Greetings and Salutations to all you intrepid gardeners out there, welcome back to another installment of the Forage Foods series on Lost In The Farmer’s Market. As you might already know the current Geo-Political situation coupled with inflation and supply shortages has prompted a series on foods you can forage for just in case things go sideways. Even if they don’t, forage foods may have added nutritional benefits and may also have medicinal benefits that can help you out.
Catchweed Bedstraw in urban environments can easily be found near downspouts of large buildings or in areas that don't receive all-day sun. You might find it growing beneath an established shrub too. 
This specimen is growing all over a downspout but also though a crack in cement. It also has seed pods and the photo was taken at the end of April, the heat of the concrete may have accelerated it's growth.
Common Name: Catchweed Bedstraw
Other Common Names: Sticky Willy (Oh myyyy!), Cleavers, Goosegrass, Bedstraw, Clivers, Hitchikers, Stickyweed, Sticky bob, Sticky bud, Sticky back, Sticky Molly, Robin-run-the-hedge, Sticky Willow, Sticky Jack, Stickeljack, Grip Grass, Sticky Grass, Bobby Buttons, Whippysticks and Velcroplant (yeesh this is starting to sound like an bit from Monty Python!)
Botanical Family: Rubiaceae (The Coffee/Madder/Bedstraw Family)
Botanical Latin Name: Galium aparine
Season to Harvest: Typically you would harvest this plant during the spring or early summer.
Habitat: Catchweed Bedstraw typically has a wide distribution on the sites it prefers and is very well adapted to survival once a population is established. In nature it is typically found on sites with moist soil, in rish woodlands along streams and lakes or other bodies of water. In urban environments it will often be found in vacant lots and fields but also near site with higher moisture levels than the surrounding area such as near downspouts or in shaded areas next to a building where water runoff happens frequently. This plant is considered an annual in cultivation or a winter annual in nature.
Parts to Harvest: Young leaves and seed capsules.
Poisonous Lookalikes: There are no known poisonous lookalikes in the continental USA.
Related Edible Species: Sweet Woodruff (Galium Odoratum) and, Northern Bedstraw (Galium boreale).
Description: Catchweed Bedstraw is a mat-forming winter annual with prostrate trailing stems. The stems have stiff bristles on them that allow pieces of this plant to catch on clothes, fur of animals or sometimes the skin. The leaves on this plant are whorled with six to eight leaflets per node. The plant’s fruit are a bristly two-sided seed capsule and this plaint mainly reproduces by seed. Catchweed Bedstraw’s flowers are tiny white to greenish in color and borne in clusters of two or three from the leaf axils in early spring to summer. This plant is native to a wide area of Europe, North Africa, and Asia. It is not quite clear if this plant is native to North America however it at the least has naturalized here.
How to Harvest: Pick young greens while they are still tender and have not begun to form too many bristles or too much internal fiber.
Recipes:
For Young Leaves:
Pick the young greens in spring when they are tenderest. Steam the greens in a strainer or a colander over boiling water for 5-10 minutes or alternately you can boil them in a small amount of water until they are acceptably tender. Serve the greens with salt, pepper and butter, this combines very well with nettle greens.
You can also make a salad of the young greens by using four cups of the cooked and cooled greens and two cups of cooked asparagus that has been cut into 1” lengths, along with 2/3 of a cup of slivered nuts and 1 cup of French dressing. Blend the nuts and greens and then top with the dressing.
For Seed Capsules:
Catchweed Bedstraw’s seed capsules are useful also; gather the seed capsules as they turn brown in roughly June or July. These seeds make for a decent coffee substitute you just have to roast them at 150 degrees Fahrenheit until they are dark and crispy but not burnt. To evenly roast them set the seeds out on a flat tray and roast for about an hour. Allow the seeds to cool for about twenty minutes to a half hour and then crush into coarse powder with a pestle and mortar, or a coffee grinder. It takes about ¾ a cup of this powder to make coffee substitute for 1 quart of water. Given the irregular nature of the ‘coffee grounds’ you should serve this coffee through a strainer or use paper coffee filters in the brewing process if possible.
With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but by booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog. In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said, if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the Hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.
For those of you wondering what plants are going to be at the market this weekend here is the list.
Garden Stuff: ($3.00)
Tomato – Sungold
Tomato – Chocolate Cherry
Tomato – Glacier
Tomato – Mountain Pride
Tomato – Purple Cherokee
Peppers – Cayenne
Peppers – Anaheim
Peppers – Bell
Okra – Red Burgundy
Okra – Jing Orange
Basil – Rutgers DMR Devotion
Sage – White (VERY limited Item, $9.00)
Marigolds – Strawberry Blonde
Amaranth – Early Splendor
Cock’s Comb – Scarlet
Castor Bean – Zanzibar
Roselle
Marshmallow
Wonderberry
Coming Soon:
More TBA!
How to stay in Contact with Us!
Our group’s online presence has migrated to Nextdoor.com. All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.
Also please take a gander at the Youtube version of this blog:
The Videos: Look Here
>Newest videos (1): - Shallots
Meetings still going on! We now meet at LeClairs General Store on the First and Third Thursday of every month. Our next meeting is on June 2nd between 5:30pm and 7:00pm. We are in the back room so come on in and join us for a fun garden chat.
No comments:
Post a Comment