Wild Edible Plants

[Jstpssng]

Every book I've read on mushrooms says to learn a few well, and focus on picking those. I pick chanterelles and Bear's Head fungo... The guide book I checked said that nothing else can be confused with the latter. My favorite way of cooking those is to use them instead of noodles in chicken noodle soup.
Ink Caps are one which I recognize but have never eaten. They cause you to be sick when consumed with alcohol, one book I read said that they are used to treat alcoholism. Presumably on the same theory as your father making you smoke the entire pack when he caught you in back of the barn with a cigarette.

 

[ponytug]

Every book I've read on mushrooms says to learn a few well, and focus on picking those. I pick chanterelles and Bear's Head fungo... The guide book I checked said that nothing else can be confused with the latter. My favorite way of cooking those is to use them instead of noodles in chicken noodle soup.
Ink Caps are one which I recognize but have never eaten. They cause you to be sick when consumed with alcohol, one book I read said that they are used to treat alcoholism. Presumably on the same theory as your father making you smoke the entire pack when he caught you in back of the barn with a cigarette.

There are several different species of mushrooms with the common name "Inky cap". The one with the toxic chemical (coprine) is Coprinopsis atramentaria.

I have cooked a different one, Shaggy Mane Inky caps, (Coprinopsis comatose) with wine in the past, and I can't say that I noticed anything.

Having traveled around, I do notice variations in species by locale sometimes, or at least enough of an appearance of variation to put me off collecting.

All of which I think goes to the point of "know your mushrooms".

When collecting, I remind myself that the only treatment beyond palliative care for deadly Amanita species is a prompt liver transplant. (E.g. Amanita bisporegia, Amanita ocreata, and Amanita phalloides)

All the best,

Peter

 

[garry1p]

Northern MS

Poke salad
Muscadine
Apple
Pears
Blueberry
Pecans
Persimmons (only when real ripe)
Black walnuts, Line them up in the driveway and run them over with the mower to crush the outside hulls what a pain, but you don't really need many, very strong flavor.

Mushrooms, I have read articles about Asian families dying from eating American mushroom so I pass on them.
Used to have peaches and nectarines.

When I was young living in MA I remember gathering and eating dandelions.

 

[kenmbz]

What is the easiest way to harvest and get the nut from black walnut?
Tired of having black fingers.

How do you make autumn olive into Jelly, we have an overabundance of autumn olive as a invasive.

Are multi-flora rose good for anything?

We have lots of dandelions. As a kid all the locals (in MA) would have us kids pick for dandelion wine.
They also made wine from every berry that wasn't poisonous.

We have wild strawberry and raspberry, good for pies.

I just planted apples, have peaches and pears (the pears have really been struggling last 2 years).

I planted 2 almond trees, one got killed by a blown hydraulic hose (Hydro fluid not good for trees). Other one is still pretty small after 3 years.

We also have hickory nuts, Never tried to harvest them so far.but would like to. Are they hard to shell?

Lots of other plants I am sure would be good for medicinal, just barely touching on what I find growing around here.

 

[Eagle1]

What is the easiest way to harvest and get the nut from black walnut?
Tired of having black fingers.

How do you make autumn olive into Jelly, we have an overabundance of autumn olive as a invasive.

Are multi-flora rose good for anything?

We have lots of dandelions. As a kid all the locals (in MA) would have us kids pick for dandelion wine.
They also made wine from every berry that wasn't poisonous.

We have wild strawberry and raspberry, good for pies.

I just planted apples, have peaches and pears (the pears have really been struggling last 2 years).

I planted 2 almond trees, one got killed by a blown hydraulic hose (Hydro fluid not good for trees). Other one is still pretty small after 3 years.

We also have hickory nuts, Never tried to harvest them so far.but would like to. Are they hard to shell?

Lots of other plants I am sure would be good for medicinal, just barely touching on what I find growing around here.

My wife is the plant guru but ..
Autumn Olive Jam and Why You Should Make It
Autumn Olive Jam
There are more recipes on line to get you started. The small berries (like wild black cherry) are labor intensive but may just be worth the effort for a unique treat

Mulit-flora is just a native rose and the hips are similar (and prefered by some)
Rose Hips: Edible Treats After the Rose Fades
Search will get you a ton more.

Hickory is a lot like pecan just much harder shell. Big hammer works but make a mess. I leave them for the squirrels and eat them instead. The Black walnuts here always have worms so I quit trying. Not a big fan of nuts in general.

For starter ideas check with your wildlife agency they should a regional guide like this for MO https://mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/2022-01/WildEdibles.pdf
Once you figured out what you can or will use from there, there is a ton of wild resource guides on line that cover plants. As always not all information on any site will be accurate, best to find the common ground among several sites. Try anything new in small amounts until you know how you react.

 

[newkiotiguy]

Spring time ramps and fiddleheads around here. I don't care for mushrooms. This is Alfredo with chicken and grilled ramps. Fiddleheads boiled then fried in a cast-iron.

 

[ponytug]

What is the easiest way to harvest and get the nut from black walnut?
Tired of having black fingers.

How do you make autumn olive into Jelly, we have an overabundance of autumn olive as a invasive.

Are multi-flora rose good for anything?

We have lots of dandelions. As a kid all the locals (in MA) would have us kids pick for dandelion wine.
They also made wine from every berry that wasn't poisonous.

We have wild strawberry and raspberry, good for pies.

I just planted apples, have peaches and pears (the pears have really been struggling last 2 years).

I planted 2 almond trees, one got killed by a blown hydraulic hose (Hydro fluid not good for trees). Other one is still pretty small after 3 years.

We also have hickory nuts, Never tried to harvest them so far.but would like to. Are they hard to shell?

Lots of other plants I am sure would be good for medicinal, just barely touching on what I find growing around here.

After the usual washing, hulling, and drying, and if you are willing to sacrifice a pot, boiling black walnuts keeps the nut meat in bigger pieces, and makes them easier to shell, but be forewarned that the liquid from the hulls makes a great fabric dye.

I know of decompression shellers, but I have never priced one. I would look for a sheller specifically for black walnuts, as they need to be very robust. E.g. Grandpa's Goody Getter

All the best,

Peter

 

[Oaktree]

Ink Caps are one which I recognize but have never eaten. They cause you to be sick when consumed with alcohol,

Are they the ones that turn black when you slice them? That was one of the types my father used to pick, though he had a different name for them (long forgotten).

When I was young living in MA I remember gathering and eating dandelions.

Dandelion, also milkweed leaves. Best eaten when very young, if they've blossomed they become tough & bitter. Tried making tea from dandelion blossoms...was kind of nasty. I think the root can be dried and used for tea. Some people make wine from the blossoms.

Spring time ramps and fiddleheads around here.

Never heard of ramps, but fiddleheads YES! I usually just steam them.

 

[JeepHead]

Some of the wild things I eat from my woods include: morels, puff balls, oyster mushrooms (every bit as good as morels), chicken of the woods, turkey tail mushroom, lions mane, and chanterelles, and also hen of the woods. I also have blackberries, hickory, walnut, and acorns (I don't eat the acorns), paw paws, 3 huge persimmon trees, pear and peach trees, sassafras, and several edible plants.

 

[garry1p]

What is the easiest way to harvest and get the nut from black walnut?
Tired of having black fingers.

I spread them out on the drive way and ran over them several times to get the green outer hull off.
Put on disposable gloves to separate the nuts out.
There is no easy way to get the nut cracked you can use a vice, hammer, commercial cracker, whatever
they are a pain but like I said we didn't eat them so much as used them in cooking and the flavor is so strong it takes very little as a spice.