Making Lemonade from a “Weed”

Posted by Sandy Beverly May 5, 2010 at 2:09 p.m.

Chances are good that yellow woodsorrel is growing somewhere near your home. This little clover-like plant has delicate yellow flowers and is informally called "sour grass". When I was a kid, my friends and I would eat the sour leaves and flowers, and over-react to the tingling in our jaws. Many consider this plant a weed.

Thirty years later (thank you, Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants), I’ve learned that you can make a refreshing cold beverage—a cross between lemonade and tea—from this plant. Want to try it?

• Gather a bunch of sorrel. You can find it in almost any untreated yard (and do be sure your plants don’t have chemical herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers on them). My bunch was 4 or 5 inches in diameter.

• Trim off the roots and rinse thoroughly.

• Steep 10 minutes or longer in hot water. I probably used about 20 ounces of water, and my drink turned out very mild.

• Strain out the plant, chill, and sweeten to taste with your favorite sweetener.

It’s that easy. And a fun way to teach children about the many ways that plants enrich our lives.

Note: A number of reputable sources describe yellow wood sorrel as a safe edible plant. But it contains quite a bit of oxalic acid (which is in many foods). It should be consumed in moderation, and avoided by people with kidney disease, kidney stones, rheumatoid arthritis, or gout.

For more on yellow wood sorrel, see:

www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/yl_sorrel.htm

www.kingdomplantae.net/yellowWoodSorrel.php

For more about children and nature, see a new local blog: trackinginthemud.wordpress.com

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Did_I_say_that (DIST) says…

Honk for Sorrel!
May 5, 2010 at 9 p.m.
phoggyjay (anonymous) says…

I thought it was about the other weed, damn.
May 6, 2010 at 4:02 p.m.