love2read Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Last year a neighbor who is a native american, showed us a few wild plants that are edible. Of course I forgot which they were, but he said they had a similar flavor and texture to spinach. He's sick now and our local cooperative extension isn't offering the edible plant course this year. We eat a lot of greens including the bitter ones like endive and kale, and since we've been wanting to go organic and with everything is so expensive ,I think it's time to start eating the plants in the backyard. We're rural and have a good size field away from the road. Do any of you eat wild edibles? How did you learn what was edible and what was deadly and how much of these greens do you include in your meals? I've read part of one book so far and was reminded that much of what we grow in our gardens now was once wild and merely cultivated. I'd love to just pick among the weeds and not have to be constantly worrying about deer trampling our garden fence. The one plant I can easily identify are the wild strawberries, but they're so tiny that it takes 30 minutes to get a cup's worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 blackberries, of course. dandelion greens can be washed and used in a salad. young fiddleheads (baby ferns) - I heard that they can be pan-fried but have never tried it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 If you do dandelion greens you need them young and tender, the bigger ones are super-bitter. Nasturtiums are edible. Herbs, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 I have a book of wild edibles, but I haven't really tried anything other than blackberries (we have a bunch of wild strawberries, but I give those to the chickens). I might try doing acorns this fall, since we have approximately 476 oak trees on our property. You can grind them up and make stuff like acorn pancakes, but it sounds like a lot of work (you have to rinse them a bunch of times to get the tannin out or they'll be really bitter). My SIL just told me about a park nearby that has a bunch of paw paw trees, so I'll probably check that out (we just planted two on our property, but it will be a long time before they fruit). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Also wild sorrel. I think that wild radish pods are really good, too, as is watercress. Arugula and mustard are really easy to grow and tend to selfseed. Otherwise, my theory about weeds is to buy a goat, let him eat the weeds and bugs, and then make goat cheese from the milk. However, this is just a theory. I have never really tried it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancypants Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 We are growing swiss chard (which is sort of similar to spinach) in a pot, a few cabbages, scarlet runner beans, chives, strawberries, cherries, apples, raspberries and rhubarb all in a very small yard. We just have a little of each of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Purslane! Chickweed! Day lily blossoms and flower pods! Violets! Roses and rose hips! I went through a phase where I absolutely craved purslane every day, and ate it as a salad at every lunch. It so happened that our vegetable garden was overrun with the stuff at the time, so it worked out well. Remember how in the Little House books Ma talks about gathering some wild greens in the early spring? Or maybe I'm the only one who notices stuff like that, since I was so delighted to read it. I love this subject. I have some great books I'd recommend, except I can't find the blasted things right now. I'm going on an all-out effort to go find them, since this is driving me nuts -- I don't recall seeing them since we moved. Anyway, in the meantime, Susun Weed is a source for info about wild plants -- I think her website has some info on the subject. Back later when I find my books. ETA: Okay, Steve Brill wrote Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants, which I really enjoy. It's divided by season, so you know what to look for when. I also have The Neighborhood Forager by Robert Henderson, which is a snazzier-looking book about what to do with the plants once you've found them. I had some others, too, but I think I got rid of them when I decided maybe I didn't need quite EVERY book on the subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljf Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Is there a nature center nearby? Many times the people working there can tell you all about the plants including which ones are edible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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