Quickly, the flowers close and dry out into this fluffy white material that is great for primitive fire making. Underneath this fluff are these large, beautiful seeds. They are edible and medicinal in the way that milk thistle seeds are. And the seeds are the one thing that nobody wants any more of in the environment, other than perhaps the bees. Considered noxious weeds by most, there isn’t much concern in harvesting the vast majority of the seeds. Most perspectives on ecology would report this as a service, to prevent the spread of this plant. Although I had one reader want to plant them, which from one perspective I think is awesome, and at the same time don’t recommend it. I keep a large garden in the habitat of these amazing plants, and with our difficult soil this year the award for the most productive food producer goes to: the large, 4 year old wild artichoke plant right outside the fence. Why do we insist on making things a struggle? If I had a property in this plant’s habitat with difficult soil, would I plant one if there weren’t any accessible to me? Probably. But I would be sure that it never spread by harvesting every wild artichoke (which is the immature, unopened flower head) and/or every seed that it makes. They don’t spread by runners.
Anyway, a missed opportunity (the vast number of unharvested artichokes) now feeds the bees and grows into the potential for a massive seed harvest. We’ll see if people turn out for that!

cooking these gourmet vegetables

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Here’s the other catch: They are way easier to grow, in fact you probably needn’t grow them at all considering they are in massive abundance here in the wild, and the only thing they currently feed are the bees with their flowers, and Monsanto for the Round-up bought to combat these weeds that very few people want around. This is an abundant food perfect for humans to harvest as food. As millions and millions of Eastern Europeans flock to the forest to pick mushrooms in the summer, why don’t we gather and have Wild Artichoke Fest here?

I also grow regular (commerical) artichokes in the same habitat. I would say that out of all the plants in my garden, the gophers’ favorite by far are my artichokes. Also, as you might have seen in my previous video, my artichokes are also usually full of aphids and the ants that farm them.

The gophers don’t touch the wild artichokes, and they are aphid and ant free as well. Did I mention that I never have to water them and they grow for many years and are showy and beautiful like an ornamental cactus?

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While out on this now fabled winter chanterelle hike, I also did a forage for fresh cleavers. A great ally, very nutritious, medicinal (helps clean the lymph system for starters), great fresh cucumber like flavor. Grows in shade or sun as a weed. Highly recommended for urban container gardens.

Enjoy the video:

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Here’s the new video:

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As far as permaculture plant guilds, (I guess one is a mushroom), the chanterelles and bay nuts already grow together. When out ecodreaming, which this video essentially is, I always imagine getting some nettles from downstream (usually contaminated with runoff) and propagating them up higher near the California bay trees. There I would give them my excess water to help them along (or place them near a spring source.) Ah, my nettle garden.

Enjoy . . .

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Well, I’ll do one better. In March, I’ll be leading a wild food walk in the spirit of Chanterelle Wandering, looking at all the wild foods that grow near and around Chanterelles — the magical golden flesh of our oak/bay forests.

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