My husband and I once spent the entire first half of a Packers/Bears game combing burs from our golden retriever’s long hair. The Packers won that day, mostly because the Bears still . . . well, you know . . . so fortunately we don’t have to add that unpleasant task to the rituals we perform to ensure our team a victory each Sunday.
Burs are pesky all right. Who hasn’t cursed while removing them from shoelaces, hair, sweatshirts, socks, collars, etc?
Turns out though, that there is a good side to the burdock plant – several parts of it are tasty, and good for you as well.
Burdock is a biennial plant. This means it doesn’t flower and set seed – a.k.a. burrs – until its second year. The first year, it produces big coarse elephant-ear like leaves that grow directly from the ground. You might spot it growing along roads and trails, or in any rough waste area. They often cluster around tree trunks
The second year, the burdock plant shoots up a strong stalk, sometimes almost eight feet tall! The leaves on the stalk are much smaller than the basal leaves. The flowers are a pretty purple round balls, about 3/4” in diameter and look similar to those of the thistle. The flowers keep their hook-like bracts and eventually turn brown to become the vexing burrs that detach and cling to whatever touches them.
Four parts of the plant are good eating – the roots, leaves, and leaf stems from the first year plant, and the stalk just before flowering on the second-year plant.
In spring, young leaves can be eaten raw in salads or cooked and used as you would spinach. The long leaf stems of first year burdock plants can be eaten as a vegetable. They should be harvested when the leaves are still a light green, before they become coarse. Scrape the skin from the stalk and chop them into short sections as they have long fibers like celery. Boil them to eat as a vegetable.
The best time to dig roots is mid-summer to late fall. This is going to take some work. The plant has a very long tap-root like a carrot. The top part of the root is tough and woody; the goal is the lower end. Rather than dig a huge pit around the plant to get to the bottom of the root, use a post-hole digger next to the plant and ease the root into the hole from the side. Or dig a deep hole in the middle of where several plants grow near each other and pull all the roots into the hole. I can’t speak from experience, but apparently all the effort is worthwhile.
The good part of the root for eating is relatively smooth, light brown, and solid all the way through. Bigger isn’t better – the best size is ¾”-1 ½” thick.
Rinse the root, cutting off dirty, hollow and coarse parts. Peel with a vegetable peeler and chop them to use in a stew or stir fry, or eat raw or as a boiled vegetable with butter and salt. A pinch of baking soda in the water will help break down the fibers.
The easiest to harvest and probably the tastiest part of the burdock plant is the young stalk of the second-year plant, harvested in early summer when about 1-3’ tall and not yet stiff, a few weeks before flowering. Cut the stalks at the base and peel off the bitter, stringy rind. The core is completely white. It will be 6-20” long, up to 1 ½” thick and should have no fibers clinging to it. Peeled stalks can be eaten raw, steamed or boiled. They are starchy and soft like baked potatoes. They can be served as a side dish or in soup or stir fry.
IT’S GOOD FOR YOU! Burdock supplies calcium, protein, chromium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, silicon, zinc and iron. It is used as a laxative, diuretic and blood cleanser and to treat coughs, asthma, rheumatism, gout, skin problems, sluggish appetite, poor digestion, eczema, psoriasis, boils and diabetes. It is anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antifungal and antibacterial.
CAUTIONS: Burdock leaves look much like rhubarb leaves which are highly toxic. Do not consume burdock that is growing near a factory or road as the plant absorbs pollutants. Do not consume if pregnant or nursing.
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