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 specimens were found on a construction site in 2022. They bulldozed what was a field and all kinds of crazy things sprouted outside the silt barrier. 
Here is a closeup of the flowers, they resemble Gaillardia which is commonly called Blanket Flower. Both Blanket Flower and Coreopsis are in the Aster family.
Common Name: Plains Coreopsis
Other Common Names: Garden Coreopsis, Golden Tickseed, Calliopsis, Goldenwave.
Botanical Family: Asteraceae (The Aster Family)
Botanical Latin Name: Coreopsis tinctoria
Description & Habitat: Plains Coreopsis is an annual Coreopsis that is native to the western United States. It is a somewhat slender annual that can get two feet tall on average but may be taller under ideal circumstances. Rare specimens have been known to reach five feet tall. It will appear in the wild in disturbed areas, moist ditches and in vacant lots. It has also escaped cultivation and so may appear seemingly at random in places. It is noted in numerous references to prefer moist soils and proliferate more heavily in wetter growing years.
When & What to Harvest: The flowers when boiled in water produce a reddish liquid that is potable as a beverage. A tea made of its roots is said to treat diarrhea and has use as a emetic. The foliage of the plant is said to help sooth internal pains and bleeding while the flowers may ‘strengthen the blood’.
Poisonous Lookalikes: None are known.
Related Edible Species: Many members of the Coreopsis family may have medicinal or edible features.
Recipe:
I could not locate a clear recipe for this plant. All sources suggest using the flowers as a tea and that the flowers can be used to make dye, but the amounts and process (dye) are unclear.
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 my 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.
Spring Garden Plants (NEW!)
Arugula – Astro
Carrots – Chantennay Red Cored
Kale – Kalebration Mix
Radish – Cherry Belle
Sorrel – Raspberry Dressing
Swiss Chard – Ruby Red
Garden Plants
Daylilies
Coming Soon:
Garlic Plants
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 (1): Short Video, Pink Celery
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 21st between 5:30pm and 7:00pm. We are in the back room so come on in and join us for a fun garden chat.
