige in color, but often feature grey or black streaking and spotting. There will always be some dried up clusters of pokeweed fruit dangling from one branch or another. 

Side note: because old pokeweed stalks are hollow, breaking up the tubes makes an excellent tinder/fire starter, as long as they are very dry. 

The stalk is the most important way to identify pokeweed. 
Note in the slightly older plants on the right, the skin should be peeled away from the plant base
before preparing it for consumption

Stalk color and growth pattern

Pokeweed is safest
when the skin is
super thin, like this

The stalk is the most important identification feature for young pokeweed. The leaves and overall plant shape resemble many other wild plants (some poisonous) but the stalk is very unique -- once you know what to look for. 

The stalk of young pokeweed is translucent neon green tube around a white core, covered with a super thin, translucent skin that peels away pretty easily from breaks. 

The white core of the stalk is actually made up of parallel, horizontal chambers, which you can see easily by breaking into the stalk with a vertical cut. However, the younger the plant, the closer and tighter together the chambers will be, making them harder to see. 

The skin should be green, yellowish or faintly red. If the red coloring is more than just a hint, or faint streaks, then your pokeweed is too mature and should not be eaten. 

There is no hair on the stem, in fact if feels super smooth -- like plastic.

As the plant grows, the skin becomes thicker, and easier to peel away as a whole unit, without tearing. The group of pictures above shows two plants, the core on the left is at the perfect stage of size and growth. The middle and right are at just the last stages, and require a little extra prep work.  Notice on the left how the skin holds together and doesn't tear when pealed away from the central stalk. On plants of this age, I would peel the skin away from the base of the plant, and not cook it. The skin carries more of the dangerous chemicals than the green interior. 

How to identify and forage redbud: early spring flowers, mid spring veggies

Identification difficulty: Beginner 

If you live in the Southern, Mid-Atlantic, or Western states of the US, there's a good chance you know redbud, even if you don't think you know it.

Redbuds are the earliest splash of color seen among the trees, even before most leaves are starting to bud. It looks like a fairy passed though and completely encircled the branches in vivid pink. Everything about redbud is charming: beautiful pink flowers, heart shaped leaves, and delicate branches.

They are lovely. . . and edible! In the early - mid spring, redbud flowers add unique flavor and stunning color to a variety of dishes. Young leaves can be cooked, or used sparingly in salads. Late in the spring, you can enjoy the most robust edible from this spectacular tree: the soft green seed pods.

Redbud trees are in the genus Cercis, and the most commonly encountered is Cercis canadensis, the Eastern redbud. Despite the name "canadensis",  it's more thoroughly distributed in the United States than in Canada.

Redbuds are great for urban and suburban foraging, as they are often planted in neighborhoods along sidewalks, and I see them a lot on corporate campuses, in parking lots, and along park/bike trails.

Vegetarian garlicky cleavers walnut pesto. Keto foraging recipe, paleo and vegan optional.

This pesto is not only the best pesto I've ever made, it's the best pesto I've ever tasted, period. If you have cleavers, please try this pesto now. If you trust no other recipe on this site, trust this one. This garlicky cleavers pesto is something you need in your life.

This pesto is fast, simple and can go on absolutely ANYTHING, but of course, I enjoy it best simply tossed with some pasta. This wild herb pesto is a great condiment, it's super healthy because of the nutritious cleavers, and low-carb keto, as well as being vegetarian. If you omit the cheese, it's also Paleo and Vegan!

This recipe has some weird steps, that I came upon entirely by accident, but they worked out so well!

Cleavers are a very common backyard "weed" that's super easy to identify. If it's early to mid-spring, I guarantee that you can find some near you, perhaps in a local park. They have a great herbal flavor, vaguely like oregano, but mostly uniquely their own. Cleavers should be boiled before eating, and I prefer them pureed as well, to avoid textural issues.

How I find and safely eat pokeweed shoots in early spring

Hi all, I'd like to start by saying, this post is my personal story about how I safely eat pokeweed, a plant which can be deadly if not properly harvested and prepared.

I prepare poke the way my Southern grandma did; many people say now that the old ways are too conservative, that the plant is safe to harvest older, and to spend less time processing. I believe that those people do what's right for them, but I don't think that there is a "right for everyone" way to eat this plant. 

Though I will share some tips for identification, this is not primarily an identification post, rather a personal experience post. Maybe I'll do an ID post down the line. 

Pokeweed should not be eaten by young children, or women who are pregnant, looking to become pregnant, or breastfeeding.

UPDATE: I now have an identification post for young spring pokeweed. Read on to learn how to prepare poke, but to identify, click here.

Pokeweed quick history

Pokeweed was extensively eaten throughout the Eastern and Southern United States until quite recently, sometime in the 1960s. It was an especially important food for the early colonists, some Native American tribes, African Americans, and the people of Appalachia. It's free, very abundant, easy to identify and one of the earliest greens that can be harvested in the spring. Pokeweed also has an important role as a dye for fabrics, and in the traditional medicines of the Native Americans and the people of Appalachia.

Pokeweed was most commonly prepared as "Poke Sallet", sometimes corrupted as "Poke Salad" but it's important NEVER to eat these plants raw, doing so can make you sick or worse. Poke sallet are boiled greens that are then fried up with bacon and butter to make a hearty meal perfect for the season: using the end of last years preserved meats with the fresh taste of new greens.

The Declaration of Independence is written in pokeweed ink, as were many of the letters Civil War soldiers wrote home. (It was free and readily available).  Supporters of 1844 Presidential candidate James Polk wore pokeweed on their lapels. (He went on to win, against the odds, and become the 11th President of the United States). Poke Salad Annie was a 1969 Billboard hit, about a poor Southern girl who has to eat poke, as it's free.

Foraging for wild violets: identification, edibility and sustainable harvesting

Identification difficulty: Beginner 

Wild violets are a beautiful, fleeting part of early spring. They grow low to the ground, dainty and unassuming, but bring a smile to every woodland walk. They are found in Europe and North America, and apparently in Australia as well.

Violets are also a tasty edible wildflower, with a unique flavor and aroma which has been valued for centuries. Violets were a vogue flavor in Victorian era, and after, up until the First World War. They were used in candy and baked goods; but trench warfare, and subsequent post-war expansion of roadways and urban areas across Europe, tore up many of the fields they were harvested from.

Perhaps its most famous use is in Creme de Violette, a liqueur made by infusing violets into a brandy or neutral spirit. Creme de Violette is beautiful and delicious, with deep purple color, delicate aroma, and impossible to replicate floral taste. For years it was nearly impossible to get a hold of (due to the scarcity of wild violets), but new crops are being harvested from the alps.

You too can experience the unique and elegant taste of violets, and without the expensive price tag, simply by taking a walk in the woods!

It's important to know that violets are native to our forests, not an introduced species. They are also essential for the heath of pollinators, like bees, so sustainable harvesting is a must! 

Identifying spring curly dock: an edible, weedy wild plant

This is one of the most healthy, beautiful curly dock plants I've ever seen

Identification difficulty level: novice

Curly dock, Latin name: Rumex crispus, is an excellent wild plant to know. It provides food for at least 6-9 months, and year-round in some climates. It's fairly easy to identify, and grows abundantly throughout all of non-Arctic North America. Curly dock has a mild flavor, a subtly sour note, and a pleasant texture, making it a very versatile ingredient in the kitchen. Curly dock comes from Eurasia, so it's an invasive species here in the Americas. Invasivore eating is one of the most locally-sourced, extremely sustainable ways to look at food. 

Easy to ID, delicious, abundant, nutritious, and sustainable? I wonder why everyone isn't jumping on the curly dock bandwagon!

Small warning: curly dock has oxalic acid, and should be avoided by people with rheumatoid arthritis and kidney or liver problems, more on that below. 

Deadnettle and Henbit: two edible, medicinal herbal weeds of early spring

Left: purple deadnettle, right: henbit

Deadnettle identification difficulty: Novice
Henbit identification difficulty: Beginner

These two weedy wildflowers of early spring are very similar. They both have dark green leaves, bright pink/purple flowers with long necks, and grow low go the ground, no higher than 6" or so. Both somewhat resemble nettles, but neither have a sting. They frequently grow together, and are often confused for one another, so I thought I'd do a combo post about them.

Caution: deadnettle should not be taken while pregnant or trying to become pregnant.

This is purple deadnettle, Lamium purpureum. It's also known as red deadnettle and purple archangel, and it has a closely related variety, called spotted deadnettle, Lamium maculatum, whose leaves have white spots or patches.

This is henbit, Lamium amplexicaule, sometimes called henbit deadnettle. I've also found it in a white-flowered variety, which I'm having a hard time getting info about, so I can't tell you the Latin name, but I've tried it, and it seems to be perfectly edible as well. Nearly all mints are edible, so it's a fairly safe family to try in small amounts, before you move on to whole meals

white henbit

Both are wild herbs in the mint family, but don't taste like mints. Lots of our herbs are actually mints, including basil, sage and oregano. Like many other herbs, deadnettle and have medicinal properties, and can be used as a food and flavoring. Because deadnettle and henbit are closer to the wild, many feel that their medical qualities are stronger.

Mid-winter foraging in Texas, what's in season? (Early spring plants for everywhere else)

I really love living in Texas. The fact that I can forage year-round, even in the dead of winter, makes me so happy. And I've been taking advantage whenever I can. In some ways, the stark landscape makes foraging easier, with no tree leaves to block the view.

I realized I hadn't done a "What's in Season?" post in quite a while, and I also thought that everyone might be curious about mid-winter foraging, especially if you live in the Southern US. So this is kind of a combo post. It's focused on what foraging you can find in Texas in mid-winter, but generally the same plants apply for early spring up in the Northeast and Midwest.

10 Edible plants & mushrooms in Texas mid-winter 

1. Purple deadnettle

Purple deadnettle, or Lamium purpureum, is a common, easy-to-identify, member of the mint family. Like all mints, it's an edible, flavorful, herb. But, it doesn't taste minty, not all mints do. Did you know that basil is a mint? Well it is, and so is oregano, sage, rosemary and more, including deadnettle. Deadnettle is named for its passing resemblance to nettles, the unrelated Urtica genus. Deadnettles LOOK like stinging nettles, with similar heart-shaped leaves, but they don't actually sting. They also have very different flowers, that look a bit like snapdragons and come in pink or purple.

Deadnettle can be eaten raw, though I prefer it cooked, as it has a bit of hair on the stems and leaves. It's very herby, and slightly bitter. Use it like baby kale!

Foraging: How to Find, Identify, Prepare and Eat Wild Cleavers Weeds

Cleavers (Latin name: Galium aparine) are extremely easy plants to ID, in fact, you probably know them already if you spend much time in the woods or the fields.  They grow throughout most of the U.S., certainly across the lower 48, and also across much of Canada and Mexico. They originate in Europe and Asia, and have been introduced to Australia. I am not sure about South American growth, but basically you can find them almost anywhere.

In addition to being easy to find, abundant, and having medicinal qualities, they taste pretty good. . . If you can get past the texture. That's a pretty big IF.   I'll share with you tips on how to find,  harvest, identify, and prepare cleavers in a way that will help you get past their weird textural issues.

Identification difficulty: Beginner

A note of caution: many people are allergic to cleavers. Use more caution than with most wild plants: please sample only a very small amount at first, and it's worth it to take some time to do a skin test. Also, cleavers may work to stimulate uterine contractions in women, so don't eat them if you are pregnant, may become pregnant or nursing. Finally, people on high blood pressure and/or blood thinning medications should avoid cleavers. More on all this below.

Foraging: What is in Season, Early Spring

Hi all! An early spring has come to Texas, and has me out foraging a full 6 weeks earlier than I usually did in New Jersey. The weather has been comparable to early/mid April back North and the edibles I've been finding are usually out at that time too.

Given the mild weather, I imagine this is early even for Texas, so most other years expect these plants in mid-March down here. 

As always, identification remains ultimately your responsibility, and never eat anything without checking multiple reliable sources, as pictures on the internet aren't  always 100% clear or color accurate. Please read my entire disclaimer up top.

But without further ado, here are some plentiful edibles out in early spring:

Spring is Springing, and so are the Edibles

Young Ramps just starting to peek out.

Hello! Did you miss me? I wasn't the best blogger last fall, and I certainly was absent all winter. I had plans too. . . I was going to do book reviews during the winter months, but I just couldn't get excited about writing them. No more promises this year. . .I will post when I have something to share, and I won't when I don't.

Anyway, spring is back, kind of--due to the harshness of the season, it's about 2 weeks behind where it usaually is right about now.

If you are new and curious, now is actually a good time to start getting into foraging. Edibles aren't quite as abundant or as large as they will be in a couple of weeks, but they are in some ways easier to spot, as they generally come up earlier than cultivated plants. Of course, they are also harder to ID, since most websites and books don't show the young plants, they only showcase mature specimens.

With that in mind, there are some photos I would like to share, which showcase some of the things popping up right about now,

Before I begin, I want to reiterate the ground-rules. Proper identification is the responsibility of the harvester. I am giving you clues and tips as to how I identify things, it is your job to confirm them with reliable sources to your own satisfaction. If you are ever in the slightest doubt about a plant or mushroom--don't eat it. Also, don't harvest edibles from areas that may be contaminated. This would include areas that may have been exposed to pestasides, fungasides and weed-killers, areas near highways or busy streets, areas that may have had industrial or chemical run-off, and areas frequently trafficked by people walking their dogs. Finally, this guide is for Early Spring (usually late March to early April) in the Northeast, only! That is to say, New England and the Mid-Atlantic states, and north to Ontario and Quebec in Canada. What grows in your spring might be totally different. Even in the Northeast, remember to factor in "early" and "late" spring conditions.