Re: Ditch lilies
- To: s*@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
- Subject: Re: [SG] Ditch lilies
- From: C* P*
- Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 00:01:31 EDT
In a message dated 4/14/01 11:40:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
diannthoma@EARTHLINK.NET writes:
<<
Exciting! Thanks to you both. Does the satisfaction of nipping these ladies
in the bud add to the spice of the soup?? These lilies sound like prime
candidates for the X Files!
Diann >>
Hi Diann,
I am not one for gathering wild food but I pick and cook the hemerocallis
buds. If you find a patch growing away from roads, twenty feet back or more
is recommended, that is the spot to gather. Almost nobody has any respect
for these plants so picking is usually readily allowed.
The way I learned to use them is to pick the green buds when large and just
before the color shows. You cook them as asparagus. Steam and serve with
butter (or some facsimile thereof if you have found your cholesterol high).
The same person who showed me how to use hem buds also showed me how to
harvest dandelions. You do it as early in the spring as you can find the
plant. With a sharp knife you slip it under the crown and cut the crown away
from the root. You cut off and discard any wintered over leaves. You wash
and cook only the crown, leaving the flower buds on if you wish. This is a
bit of work so hardly ever gets done here but these are good tasting
vegetables. You can buy an improved form of the seed and plant them in the
veg patch. The seed is usually French.
ClairePeplowski
NYS z4
