In my line of teaching another thing I also find people to be illogically scared about are poisonous plants. When I take people out into the wilds and we are gathering wild edibles or medicinals I will invariably get the question...but what if it's poisonous? I don't teach about plants that have a poisonous look alike that any person with an ounce of common sense can't tell apart. There are some plants out there that one of them is okay to eat and the other will kill you dead and the only way to tell them apart is by bringing them into a lab, but those are rare and I'm not going to try to get you to eat them. Heck, I probably don't eat them because why would I risk it?
The one kind of plant that I teach about that gets the most fearful glances is those plants with WHITE UMBREL FLOWERS (cue scary music in the background). This is because the plant that has caused the most deaths through poisoning of any other plant here in North America is the water hemlock and it has a white umbrel flower.
Above is a picture of what this flower looks like. An umbrel flower means its flowers are made up of stalks radiating out from a central stem with many little flowerettes at the end of the stalks. And yes, it is a deadly poison. Eating just a small portion of the leaf will kill you. And the scary thing about it is that the poison takes a bit of time to work, so by the time you are showing symptoms it is too late to have your stomach pumped because the plant has already been digested.
If you see a plant that has leaves like this:
Or a purple streaked or spotted stem that is solid all the way through like this:
For goodness sake STAY AWAY FROM IT. If it is growing in your pastures, put on rubber gloves and pull it out by the roots before your livestock eats it. Some people are so susceptible to the poisons they can get very ill just by handling the plant.
The thing is, the wild edibles that I teach about that have white umbrel flower can be told apart from water hemlock by anyone who is not trying to force the plant to look like something its not. Using common sense while gathering wild edibles and medicinals is a must. If you use common sense, you'll be fine. If you're one of those people who leap before you look maybe you should only gather with someone who is going to take the time to check things out. There's nothing wrong with being impulsive, I would think it would be a fun way to live life, but gathering wild edibles by yourself may not be the best occupation for you. Hey, I can't crochet. My mother has tried to teach me, I knit just fine, but the part of my mind that should be able to crochet just never developed fully. We each have our own thing we are simply not good at.
So now that we have gotten past the scary umbrel, lets move onto wild carrot or queen anne's lace. While this is not my favorite wild edible to eat, it is one of my favorites to gather. Being out in a field surrounded by the fading flowers of queen anne's lace is a magical place to be indeed.
First a bit about wild carrot. It is the direct ancestor of the modern day domestic carrot. Every carrot you have eaten or will eat owes what it is to the wild carrot. And almost all the characteristics of a domestic carrot come from the wild carrot. Keep that in mind because many people who have tried wild carrot and didn't like it don't seem to know this.
The leaves of a wild carrot are the same as a domestic carrot.
The flowers are the same as a domestic carrot.
The scent of the roots are the same and the life cycle of the wild carrot is the same as the domestic carrot.
About the only thing that is different is the carrot itself, or the root of the plant. In domestic carrots you usually harvest a tender, orange tap root that you can eat just as soon as you wash it off.
Wild carrots are a bit different.
First, the root isn't orange, it's off-white (maybe if you squint it might be slightly orange-ish). Second it isn't tender...well... that's not quite true. The outer shell of the wild carrot is tender, but this is only about 1/4 of an inch thick. Then you get to the inner core-that gets tough and is pretty much inedible. It's not poisonous, it's just not good to eat even if your teeth could bite through it. Third, the root often branches, so while technically it is a tap root, it doesn't really look like one all the time. About the only thing that will make you think of a carrot when you dig up a wild carrot is the smell. And that's the big way of identifying a wild carrot over any other plant. If the root doesn't smell like a carrot, it's not a carrot. End of story. If you think it might smell like a carrot, or it kinda smells like a carrot, don't eat it. All fresh carrots, be they domestic or wild, smell very much like a carrot.
So here's the other thing to know; all carrots share the same life cycle, which is that of a biennial. This means it takes two years to produce seeds. The first year the plant gathers as much energy as it can with its frilly little leaves. This energy is stored in the roots throughout the first winter. Then all that energy comes out of the root and goes into building the big flowers and seed heads. For human consumption sake, this means that the wild carrot is only good to eat if it is harvested before those roots get rid of all their energy in its second spring.
I don't know how many people I have seen digging up queen anne's lace flowers to eat the root only to spit it out because it is very bitter. That's because energy for plants is starch or sugar. By the time those flower head are made there is no energy in the roots which means there is not sugar there. They will taste like crap. Queen anne's lace is a beautiful flower and an excellent beginning to a seed head, but it is not a sign of food for people.
To find the wild carrot you want to eat you must look waaayyy down on the ground for that little carrot leaf that has no flower attached. The leaf is usually only 2 to 5 inches tall and hidden in the tall grass of an open field. There will probably be a lot of them so you can gather many wild carrots in a short period of time. Smell each carrot as you harvest it to make sure you are getting what you want.
Wild carrot stores the exact same way domestic carrots store. I bury mine in slightly damp sand in a box in the root cellar and they will last long into the next summer before they start sprouting.
Cooking with them is a bit different than cooking with domestic carrots. First is the cutting. Most people who cook with wild carrot just throw the cleaned root in whole to whatever they are cooking and then fish out the core later. If you want to cut it you will need a heavy, sharp knife to get through that tough core. And then you will still have to fish out the pieces of core later. What I use wild carrot for mostly is in venison or bear stew. It has a wonderful flavor, actually better than most domestic carrots, and it gives a good deal of nutrients to the stew. Not to mention it is nice to cook wild meats with wild veggies, they just seem to go together. I also will grate up the outer shell of the root and put it into coleslaw or other salads raw for the yummy, crunch carrot flavor and texture. Slice it the long way and peeled the outer shell off the inner core of the root, then slice it into spears and they will make great glazed carrots. And OMG are they wonderful as a replacement for carrots in carrot cake though it does take a good amount of them and the cake has no orange flecks in it.
They are just sweeter than domestic carrots are, except for the core which tastes like chewy wood. So anything that doesn't need that characteristic round carrot shape can have wild carrot as its substitute.
Not to mention that being out in a sunny field with wild queen anne's lace flowers swaying in the wind above you while you are digging out the first year plants below is just a fun experience. Well worth smelling each and every carrot you pull out of the ground to make sure you don't fall victim to the scary umbrel of water hemlock. If it don't smell like a carrot, it's not a carrot--know this and you are safe.
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