Since coronavirus has caused some food shortages in the grocery stores here in east Texas, I thought it a good time to teach my kids some of the spring greens that they can forage. While they can already identify dandelion leaves and mint in their lawn at home in DFW, I took them to an empty lot in east Texas near a lake house where we were rather enjoying our quarantine. We found bull thistle, the root of which is edible, but alas had no gloves with which to pull it up and snap off the edible tuber. We also found purple verbena, the leaves of which are edible, and a new species I hadn’t seen before, Drummond’s onion. I later learned that the pretty flowers have a stalk which is edible, and the root system supposedly has a small onion bulb. I shall have to investigate another time. And finally, we found wood sorrel (Oxalis) in abundance. My kids didn’t care for its sharp, tangy flavor, which is a bit of a surprise for such humble ground cover that resembles clover. I liked it but knew not to eat in abundance due to its mild toxicity. It is the natural source of the active ingredient of warfarin, the anticoagulant (and rat poison).

It’s just as important to know what not to eat! My daughter picked Texas Toadflax because of its attractive although droopy purple flowers. The plant’s name, however, gives hint to its toxicity. As a caution, make sure you know what you eat when you forage and to know what the look-alikes might be. Happy foraging!