Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Wednesday - June 08, 2011
From: Round Rock, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Grasses or Grass-like
Title: Groups promoting Edible Grasses
Answered by: Brigid & Larry Larson
QUESTION:
Is there a group of people who want to study and grow edible grasses? Thanks!ANSWER:
Mr Smarty Plants is well aquainted with those folks, I think they are called farmers! They grow massive amounts of well known grasses such as wheat, barley & rice and feed us all. The place of study is generally within the horticulture department of our major Universities; here is a link to the Horticulture Department at TAMU. I also found a link to the Grain Science & Industry Department at KSU.
Now that I've stopped chuckling, I'm expecting that since you asked Mr Smarty Plants, you are actually concerned about studying and growing Native Grasses
It seems the people in the UK have a number of societies and groups with missions that are related to this. There is British Grassland and the Irish Seed-Savers, The Gloucestershire Root Fruit & Grain Society in Gloucester, England appears to sponsor competitions. More internationally, there is a group called GRAIN, who claim to be a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. [!!]
In the US, most of the references I found were to groups that promote native grassses and grasslands, rather than grains. These include the California Native Grass Association and the Soil and Water Conservation Society. The SWC society publishes an e-book on Farming with Grass.
If we move away from the specific reference to grasses, though, It turns out that we have an expert and a group that you can explore much closer to home. Scooter Cheatham is a Texas author and has participated in The Texas Legacy Project. His major effort over the past 30 years has been to direct, illustrate, write, edit and lay out the Encyclopedia of the Useful Wild Plants of Texas, a 12-volume, 6000-page work produced by the Useful Wild Plants Project. If you explore the Useful Wild Plants Project pages, you will see that they include grasses in their subjects, and that they encourage membership, volunteering, and publish a newsletter.
Glycyrrhiza lepidota Zizania texana Elymus canadensis
[A note to the cautious - - Appropriate pictures but not necessarily edible!]
More Grasses or Grass-like Questions
Ground cover that won't hide snakes from Asheville NC
June 29, 2012 - I have an unusual situation: several bare areas in an otherwise wooded area, which receive partial sun, and are not near water -- it rains here frequently, but the soil can become quite dry at times. ...
view the full question and answer
Should the herbicide Ornamec 170 be used on unwanted grasses?
March 15, 2012 - I have a lovely wildflower garden in a field behind my house; unfortunately, the wildflowers are being smothered by grasses. I understand that Ornamec 170 can be used to control grasses in wildflower...
view the full question and answer
Need plants to replace cedars on a 40 degree slope in Boerne, TX.
August 28, 2012 - My backyard is a roughly 40 degree slope that is covered with cedars. The slope is basically all rock, what can I grow here to replace the cedar which drink too much water. I would still like the area...
view the full question and answer
Hardy, inexpensive perennials for Mansfield, TX
March 12, 2008 - I am trying to fill two flowerbeds that are in full sun mostly and right next to the house. I want something that can live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and is pretty hardy. I also don't want to spe...
view the full question and answer
Erosion control in Spicewood TX
March 20, 2013 - I am from a small community along the Colorado River a few miles East of Marble Falls. We are looking for a ground cover/grass to prevent erosion on on our beach front. We had planned to use Bermuda G...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |