EatTheweeds: Episode 160: Swine Cress

A short video about swinecress and its nutrition. Also visited is Bitter Cress.

[@cal-native]

Here in Southern California Swine cress is one of many weeds frequently planted (surprisingly) by Argentine ants, which like to nest in the roots of plants, excavating soil and creating chambers where they can adhere sucking insects like scale to the roots. In this way they can "farm" the honeydew secretions unseen and protected, and maximize their intake of sugar, since it concentrates in the roots. That's what explains the high concentration of weeds at the base of your plants, but not so much in the open areas surrounding. They apparently eat the attachment points of the weed seeds, not the seeds themselves, and the seed they drop next to the nest germinates and provides a place to jump to when they've killed the original plant, through appropriation of moisture & sugars, and the direct inoculation of pathogens into the root system as the ants move from diseased to healthy plants.

[@ArtDeGuerra]

Thank you for everything you do.

[@debrabrooks6138]

Awesome to know about these plants! I have gathered and eaten, field cress, and winter cress and wild mustard and dock, and garlic mustard and a few others, this one I think I have heard the name but didn't know what they look like. I have seen them before and had no idea what they were, but I thought they looked like a cress but wasn't sure. Now I know! I have actually taken pictures of some while photographing other wild edibles in the same picture which surprised me, now I know right where they are or were growing as well. :) Since I have thick blood, I am supposed to be eating Liver for the iron content to thin my blood, although I like liver, it can get tiresome to eat 2x a week, so I am glad to see this plant has aa descent amount of Iron in it! and I eat a lot of wild greens in a bacon dressing and I am glad to add this one to them. I am curious does cooking them make the nutrition become less vs. steaming them or adding vinegar? Thanks so much for sharing these!

[@greendeane1]

Cooking in cast iron can increase one’s iron load.

[@extropiantranshuman]

I love swine cress so much. It grows in my yard and is really healing - it clears out the lungs and nose - and possibly helped me not get the coronavirus

[@kavitha6969]

Thank you for your beautiful knowledge

[@wogdoggedguh9339]

Keep these videos coming!

[@MordecaiV]

so many so fast! Thanks for the videos!

[@sueyoung2115]

With regard to the comments about the taste of foraged things, I've found that some taste bad or unappealing because, we all need different things in our food. For example, some European people love fava beans but they're deadly to some others! Our reaction to flavors is sometimes a way the body protects us from ingesting something that's not good for us.😁

[@gimomable]

Loved it 🙏🏼🤗

[@JMMELGRATTI]

You are a legend !

[@americanrebel413]

Thank you green Dean!

[@mayamachine]

Thanks... your website is so useful.

[@greendeane1]

Thanks. Added a new plant this morning, chinquapins.

[@sueyoung2115]

Awesome! Thanks. Mustards are so healthy. Does this also grow in Florida?

[@greendeane1]

Yes, all over the place now.

[@sueyoung2115]

@@greendeane1 thanks for the reply, I'll be on the lookout!

[@danroddy1462]

So happy to see you! Don't know why haven't seen anything in years?

[@EatTheWeeds]

Life often gets in the way of living.

[@Wearephuct-O]

Thanks GD!

[@extropiantranshuman]

this couldn't've come at a better time. I was thinking about it.

[@em286]

Yeah the same dirty minded individual must have named the Butterfly Pea plant too. Lol 🙄 I have that swine cress growing in my yard. I will definitely try it. Thanks! 😎

[@extropiantranshuman]

why couldn't they just call it butterfly cress?

[@KyleTheShaman]

💚

[@drrahilakurdi5943]

🌲🌲🌲💕🌲🌲🌲

[@peacefulscrimp5183]

Is there a poisonous look a like to gota kola ❓

[@Kryynism]

Mustard like regular mustard? Because if so it will be my jam. 😂

[@adriennefloreen]

They're both in the Brassica (mustard) family. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardamine_hirsuta and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepidium_didymum there are links. What he is calling swine cress looks like a lot of other plants, make sure you know what you're picking. It can also grow in pure gravel as we discovered when we got gravel delivered that apparently had the seeds in it. The gravel walkways and even gravel road turned into patches of swine cress.

[@ArtichokeHunter]

When I've tried swine cress (raw), it tasted like burnt rubber. I'll have to try it cooked... although when you taste something like that raw it doesn't necessarily make you want to try it again.

[@extropiantranshuman]

hey I try it raw and really like it

[@rbm6184]

ArtichokeHunter Taste is relative to the person so its subjective. Just keep that in mind. Everybody's tastes are different because we are all different. If it doesn't work for you it might for somebody else and vice versa. Although its edible for lots of folks, in my case its Bull Thistle that I can't stomach........literally. The odor is almost just as sickening to me.

[@ArtichokeHunter]

@@rbm6184 it's totally fair if someone likes the taste of burnt rubber but I find with a lot of foraged stuff that either the flavor varies a lot from plant to plant or that people are preparing it differently. There are things that just aren't to my taste absolutely, but when something is completely unpalatable it can be a sign I'm doing it wrong.

[@leannkennedy6568]

Good morning

[@Arya-kg9dc]

👌👀🌹

[@nickmarble7226]

Agreed with head phones your mic is making a unbearable noise please your videos are too good!

[@greendeane1]

Not sure what one can do. It's a new stereo mic used for all 12 new vidoes. No such noise is apparent in the editing software or when I play the videos on line here.

[@nickmarble7226]

@@greendeane1 I heard it with headphones in voice is on left head phone and music is on the right.. if you listen with headphones then maybe you would be able to see what we are talking about

[@EatTheWeeds]

@@nickmarble7226 I'll have to buy some headphones and see. Perhaps listening without headphones is a possible quick solution. I tried it on some MAC ear buds. The voice is in the left but no other sounds.

[@adriennefloreen]

He might not be able to hear it, it's extremely high pitched and some people actually cannot hear those tones at all. Also, when people get hearing loss either due to a condition or age it's often the high tones they stop being able to hear first. I also noticed the tone. I have a great idea to fix it though even if you can't hear it. Just record on your device with out the mic. I don't have a mic I just record on my iPhone.

[@olajackson757]

creasy in KY

[@kk5fe]

So I have to say…. I’m surprised at finding this channel. I have this growing in my yard. I found out what it was and I’m searching for ways to kill it without killing my grass… and I find folks eat it? Well come pick all you want. I want it gone. LOL

[@extropiantranshuman]

I always eat it raw

[@redennis3]

You forgot to say Toodles. lol

[@EatTheWeeds]

It was my intent but I got side tracked.

[@simpleman283]

I got so used to him saying that, I always get ready to say it back to him. What a part of his show it has become.