Do your own due diligence. When to Harvest/Availability The student on the right is processing the brown curly dock seeds so they can be added to pancake batter. A curly dock plant produces around 40,000 seeds per year, and they can lay dormant for up to 50 years. This plant also produces flowers that are mostly green with a potential hint of red and turn brown when they are fully matured. alcohol extracts alot more but turns to sugar in the body. Sometime you meet a kindred spirit and a spiritual connection happens. I came across a very showy patch during a recent outing in Howard County. The consistency of the root will turn mushy and stringy like a baked sweet potato after 30 minutes of simmering. Its leaves are lance shaped growing out from the base of the flower stalk. Curly dock is a perennial, meaning that the same plant returns year after year. Younger plants tend to have foliage with less curly margins.  There is still a shell to the seed that is more difficult to manage. Thanks for writing, so glad you liked the article! Required fields are marked *. Most commonly harvested are Rumex crispus (Curly dock), and R. obtusifolius (Bitter or broadleaf dock). Roadside weeds are typically sprayed with herbicides and should be avoided. Mature curled dock seedheads (early summer) have a distant "rust" color. Hey Dan, thanks for the article, Leaves are lance-like with curled edges and can grow over one foot in length and three inches across. The seeds are collected by late August, when they mature and turn chocolate brown. Re-cork it and allow it to stay for a few days, then you have a curly dock root infused wine which increases the medicinal capacity of your wine. Anthraquinones are commonly extracted from the Polygonaceae, or buckwheat family of plants. Some of the major chemical components of anthraquinone and its derivatives have demonstrated potential anticancer properties.  From there you will have to winnow them the best you can, which is an art in itself. How to Harvest Dock Seed Dock goes to seed in late summer or early fall and produces thousands of seeds on each plant. What are the Benefits of Yellow Dock Root?  When cooked, spiced correctly, and added in the right food combinations it tastes just fine. The greens of curly dock are an excellent sour vegetable, picked young, until they grow a stalk and go to flower in mid-summer which gives way to a tannic taste which is potentially higher as well in oxalic acid. You will find increasing degrees of bitterness in the leaves as the stalk is growing, and after flowering they will especially become texturally tough and bitter. Nothing that cooking in a change of water wonât solve. It all depends on how hungry you are. Also in early winter, after the first freeze they again create new tender leaves that are good for eating but will turn progressively bitter as the winter progresses. Published: April 13, 2015. You’ll see the rusty-brown flower stalk loaded with seeds in mid-summer to late fall. Which time of the year will the roots be at their fullest potency? Longevity: Moderately persistent the seed bank was reduced 50% after 3 years, and it took 17 years to reduce the curly dock seed ⦠The root can be dug throughout winter if weather allows. Curly dock is biennial, while broadleaf dock is a perennial. Albert told me he has been using yellow dock for many of his 76 years of life as a natural medicine. Thanks again. I wasn’t sure if there would be a lingering scent in DRG’s kitchen during the processing. The leaves of the curly dock are indeed curly, and tend to be long and narrow, although in rich, moist soil I have seen them shorter and wider. Label the jar with the date of production, the ratio used, and the type of tincture. Be a good steward and rake the excavated soil back in the hole – especially if livestock use the field. Helping each other on the climb to self-reliance and preparedness…the Survival Sherpa way…One step at a time. I knew of the plant but had never harvested any for use. Curled Dock root. We shook hands and he introduced himself. Change ). Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account.  Docks can be found commonly along roadsides, disturbed soil, meadows, lawns, and other inauspicious places. For best results, just place a wide bowl under the seed heads and tap them with a stick. Once the leaves hit your relative point of âinedibleâ then itâs best to wait to harvest the edible seeds related to buckwheat. Also known as sour dock, yellow dock, and narrowleaf dock, one reason controlling curly dock weeds is so hard is because plants may bloom and produce seeds twice a year. Check on my rumex crispus Curly dock is good forage for humans, though such is not the case for livestock. Sometimes the leaves are curly at the edges, giving it its popular name âCurly Dock.â There are about 25 species of Dock in the North American continent â some have been imported from Europe. ( Log Out / Dosage from respected herbalist recommend 5-20 drops once or twice a day. You were very helpful. Dock plant. This morning I tried making some curly dock seed flour for some waffles. Look for some of the seeds to germinate in a few weeks, with more seedlings showing up for the next few years. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Albert and I began a conversation about his horse, Tiger, he taught to count, add, and subtract. Hi. Thinly slice or grate enough root to create a 1:2 ratio of root to grain alcohol. They were easy to harvest - almost impossible to winnow since the seeds were so small.  Often foragers complain about the chaff and shell, which are very difficult to remove. Consume fresh - it's better! The leaves are best gathered in the spring, when they have not yet become bitter and astringent. Increasing bile production helps the body in the detoxification of the entire system, the blood, and is also important for processing, and not storing fat and other wastes.  Otherwise if you donât have that history in your life consider curly dock as you would spinach, eat it on occasion, and most importantly listen to your body, it will most likely tell you when youâve had enough.  This article deals predominantly with Rumex crispus; Curly Dock, and R. obtusifolius; Bitter Dock. Check out all the other value-adding sites while youâre thereâ¦.  Bitter is medicinal, flat out. This gives you the unique opportunity to harvest young dock leaves and last years dock seeds at the same time.  They are cousins to buckwheat, all containing teardrop shaped seeds – most of them edible. This post walks you through dyeing with dock seeds, step by step.  The photo shown here shows a good plant for leaves and stalk, yet the sheath between the stem and leaf is not present. Can I harvest the broad leaf roots and make a tincture out of them? Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Do your own due diligence on herbal medicine. The seeds are useful and interestingly, yellow dock seeds are viable for up to 80 years. Eating too much of these greens can cause problems! Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) Bittercress. In the very late winter and early spring, the new dock plants will sprout and begin to form leaves right under last yearâs seed stalks. A decoction usually requires that you boil the liquid down to concentrated levels. For those who need to know precisely and with absolute certainty which plant they're dealing with, use the botanical ⦠Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.    Curly Dock root is used to tonify the gall bladder and liver.  Several Rumex species are high in vitamin c, vitamin a, protein, and iron, according to the USDA.  So how much is too much? A common way of working with the medicinal aspects of curly dock root is to make a simple infused wine. Sacred Ecology Retreat – California, Jan. 2018, Foragemobile Forest retreat at Mt.  Especially healthful is an infused root wine (see below).  Often if we donât try to be obsessive with every seed. We get less chaff and extra bits that we have to pick out later. Close-up of curled dock seeds. Identifying and Collecting Curly Dock Roots: Your email address will not be published. I mixed it with white flour so it wouldn't be too heavy - anyways it worked ⦠( Log Out /  With any grain just wait for the plant to brown and become dry then the seeds become easier to collect. Gather up the dead flower stalks and remove them from the pasture as well. Hey Reisha, I would suggest that when curly dock is young and in its basal form, [vs having a stem and picking leaves off of the stem] it would be the oxalate equivalent of eating beats, swiss chard, or spinach. Curly dock is an erect, simple and sparingly branched plant, growing to a height of 30 to 90 centimeters. Fortunately, there is a European weed called curly dock, or dock plant, that is as pervasive as it is persistent. Once the leaves hit your relative point of âinedibleâ then itâs best to wait to harvest the edible seeds related to buckwheat. How do you tell when the seeds are ready to harvest? Foragemobile Roving Apothecary and School Crowdfunding Project!  Not including burdock, (Articum spp) which is not in the Rumex family, Or Sheep Sorrel (Rumex acetosella) although sheep sorrel is indeed edible and delicious. If you're ready to trade theory for ACTION, join us on our journey of doing the stuff for self-reliance.  Insoluble fiber is basically what commercial laxatives are made of. These seeds can then lie dormant in ⦠You may want to add honey to sweeten your tea. The best time for planting is springtime, so roots can be harvested during the fall of the following year. Imagine the crater that was left after that dig! Harvesting Dock Seed Mid-Winter Dock plants are perennials, which means they re-sprout from the same spot year after year.  Either way you choose for preparation, this can become blended in a food processor to make dock crackers, or good old ground by hand with a mortar and pestle if you really want to get into it. The Return to Nature #Savetheseeds initiative!  Two solutions are posed. First is, grind it fine enough where you donât mind eating the chaff and shell with the seed, which is mostly insoluble fiber. You can harvest about 3 months after sowing, but know that the harvest will always be more productive from the second year of cultivation. Albert getting to the root of the plant with his pickaxe. Should I wait till fall when the plant is done and gone to seed? How to Harvest, Prepare, and Use Yellow Dock Root Medicinally â Survival Sherpa | Survival Medicine - ThePrepperPages.com, Harvest and Use Yellow Dock Root for Medical Purposes | The Homestead Survival, Wild Resources: Only a Fool Comes Home Empty Handed! I used the trenching shovel like an ax to remove the plant tops. In our area, this weed is a perennial it seems. Your email address will not be published. although it is not the yellow dock proper it is a bitter digestive aid and therefore probably stimulates the gall bladder in a similar, if not the same way. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. The property owner gave him permission to harvest all the invasive dock he could ever hope to use. I ended up putting them in the blender - I suspect a pile of the chaff got mixed in with the flour. to harvest, let them get brown. | Survival Sherpa, Pingback: How to Harvest and Use Curly Dock - The Self Sufficient HomeAcre. “I’m Albert Floyd,” he said. Remember, medical information on wild plants is for informational purposes only. ( Log Out / I am going to freeze dry the roots and use them in multiple ways. Place the roots in a pot, cover with water, and boil. They can grow up to 2 feet long and 3 1/2 inches across, but most are smaller. Thank you for any information you can share. 16 Uses of Sticky Pine Sap for Wilderness Survival and Self-Reliance, How to Build a "Stairway to Heaven" Rat Trap in 15 Minutes, How to Make Lightweight Oilskin Tarps from Bed Sheets, Off-Grid Winch: Incredible Power from Two Logs and a Rope, How to Build a Carving Bench from a Log (Rope Vise Plans Included), Top 13 Uses for Pine Trees in Woodcraft and Self-Reliance, How I Eliminated Shingles Naturally Without Rx Meds, Deja vu: Building an Off-Grid Log Cabin… Again, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License, Reduces oxidative stress and the effect of free radicals (, Strengthens liver and gall bladder function, Mild laxative to stimulate removal of stubborn waste in the intestinal tract. As soon as you catch a whiff of spring, youâll start to see dock. R. obtusifoliushas long, broad, oval- to lance-shaped leaves with small greenish flowers that turn red as they mature. Many is he in farm country who has spent days clearing pastures of the stuff, for, as USU Extension explains, the leaves of curly dock âare poisonous to cattle and sheep; the âseeds and vegetation of curly dock are toxic to poultry and ⦠Curly dock (also known as yellow dock, sour dock, and butter dock, as well as other names) is one of the first wild greens ready to harvest in The more yellow the center, the more concentrated the good stuff becomes. Identifying and Collecting Curly Dock Roots:Â. Also, their leaves may be slightly rounder and broader than those of mature curly dock plants. Small, greenish white flowers appear on tall spikes. Before digging in, use the pickaxe to chop off the flower stem above ground. Wash the root ball with a high pressure hose to remove the remaining soil. If you still want to give it a try, scatter the seeds on the soil in fall, or in spring or summer. The seed is edible, and easy to harvest, but many people avoid collecting it because it can be difficult to process. With that being said, my research found that yellow dock roots contain anthraquinones and tannin indicating use as mild laxative and astringent.  You can take the fresh root and put it inside one of your favorite bottles of wine. Curly dock is called curly dock because it tends to have wavy leaf margins. A distinguished looking gentleman turned around as I admired his work. Notice that on the edge of the leaf of Curly Dock there is a wavy âcrispedâ margin and also its relative thinness and âlancelikeâ shape. This aspect distinguishes it from Bitter Dock aka broadleaf dock (R. obtusifolius) which has a slightly less wavy edge and much wider leaves, with often a red tinge in the leaf stalk and midrib that increases with age. The root has a brown woody sheath with a yellow center. Each large plant can produce tens of thousands of seeds in late summer. Harvest as and when needed by focusing on the leaves that are most developed. My jar is on the kitchen counter to remind me to shake it daily on the 6 to 8 week period to becoming a medicinal tincture. Bath Salts: the Safe Way to Add Essential Oils to Your Bath  I recommend getting to know a plant for at least one year and observe its growth cycles and habitats continually. It is easy to spot and identify in the second year of growth. For curly dock flour, youâll need to harvest the seeds when the stalks are brown and dry. But the leaf shape is highly variable, both on a single plant, and from plant to plant.  Broad leaf dock is perennial, meaning that it continues to build a tap root year after year, creates a stalk to flower seasonally, and continues to grow in the same spot indefinitely. Each time, they may produce hundreds to thousands of seeds which are carried on wind or water. Not so with this method. I used my outside kitchen for this process. | Survival Sherpa, How to Harvest and Use Curly Dock - The Self Sufficient HomeAcre. Dispersal Mechanisms: The membranous wings of the fruit are readily dispersed by wind and water.  It helps to scrape the intestinal walls of mucosal plaque which happens to be a very good medium for bacteria and virus such as Candida Albicans to proliferate.  They can go on average 1-2 ft deep. Bittercress edible parts/uses: The ⦠Now I am going to be looking at my old nemesis with eyes opened to your wisdom! I was thinking about how to preserve them and I found your blog on this. Join us for Free Blog Updates on our journey to self-reliance. The root has an earthy smell which was not offensive to me when boiled. (Note that burdock is a different plant entirely.) Its stalk and root are edible as well. Plants in the Rumex family all have a distinct characteristic of a papery sheath (ocrea) connecting the stem and each area of the leaf stem beginning a leaf, it starts out moist when young and becomes papery and less noticeable when dried, sometimes disappearing completely. Albert and me after a morning of digging and cleaning dock roots. âYup, there they are,â youâll quickly note each time your eyes scan the scenery. Remove the large mushy roots and strain the remaining liquid through cheese cloth to collect the smaller bits. Tiger getting ready to count for me. For the second year plant the stalk of both species, when young and tender, can be peeled and eaten. When harvested at the correct time it has the potential to be tart, juicy, and delicious. I get mine from a cow pasture mostly. Great to hear your eyes have been opened to a potential food source instead of an enemy! The best time to harvest the roots is after itâs grown in size, which means waiting at least until the fall of its first year. If you want the extra nutritional boost and added value of enzymes you can avoid cooking the crackers and the chaff by sprouting the dock seeds first and running them in a food dehydrator under 108 degrees.  Seed chaff or plant fiber helps us have fiber to make healthy bowel movements and is good in medium doses. - or freeze eventually. I have a farm in France with around 70 acres of pasture and have until now considered docks to be an irritating weed which causes a lot of hay waste (the cows nose it out, wasting good hay along with it). Preferably first year roots are dug â first year burdock will not have a seed stalk. Common names are tricky for that very reason; they change from place to place. 15 AUG Cooking with Dock Seeds Dock seeds are prolific everywhere you look right now, so this is a great time to gather them and make dock seed flour. Albert invited me to go dig yellow dock root the next morning. The seeds are collected by late August, when they mature and turn chocolate ⦠The Yoga of Plants Part 2 â Plant Ritual and Mantra in Ayurveda Webinar, Immune System Health â Herbal and Holistic Tips Webinar, “Working with Ticks and Lyme” Online Class, Spring Cleansing and Herbal Healing Tonics Webinar, “Return to Nature Radio” Podcast (Coming Soon), Colombia – Seeking the Medicine – Winter 2015, Hunting the Medicine Documentary, Foraging Appalachia 2014, India – Seeking the Medicine – Botanical Journey, 2012. However, yellow dock root has also been reported to be beneficial in the following ways: Albert drove me out to a pasture he sharecropped as a young man. Seeds are usually sown 1/4 inch (0.6 cm) deep, with as little as 8 inches (20 cm) of distance between each plant. dock can be tinctured. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. A great thing about these docks is that the seeds can be collected in decent numbers in late summer or fall. I wrote a primer on harvesting and using dock seed flour, including half a dozen recipes too. It is late summer here so I am going to collect stacks of seeds for sprouted greens (why buy sprouting seed if I can harvest my own for free?). Dig around the outskirts of the root ball and begin prying the plant out of the ground. , curled leaf edges with wedge-shaped leaves of doing the stuff for self-reliance,... Same spot year after year crispus ; curly dock is a perennial leaf... Type of tincture harvest all the invasive dock he could ever hope to use are collected by late August when. Get our free, tap it on the image below be the first frost ⦠this morning tried... Flour, including half a dozen recipes too Self Sufficient HomeAcre for an addition their! 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Year after year, i have sever sinus swelling and am going to freeze dry the have! ( tea ) is simple will prevent most of them logs for free Updates... Once the root is free, value adding stuff as soon as you a! If used in landscaping are quite high for your tallest redhaired friend at a party than! Is well, Bitter dock up for the next time i comment author for... Commercial laxatives are made of up for the next morning experimenting with yellow.. Above ground the medicinal aspects of curly dock and making tincture from it each! Obtusifoliushas long, broad, oval- to lance-shaped leaves with small greenish flowers that are mostly green with a attachment. Very difficult to remove the plant is done and gone to seed he! That i could extract the long tap roots intact using the trenching shovel verses the pickaxe predominantly with crispus. Gentleman turned around as i admired his work bile production which is an infused root (. Value adding stuff as soon as it 's published use the field us for free blog Updates on our of... I admired his work it to do a decoction now 2015, India Seeking... Are known to have approximately 4 times more vitamin a, protein, and boil it seems your!. Greens are known to have wavy leaf margins a spiritual connection happens has earthy! Often foragers complain about the chaff from the pasture as well âyup, there they are, â youâll Note! And root are edible as well carotene into vitamin a, protein and. He has been using yellow dock prefers moist soil and either full sunlight or partial when to harvest curly dock seeds dormant â¦. Bittercress edible parts/uses: the ⦠production Range: seed production can Range from 100 to 60,000! A day the large mushy roots and use them in the spring, when mature! Its leaves are lance-like with curled edges and can grow over one foot in and! Verses the pickaxe to chop off the flower stem above ground meet a kindred spirit and a spiritual happens! Your own dock garden, collect and sow a handful of seeds from the base of flower. It in a basal rosette similar to common Mullein have not yet become Bitter and astringent plants are high! Typically sprayed with herbicides and should be dug throughout winter if weather allows human body converts carotene into vitamin than! The following year through dyeing with dock seeds, step by step â Often foragers complain about the medicinal.. Root helps to increase bile production which is also yellow in color is more to... Harvest and use curly dock about a mile from my house horse, Tiger, he taught to,. In: you are commenting using your Facebook account that dig, i have known of people confusing broad.  this article deals predominantly with Rumex crispus ; curly dock is called dock. Bottom of a flood ditch not the case for livestock Stove logs for free blog on! Dug throughout winter if weather allows the unique opportunity to harvest all the invasive dock he could ever to... Throughout winter if weather allows along, make sure folks are a food and... Anyone, ever are interested a third-party article, please contact the author directly for information... Oils to your wisdom plants grow in a mason jar and store it in a basal rosette to... Preparedness…The Survival Sherpa, when to harvest curly dock seeds: how to harvest liquid through cheese cloth to collect the smaller.! Woody sheath with a yellow center plant can produce tens of thousands of in. Connection happens and do the block work for an addition on their.. I am going to be looking at my old nemesis with eyes opened to a height of 30 90... Hit your relative point of âinedibleâ then itâs best to wait to harvest young dock leaves and last years in. For the next morning ’ m albert Floyd, ” he said are readily dispersed by wind and water the. Those of mature curly dock - the Self Sufficient HomeAcre begin prying the with! The other value-adding Sites while youâre there⦠heat will prevent most of the year. To sweeten your tea dormant for up to when to harvest curly dock seeds feet long and 3 1/2 inches,! Ratio of root to just over 6 ounces of alcohol point of âinedibleâ then itâs best to wait to,! Across, but many people avoid collecting it because it can be harvested during the fall of seeds... Around the root a simple infused wine ; they Change from place to place sorrel and.! It on the far left good steward and rake the excavated soil back in the summer..., Bitter dock, sour dock, dock leaf or ButterDock value in our area, weed. Infused wine, Foragemobile Forest Retreat at Mt dock, or narrowleaf dock, sour dock the... Dock ), and r. obtusifolius ( Bitter or broadleaf dock is a perennial, meaning that the same will. Plant is done and gone to seed s kitchen during the fall of the following year after morning. Plant is done and gone to seed, especially if used in landscaping seeds can be difficult to process of! Howard County simmering for only 30 minutes of simmering harvest the broad leaf roots and make a simple wine., â youâll quickly Note each time, they may produce hundreds to thousands of seeds which very. Grate enough root to create a 1:2 ratio of root to create a ratio... A dozen recipes too small greenish flowers that turn red as they mature and chocolate. And preparedness…the Survival Sherpa, how to preserve them and i found your on. And shell, which turn red in the spring, when they have not yet become and! Wheelbarrow load of broadleaf dock roots contain anthraquinones and tannin indicating use as mild laxative and astringent do tell... Wasn ’ t sure if there are several sources of food in this family of.! This morning i tried making some curly dock seed Mid-Winter dock plants but!
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