The Bull Thistle in Your Texas Pasture is Edible, Here’s How To Prepare It

• Bull Thistles Populate Texas Pastures in the Spring

• These Menacing-Looking Plants are Edible

• The LSU AgCenter Shows How To Prepare Bull Thistles to Eat

Every spring, my small pasture gets populated with blackberries and bull thistle. We love the berries...the bull thistles, not so much. 

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Those prickly leaves look like they could draw blood, the plant can grow taller than me, and whenever I touch one, a bumble bee flies out from the flower.

I avoid these scary-looking plants, so the thought of eating a bull thistle like this one...

...ranks down there with stepping barefoot in a fire ant mound.

READ MORE: Texas' 10 Best Snacks

Yes, Bull Thistles Are Edible

As I was randomly scrolling through Facebook, I saw a reel about foraging from the LSU AgCenter. It showed how to prepare a bull thistle for human consumption.

David Sexton, who is south Louisiana born and bred, gave instructions on how to harvest a plant, prepare it, and then eat it.

The edible part of the plant is the stalk. So, you need to cut off all the prickly leaves and flowers, leaving just the celery-looking stalk. You'll still need to take a sharp knife and shave off some of the outer layers of the stalk.

Then, cut the stalk into small pieces and place them in a bowl. Pour some distilled white vinegar into the bowl, season with salt and pepper, and you're ready to eat bull thistle.

Something I Noticed in the YouTube Video

Check out the two-minute YouTube video below. Notice how Sexton never mentions the flavor of the finished product. He just says, "Brings back childhood memories."

I'm thinking that could be bad or good.

I have childhood memories of getting a bike for Christmas or a quarter from the tooth fairy. I also have memories of getting spanked and being forced to take a bite of liver.

The fact that David only ate one bite, and the video was over, kind of tells me that foraged bull thistle is not a great childhood memory.

I think I'll stick with the blackberries.