https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5g7EV2fgJwAsher is sharing his land knowledge with me. As you all know if you’ve been with me a while. I love foraging the land. In the green season, there are so many edible plants it boggles the mind. There’s one plant that’s always fascinated me. I was told it was toxic so I’ve always made a wide path around it. It’s commonly known as a Spitting Cucumber. Here are it’s other names: **Scientific name: Ecballium elaterium *(L.) A.Richard*Common name: Squirting cucumber,Exploding cucumber, Wild Cucumber, Wild Balsam AppleHebrew name: ×ר×קת ××××ר Arabic name: Ùثا اÙØ٠ارPlant Family: Cucurbitaceae, ××××¢×××
**In Hebrew **×ר×קת ××××ר **means The Green Donkey. When the cucumber is ripe it explodes and spits its seeds away from the fruit.
So, contrary to what is in print these are not toxic, they are very acidic, but not toxic….Southerners think of wild Poke and the bellyache/runs you get if you don’t pour off the first boil. Same thing here.
Here’s what’s fascinating. Not only does Asher eat them after he soaks them in water but he feeds them to his sheep. He says they cause the ewes to have twins and triplets. He also says it’s antifungal and he uses it as a salve for his sheep when they are injured.
I LOVE this stuff.
The video shows an exploding cucumber.
In the video, the cucumbers are being squeezed but they explode when they are ripe and don’t be to be squeezed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5g7EV2fgJwUpdated Aug 13, 2020, 5:05 AM