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View Full Version : Does anyone eat three-cornered-grass



bigoledude
08-21-2008, 02:52 AM
Down here in our portion of SE Louisiana we nearly lost all of our three-cornered-grass (scirpus olneyi) to salt water intrusion. With huge fresh water diversion projects built over the last 10 years, three-cornered-grass has rebounded with hundreds and hundreds of acres of this plant. We see muskrat numbers increasing. Wild hogs cannot resist the meal, exposing themselves in the stands, keeping our freezer full of fine pork. Geese and ducks love it. It is doing a great job of helping keep our marsh from eroding away.

Question; We've been told that the rhizome of this grass is edible. How do you harvest and clean it? Has anyone out there ever eaten it? How does it taste?

canid
08-21-2008, 03:11 AM
i'm not familiar with that particular bullrush, and can't find much info about it so be sure it can be safely eaten, but in my experience, the roots of bullrushes tend to be somewhat stringy/fibrous and seem to be generally much finer, but those known to be edible can be prepared in a similar manner as cattail rhizomes, such as slow roasting/baking them after cleaning and then chewing them till only the stringy pulp is left, or mashing them in cold water, removing the fibrous mass, letting the starches settle out and pouring off much of the water. this can then be cooked with meat/greens/herbs, etc as in a soup or stew or cooked down slowly, then dried in the sun, spread thin on a clean surface and stored dry for some while.

i'm sure there are other methods which would work as well.

it should be noted that cattails [also called reed mace] seem to sometimes be called bullrush aswell in europe.

Rick
08-21-2008, 08:48 AM
Welcome bigolodude. Why not go over to the Introduction section and tells us something about yourself?

I don't eat it but here is what I found on it:

http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/Plants%20of%20Upper%20Newport%20Bay%20(Robert%20De %20Ruff)/Cyperaceae/Scirpus%20americanus.htm (http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/Plants%20of%20Upper%20Newport%20Bay%20%28Robert%20 De%20Ruff%29/Cyperaceae/Scirpus%20americanus.htm)

Read through the General section for edibility.

I shy aware from clumped grasses like that for fear of grabbing something else in the mix.

Merriwether
08-21-2008, 01:50 PM
Yes, I eat this. It's called "nutsedge" around here. The young stems can be steamed to make them more tender. The seeds are good to nibble and if you are lucky the roots will contain edible nodules.

Here is some good information:
http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/weedguide/singlerecord.asp?id=150

-Merriwether

Beo
08-21-2008, 02:47 PM
Eat grass.... hmm no smoked it once:D toke toke pass, toke toke pass.

Rick
08-21-2008, 03:15 PM
Hey Lt! Beo's in the evidence locker again!

Beo
08-21-2008, 03:17 PM
No I wasn't... hey Lt. going for a snack I got the munchies:D