My recent post titled “Grow Food in your Front Yard” talks about the iconic barrel cactus, it’s lovely flowers, cute pollinators, and the highly edible and protein-rich seeds of the fruits that you can harvest and use - even if you have an HOA!
What I forgot to say is this. It is safe to eat the seeds from plants grown in public spaces. Fruits can be iffy. Leaves are right off the table. Seeds are safe.
Over the years, I have discussed eating seeds of plants that grow in public areas with several scientist friends from various universities and private labs. (In case you didn’t know it, science nerds have very different conversations than most people.) Seeds are the way that a plant is trying to reproduce itself. There are very specific genetic codes telling mama plant how to create and what to put into the seed.
Meanwhile, inside the cells of the rest of the plant - stems, roots, leaves, and even fruits - mama plant can make storage areas to sequester heavy metals and some toxins. Plants can put these harmful elements in jail, so to speak, so they don’t harm the body of the plant and it can live safely. Seeds are the babies and they are kept pure and free of any “jail” cells. And thus we can eat seeds safely.
I shall have to add the seed information to the article on the website - but you read it here first folks! Just one small way to thank you for being a subscriber.
Incidentally, changing the article on the website involves trying to log in, remember my password, finding my phone so I can go through the double verify business, and all that rot. Hackers have stolen so much quality of life from us - sigh. They need to go to that “Special Hell” that Reverend Book tells us about. Thank you for allowing me to vent.
Having an edible landscape is a great idea, but quite honestly it is not for everyone. Here are Five Reasons to NOT Plant Fruits. A little forethought can save years of regret.
Back when I did home consultations about landscaping, I often found myself in the middle of a family discussion. Sometimes I felt I was more of a marriage counselor than a garden coach. So often it happened that one spouse dearly wanted a fruit tree in their brand new retirement home while the other spouse was quite against the idea. After a few such encounters, I developed these five things to consider. As we talked our way through the points generally logic prevailed and a non-acrimonious result was achieved. Sadly, there were those that did not respond to adult logic and reasoning, relying on emotion-driven arguments instead.
Copyright © J. A. Soule.
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