Poison Garden

[zigs]

Giant Hogweed is unmistakable, the flowers are 3 feet across and it grows about 8 to 10 foot tall.

But the normal hogweed (about 4-5 foot high has the same hairs on it, they make your skin photosensitive so you blister in sunlight or even a bright lightbulb

 

[peachdejour]

I did similar when a neighbour's kids were playing around a fruiting Cherry Laurel, she had a go at me, saying she doesn't know how I bring my kids up but hers would never put anything in their mouths.

I just thought of the Darwin awards and let them get on with it.

Brought my kids up to know exactly what they can eat and what will kill them.

I used to take school classes out on nature walks to identify wild plants.

Ok, so the poison will start to show symptoms 2-3 days after ingestion, but it could take up to 3 weeks before illness appears. Both forms of these mushrooms are among the most poisonous in the world. I'm glad I don't eat mushrooms.

 

[zigs]

Ok, so the poison will start to show symptoms 2-3 days after ingestion, but it could take up to 3 weeks before illness appears. Both forms of these mushrooms are among the most poisonous in the world. I'm glad I don't eat mushrooms.

Yep, you don't want to be eating the wrong ones, there's not usually a way back

I regularly eat wild mushrooms though, as long as i'm 100% certain which one i've got

Can't go wrong with the Giant Puffball, delicious too

 

[CanadianLori]

[Qlive nTE="Mockingbird, post: 43618, member: 1732"]About the only plant that comes to mind that has been an issue in this area is the Giant Hogweed. It seems to be spreading and because it looks similar to wild parsley (?) we have had instances where children and/or garners have touched it and been hurt by the sap. At work one of the residents feared we had some Hogweed out in the back areas, turned out it wasn't but in their defense I might have thought the same thing to.

I am sure we have many poison berries and plants, but most of the time I am more worried about Bears or prickers getting me. Neither would make for a great day. I am just grateful to be in New York, when I went to visit west Virginia I was surprised to find they have little cactus's that grow in the lawns, OUCH![/QUOTE]
I live next door to hillbillies and I had some giant hogweed come through. Pulled some before I realized what it was. Burned big time. Luckily I ran into the house and rinsed it off before the sun hit it. If I had not done that I would have suffered for months. I missed a small spot and it did indeed burn and scar.

 

[zigs]

My Dad made a peashooter out of a hogweed stem

He wasn't very happy

 

[CanadianLori]

I haven't seen a puffball here in years. My Mum used to cook them if we found one in the woods. Yum!

 

[peachdejour]

Yep, you don't want to be eating the wrong ones, there's not usually a way back

I regularly eat wild mushrooms though, as long as i'm 100% certain which one i've got

Can't go wrong with the Giant Puffball, delicious too

OMG! That's a HUGE mushroom! I had this job in a Greek restaurant when I was 15. One of my jobs was to keep the salad bar filled. They had these mushroom that were full of spores. I swear the whole time I worked there I couldn't get the damn mushroom spores off my hands. To this day, I won't even prepare dishes with mushrooms in them. I can't stand it.

 

[zigs]

I haven't seen a puffball here in years. My Mum used to cook them if we found one in the woods. Yum!

They come up in the same spot for many years so it's worth checking. I used to keep a forraging diary so i'd know when they were up, usually around August over here.

 

[zigs]

OMG! That's a HUGE mushroom! I had this job in a Greek restaurant when I was 15. One of my jobs was to keep the salad bar filled. They had these mushroom that were full of spores. I swear the whole time I worked there I couldn't get the damn mushroom spores off my hands. To this day, I won't even prepare dishes with mushrooms in them. I can't stand it.

Know what you mean, I can't do sticky things after a mishap that I was too young to remember.

My Mum left me alone in my pram with the shopping, when she found me i'd managed to open loads of stuff and was covered in all sorts of food, i'm sure the phobia dates back to that

 

[peachdejour]

Know what you mean, I can't do sticky things after a mishap that I was too young to remember.

My Mum left me alone in my pram with the shopping, when she found me i'd managed to open loads of stuff and was covered in all sorts of food, i'm sure the phobia dates back to that

It doesn't help that one day while cutting those mushrooms, I cut my finger down to the bone. I spent the next fifteen minutes getting yelled at by my boss about how he told me now to cut myself while he bandaged my finger. He was yelling at me in half Greek. I technically should have never had a knife in my hand under the age of 16, so it was a bad thing. I still have the scar. I laugh when I look at it now.

 

[zigs]

Ouch

Kinda like some sort of Pavlov's dog experiment in reverse then.

 

[tasha]

I am a little nervous about mushrooms and we actually have a weird looking one growing in the garden here. I will take a photo of it and put it on here for you to identify. I love some of the plants that are poisonous for nosy neighbours but I wouldnt keep any because it is guaranteed that the kids would want to pick them off

 

[Trellum]

Cool

Would only take a few minutes in most gardens to find something to kill someone with though. I could find some seeds so small you wouldn't even notice them on your cracker, or some mushrooms that would kill you 17 days later

Hehehe! You sounded kinda scary, zigsy! That reminds me I should never upset a master gardener Hehehe, but seriously... is there something that can really kill you so slowly?

 

[zigs]

Hehehe! You sounded kinda scary, zigsy! That reminds me I should never upset a master gardener Hehehe, but seriously... is there something that can really kill you so slowly?

Don't upset a chef either, know of one that served up some goat poo and mashed potato as "Rissoles."

Yep, thats why most of the mushroom books listed them as edible, no one made the connection between eating them and dropping dead so long afterwards

 

[Cereus]

I wouldn't keep one because if someone finds out, then keeping such a garden can attract unwanted attention. I mean there's a difference between growing a cousin in the nightshade family that looks pretty and ornamental and is an acceptable garden plant versus growing a pure poison garden.