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- Dec 5, 2006
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Anyone forage? I've had an interest in wild edibles for a few years now. I've sampled a few of the basics: clover, plantain, milkweed, cattail, wood sorrel and others.
I recently attended an edible wild plant talk held by a local garden club. The speaker, John Root is local and discussed many of the plants native to the area that were good eatin'.
Many were weeds. Plantain, chickweed and dandelion are often overlooked or destroyed in pursuit of pretty suburban lawns. I think its a good skill to have. I like to spend a lot of time in the woods, and its nice to know there are things I could eat if I needed to that I don't have to chase.
Each season has its own edibles. Spring brings shoots of poke or knotweed. There are bulbs of trout lily free for the gathering. In Summer you can browse on flowers such as violet or rose. In fall, there are edible roots from evening primrose or arrowroot. And in winter, there are cambiums, the inner bark of certain trees. Even some lichens are edible as are some mushrooms. The acorns that we think of as mast for big deer can support us if need be.
Note that not every part of every plant is edible. May Apple, for instance has a fruit that is edible when ripe, but the rest of the plant is toxic. Many plants need to be prepared in a certain manner to render it beneficial. Some wild edibles are concentrators of chemicals such as oxalates or nitrogen. Also as a caution, many plants have poisonous lookalikes. Queen Anne's lace is a wild carrot, but confusing it with water hemlock is only done once. [sad2]
My short list of plants that I can identify is growing. I've intentionally avoided learning mushrooms, but eventually probably will. I think of it as a neat hobby and as a valuable survival skill should I be stuck in the woods or if for some reason if the supermarkets should lack food for any length of time. As an added benefit, many have medicinal uses.
I have two field guides that I use: A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants by L.A. Peterson and Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide by Thomas S. Elias & Peter A. Dykeman. I have plans to get others, too. So, anyone else forage?
I recently attended an edible wild plant talk held by a local garden club. The speaker, John Root is local and discussed many of the plants native to the area that were good eatin'.
Many were weeds. Plantain, chickweed and dandelion are often overlooked or destroyed in pursuit of pretty suburban lawns. I think its a good skill to have. I like to spend a lot of time in the woods, and its nice to know there are things I could eat if I needed to that I don't have to chase.
Each season has its own edibles. Spring brings shoots of poke or knotweed. There are bulbs of trout lily free for the gathering. In Summer you can browse on flowers such as violet or rose. In fall, there are edible roots from evening primrose or arrowroot. And in winter, there are cambiums, the inner bark of certain trees. Even some lichens are edible as are some mushrooms. The acorns that we think of as mast for big deer can support us if need be.
Note that not every part of every plant is edible. May Apple, for instance has a fruit that is edible when ripe, but the rest of the plant is toxic. Many plants need to be prepared in a certain manner to render it beneficial. Some wild edibles are concentrators of chemicals such as oxalates or nitrogen. Also as a caution, many plants have poisonous lookalikes. Queen Anne's lace is a wild carrot, but confusing it with water hemlock is only done once. [sad2]
My short list of plants that I can identify is growing. I've intentionally avoided learning mushrooms, but eventually probably will. I think of it as a neat hobby and as a valuable survival skill should I be stuck in the woods or if for some reason if the supermarkets should lack food for any length of time. As an added benefit, many have medicinal uses.
I have two field guides that I use: A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants by L.A. Peterson and Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide by Thomas S. Elias & Peter A. Dykeman. I have plans to get others, too. So, anyone else forage?
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