School of Self-reliance's Sowthistle Page

School of Self-reliance

Wild Food

See the hummingbird? She nested in our avocado tree Christmas 2001

I took this in our front yard. It is young, as you might find it in early spring.

Sowthistle

Sowthistle is a tender and tasty green that comes up in the spring, and can last into summer with sufficient rain / irrigation and temperate weather.

The greens and buds can be used fresh in salads, or added through the juicer to fresh carrot or other vegetable juice. The unopened flower-buds make interesting pickles, and we put up several jars of them this past spring (along with garlic, nasturtium seed, and mallow "cheesewheels").

Our goose, Blue Girl, LOVES sowthistle, and has learned to wait expectantly by the fence each time we go up to the wild garden.

This is a more mature plant, as might be found in late spring or early summer. This one is growing now (December 2001) in our wild garden. We've had alot of warm weather and rain this fall, so many spring greens are up and thriving.

These pages are intended to be an aid to learning about wild edibles -- but cannot substitute for the
essential training one needs to get from a knowledgeable guide.

The ONLY "thumbrule" worth knowing:
Know your plants!
"When in doubt, do without!"