Is it grape vine ? Is it cherry tree? Please help !

[niula]

I NEED leaves of grapevine and cherry tree to make european style cucumbers, here in IL is hard to find a garden - that wine was growing on the building and this tree was growing near the park

I just want to make sure I ve found fight thing so i do not get poisoned ( or don't waste good pickling cucumbers )

THANKS !
http://picasaweb.google.com/najsti/WisniaIWinogrono?authkey=Gv1sRgCN2lyYO45-zBugE#

 

[digitS']

Wow!

I don't know what you have found, niula! That isn't a grape leaf that I'm familiar with.

Aren't cherries ripe in your part of the world?

I think you'd better enlist the aid of the Master Gardeners at your Cooperative Extension office.

Steve

 

[niula]

any idea where I can buy cherry / grape leaves ? I know it sounds weird

 

[hoodat]

Grape leaves can be bought in Greek or Mideast markets. They use them a lot in cooking.

 

[niula]

Thank you ! I will try to look around more !

 

[wifezilla]

What area do you live in?

 

[niula]

north chicago

 

[hoodat]

north chicago

You shouldn't have any trouble finding a Greek neighborhood there. One advantage of really old cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco is that they have well established ethnic sections of the city. That makes it easy when you are looking for something attached to that ethnicity.
BTW Armenians also use grape leaves in their cooking.

 

[cwhit590]

I NEED leaves of grapevine and cherry tree to make european style cucumbers, here in IL is hard to find a garden - that wine was growing on the building and this tree was growing near the park

I just want to make sure I ve found fight thing so i do not get poisoned ( or don't waste good pickling cucumbers )

THANKS !
http://picasaweb.google.com/najsti/WisniaIWinogrono?authkey=Gv1sRgCN2lyYO45-zBugE#

First,

Second, please be careful what you cook with niula!!! That vine looks like Boston Ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata)....and you said it was growing on the building, which Boston Ivy can do without a problem. Boston Ivy leaves are toxic! They contain oxalates that are bad for your kidney. See this link. You may have wild grapes around, but they climb by tendrils....they don't have the 'suction cups' that allow Boston Ivy to climb up a flat surface like a building. Like others have mentioned it shouldn't be hard to find grape leaves in an ethnic store in town.

The second plant you have is probably a crabapple branch? I can't tell for sure....

Also as far as the cherry leaves go, I've heard that the wilted leaves of some species of cherry are toxic to livestock due to levels of cyanide...so please be sure of what you're doing before you start this recipe...and that you have the right ingredients! :/

I'm not trying to be mean...I'm just concerned....don't want anything bad to happen to a new member!

 

[Ridgerunner]

The wild cherry contains a poison. Pretty sure it is a form of cyanide. The wilted leaves are worse because the poison is concentrated but the whole plant is dangerous and potentially deadly. Dad was very clear to not put any wilted wild cherry leaves anywhere cattle or horses could get to them.

Some of those leaves look a lot like wild cherry to me. The ones with the finely serrated edges.