Welcome to the 2024 edition of the LITFM blog. This blog is the text-based complement to my weekly posts on Nextdoor.com and the gardening channel on YouTube. In 2023, this blog took on a more formal instructional tone with jokes dispersed within to serve as a hub for conveying information that might not work in a video or weekly update format. The subject matter here is always the wide variety of plant-based foods that you can find growing around you in nature or as some call it ‘Forage Foods’. This ties in with local bartering, and indirectly now we will be including mycology. The primary reason for the change in the blog’s tone and topic came about due to the events of the pandemic, the resulting 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. There is no reason not to be educated in what is and is not safe and how to prepare it into a nutritious meal. With that said I also realized that in my own way by keeping this blog running I might be butting heads with a billion-dollar pesticide/herbicide/fertilizer industry at times. 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 2024, 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. Thank you for sticking with LITFM and stay tuned for a year of forage foods.
These are either young plants or ones that have recently emerged from dormancy. 
Some pictures of the Carolina Horsenettle suggest the leaves are fuzzy but that's someone random and not a good ID feature.
Common Name: Carolina Horsenettle
Other Common Names: Apple of Sodom, Bull Nettle, Carolina Horse-Nettle, Devil’s Potato, Devil’s Tomato, Horsenettle, Horse Nettle, Poisonous Potato, Thorn Apple, Wild Tomato.
Botanical Family: Solanaceae (The Nightshade Family)
Botanical Latin Name: Solanum carolinense
(Also previously known as: Solanum floridanum and Solanum godfreyi)
Description & Habitat: Carolina Horsenettle is a native war-season perennial herb or subshrub that grows in an upright fashion but can also have a sprawling habit depending on crowing conditions. It spreads by seeds or its rhizomes and individual specimens can grow up to 4 feet tall, it may have prickles along its stems and leaves. This plant is commonly found in disturbed sites such as fields, vacant lots, by the roadside and in sandy soil waste areas. It is best identified by its uniquely shaped leaves, the prickles on the leaves and stems and its flowers and fruit. The flowers are a fairly typical five-petal nightshade flower with bright yellow stamens while the flower petals are typically with a pink or purple tinge to them.
When & What to Harvest: This plant is not really safe for consumption. The leaves and fruits contain the alkaloid Solanine which can cause vomiting, nausea, abdominal pains and other forms of gastrointestinal chaos. There are online references that list this plant as edible because Solanine is readily water soluble so cooking the greens in several changes of water may remove a of the ingredient. However how strong the plant material is in regards to Solanine is hard to tell and it’s just a big risk to try and eat this one.
Poisonous Relatives: European Black Nightshade (S. atripicifolium) American Nightshade (S. nigrum), Belladonna (Atropa bella-donna).
Related Edible Species: Tomatoes (S. lycopersicum), Potatoes (S. tuberosum) , Peppers (Capsicum sp.) , Ground Cherries (Physalis spp.) , Eggplant (S. melongena), Tomatillo (Physalis philidelphica), Goji Berries (Lycium barbarum), Tobacco (Nicotina tabacum), Naranjilla (S. quitoense) and, Tamarillo (S. betaceum).
Recipe: Some of you out there are going to disagree with me here about the edibility of this plant and I understand the likely reasons for this. However, I cannot in good conscience post any recipes for this particular plant because of the risk of something going wrong for one of my readers. If you do chose to eat this plant make sure you do thorough research on best preparation practices and don’t go ‘whole hog’ on your first attempt as you have no idea what kind of adverse reaction you might have.
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 8:00 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.
Fresh Food:
Garlic Bulbs
Soup Kits – Parsnip
Soup Kits – Turnip
House Plants
>All house plants are on sale!<
Arrowhead Plant ‘Regina Red’
Devil’s Ivy ‘Emerald’
Ficus ‘Yellow Gem’
Haworthia ‘Chocolate’
Hoan Ngoc
Walking Iris
Coming Soon:
More stuff 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.
Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville
Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:
The Videos: Look Here
>Newest videos (0): [Working on new content, stay tuned]
Meetings are still going on! We now meet at LeClair’s General Store on the First and Third Thursday of every month. Our next meeting is on March 7th 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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