I’ll work my way from the edge of the salt marsh back to the main dyke focusing on a few plants along the way, actually I’m standing here on what remains of a very old dyke and I can’t judge its possible age, though they were being constructed out here as early as the 1670s. If you click to enlarge the photo below you will notice the muddy banks are quite steep on the edge of the marsh.
A patch of the controversal and somewhat edible Seaside Arrowgrass (Triglochin maritima), there are way to many factors involved to promote Seaside Arrowgrass as a wild edible plant to get out and forage for on the east coast of N.A., It is though a pleasant dark green to see out here today and it is in flower so have a look, but study this one well before you every consider trying its few edible parts as the green leaves and flower stems are possibly toxic.
Here is a view of some Seaside Arrowgrass flower stems.
This plant above is a popular edible salt marsh green known locally as Goose tongue and also Passe-pierre (Plantago maritima), notice the flat fleshy leaves with the sunken central ridge, it has a similar flowering stem to Seaside Arrowgrass though the stem is usually smaller and appears much later in the summer. It is wise to know these 2 plants apart ( Triglochin maritima and Plantago maritima).
Almost back to the dyke and here as expected are some Sow-thistles (Sonchus arvensis) which were popular and healthy greens in Europe for thousands of years before being introduced into N.A. around 1810, hey that’s when my kin folk arrived over here, I wonder?
Think I’ll make a soup and maybe do a sow-thistle ferment, in coming weeks again I’ll return to the salt marsh as there are quite a few very good wild edibles coming up soon out here. ciao for now and then
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