By: Hettie Basil Lighttower
More about milkweed…. Last week we talked about two species that saved lives in their own way. But did you know that one of those species (asclepias syriaca aka common milkweed) has a history of being eaten as a vegetable?? I do remember both of my grandmothers mentioning that “back in the old days we would gather it in the spring and eat the new sprouts”. Goodness! Everyone knows, I think, that milkweed is toxic and that is why the monarchs get protected from predators. The caterpillars eat it and then birds or squirrels and other mammals or reptiles get really sick if they eat a caterpillar. And that is why they never eat another caterpillar again.
Now days everything can be researched online. If you were to type in uses for milkweed tons of sites and information and videos will pop-up. I found that the first shoots of common milkweed no taller than eight inches are the best and the safest to forage. They are tender and edible! Here’s how to prep them: collect, take off all the leaves except the small newest set at the top and at this point they resemble asparagus shoots. Put them in hard boiling water until they turn a bright green, similar to what fresh-from-the-garden green beans look like when boiled. This boils all the latex(white sap with potential toxins) out and makes them edible. You then can cut them up and sauté like you would asparagus or bake in oven to brown. Add cheese and Italian spices to them with either method. And supposedly it is very delicious. But I will just add this disclaimer that I don’t suggest it. LOL
All these years of me knowing they have toxins that would make us very sick if ingested, somehow has kept me from being brave enough to try these late spring greens. Sigh….. will 2025 be my year? I can’t say for sure. But if you gamble it, I would love to know how it turned out for you.
A second fascinating way to “enjoy” milkweed as an edible is through processing their seed pods! I am only familiar with the common syriaca species and not the others. The others may be just as good if not better. I have more research to do on that. But what I do know is new pods perhaps not even fully grown and definitely not fully mature are the ones that are edible. I have noticed in the fall when I am in the milkweed fields, deer have eaten off the tops of the milkweed plants where the new seed pods are coming on. This would upset me because they ate a lot and I was really hoping to collect SEEDS after they mature. Can’t collect seeds when the pods are gone. And the plants won’t re-grow a new pod. It’s done at that point.
So, I have found it intriguing that the deer won’t eat the milkweed plant, as a matter of fact they are considered “deer-resistant” plants; but they will eat the pods of the plant. When I learned of a high-filuntin’ restaurant in Canada that serves the delicacy of sautéed milkweed pods, I realized that this must mean those pithy pods must not be poisonous like the plant. Afterall, that is the part the deer ARE eating and seeking out and scouring the field to get. You can usually trust something if you see an animal drinking from it or eating it. Although I would beg to differ about a vulture on roadkill.
As a side note I will add that in a mature common milkweed plant the sap/latex is very dangerous to get into your eye. A pharmacist friend of mine in Florida, whose wife is a butterfly farmer got milkweed sap directly into his eye. They were harvesting milkweed to feed caterpillars and some flicked off a cut stem and got him good. He not only had excruciating pain for hours, but also had temporary blindness, leaving him fearful of whether it was only temporary. Luckily it was and his eye healed in over several days but it was very scary at the time it lasted.
So, when handling milkweed it is very important to do it at the right time and be cognizant of any on your fingers to avoid contact with your eyes, nasal cavities or mouth. And when I look back on all those times as a kid picking a milkweed leaf for my caterpillars, I know full well I had a guardian angel keeping me safe. Because I had no idea how much danger milkweed could be. Do you have a milkweed story? Have you eaten milkweed shoots or pods? I’d love to know.
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