Dock is a fairly common, perennial weed introduced from Europe. Found in most states in the Unites States, you’ll also find it in New Zealand, Australia, and many other countries throughout the world.
It’s in the buckwheat family, Polygonacea, and often called cushy-cows, butterdock, kettle dock, curly dock, and smair dock.
We have two types that I see most often: Curly Dock (Rumex crispus) and Broadleaf Dock (Rumex obtusifolius). For this recipe, I use Broadleaf Dock, though you may use Curly Dock, Western dock (Rumex occidentalis) and Willow dock (Rumex salicifolius). In North America, there are 25 species of Dock. Broadleaf Dock has a bit lemony flavor and usually not bitter at all, which I find very tasty.
Dock thrives in loamy, or fertile, soils such as the orders of woods, floodplains, and poorly drained sites. Acidic, moist soil.
Identification
Stems: Thick, reddish and unbranched stems, reaching a height of 1-3 ft.
Leaves: The hairless, lanceolate leaves grow in alternate form with the younger leaves growing on top of the older leaves. The edges are slightly wavy on the older leaves, but smooth on the young ones. The leaf stems start out green and then turn reddish as the leaf ages.
Flowers: A stalk will grow out of the center and contain hundreds of tiny, green flowers that turn red when they mature. Blooms in the summer.
Roots: Yellow, branched and short.
Seed: Triangular, tiny, dry, and reddish brown. About 2.5–3.5 mm (0.1–0.14 inch).
You’ll need to be able to identify this plant without relying on the flowers since the leaves are best in early spring. What I recommend if your identification skills are still in the early stages, identify this plant when it has the dark brown to light brown seeds since this is the easiest time to identify it (see photo!). Then, come back the following spring to harvest the first time.
Harvesting
Dock seeds are abundant and easy to harvest. There is a chaff attached to the seed that is extremely difficult to remove. I have found the best approach is grinding the seed, chaff and all and then proceeding with my recipe from there. It just adds extra fiber to your diet.
You can make bread, crackers, or throw it in a soup. If you’re making bread, it will turn out better if you add in some regular or gluten free flour.
Dock Bread
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Dock Seeds ground
- 2 Tbsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 4 Eggs
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Grind dock seeds.
- Mix all the ingredients together.
- Bake for 40 minutes until spongy.
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Thanks so much for this! I followed the recipe and added a bunch of milk (macadamia milk, specifically) so it was like a… bready cake or a cakey bread. And I added brown sugar-coated apples + raisins, and I loved it. For extra moisture I made icing too. So thanks again, for the groundwork of making a recipe. It worked great.
How much gluten-free flour do you add? And do you substitute it forbpart of the seed, or in addition to?
Hi Marti! You don’t actually need to add any other type of flour. If you grind the dock seeds up enough, it makes pretty tasty bread.
Is this supposed to have milk in it?? It’s got to… What am I missing?
Jenna, Surprisingly, no milk or other liquid is needed. It works out as only eggs at the liquid and is quite tasty.
[…] Dock Sponge Bread […]
Would I need to dry the seeds before I grind them or can I grind my fresh picked seeds??
The seeds will dry on the plant, so if you collect them in the fall when they are already brown, you’re good to go!