Dock: A Tasty, Creamy Spring Green

Docks were popular wild edibles during the Great Depression due to their tart, lemony flavor, their widespread abundance, and the fact that they were free for the taking. Today, most people have forgotten about this common and tasty edible weed.

Docks are perennial plants growing from taproots, and they are most often found in neglected, disturbed ground like open fields and along roadsides. While docks may be happiest and tastiest when they grow with plenty of moisture, the taproot indicates they are drought-tolerant plants. Docks grow as basal rosettes of foliage in early spring; they are often one of the first greens to emerge. By late spring or early summer, dock produces tall flower stalks that bear copious amounts of seed, which are also edible. The seed, however, can be labor-intensive to process and reports on its palatability are highly varied.

The foliage of mature dock plants may be from one to three feet tall, depending on growing conditions, but in early spring, when it's at its most delicious, the smaller plants may be hard to spot. Look for the tall, dark brown, branched flower stalks that produced the prior year's seed crop. These often remain standing over winter and new growth will emerge from the base of the stalk.

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