Best overall garden food crop?

[Chris]

Yup, the taste is the same. More or less like yukon golds or red skins.

At my grocery store they have the purple ones, but only in little packages of baby "jewel" potatoes. I may try growing my own this year so that I can get larger ones instead of just the babies.

I like using them for the wow factor with company. Make a purple potato salad or mashed or something, maybe with some squid-ink pasta. People get wigged out.

Heh... that'd actually be a pretty crazy dish... squid ink pasta with a green pesto sauce, mashed purple potatoes, and how about some of that orange cauliflower on the side?

[Rick]

Bulrush - I tried to look at this from a little different perspective so I did some foraging through my Peterson Field Guide. I used your criteria but I also wanted a food source that I could either store over the winter or turn into flower, can or pickle. Something that would be easy to identify, and something that would be available throughout most of North America. Here are a few selections that might be good primitive crops. Some I have tried others I have not:

Water Lillies (Nympraea spp.) - They can be steamed or cooked. Can be turned into flower and the roots produce a tuber that can be used as a potato.

American Lotus , Nelumbo (Nelumbo nutea) - They can be steamed or cooked. The roots produce a tuber that can used as a potato or sweet potato. Seeds can be eaten like nuts or turned into flower.

Wild Mustards (Brassica spp.) - They can be steamed or cooked. Eaten as a salad. Used as a condiment or pickled.

Purslane (Portulaca orleracea) - Can be eaten as a salad, steamed or pickled. The seeds can be ground into flour.

Common dandelion (Taraxacum officianale) - Salad, steamed, cooked, coffee or fried into a fritter

Cattails (Typha spp.) - Salad, cooked, raw, tubers can be used like potatoes, or pickled. Root stocks can be turned into flour.

Greenbriars or Catbriers (Smilax spp.) - Eaten like asparagus, steamed, salad, made into a jelly. Made into a soft drink. Used to thicken stews or used as flour.

[pgvoutdoors]

I may be off a bit, but a friend of mine that I help with his garden last year, said some types of squash can last over a year. It may have been an Acorn Squash. Anyway he said that it had a waxy outer layer and this kept the air form reaching the meat of the plant, in turn keeping it from rotting. He had one in his basement for almost two years. I'm not much of a gardener, but I know the Native Americans raised squash.

[nell67]

The butternut squash has and exteded storage life pvg,of over a year,acorn stores well for 3-6 months,others usually do not store as well.

[pgvoutdoors]

The butternut squash has and exteded storage life pvg,of over a year,acorn stores well for 3-6 months,others usually do not store as well.

Yes, the butternut... He grows them to. That must be it.

[pgvoutdoors]

How about rhubarb and horseradish? They seem to grow pretty easy.

[Rick]

Both good plants but Bulrush was looking for the top 1 or 2 for primitive gardens or situations.

[RobertRogers]

I think what we see here is that a variety of plants would be better than just one mono-culture.

[Rick]

That's for sure. Folks should take time to read and learn about the events that lead up to the Irish potato famine. It an excellent lesson on just that. The transition from wheat and other grass crops to potatoes and finally the famine itself show just how easy it is to forget crop diversity even within plant types.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_potato_famine

[coldkill13]

Here are a few selections that might be good primitive crops. Some I have tried others I have not:


Common dandelion (Taraxacum officianale) - Salad, steamed, cooked, coffee or fried into a fritter

Got any decent recipes? I've tried them so many ways and I've found that they're just so damn bitter! I can only eat them if they're mixed with potatoes or spinach and drenched in a stick of butter and 1 lb of salt!

[marberry]

dont eat blue lotus flowers , theyl get you high lol.

[Rick]

Coldkill - You are right. They can be. Forget all the folk lore you've ever heard about picking early or small leaves. They can all be bitter. I generally wilt the leaves with sugar and vinegar or add it to other greens in a salad.

Here's a great article that explains why they are bitter and several ways to get around the bitterness. It's a really long article so if you want to cut to the chase just scroll down to Understanding the "bitter":

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/kallas82.html

[coldkill13]

Wow Rick. I dont know how you find these things but there's alot of good info about dandelions on there. Infact I didnt think that much could ever possibly be written on a weed. The trouble is I generally dont carry vinegar or sugar with me into the woods. Then again, in a life or death situation, I think I'll manage to put the bitterness aside. On second thought, I'll just start carrying vinegar and sugar with me...

[Rick]

You don't have to be in the woods to enjoy them. They can be used at home just as easy.

[coldkill13]

Hmm... I think I'll just stick to my spinach if I'm at home, but thanks anyway. I wonder if a tea can be made out of the flowers, after all, they can be used to make wine. On the topic of tea, has anyone ever tried making some type of drink out of the red berry-like things on a sumac? My dad said it turns out more like a lemonade than a tea, but anyhow I'd imagine it would be quite refreshing in the brush. I looked into it a bit and what my dad said seems to be confirmed. I've also heard that the hair-like bristles on the berry-like things can be used as a spice. The only thing is that the species that makes a suitable drink is unclear, I've heard of varrying species, some that are good, some that are not. If anyone can clear some of this up for me, I'd be grateful.

[Rick]

I've never heard of making tea from dandelion flowers but they can be battered and fried.

For the Sumac, Rhus spp. - According to my Peterson Field Guide, "When ripe, the hard berries are covered with acidic red hairs. Collect the entire fruit cluster, rub gently to bruise the berries, and soak for 10-15 minutes in cold water. Remove the cluster and pour the pink juice through cheese cloth to strain out the hairs and any loose berries. Sweeter to taste and chill. Tastes like pink lemonade. Gather the clusters before heavy rains wash out most of the acid."

[coldkill13]

Wow, I cant wait to try that now. We sure have plenty of sumacs. Have you ever tried the battered dandellions? Is so, how are they?

[Rick]

No, I haven't.

[bulrush]

Got any decent recipes? I've tried them so many ways and I've found that they're just so damn bitter! I can only eat them if they're mixed with potatoes or spinach and drenched in a stick of butter and 1 lb of salt!

Coldkill, you picked them too late. You must pick them before you see any hint of a flower head. Many plants become bitter or downright poisonous once the flowerhead begins to form.

Also pick only the smallest leaves, not the older darker ones.

[Rick]

bulrush - Truly, that's an old wives tale. The concentration of sesquiterpenes determines the bitterness. I followed the same advice for a long time. Sometimes it worked and other times they were just as bitter as the older leaves. If you find fast growing plants in wet or shaded locations you'll have much better luck.