Page 141 - The Lost Ways
P. 141
Sour Dock (Rumex crispus)
Biennial herb; harvest all year
In the spring, when the plants are young, you can pick the leaves and eat them raw or
boil them for 10 minutes. They taste like beet greens and mix pleasantly with other wild
greens. As they get older, you may need to boil them longer and change the water once
or twice to remove the bitterness.
They make a nice potherb when properly seasoned as long as they remain green. When
they turn, the seeds of the dock are plentiful and, thankfully, edible as well. You can, with
much effort, separate the seed from the chaff, but why bother? Dry them still whole, and
grind it all fine for a nice whole grain flour substitute.
All dock species are edible, and there are no poisonous lookalikes.
140
