Welcome back to the Lost In the Farmer’s Market blog. As some of you have noticed the blog has taken on a more formal instructional tone to cover the wide variety of forage foods that you can find all around you. This change came about due to the events of the pandemic, economic turmoil and other factors. The reality is that we are surrounded with perfectly edible plants that can fill at least some of the void in our dietary needs but, there is a multi-million dollar herbicide industry that exists. It has always been in the interest of that industry to label certain things ‘weeds’ so they can sell you product that as time goes by we find out is worse for your health than the weeds are. Coupled with an Agricultural-Education system that peddles the myths of the industry and the old myth that if you can afford a nice lawn you must have wealth we have a population that has been fooled for a long time. So, here we are in 2023, and the forage foods series will continue. I hope all of you who read this blog find the information useful or at least thought provoking. The ‘weeds’ I am listing a certainly found in Zone 8A in North Carolina and should certainly be easy to find in the Southeast regions of America. Oh, and one funny thing discovered in last year’s blog, it turns out you can eat Crab Grass, and while it isn’t what most would call a lawn grass, I did state you can’t eat your lawn in last year’s intro. Detailed research is a funny thing since it has a way of proving even the experts wrong.
While there are many Daylily hybrids out there the Tawny Daylily practically takes care of itself and looks like this. 
In the landscape they aren't too space intensive but they do stand out.
Common Name: Tawny Daylily
Other Common Names: Common Daylily, Orange Day-Lily, Corn Lily, Tiger Daylily, Fulvous Daylily, Ditch Lily, Fourth of July Lily, Railroad Lily, Roadside Daylily, Outhouse Lily, Wash-House Lily (whew!)
Botanical Family: Asphodelaceae (The XX Family)
Botanical Latin Name: Hemerocallis fulva
Description & Habitat: I should note that this plant is not a true lily and is not in the genus Lilium and it gets its name from the superficial resemblance of its flowers to true Lilium family members. The name Daylily comes from the fact its individual flowers last only one day each. This perennial and sometimes deciduous plant can be found growing wild in abandoned home sites, vacant lots and along roads and railroads. Tawny Daylily has arching leaves that are V-shaped in cross section that are a medium green color, it is best identified by its orange-peach colored blossoms however it’s tuberous roots which are white in color may be another good indicator. Tawny Daylily blooms roughly anywhere from late April into early July depending on winter conditions that year.
When & What to Harvest: You can harvest the tubers by digging u clumps of this plant and seeking only firm tubers that are undamaged. Flower buds can be picked when they are half to full size and you can pick flowers once fully opened or even when wilting.
Poisonous Lookalikes: Some guides say this plant resembles of Iris (blue or yellow flag), however remember Tawny Daylily leaves arch over and their leaf tip points to the ground or nearly so.
Related Edible Species: None known.
Recipe: I do need to warn readers of one thing about eating Tawny Daylily, all parts of this plant even if cooked can cause a laxative effect. Therefore, Tawny Daylily can be a good cure in the field for constipation, but a dangerous thing to eat if dehydration is a problem.
Now with the warning out of the way, you can add washed raw tubers to salads where they will contribute a nutty flavor akin to water chestnuts. The tubers can also be cooked; all you have to do is boil them in salted water until they are acceptably tender and ten season with butter or whatever you have on hand. Daylily tubers might be a way to add bulk to mashed potatoes when you are short of other tubers. As for the buds they have to be cooked, I recommend boiling them for a few minutes like you might do with asparagus and seasoning in the same way. Additionally, buds and opened flowers can be dipped in batter and fried, or simply be added to soups to thicken the broth. Do not eat the buds or flowers raw, they can irritate the throat and may cause additional reactions.
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 2:00 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.
Spring Garden Plants:
Broccoli, Imperial
Collards, Variegated
Kale, Beira
Kale, Lacinato ‘Black Magic’
Kale, Redbor
Leeks, King Richard
Mustard, Japanese Red Giant
Spinach, Green Beret
Sorrel, Raspberry Dressing
Coming Soon:
Expect other cool season plants soon, the warm season Lineup will be available in April.
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.
Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville
Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:
The Videos: Look Here
>Newest videos (2): Japanese Painted Fern, Filming Out Take,
We have two meetings a month. We meet at LeClair’s General Store on the First and Third Thursday of every month. It’s an open-door meeting with no membership requirements just come on in and talk garden with us! Our next meeting is on April 6th between 5:30pm and 7:00pm. We are in the back room so come on in and join us for a fun garden chat.
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