eating ferns.

[Guest guest]

Thanks for writing this. Noted. ~B

 

On 4/26/2010 6:44 PM, JohnP wrote:

 

 

 

 

Just a caution.

 

In the early 80's at my farm, I had 220 head of cows, several bulls. I

had to put up immense amount of hay. I leased a large section of land

from the National forest for cutting hay. There were several acres next

to the woods filled with bracken fern and good grass. Cut it and made

hay. That winter, when I started to feed hay, I used my own farm hay

first as it was the best. In spring i used the hay from the leased

lands. All of a sudden, my cattle started to have spells like they were

totally drunk. Would go one for a few days and they were dying.Carried

the first few to the NC ag center for autopsies, no results or reasons.

Carried one to a retired vet and pathologist, who was willing to test.

He found everything totally normal except the hormones produced by the

pituatary gland were way upward and off the scale. Sorry, been too many

years to remember all the names. Couldn't give me a clue as to the

reason. Got my Merk vet. manual out, started at page one, and hit

bracken fern. Found it does something to the pituatary gland that

releases a toxin that results in drunken behavior, paralasis, then

death.

 

all perfect symptoms, and started when I fed the hay from the fern are.

May not be an issue with young ferns, or other varieties. But I lost

almost $10,000 in a month. And no vet could answer the issue.

 

I would be carefull. May not affect humans, but totally untested, even

to animals at that time?

[Guest guest]

Our land is covered in bracken, in places where the forest

has not reseeded itself yet and where I don't have gardens.

When we first owned it and came here to camp, and I was

totally enthralled with Brian Angiers "How to survive in the

woods", we used to eat the occasional young furled-up bracken

fern. I never liked it much. Later we found out that the edible

fiddleheads are from a different variety that is much rarer.

I don't like those much either.

 

Most of my wildcrafting happens on my own 10 acres, since

I suffer from perfectly justified urso-phobia. I mean, we're

always telling the bears to scoot, go on up the mountain, and

then we'll follow them there to compete for the huckleberries?

Not fair!

 

Ien in the Kootenayshttp://kootenaygarden.blogspot.comhttp://backyardbusiness.info