Many of the folks who are the sort who would find their way to our website likely already know that yesterday—June 20, 2024—is the same date that Octavia Butler selected for the very beginning of her prophetic/cautionary dystopian novel Parable of the Sower.

Side note: if you haven’t already read the Parable duology, go do so!!! Like, now!

One thing that a lot of folks who have read the Parable books come away with is the realization that they need to learn a lot, lot, lot more about how to meet their basic physical needs should, you know, everything fall apart.

It is in that spirit that I offer a post regarding a forageable edible plant that grows across a very large geographic area (and therefore likely near you!): Rumex crispus, aka curly dock, aka yellow dock. Although this plant is native to Europe and western Asia, it can currently be found on every continent except Antartica!

Curly dock is pretty easy to spot this time of year in the northern hemisphere, as its seed heads turn a lovely, deep rusty red color when they are ripe and ready for harvesting.

(If you want all the details on confirming your identification of this plant friend, there is an excellent fact sheet that was put together by the University of Wisconsin Horticultural Extension available at Curly Dock – Rumex crispus – Wisconsin Horticulture.)

In this post, I will be focusing on how to forage curly dock seeds and prepare them for edible and culinary use.

I had to keep this very focused, as there is a LOT that could be written about this one plant. For example: all of the parts of the plant are edible (although consumption of their leaves should be kept low, as they contain oxalic acid, which is contraindicated for some people).

Rumex crispus also has a significant history as a medicinal plant, particularly in regard to use of its root, seeds, and leaves. That will not be the focus of this post, but it is for sure worth learning about if you do live somewhere dock grows prolifically.

Some sources:

To harvest the seeds themselves, I bend the seed head over whatever I'm harvesting into, encircle the base of the seed head with one hand, and then pull up toward the tip of the plant. I keep my hand tightly enough circled around the seed head that I pull a bunch off, but I don't worry about getting every last one: that just results in having more little leaves and stems to have to sort out later.

As Rumex crispus is an enthusiastically spreading non-native plant where I live, overharvesting is not a concern. And still: I find it important to approach all harvesting practices with gratitude and in ways that are in alignment with the “Honorable Harvest,” which Robin Wall Kimmerer has written so eloquently about in the book Braiding Sweetgrass.

Before I give a quick outline for what I do to prepare dock flour, I want to offer the disclaimer that these are the steps I go through to prepare a high-quality, culinary-grade product that I use in baked goods.

Almost all of these steps can be skipped when working with dock, particularly when approaching dock as a survival food rather than a culinary delight. Every step of the way, I will mention the impact of not doing a step, and then you can figure out what works for you.

Technically, dock seeds and the young leaves of dock plants can even be safely eaten raw, making them a very good plant friend to be able to identify for survival reasons.

(Note: neither the root nor older leaves will be palatable when raw.)

But when not approaching dock as simply a survival food, there are steps you can take to transform dock seeds into a flour that you will be delighted to use in a variety of baked goods and recipes.

With all of that said, the steps from beginning-to-end for transforming foraged seeds into flour are:

Sorting and cleaning
Soaking
Drying
Toasting
Grinding

Side note: this is the exact process I go through when making just about any seed or nut flour, including almond, amaranth, pecan, walnut, sesame, quinoa, etc., etc. The benefits and level of significance of the different steps is consistent across different types of seeds and nuts, too, so in all cases you can choose-your-own-seed-making-adventure.

Of those steps, the first one (sorting and cleaning) is one that I would consider essential.

After all, even while the leaves of the dock plant are edible, it’s very important to make sure that anything you forage isn’t contaminated with anything that you didn’t intend to harvest (e.g., bits of other plants, insects, etc.), and washing foraged items is just a good thing to do.

And no, I do not separate the seeds from their chaff, which is itself completely tasty and safe to eat. Don’t bother wasting your time.

After the seeds are washed, I soak them for about 24 hours.

Then, yes, I dry the seeds out again: you can do this by spreading them in a thin, even layer or by using a dehydrator (if you have one).

Why soak them, only to dry them out again? The soaking process helps the seeds be easier to digest, which in turn makes the nutrients in them more accessible. This isn't a healthist thing; it's a no one likes to be gassy and drained thing.

(Again, to connect to what I would do in a survival situation versus a culinary one: I would absolutely prepare soaked dock seeds in much the same way one might do overnight oats, by simply soaking them in an available potable liquid overnight or for up to a day. The soaking process is basically a short-term fermentation, and will enable you to then more easily digest and access the nutrients in the dock seeds without having to find a way to cook them. In any situation in which cooking is still an option, the seeds can be prepared similarly to old-fashioned oats, whether previously soaked or not.)

Soaking the seeds also helps them taste better and have a better texture once they're ground and/or cooked.

Once the seeds are dry again, I toast them for about 10 minutes in a moderate temperature oven (325 degrees), or until they develop a very nice nutty aroma. This is completely for flavor-related reasons, and could be skipped if time, energy, or pickiness are in short supply.

It is very important that the seeds are all completely cool and dry before grinding them, or else you will likely end up with a mix of some seeds that stubbornly refuse to be ground up and other seeds that grind up into a paste.

In terms of grinding: while I would love a countertop grain mill (there are some beautiful manual ones), I don’t have one. So, that’s not an option. If it is for you, go for it!

A mortar and pestle could also be used by those who are patient and effective at using one. I can do this, but it certainly is more time and energy consuming than using standby countertop tools that you may have access to: a food processor or a high-speed blender.

I find that I can get a flour that is similar to a stone-ground whole wheat with my food processor, and one that is similar to a milled flour with a high-speed blender. Both options are great, and both have delicious uses in baking!

When it comes to using dock flour in recipes: it is important to keep in mind that dock does not contain gluten, and therefore using too much can have an impact on the texture of the finished items. This is especially true for bread, which requires the development of gluten strength for its texture.

Through my experience, I have found that I can make the following substitutions without any negative impact on the texture or taste of the resultant goodies:

For breads, rolls, breadsticks, pizza dough, etc.: Replace up to 8% of the weight of the wheat flour called for in the recipe with dock flour.
For muffins, scones, cookies, cakes, etc.: Replace up to 10% of the weight of the wheat flour called for in the recipe with dock flour.