Wild Edible Plants

[geteh]

Hello All,

My wife and me have been researching and using wild edibles found on our property recently. We have a native sumac that produces small clusters of red/purple berries late summer that make a drink that is as good or better tasting than lemonade.

We also have a lot of nice American Beauty Berry bushes that she has used to make jelly. This jelly has a mild fruity sweet flavor and tastes very good.

Lastly, she has been making her own cough medicine from plants on the property and the kids love it and it really does help with coughs and colds.

I am currently clearing really wide trails on our property (at least 50 ft across) and we are going to start planting more medicinal plants along with nut and fruit trees. I already have some apple trees and black walnut growing nicely. I am really enjoying doing these kind of things that our ancestors did long ago kkday 쿠폰. There is so much growing out there that can benefit us and probably a lot better than all the processed junk we get now.

So what are you doing on your land? Anyone else delving into the weeds???

We have books. But want someone experienced to teach us a few things. So we don't accidently eat poisonous plant we thought looked like edible. Would consider class or even a local experienced forager/bushcrafter who would be willing to share their knowledge and experience with us. We live in Springtown, TX near Parker and Wise county line.

I've contacted Primitive Wilderness Survival via email. Awaiting response.

Would still be interested in learning what experienced local foragers/bushcrafters could teach us also.

Suggestions? Anyone local willing to share their knowledge?

 

[Eagle1]

We have books. But want someone experienced to teach us a few things. So we don't accidently eat poisonous plant we thought looked like edible. Would consider class or even a local experienced forager/bushcrafter who would be willing to share their knowledge and experience with us. We live in Springtown, TX near Parker and Wise county line.

I've contacted Primitive Wilderness Survival via email. Awaiting response.

Would still be interested in learning what experienced local foragers/bushcrafters could teach us also.

Suggestions? Anyone local willing to share their knowledge?

Many that forage are willing to share their limited knowledge. For most of us that means we know some of the things in our area/property and are learning more every year. I would be mostly starting over in a different area.

 

[oosik]

We get a green plant here - Miner's lettuce. Crisp, crunchy and peppery.

 

[jyoutz]

I have spent my career in the woods. And I have a good knowledge of local plants. That said, I will only eat wild raspberries, strawberries, huckleberries, grapes, nuts, and onions. These are easy to recognize and I feel safe eating them. Otherwise I’ll pass.

 

[Eagle1]

I have spent my career in the woods. And I have a good knowledge of local plants. That said, I will only eat wild raspberries, strawberries, huckleberries, grapes, nuts, and onions. These are easy to recognize and I feel safe eating them. Otherwise I’ll pass.

Yeah it does take some practice but there are lot of wild eatables that I enjoy. It is not something you learn overnight.

 

[Oaktree]

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.

We had a butternut tree when I was a kid. Some years we had nuts on it, other years not. ISTR that nuts were toxic when green, you had to let them dry out for a fairly long time before they were OK to eat. Even then, kind of a PITA to crack them.

 

[ruffdog]

Common Purslane can be a nuisance when growing in the garden but is edible just like salad.

Common Purslane, <em>Portulaca oleracea</em>

 

[ponytug]

We had a butternut tree when I was a kid. Some years we had nuts on it, other years not. ISTR that nuts were toxic when green, you had to let them dry out for a fairly long time before they were OK to eat. Even then, kind of a PITA to crack them.

Cracking them may be pain, but I remember butternut sugar cookies as just amazing. IIRC, the drying out really helped get the nut halves out intact. There was a tree down the road, and nobody else in the neighborhood could be bothered to collect them.

Great memories!

All the best,

Peter

 

[oosik]

I, just now, saw something that totally surprised me. Brownie and I were out for his morning constitutional.

There on the walkway was a dead chipmunk. As he died he puked up some of his stomach contents. Two bright red berries - crushed but recognizable.

He had eaten, at least, two berries off the Night Shade plant that grows at the base of my steps. No idea when he ate them but he was sure stone dead.

I thought wild animals were smarter than that.

 

[kenmbz]

I, just now, saw something that totally surprised me. Brownie and I were out for his morning constitutional.

There on the walkway was a dead chipmunk. As he died he puked up some of his stomach contents. Two bright red berries - crushed but recognizable.

He had eaten, at least, two berries off the Night Shade plant that grows at the base of my steps. No idea when he ate them but he was sure stone dead.

I thought wild animals were smarter than that.

We had a doe this morning try to eat one of our hot peppers, wish I had that on video.

 

[oosik]

kenmbz - That's humorous. I know from having a garden - deer will try most everything - once.

 

[Torvy]

We harvested a lot of Beauty Berries this year. Just a fraction of what's on the property. Made a small batch of jelly. It has an interesting taste, almost like hibiscus. Froze some for later jelly as well.

We also used some wild blackberries, but we are starting a small stand of domestic ones. Wild ones are too small and don't taste as good.

I'm tempted to try making root beer some time. We have sassafras all around, too.

Lots of different mushrooms grow wild here. I've considered trying to grow my own. Not sure I'd risk wild ones. My plant app doesn't do fungi. My guess is they don't want the liability if they're wrong.

 

[Jstpssng]

My plant app doesn't do fungi. My guess is they don't want the liability if they're wrong

The one I use does, but I still wouldn't trust it. It's fun to ID them but I rely on somebody who knows before I trust it.
There are old mushroom pickers, there are bold mushroom pickers. Yet there are no old, bold mushroom pickers.

 

[garry1p]

There are a lot of plants that are poisonous if not cooked right, I eat poke salad every spring.
l always wondered how someone figured out how to cook it.

 

[ponytug]

There are a lot of plants that are poisonous if not cooked right, I eat poke salad every spring.
l always wondered how someone figured out how to cook it.

I think that about more than a few foods, too. Ferns, cashews, persimmons, acorns, rhubarb, puffer fish...makes me wonder how many more items are out there that our ancestors knew how to harvest and prepare safely. Like who ate, and then bred up from some fairly plant toxic to get a tomato?

All the best,

Peter

 

[kenmbz]

Anyone got a good recipe for sasafras root beer, got plenty of them here?