permaculture

[rick valley <bamboogrove@cmug.com>]

Catching up on back postings...
Once upon a time I harvested the green flower spikes and sold them at the 
restaurant I was working at- no one could resist an ala carte veggie 
listed as "hot buttered cattails". So, you can eliminate the seed and eat 
it, too. The pollen is quick to gather- knock the flowers over a bag, let 
the bugs climb out. It is good added to baked things or pancakes. In the 
fall, I have snorkeled and gathered rhizome tips- very good steamed. And 
you can gather winter rhizome and mash 'em and wash out and settle the 
starch. Brother Euell Gibbons called them "the supermarket of the swamps".
 I presume if you could control water level, you could set the hogs on a 
stand and get quick reduction! Otherwise, find some nutria, muskrat or 
moose.
-Rick