Day Lilies Are An Edible Plant

 Day lilies grow along my road!

July is a month I look forward to because our day lilies are in bloom. They are so beautiful along side the road in front of our house and paddock. The roads through out the state forest have them too, but not like we have.

 Beautiful!

One year, I was so happy to see them in full bloom........the next day our local highway department mowed them all down! I was livid! You can believe they heard about it from me! The next year I was waiting for them. But they were already under instructions not to mow them down. I can see mowing along the sides of roads that have traffic. Hey, we live in the state forest. Not that much traffic here. Besides my husband keeps it mowed real pretty all summer and it looks nicer than any road I have ever seen.

Summer time flowers!

Day lilies are good to have around. They are an edible wild plant. You can cook the early spring shoots like asparagus. Or include them in your salads. The roots are also edible and the flowers themselves are also safe to eat. Basically you can eat them all spring, summer and fall. Fresh flowers are usually cooked as fritters. Fresh, dried or withered flowers can be used in stews. Flower buds can be prepared as green beans are. The white tubers (roots) can added to salad or cooked like corn.

An edible plant and flower!

I think it is good to know about edible wild plants even if you would never plan on serving them for dinner. Gather some and cook them and add them to some salads. Show your children how you do it. Then try them. That way at least you know how to use them if sometime in the future you may need them. In this world today, you never know. Teach your children so they will know when they are grown up. The day may come when this knowledge will be lifesaving.

 

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole