Yesterday afternoon , as I led a mathematical group of educatee around the farm , I saw my first red - winged disgraceful bird of the season . Throughout winter I delight the bluejays , cardinals and robins : Their bright colors against the snow as they eat the berries from one of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree just outside our kitchen windowpane is cheering . The belief is quite dissimilar to see my first soaring red - winged New World blackbird when the conditions ultimately breaks .
For yr , I only saw these birds from a moving car as they congregate in mucky field of study and ditches . Just a dyad years ago , our pond mature enough to commence to grow cattails ( Typha latifolia ) , and suddenly we had red - winged blackbird of our very own . While swim in the pond one summer afternoon , I discovered why this was . This rummy bird builds its nest on the potent stalks of the cattail just above the weewee level . brilliance ! In order for a predatory animal to get at its babies , it either has to flee in and body politic with precision or swim out into the midriff of the pond . This time of twelvemonth I enjoy sitting on the rocks for hours to watch the female build their reed baskets just before they settle in and lay eggs .
The snort and I have a like beloved : cattail . Too many folks see these fuzzy - tip plants as a pain in the neck . They pour chemical substance into their pond to eradicate them . My father discourage me that once the cattails start they will inevitably choke your water supply origin . This is mostly lawful of the introduce cattail species ( Typha angustifolia ) . Unmanaged , that is exactly what they ’ll do . Their rhizomes will quickly propagate and overcompensate a wet area , sucking up the weewee and creating marsh where once there was open water .
The answer is to manage their growth — we do n’t have to employ chemical , though ! alternatively we can freely eat them . The rhizome are eatable and delicious . They can be pounded down to produce a starchy flour . We can discase and eat the underwater corm , as well , as the interior dower of the stalks . They are delicious both raw in a salad and sautéed as you would asparagus . The pollen can be pick up and used as part of the flour in flat pelf , such as hot cake or crackers . We can even feed the blurry semen head , though they ’re destined for the goat god long before they become fuzzy . It is important to understand that one of the neat benefit of our native cattail is to filter lead out of polluted areas . This means that the emplacement of your scrounge matter . Our pond is a secure spot for us to call for this abundant nutrient beginning , but I would avoid cattail stands in industrial areas or along busy roadstead .
Of course , being who I am , I ca n’t leave you without talking a bit about the medicative uses of this fabulous dope . To be honest , there are n’t a muckle . The ground up rootstock can be poultice over cut and bruises with a mo of success . If you were in demand of an antiseptic while out in the wild and had nothing else secretive to hand you could make a small snub at the base of the flora just above the water argument . The plant will shed blood a thick , semi - clear liquid that can be used to protect a wound from infection .
Our family has proffer a peeled stalk to our more adventurous visitors on farm spell . The flavor is reminiscent of a soft piddle chestnut tree . I ’ve been have in mind to assay the rest of the works in some of my pet dishes . This twelvemonth , we ’ve ascertain for the ice to clear with expectancy . We ’ll be eating each part of the plant life in season because we take to clear up some domain of cattail anyway . I sleep with it when I can eat my problems !
