The first wild plant I ever harvested was red clover. A hippie lady neighbor asked me to go harvest some clover for tea. Away we went down the country road and picked some bright Red Clover. Once we were done we went home, brewed up some clover tea(leaves and flowers), stirred in some honey and enjoyed some delicious herbal tea. That is a very fond memory from when I was four years old and probably goes a long way explaining my love of wild plants and their uses.
So when I read about the native use of the rhizome in the book The Adventures and sufferings of John R. Hewwett the Captive of Chief Maquinna.
I was very interested in trying to harvest the rhizomes of the Red Clover. Around here most clover is on lawns or fields so I haven't wanted to upset anyone and dig up their lawn. Well the other day I came upon a house that was slated for demolition and development with some big Red Clovers so I got my tools and went to work.
After I got them home, washed and peeled I remembered how the book talked about eating the rhizomes raw so I selected the smallest rhizome and took a nibble. It was very woody and this had me worried. So I tried boiling the heck out of them but they were still too woody, apparently I harvested a plant that was too old. Not a complete waste of time because I learned how the rhizomes spread through the ground.
%100 my workwith reference from the book "The Adventures and sufferings of John R. Hewwett the Captive of Chief Maquinna"