Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1917-11-12
Wild Greens and
Salad Plants
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. ::.:..,.:::::::::,;.::.::;


Many of the wild plants that accom-
pany the advent OF spring can be used
advantageously in the household. Be-
fore modern methods OF marketing,
storing, and preserving made It pos
sible TO have vegetables throughout
the year, these plants were eagerly
sought for by housekeepers to furnish
relief from the mOnotonOus winter
fare. Even now they will form well
come change, and, above all. they may
be had for the trouble OF picking, as
substitutes for purchased greens.
Foremost among these plants is the
dandelion Its use as vegetable Is
so common that ii is sold in many city
markets. Occasionally it is cultivated
by market gardeners, but much more
frequently the plants sold are wild
ones and ought to cost less than cutl-
waited green's. When some one il the
family can dig them near home. there
can be no doubt as 70 the economy
of using them. II they are taken
from the lawn, there is the further
advantage OF removing troublesome
weed-providing always that the dig
ging is carefully done. Only the dan
delon should be pulled, not the grass
around it. and the root should be re-
moved, not broken off at the top, else
several crowns of leaves may grow in
the place of one. AS in most stem and
leaf vegetables, the texture and flavor
are both best when the plants are
young.
Growing as they do close to the sur
face of the ground. dandelion greens
are likely to be full of earth and grit,
and must be carefully washed and
rinsed in several waters. The water
in which they have just been rinsed
should never be poured out of the pan
over the greens, but the greens should
be lifted out of the water so that the
dirt which has settled to the bottom
may not get back on the leaves, and
for the same reason the cooked
greens" should be lifted out of the
water in which they are boiled.
The most common way of using dan
delions is a potherb or greens. AS
with most green vegetables, it Is a
mistake to cook them more than is
needed to make them tender. II they
are boiled with Is teaspoOnful (leyeD
of cooking soda to each quart of
greens used. they will keep their color
better. Young dandelions may also
be used uncooked as salad, a custom
less common in this country than in
Europe, where the tender plants are
sometimes blanched like asparagu.. II
more dandelions are available than
can be used while they are fresh they
may be preserved for future use. They
may be canned by the method used
by the canning clubs for spinach, or
they may be put down in salt ac-
cording to household method. In
many homes ii is a common practice
TO preserve dandelion greens with salt
in stone crooks, putting in first layer
OF greens, then a layer of salt, then
more greens. and so on, until the
crock is filled The dandelions are
then covered with a close-fitting plate
or board, on which a weight "a clean
piece of marble or a stone) is placed
to keep the green's packed solid.
Other wild plants used as potherbs
are curly dock, pigweed or lambs
quarters, chickweed, mustard shoots,
purple milkweed shoots, Young horse
| radish leaves, marsh marigold (some-
times called American cowslip), poke
sprouts, pepper cress. purslane or
'pusley," and in the southwestern
States some sorts of cactus leaves and
stalks. Ii the bitter or acrid fla or is
too strong, as is frequently the case
with horseradish leaves or poke
sprouts, for example, it may be lessen
ed by changing the water once or
twice during cooking. Rightly cooked,
all OF the plants mentioned are harm
less. Marsh marigold is sometimes
said to be harmful, but this is not the
case with the cooked greens,
A little later in the season few
other potherbs appear which, though
cultivated rather than wild, are SO
seldom utilized that to use them
means as much saving as If no care
had been spent to raise them. Among
these are the tops of turnips, radishes,
beets. and onions, all of which may be
cooked like spinach or dandelion. The
onion tops should be cut up into inch
lengths before cooking. They are ex-
cellent served on toast. Cabbage
sprouts are also fayorite when they
are obtainable.
There are also few salad plants
TO be had for the picking. Like all
food materials eaten without cooking
they must be very. carefully washed
before using. Water cress is perhaps
the one most generally known. 1t is
also cultivated. 1t should never be
eaten if 1t has been gluwn where
there is any chance of contamination
from typhoid fever or other disease
This is true of any vegetable that IL
uncooked, but must be remembered
especially in connection with plants
growing near water. since the latter
may have carried the disease germs 0
long way from the place where the
illness vas. Peppergrass or pepper