The Return of the Burry Dog
The Burry Dog
Yes, readers, It’s that time of year again: It’s Burdock Time.
Giant clump of burrs waits for unsuspecting passerby.
I’ve written at some length about burdock and its progeny, the burr, as well as about wonderfully bizarre ancient celebrations like the burry man. So I’m familiar with this tenacious non-native weed whose extraordinary clinginess inspired the invention of velcro. And yet, despite my heightened burdock awareness, on a recent walk on the upper pathway inside Riverside Park, the dog and the burdock became again … as one.
Eyebrow burrs from a 2010 encounter.
The day shone, the air was fresh, and for a moment, all had seemed right with our little world. And then the dog started limping. Checking his paws, I found burrs, burrs and more burrs. In a moment of inattention, lulled by the beauty of the day, we had once again been ambushed by burdock, which lies in wait for moving targets like my poor dog in order to spread its seed and take over an unsuspecting world.
It only looks dead.
Since I first wrote about burrs in 2010, readers have shared their burry encounters. Carlie wrote me about the annual Burdock Festival of Benson, Vermont. And Tricia of Amusing the Zillion, the peerless blog of all things Coney Island, told me burdock is a Japanese delicacy known as gobo, and is readily available at local Japanese restaurants. (Note to Tricia: we still need to meet up for that burdock dish in the East Village.) I also learned that burdock root, which is said to have anti-bacterial and healing properties, was one of the original ingredients in root beer, which is the nicest thing I’ve heard about burdock yet.
Hires Root Beer, the health & temperance drink. Image: James D. Julia Auctioneers
Now I see that NYC’s own forager, Wildman Steve Brill, offers lots of burdock information as well as a video on cooking the evil vegetable.
And there seems to be a whole movement to Eat the Weeds, which sounds to me like a very good idea, indeed.
Just do us all a favor, and start with burdock. The dog and I will thank you.
The dog and I: same hair style.
Read more:
The Burry Man, the Burry Dog and Burdock
Plant People: Green Man, Burry Man, Moss Man and Poison Ivy
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Tags: about burdock, about burrs, burdock, burdock root, burrs, burrs in NYC parks, burrs on dog, can you eat burdock
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Out walking the dog 
June 9, 2022 at 2:17 am
[…] ‘Tis the season where those damn burrs stick to your dog. (Out Walking the Dog) […]
September 29, 2012 at 11:52 am
Yes – many things we don’t realize have been used to make beverages since the beginning of time. Everything from Dandelion roots to seaweed (Irish Moss). in fact – many of the pharmaceuticals ppl use come from things developed along those lines.
September 28, 2012 at 11:04 am
Of course! Burdock would make a terrific topic for an episode. Would you mind if use it Melissa? Out Walking the dog gets credit for the idea!
September 28, 2012 at 11:16 am
Of course, I don’t mind, Kelly! I’ll look forward to watching your episode. Be sure to read Mark Wilkinson’s links in his comments sent about burdock in England.
September 28, 2012 at 10:16 am
Dandelion and Burdock as a drink seems to go back as far as 1265 in England……
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandelion_and_burdock
…and is still commercially available now….
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandelion_and_burdock
I remember drinking it as a kid and returning the bottles to get the 5p recyclilng refund….
Hope you get all the burrs out soon :)
September 28, 2012 at 10:18 am
…and is still commercially available now….
http://www.mrfitzpatricks.com/product/dandelion_burdock/
(right link this time!)
September 28, 2012 at 11:09 am
Wonderful link, Mark – thanks. May have to try to find Dandelion & Burdock on this side of the pond.
September 28, 2012 at 11:10 am
Great info, Mark. If it tastes anything like our Sasparilla Soda or Root Beer or Birch Beer, I’m definitely down for a drink!
September 28, 2012 at 8:46 am
This is why I got a haircut recently.
September 28, 2012 at 11:11 am
Keep your head out of the weeds, Matthew.
September 28, 2012 at 11:30 am
An impossibility.
September 28, 2012 at 8:00 am
Oh the plight of long haired dogs – burrs seem to abound – a rough coat collie who once owned me, had a dreadful time with burrs – and I thought I had eradicated them from my wee property in the country (which he never left as he was blind.) But I noticed their return the other day – and my two shorter haired mutts – labradors both – still manage to get burrs attached, fortunately not imbedded in their coats. Hard to believe that the parks crews haven’t cleaned up every bit of vegetation as they like to do in some Toronto city parks…I like your encouragement of eating the wild beginning wth burdock – but I’m not going to start… pull ’em up and burn ’em is my motto! – good luck with the burry man and the burry dog! and thanks for the chuckle this morning Melissa! I do sympathize.
September 28, 2012 at 11:14 am
I’d be fine with the pull & burn program, Barbara. Seems like everyone with animals or a field has a burr story. Another reader wrote on Out Walking the Dog’s Facebook page that she spent a lot of time as a child uprooting burdock from her family’s soybean fields and untangling burrs from the tails and manes of the horses.