On 21/1/08 09:56, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote:


In article ,
Michael Bell writes:
|
| A tree crop may seem a radical idea, but actually there are plenty of
| tree crops. Apples, oranges, bananas, dates, etc., but you will notice
| one thing about this list: They all bear FRUITS. That is to say, a
| soft, wet thing, usually eaten raw and with poor keeping qualities. To
| have a tree producing a GRAIN, a hard, dry thing, not usually eaten
| raw, but suitable for making bread pasta, etc., and with good keeping
| qualities, is indeed a new thing. ...

There are fair number of tropical trees with those properties, and
chestnut also counts (though it is another southern plant). Chestnut
flour was a staple once, though not here. Sorry - there's nothing
new under the sun!

Another one that was commonly eaten in neolithic times is fat hen
(goosefoot, orache, Chenopodium album). The leaves make an excellent
alternative to spinach, but are a bit small (which would be easy to
change by breeding) and the seeds are edible, a bit like buckwheat to
taste, and fairly easy to harvest (again, they could be bred for
simultaneous ripening and not falling when ripe). But they may be
oily, not starchy.

There are several hardy plants with starchy roots, including reed
mace and bracken. The former apparently tastes ghastly, and the
latter contains a carcinogen - but several of our food crops have
been bred for low toxin levels.

| One doubt which will have to be overcome is "What are the milling,
| cooking, and eating properties of Alder seeds"? We just don't know
| yet!

Well, you could try that even with existing seeds. I did with fat
hen!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

This might be of iinterest, too
http://www.pfaf.org/database/index.php


--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'