Foraging - Common Hogweed 

StuartD777 haha yea, I think I prefer my method 🤣 thanks man

Guido Fawkes always better to be safe than sorry, but there are actually some good ways to tell them apart as I show here. It really is one to try if you haven’t, more than just a foraging novelty for sure!

FunnyFlicksTV Thank you. Was it you that suggested I should start cooking in the videos?

Self Sufficient Hub Yes as there are not many videos of actually showing how to cook and use in everyday meals so really good to see them being cooked. I have loads of hogweed at the bottom of my garden so will definitely try them as a side this week so many thanks for this valuable information. Had beech leaves as a salad side last week as they are just shooting so are pretty sweet 🌳

FunnyFlicksTV that’s Awesome. And thanks again as I probably wouldn’t have included it otherwise!

Thanks for your comment, could you please link to some studies on this? I couldn’t find anything in any of my sources.

@@SelfSufficientHub If my memory serves me right, lesser hog weed has a small amount of the toxicity of giant. It may be possible to blanch the roots, but I have never tried, as it's a risk. But my personal studies come from living wild for years and using muscle testing, plant becoming (see the channeled video on my channel by pressing the sunset profile for this pressious technique, as it's a word of mouth, lesser known / forgotten knowledge) and most importantly as it works best for me, from years of internal Taoist meditation like the inner smile meditation that gives direct relationship to our internal organs. We have a teaching retreat space in the south of England, you would be most welcome if you wish. Nice video by the way.👍 Also the seeds are very tasty in stir frys, like Alexander seeds which we also use as pepper. Best wishes and blessings.

Paul Bazeley you won’t be disappointed 😎

Sorry about that Philip, I tried my best.

Fionnuala Murphy one of the distinguishing features this time of year is the number of flower stems on each unbelifer. Common hogweed will have around a dozen whereas giant hogweed will have about twenty or more flower stems in each cluster. Hope this helps and thanks for watching.

I have never tried it raw and many sources recommend against it. At least the green parts of the plant. The seeds are slightly different and I will be doing a video about them soon as they are everywhere right now. I think the general waryness of eating it raw may come from the phototoxicity of the sap, but it equally may be just far less palatable. I can’t think there are any compounds within the plant that would actually be toxic raw. Hope this is helpful, even if not a comprehensive answer to your question.

@@SelfSufficientHub It sure is, I'll just follow your advice! Thank you

@@SelfSufficientHub I read elsewhere the two can cross pollinate and make a hybrid. Which may account for the wide variety of leaf shapes encountered in common hogweed.

@@freeganjustin6699 yes I’m hearing more of that now than I used to as well