The Many Uses of Cattails

Diving Deeper:

part 1: Pantry of the SWAMP!

• Spring Shoots: "In early spring, the young cattail shoots can be harvested.  Once you peel back the outer layers, the tender white core can be eaten raw or cooked. It has a crisp, mild flavor reminiscent of a cucumber or a tender asparagus stalk.  If you do not peel it back it can be chopped up like celery." 

• Early Summer - The Flower Spike: "Before the familiar brown seed head forms, the green flower spike can be harvested and then boiled and eaten with butter just like corn on the cobb!  And it actually tastes like corn!  This is definitely a seasonal delicacy and one of my favorite ways to eat them. 

• Summer - Golden Pollen: "In mid-summer, the male part of the flower at the top of the stalk produces a massive amount of bright yellow pollen.  You can collect this by shaking the stalk into a bag.  This pollen is incredibly protein-rich and can be mixed with regular flour (up to a 50/50 ratio) to make golden, nutrient-dense pancakes, biscuits, or bread.  "It is a great way to add a boost of nutrients to your food as it contains minerals like calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium, as well as vitamins like beta-carotene, niacin, riboflavin (B2), thiamin (B1), and vitamin C.

• Fall & Winter - The Rhizomes: "The root system, or rhizomes, is a great source of starch, much like a potato.  After digging them up from the mud (a tough job!), you can clean them, crush them, and wash them in water to separate the starch from the tough fibers.  This starch can be dried and ground into a fine flour and used like a thickener in soups.  

• CAUTIONS when using for food

• Because Cattails are a bio accumulator, which means they absorb and filter whatever is in their environment, it is important to never harvest cattails from polluted water, near busy roadsides (where they absorb heavy metals from exhaust), or in agricultural areas with potential pesticide runoff. Always choose a clean, natural water source. 

• positive Identification is super important since a poisonous look alike often can be found growing with cattails.  The Yellow Flag Iris has many features, you can take note of, to tell them apart.  For one, they have a prominent mid vein/rib that runs down the center of its leaf which is flat, in comparison to the cattail, that has a very spongy and curved leaf.  Also, Irises grow from a bulb rather than a root. 

The Practical Cattail

Part 2: Nature's Hardware Store

"For the seasoned survivalist, the sight of a stand of cattails is like finding gold!  Not only is it a sign of water, but is also a great source for tinder, cordage, and shelter. Everything all wrapped up in one remarkable and easily identifiable plant.

As I personally have spent many years building shelters and teaching survival skills, I can say that the cattails are a welcomed sight for sure! 

The cattail is in the Typha genus and provides an incredible array of materials for crafts, survival, and practical items."  Here I will share just a few.

Weaving Material:  Baskets are a very handy thing to have in any situation and the cattail has definitely got our back on this one. The long, flat leaves are incredibly strong and pliable.  When dried properly, they can be woven into durable baskets, sleeping mats, placemats, or twisted into strong cordage for tying things together."  When working with cattails this way, it is good to dry them out first and then rewet them. this allows for much of the shrinkage to occur.  Re-wetting them is super crucial, as the cattails are a bit crunchy when dry and it is the water that brings them the flexibility to craft them into things like cordage and baskets.  I have built walls on shelters using cattails and it is quite amazing how water repellant they are and how long they will hold up. one of the shelters I built on my own land using cattail for the walls actually held up for over 5 years without rotting! I eventually tore it down before it even came close to decay. 

• Insulation and Tinder: "Once the brown seed head matures and dries, it bursts open to reveal a soft, cotton-like fluff.  This fluff is an excellent natural insulator and can be stuffed into clothing or bedding for warmth.  I made a cattail fluff matt that I still use today.  Cattail fluff is actually both water repellant and absorbent.  It has a hydrophobic wax coating, which makes it repel water. However, if you harvest the fluff from the previous year a lot of that wax coating has been weathered off and can be used to make a primitive diaper.  Another really great use for the brown flower head is to soak it in lard and use it like a torch.  The length of burn time depends on how saturated it is. 

• Pen and Ink:  Recently my son decided to play around with cattails and used dried stalks to make a calligraphy pen.  He then took some of the starch, from the roots, as a binding agent.  He added the powdered starch to some water and then added a powdered Iron, which he extracted from rocks.  It made a nice paint, which you can thin out for ink.  He also made an ink, from cedar bark, and used the starch as a binder there as well.  It actually worked quite well.  A more simplified ink can be made by mixing charcoal, from your fire, with water.  This allows you to write or draw with materials sourced entirely from the wild.  So much fun!