Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
Outdoor Activities => Northern Ireland Camping and Bushcraft => Topic started by: Celt_Ginger on May 11, 2009
-
I'm sure that all of us have a load os plants in our gardens that we don't know about, so during the last weekend, I went out with a field guide and set about trying to ID some of the things to be found growing in the garden, apart from the obvious plants that I already know. Now I live in the country, so my garden had a pertty large variety of plants, including crab apple, pear, hazel, lime, birch, pine, alder, willow etc but I wanted to look closer at the smaller plants that grow. I managed to find
1. Meadowsweet, which was the plant that inspired Aspirin
2. Wood anemone, a pretty, but poisonous flower
3. Wood sorrel, which tastes like green apple, but don't eat too much.
4. Lesser celandine, a plant used by herbalists over 200 years ago
5. Dandelions, which are completely eatable, the flowers, the leaves and the roots.
6. Soft rush. peel off the outer skin and expose the soft spongy inner. Once dry it makes excellent tinder for fire lighting
7. Herb Robert, a plant used in medieval times for blood disorders
8. Nettles, whose uses include cordage, food,and even as a treatment for arthritis
9. Hogweed, a plant with eatable leaves, but eat them while they are young
10. Sorrel, a very palatable plant once in common use as a vegetable
these are just some of the plants in my garden. What have you been able to find in yours?
-
I would love to be able to identify what's in my garden. Unfortunately I have zero experience of plant identification. It's hard to know where to start with this kind of thing.
-
i would start by getting a couple of good guide books. Even the Collins Gem books are very good and at £4.99 each are very good value. Go for "Wild Flowers" and "Food for Free" as 2 good ones to start off with.
-
I've bought myself a book on trees but not really had a chance to get out into the woods yet - I can still only identify Christmas and Shoe ;) I'll get something on edibles next - I think it would be a really useful skill to have.
-
If you are interested, give me a shout and I'll see if I can get Mouldsey from our group to come out with us some time. He's like a human Google when it comes to plant ID
-
I've heard that dandelions are edible a few times now, and that they can be used for tea and stuff, but for years I thought they were poisonous. I could have sworn the SAS survival guide said they caused swollen male bits! Is that daisies or something?
-
Yeah, I guess it is daisies; they're on a toxic plant list I found, anyway:
http://www.plantsciences.ucdavis.edu/ce/king/PoisPlant/Tox-COM.htm
-
Yeah, I guess it is daisies; they're on a toxic plant list I found, anyway:
http://www.plantsciences.ucdavis.edu/ce/king/PoisPlant/Tox-COM.htm
Alright mate,
The common daisey is not toxic to the extend it will make you ill, but if you have any doubt's leave it out.
Every plant we eat has toxins it them, but there is not enough to kill us or make us ill. For e.g Tomatoes come from the same family as Deadly nightshade and is Identicle in it's growth and flower's but the tomatoe as we all know is not toxic, like the potatoe it comes from the same family as the sweet pea which is highly toxic to us and will kill us yet we eat potatoe's.
What I am trying to say is that you need to get a good feild guide which will tell you firstly what the plant is and secondly what it is used for i:e medicene or food.
I personaly carry two or three books with me when I am going to I:d plants even then I always get a second or third opinion on the correct I:D.
If you want the names of some good feild guides let me know and I will point you in the right direction as to where you can get them.
Davy.
-
Yes, Davy will often get me to eat wierd and wonderful stuff that he hasn't a clue what it is. If I survive, then HE eats it, lol ;D