I've never heard of pig nuts - had to google it to see what you meant. Not something I've ever come across, as a child or adult.

No, never tried them but Tiger Nuts, yes well, even if you did occasionally get a stone in with them.

Are you having a laugh Owdboggy! What on earth are tiger nuts...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyperus_esculentus
No laughing matter.

Blimey, glad I've not planted that one anywhere..

Awww come on, from what i remember pig nuts were lovely free food,never heard of them for years, as for tiger nuts Owdboggy, i can remember them as well , but we didn't dig those up we had to pay for them.Bamboo you must have lead a sheltered life if you never tasted those LOL

Dunno about sheltered, but don't forget I'm a townie, London town in fact!

At the time we lived in a tiny village called Darley Abbey, so far removed from the town you wouldn't believe, i still visit whenever i can.

Not the only townie Bamboo. The only grass we saw as children was the other side of the notice that said "Keep Off The Grass"

I saw a program a few years ago that said the Pignut was the great undeveloped potential vegetable. Unfortunately, it was never selected for cultivation in out primordial past for domestication even though it would have been known as a perfectly valid and nutritious wild food.

If it had been developed as much as some of the crops we grow now, it would produce a harvest like small potatoes by now and could have be a popular vegetable.

Just been reading about a Bronze Age burial find where Pignuts (Conopodium majus) tubers were found at the site so they were obviously an important addition to the diet at one time.

Very interesting Fractal,shame we don't hear about them now.

Yes I remember digging up something like that with a very old friend on our walks when we were children ,I believe they were under a plant that looked very much like a small Hemlock , I wouldn't dare try it now , I can't remember exactly what it looked like ..I will have to have words with my old friend to see if she can remember , the good thing is we survived eating them .. :o)

Yes I've just found it in one of my books Pignut ( Conopodium majus )

Thanks for the memory .. :o))

Yes Amy, they are in the Apiaceae (Carrot family) so are related to familiar edibles such as Parsnips, Carrots, Celery, Parsley etc. Pignuts produce proper tubers rather than an enlarged tap root and are also perennial. Shame they were not domesticated thousands of years ago.

Wow i never thought i would learn so much from this question, it's strange how it's stired all these memories of our childhood.Thinking about it the leaves were very much like the carrot family.thank you all for your answers.