Prairie Folklore
Wayne Pauly

Burdock
Arctium minus

Burdock is not a native plant, but it sure catches our attention when those sticky brown burrs glom onto our unsuspecting shirt tails, sleeves, socks and everything else, while we're minding our own business harvesting prairie seeds. I envy those who get even with burdock, they cook and eat it. The Italians cook something they call Gardunes. I've been told that burdock is gathered in mid-May, the leaves discarded, and the stalks par-boiled until limp, dipped in egg, sautéed, and seasoned with bread crumbs and grated parmesan cheese.

A woman who was rediscovering her Japanese roots, told me she became particularly intrigued by old family recipes that included Gobo root. She'd never heard of it, but luckily found the seeds in a specialty catalogue and convinced her father-in-law to grow a long row of Gobo root in his picture perfect, weed free vegetable garden. Her father-in-law soon realized that Gobo root was burdock. He made sure that she harvested every root, and some were two or three feet long. She never forgot the experience, and never again suggested exotic additions to her father-in-law's garden.

A Small Matter of Support

In 1999 the Adult Conservation Team received financial support from the Upper Sugar River Watershed Initiative, the Evjue Foundation, and many readers of this newsletter. This generous support allowed us to continue to publish "ACTION" and to provide tools, supplies and other support for volunteer projects. However, we must continue to raise outside funds to maintain a quality volunteer program and to grow with the demands of an expanding park system.

We are asking you to consider a small contribution of $8 to help cover the costs of one year of this newsletter. We will continue to seek support from grants, in-kind donations, and sponsorships, but we also need your help. In this issue of "ACTION" you will find a return envelope, and a coupon. This is a shameless appeal to you to use them to show your support. You may want to make a donation in honor or memory of someone.

Thanks for listening.