Milkweed & Dogbane - Identification & Sustainable Foraging with Adam Haritan 

So glad I found this one. I’m in Montreal, where milkweed was pretty much destroyed because a lot of people are allergic, but since Covid, this has appeared all over the island in huge amounts. It actually smells really nice as a flower. The flowers are mostly getting old, but I’ll certainly be on the look out for when the pods appear. I’ll have an entire island of these to myself!

Adam I began following you about a year ago and have learned so much. I've been walking this land for 60 years without much thought to what I was seeing as much as just feeling alive. I began wanting to know more about my plant friends.... not only what benefits they have for me but how I can help them. I appreciate all the knowledge you share so willingly and well. The more people learn about nature the more they are aware of their connection to the circle of life. We are all connected and we are all one. I thank you as does the Earth.

Milkweed flowers also have a gorgeous, sweet scent. We sowed seeds on our land, we have a nice stand of them now. The monarchs appeared last summer.

Brother you should come down to Kentucky and walk the woods with us. Your wisdom and respect for nature is contagious.

Hi Adam, I'm so glad I happened upon this video today! I focus on milkweed this time of year and also have lots of dogbane. These are extremely valuable to my honey bees and other local pollinators, a source of a serious nectar flow. I appreciate your channel, you have a new subscriber :) Thank you! Great information!

you are such a relaxing person to listen to. I feel better just watching you enjoy teaching

Money-Steelers, that's what I grew up calling milkweed seeds as they flew through the breeze on a Summer's day. As a young child, my Mother taught us that catching a money-steeler would bring us money. Needless to say, when ever we saw one of these mysterious creations floating in the air, me and my siblings would go crazy to catch it. I caught many money-steelers as a child, but as an adult, I am still waiting for the pay off. LOL! As a teen, my Grandmother taught me to use the sap of the milkweed to get rid of warts. I am pleased to learn, that I can cook and eat the flowers and young seed pods like a vegetable. The next time I catch a money-steeler, I'll put it to good use and plant it. Thank you for the video!

I've had this huge patch of milkweed in my yard for years. I noticed that there are never any monarch larvae on any of it. This year I decided to pull it all out because it was just an eye sore & was blocking the light to some of the other plants growing with it. There were these beautiful iridescent green beetles on it & I'd never seen them before. When I looked them up I found that they were dogbane beetles. I'd never heard of dogbane before. So thanks to this pretty bug I now know that my milkweed patch was never milkweed & I don't need to feel bad about pulling the stalks out. Luckily I have other areas that actually are real milkweed. Nice, informative video, thank you!

When I was a kid, I helped my friends pull milkweed from their horse pasture after school so it wouldn’t make their horses sick. Now, I am a grown-up & my family has a TON of milkweed growing in the meadow behind our house! We used to run a preschool program & summer day camp. Our students loved harvesting milk weed pods! It sometimes grows in our horse pasture but our horses never ate it. Butterflies have always had a special place in my heart, so I enjoy having milkweed around ! Thanks for another wonderful video! Peace be with you! Stay safe! Keep learning! Enjoy the adventure!

Great video. I own 5 acre in northern Indiana and one acre is covered with milkweed. We keep it for the Monarch.

4 yrs ago... I love your information! And since you came up on my notices, I watch and share share share! Thank you!

Have just watched 5 of your videos. You have such amazing knowledge and gift for sharing your passion for foraging. Thanks so much for teaching!

Last year started looking around and seeing all these amazing things I never noticed really in 30+ years. Milkweed was the first to stand out. BEAUTIFUL little flowers and they smelled so strong of perfume. I tried to capture in coconut oil not knowing what I was doing. I ended up drying them and using them in resin for art and jewelry. This year, I started learning that these things I saw the art value in last year actually have a lot of health and nutrition value. You, Trilium and She of the Woods (and others) on YT are so helpful. Love your website and how amazing it is to simply learn my land. I am so blessed to have so much just an hour outside of the city. If you don't monetize your videos I am telling you now that YOU SHOULD. It is not okay if YT makes all the revenue off ads they run on your channel. You deserve those if they run them anyway. You can also just as easily post simultaneously with YT on Odyssey I think. People can get the content commercial free there. I just use a pop up blocker LOL

Awesome, thank you for the great distinctions- I always want to be 100% certain when foraging! The most reassuring statement was that milkweed is hollow- Very helpful!

The reason it is called "indian hemp" is because it is a good fiber plant for cordage.

I remember picking the milkweed pods as a kid at my elementary school during recess. We were blessed to have many wild plants surrounding our school. Love your videos! Your personality and knowledge make for such an enjoyable learning experience!

Everyone of your videos makes me smile! You remind me so much of myself when i was younger. 50 yrs later, i'm still obsessed with plants - particularly wild/native ones. i didn't know it was possible when younger, but you can really make a living w/ this knowledge. I have two thriving businesses utilizing native plants. The two dogbanes you mention are found across entire country - which is pretty unusual for any plant. On our land in VT/NH, they both grow and in some areas only about 20-30 ft apart. They are both excellent butterfly plants - nectar sources for a wide variety of butterflies. Thank you for all of your videos and keep up the great work you are doing!

You make some of the best, most informative videos on RU-vid. You're entertaining and knowledgable and you've instilled a love of nature around me and a desire to learn about it and get out there and forage. Thank you .

Thank you so much for all your videos. I have learned a lot. You have a way of presenting that is easy to grasp. John

I like the content of his videos. They give good info but even more I like that he seems like a positive person.

I'm 99% sure I found SO MUCH DOGBANE. I needed the dead stems for fiber crafting. I grew milkweed in the garden for awhile. Dead milkweed is dark and silvery when its dessicated. The fibers can fade from silver to white through the winter. I was so tired when I found the dogbane patch. I thought I'd found some limestone on my walk, definately found some pitch and a small bundle of dead milkweed. But I looked up from the rocks on the ground, stopping at the end of the trail and my walk to catch my breath and check my fitbit, and lo and behold THERE IT WAS. Stems fitting the exact description I'd memorized. Auburn stems, branched, seedpods may resemble tiny milkweed. As soon as I broke one off at the base it was clear this was no piddly little milkweed. Fibers were coming off the base of the plant in long ribbons, determined to remain where they'd grown.

As a kindergartner, 1st & 2nd grader, I picked the ripe seed pods and brought bags of them to school. They were picked up by someone, and taken to a factory somewhere. The fluffy capock inside of the seed heads was used to make life jackets for aboard Navy ships. I was able to contribute to the war effort (WWII) that way. Courtesy of Half Vast Flying

I cant tell you how much i love watching and learning with you thank you so much

Before the farm I was a teacher. I really like the way you repeat characteristics...really effective. So glad I found you...I slice out some time everyday to watch one of your videos.

Your videos are so informative, easy to understand and encourages wild foraging, thanks so much! Awesome job :)

Loved the outtakes. I'd like to pick u and plant u in my garden. You have a great voice and your grammar is very good. You obviously read a lot. I'd love to see more outtakes or bloopers. I'm so happy you have found your niche. It seem like you were born to do exactly what you are doing. I hope you stay as happy as you appear! Stay pretty 😘

I just watched your video and then took the dog for a walk in a place with allot of milkweed. I harvested a few pods about 1 1/2 inches long. Stir fried with olive oil, a bit of salt and all i can say is thank you so much. I now have a new early summer vegetable favorite!

Thanks for setting me straight, Adam. I see these plants all over the place here in Northeastern, PA and have many times incorrectly ID'ed them as Milkweed when in point of fact they were Dogbane. I watch your content all the time, man. Always good info and extremely, pleasantly presented by you. Your passion for what you are doing is clearly visible and instantly felt by us. You, my friend, have "the gift of gab." I'll keep watching if you keep putting them up. Peace.

I am so glad I found your channel. I am learning so much.

Thanks so much for the distinguishing information. Adjacent land to me has dogbane, but I thought it was milkweed. I have goats and buy hay from this property and you helped me immensely.

love love love your videos - what a treasure you are, and uplifting peaceful positive person doing quality work!

I think my learning will never end with this channel. Sooooo good!

We leave milkweed growing in our gardens and take seed pods and spread those to wild areas of the farm and lands around here had alot to spread this year .

Thanks for this as I am learning to raise monarchs and discerning milkweed from dogbane was very helpful.

We let Milkweed grow in our yard... specifically along the side of the house solely for the Monarch Butterfly. Growing up in the 70's nary a summer day would go by without seeing Monarchs, now it seems as though you'd be lucky to see a single Monarch the whole year. When I learned that the Monarch was obligate to Milkweed I decided to not pull it as we do with other weeds during "spring clean up". Maybe one day I'll get to see some caterpillars munching on it.

I'm relatively new to your videos so I'm still catching up watching them, but I absolutely love them. I learn and appreciated so much.

I live in South Western Pennsylvania, and have a dedicated area on my property for the Monarch Butterfly! Right now the Milkweed is flowering out and the scent is heavenly!

I love the stillness of the woods. Ive always loved to woods but i really motivated myself to learn more about the woods this summer and its drawn me to venture into them even more knowing about the bounty it contains, the feeling of calm that soaks my soul and the excitement to find a specimen ive learned about in a book or online. You have helped me much, thank you so much adam your youtube channe is my favorite channel concerning this passion!

Excellent work! I really appreciate the time and effort explaining this subject. Thank you.

Recently started foraging in the Pittsburgh area, you have been extremely helpful and inspiring. Thank you.

Just watched this yesterday and learned so much! Thank you! On my one hour walk down a country road this AM, I was saw some milkweed with flower heads and picked some to stir fry for lunch. I didn’t know I could do this before the video and love learning new things. Also, I really appreciate that we are in basically the same region so a lot of what you (Adam) talk about is relevant to me as well though we are not in the same state. Thank you very much!

Great video! Thank you. My mom and I were trying to identify what had popped up in her garden. So much information in this video!

My grandma always told me how the milkweed helps the butterflies. So when I found some in my yard I always cut around it. Now that I'm getting into foraging I'm glad that I have a little garden spot of it! I leave a few plants alone and use a few plants for me. I have other options that the poor little butterfly doesn't have. My grandma was wise in many ways! Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I have learned A LOT from you! Samuel Thayers book has helped too.

Mr Haritan, someone your age should not know as much as you do. I imagine your home has degrees and awards everywhere you look. Thank you so much for sharing everything you have and everything you will.

Thank you Adam. As always you explain things sooooo well. I came back to this several times and watched it at least 6 times to get the information in my head. Thank you. I have a large spaces where Common Milkweed grows and hope to try the taste next Spring and Summer. Thanks.

We love you Adam you are so knowledgeable thank you for teaching us about these plants.

You are a walking encyclopedia good sir. A great teacher too. Your knowledge of plants and mushrooms is very impressive. Thanks man.

I have a stand of milkweed and dogbane in my orchard that I let form a border. The flowers are beautiful in both plants and look hypnotizing in the light of the sunrise. I harvest the stalks of dogbane in winter and milkweed after the frost. Milkweed has a very light fiber and dogbane is a tan fiber. I use both in basket making.

You’re 100% right! There is very much a correlation between the amount of time we spend in nature, to our contentment. Love your videos so much and an eternally grateful for the knowledge. Love&Light

Very informative! Suggestion for future videos would be to provide the plants you are talking about side by side so that the differences can be more readily appreciated. Wholeheartedly agree with your assertions of increased happiness and well being directly proportional to the time spent outside...even if only in your own backyard. Keep up the good work.

❤️ this guys mindset and knowledge!

This was EXCELLENT! I'm eagerly waiting some spots detected in winter months to sprout for thorough identification. This was very helpful!

love your detailed description on the edibles and not👍👍👍

Really enjoy your videos. Very helpful and so much great information. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge.

great to rewatch and take notes on milkweed Adam I love your videos 👍👍👍

Such great videos. So much learning. I believe you.. the more time you spend in the woods, the healthier you are.

Your videos are wonderful! I truly appreciate you. 🌻

The milkweed vine called honey creeper (blooms smell exactly like honey), is a wonderful wild yard addition. Many species of bees and butterflies enjoy it, as its perfume wafts across the yard.

Thanks, I always enjoy your useful information

I've been watching you for a long time and I just recently made my way back up to New England and moved into Massachusetts. I'm excited to be able to identify many plants since I've returned and I'm excited to be able to rewatch a lot of your videos

You are AWESOME!!! I absolutely love your videos, you do such a fantastic job at explaining things, always very informative!

Your channel is awesome. Thanks for sharing such interesting and useful information.

Love that I found your channel 🥰🌿🌱

This is a clear explanation of distinguishing between milk weed and dogbane. I see common milk weed often when out hunting upland birds and outside edges of waterfowl sloughs. I have sometimes taken a few mature pods and shared with neighbors kids who planted around the edge of yard. Monarch 🦋🦋 do show up and do what they do. Now I know how to forage some of the parts and still leave plenty for the 🦋🦋🦋. Thank you. Peace to you. John

I have a long history of loving milkweed and now may be adding a culinary dimension to the relationship. Thank you, Adam.

Some year ago, I planted Butterfly weed (that belong to the milk weed family)in my garden. When they bloomed, I was thrilled to see dozens of Monarch Butterflies enjoying the flowers. A little while later, I began to see a bunch of small light green pods (decorated with with a string of tiny golden "pearls)hanging from my weeds. I had no idea what they were, so I waited to see. Lo and behold they were Monarch cocoons, and a bit later I was treated with the sight of the baby monarchs (about 50 of them) unfurling their gorgeous wings, and open them so majestically that I thought they truly deserved their royal "title." After drying themselves in the sun, they flew off to live their lives. I felt so privileged to have witnessed such a charming show. Nature is so wonderful!

Excellent description of the differences - I'm ready to go compare the plants I see in our field! Thank you.

LOVE YOUR VIDEOS! One of my summer goals it to learn more about the wild plants on my land. We have milkweed- so excited that it can be eaten!!! Thanks so much for your work- every time you site a study - I think yeah take that!!!

I've been planting milkweed around my property. Once it starts to bloom, it is absolutely alive with various insects. The aroma is great at a distance, but once you get next to a large colony, I equate it as being in church with a bunch of 80 year old women, all wearing perfume in vast quantities. I am always rewarded with butterflies. And my honeybees love this stuff. So, every year my milkweed expands, as I take the seed pods, open them, and spread them around. I might have to try the flower heads though. Intriguing.

Love these videos! Very informative

Love your videos, you are so knowledgeable and are an excellent teacher. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Great information! Well done video.

i used to be a truck driver and been all over the US and Pennsylvania and west Virginia were the only two places i never wanted to leave

Great video as always

When you cover safe prepping for food, you mention sauteing the flower buds and boiling the leaves. Can I saute the leaves too? What are we doing to the glycosides that makes them safe? Is the heat breaking them down, or are they water soluble compounds that come out in boiling water? Thanks!

Excellent information thanks so much for your research and knowledgeable

This guy is awesome. He's like America's David Attenborough.

It grows in my mint patch. My backyard is wild since I let my chickens forage there. PS and this year saw a monarch butterfly around my yard and it's been ten years since I've seen one! Now I know!

I watched this video yesterday and thought I would try milkweed flowers. I have several patches of milkweed in my yard so I picked a large bowl full of unopened flowers and brought them to my kitchen. Cooked them in my microwave, added salt and pepper, then threw some butter on top. They were delicious! I scanned some of your other videos and saw many of those plants in my yard. Trying dandelions next. Thank you!

Great video, very detailed and informative.

Adam you're a beautiful human being thankyoui for sharing your knowledge

Your wisdom is a blessing 🙌 thank you 😊 🙏

I live in Northeastern Pennsylvania too! Absolutely beautiful place to live!

What an Awesome informative VIEDO!

I'm going to forage for this and leave milkweed for the butterflies and replant! Thank you for this really cool channel!

Thanks, you are very informative and your videos are well done.

Great video Adam!

This spring, On a lark, i decided to let the milkweed flourish in my horseradish and rhubarb beds. I'd heard it's edible and figured I'd give it a try. Missed the early shoots. Just watched your video and picked and cooked a dozen buds. Delicious. Thanks Adam.

Awesome Philosophy

Love this channel dude.

Thank you Adam for another informative video! I've been transplanting and blowing seeds of milkweed unsuccessfully, (I thought) until this year of rain! Yeah, finally!

Milkweed flowers smell like irises to me. Fabulous! I spread the seeds in my meadow for the butterflies, but have never considered eating them. I'll wait till there's "too many" ))).

I was looking for information on adeniums. That took me to dogbane. That took me to milkweed. What I nice surprise to find your video. I love your passion. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Thank you Adam for another excellent video! May I suggest you showing us how you prepare and cook edible foraged plants, nuts and mushrooms in your own kitchen. Now that would be awesome!🌱🍄

Thank you. Good to know.

Great video. Thank you for sharing. I just subscribed to your site. I hope to watch more of your videos in the future.

Thank you for yet another great video Adam. Your knowledge and gift of sharing it is literally awesome. I don't know if you have a doctrite or PHD or something but you sure sound smart enough to. You are an amazing guy :)

The milkweed plants in my yard are just now flowering and they have a lovely scent. The bees absolutely love it, though I have never seen Monarchs here (CO). I had no idea you could eat milkweed. Every year I have such an excess of seed pods. I was thinking of taking the seeds and throwing them in the wild near lakes and fields.

greetings from Patagoinia Chile!!!

you are my new role model:)