Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Riddle Me This

Ok, all you kinfolk out there that lived in the country, I have a question.

This past weekend, as I was tooling around the yard on the riding mower, I cut down a huge patch of sweet clover, full of "pickles". I can remember looking for these "pickles" when I was a kid and chewing them for their burst of sour sweetness. It got me wondering about that other plant we used to chew on as we rambled around the fields.

So what was it? Sour Doc or Sour Dot? And what was it, really? I don't remember it clearly enough to know whether it's still around. And the internet is no help, since I'm sure it was a local term for a regional plant.

Wouldn't mind finding a stalk and reliving those memories.

LSW

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sour doc or dock. Green stem with red veins. Supposedly a kind of sorrel, but the pictures online of the plants don't look like what I remember. It grew in abundance south of the football field in Smiley and was a staple of elementary school grazing. I've either forgotten how to recognize it, or it just doesn't grow around Austin.