Edible Wild Plants Section

[hlady]

I have eaten prickly pear cactus (nopal) in AR. -(peeled and fried with a batter and then dipped in ranch dressing - very good! I'm an herbalist and Nopal is very nutritious:
17 amino acids, beta carotene, B1,2,3, C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Pectin. Very good for diabetics I and II - helps modulate blood sugar. Also very good for the liver and colon conditions. Helps with diarrhea and colitis. Stops bleeding - cut open a pad and apply. The pads can be chopped and boiled and used for bladder problems, high blood pressure, fever. The flower is used in prostate problems and also made into a drink.

[hlady]

I have eaten prickly pear cactus (nopal) in AR. -(peeled and fried with a batter and then dipped in ranch dressing - very good! I'm an herbalist and Nopal is very nutritious:
17 amino acids, beta carotene, B1,2,3, C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Pectin. Very good for diabetics I and II - helps modulate blood sugar. Also very good for the liver and colon conditions. Helps with diarrhea and colitis. Stops bleeding - cut open a pad and apply. The pads can be chopped and boiled and used for bladder problems, high blood pressure, fever. The flower is used in prostate problems and also made into a drink.

[Demonaci]

Hey kev I am just wanting to say thanks for making this forum

[environoob79]

great idea for a sticky. I will readily admit that if it doesn't look like a bell pepper I probably don't know whether its edible. Maybe pictures along with suggestions would add to the thread.

[Texas Pete]

Originally Posted by sailinghudson25

Someone had a post about prickly pear being edible? I have a ton of those growing in my backyard in NY. Do you know what they do to prepare them? what parts are ok etc... I made jam out of the fruit. Used the regular jelly receipe, it was pretty good.

The young tender pad are good to eat and are good for helping diabetics control blood sugars. The young pad do not have fully developed thorns they are usually little more than bumps. Harvest the pads and clean the bumps off with a knife slice and boil. The pad can also be eaten raw however it oozes a slime similar to okra. The Mexicans call them napoles or napolitos and you can even buy them here in jars already prepared...they kinda look like green beans when sold that way.

The Fruit is called a tuna and it is best when it turns red.

[mmilo31]

A friend and I discovered a wild pawpaw grove last week. I made some paw paw pies and bread out of them. That is a very interesting fruit with a ong history and huge following around here.

[hedley]

There are many many wild plants that are "edible". This does not necessarily imply you can use them for subsistence as most would be more applicable to a medicine/herb of some sort rather than as a food. Just read up on whatever plants are specific to your region of interest and go from there.

[Nathan H]

just found out the flowers of the Gorse bush are edible, the have a slight cocnut taste

You may know them as Ba5tard Bushes, due to there imense prickles,

They are a green bush with yellow flowers

[OldManGlitch]

I think this is a good thread to keep active. I have mentioned before my desire to learn from others what is safe and not. I'm looking for someone in my area (Eastern US) who can share their knowledge about edible plants and their proper preparations. I'm learning that preparation can sometimes change the toxicity of a plant and thus impact your health.

[soutexan]

I live in deep south Texas and need some info about edible wild plants here.

[enjglobe]

I am planning to venture into the hills of northern ca for a while what are some plants i should stay away from and some that are edible.

[klax]

Any info about edible plants in Ohio/appalachia would help a lot. I live in Ohio and I know a few wild plants I can eat but not enough to really count. Here's a list of the things I know you can eat:
-What I call sweetgrass (it looks like tiny, light green clovers)
-Wild strawberries
-Wild onions
-The root of Queen Anne's Lace, I think that's what it's called, but that's Wild Carrot
-Red Clover, not sure if it's edible per se, but I suck on the pedals to get the nectar
-Cat Tails, which I've never tried but I think you just eat the inside, like you peel off the outer part
-Wild grapes
-Dandelions, which I tried to eat once but it tasted FOUL, so I don't know if I was eating the wrong part or what but I had to spit it out lol.

So yea if anyone has any links or anything on plants in my area that I can eat, please message me and let me know, because that's info. I'd really like to have.

[desertprovender]

Originally Posted by Straight Razor

To my knowledge all opuntia are edible, but they may not taste too good.

One thing to be aware of is that Opuntia Basilaris (beavertail cactus) has about .25 the mescaline concentration of peyote. It would probably be about the last type of cactus you'd try to eat, given that it's bristling with glochids, but something to be aware of all the same. Edible, yes, but with some potential side effects.

As it turns out, I've never had a problem with the taste of cactus. It's very green, sure, but has a bit of an asparagus flavor to it. What is a problem is the texture. Fresh or steamed/boiled cactus is something like solid mucous. I've read (in an amazing source for SW native foods the Tumbleweed Gourmet by Carolyn Niethammer) that cactus is much better dried. Will let you know how it goes.

[ilovemywillow]

I would like to know more about the wild edibles and medicinals around memphis, TN

[PAbackwoodsman]

I'm starting to make videos for edible plants in the NE

www.youtube.com/wildedibleplants

[lanahi]

There are some extremely valuable plants that are found many places in North America. Some that I consider most valuable:

1. Cattails. There is something edible on the cattail every season of the year, so if you can find a stand of cattails, you likely won't starve. My favorite, and easiest to collect and use, is the yellow pollen where the later fuzzy cattail will appear. Here it is ready sometime in June, but may be earlier in the south. It is already the consistency of flour and has to be carefully collected or it will blow away. Bending the stalk slightly and tapping the pollen into a baggie is the easiest way to collect it. When you get home, sift out the impurities from it and mix it about half and half with regular flour and use it for baking or fry bread. It has a slightly nutty taste and is very high protein. You cannot mix liquids with it alone because pollen is meant to shed rain so will "shed" any other liquids too. When mixed with another dry ingredient, it will mix in.
This is only one use of the cattail. There is cattail "corn on the cob", cattail "cossack asparagus, flour and "potatoes from the roots in the fall and winter...a high value food all year round. It is also valuable for non food uses, such as insulation, basket making, thatching, bedding, and tinder.
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/duffyk43.html

2. Acorns in the fall. When the bitter tannic acid is leached from the acorn, it is surprisingly sweet, has a good quality fat, and high protein. I bake acorn bread and cookies with acorn flour, and they are highly popular with everyone. Usually mixing it half and half with other flour works best, though that isn't necessary if you don't mind a strong tasting (but good) flat bread. Some of the California Indians lived on acorns almost exclusively. Because of the fat and protein, it is one of the most valuable of all wild foods. But also because of the fat, it can turn rancid quickly after being ground into flour. The best way to preserve it is to keep the acorns unshelled and whole until ready to use or to keep for a few weeks at most in a ground state.
Acorns can be processed if you have bugged out into the wilderness too, although it is quicker and easier at home. If out in the wilds, you can soak a bag of shelled acorns in a stream for several days to wash away the tannic acids, dry them in the sun, and then grind them between stones.

3. Wild rose hips and pine needles. Rose hips hang on a vine or bush long into winter so it can be harvested quite late. What this has in common with pine (or other evergreen needles...EXCEPT for yew, which is poisonous!) is the necessary high vitamin C content in winter when few other wild plant foods are available. Rose hips are available starting in late summer, and of course green pine needles are available all year. They can be used as tea. Rose hips are good as a sauce or jam also.

4. Wild greens in spring. Besides dandelions, which all recognize, there are stinging nettles, clovers, yellow and curly docks, and many other life-giving greens, many that can be eaten raw in salads, used as tea, or cooked as vegetables. Stinging nettles, once dipped in boiling water or completely dried, no longer stings, and it is a great energy drink as a tea as well as a cooked green. This is also true of thistles, which are also edible. My favorite spring green is dock, both yellow dock and curly dock. The seeds in the fall are also high protein and can be ground into flour.
After a winter with mostly preserved foods, the wild greens are a very welcome and healthy change.

Something to know in case of desperation is that ALL GRASS is edible. There are no poisonous true grasses in North America. Since we don't have more than one stomach, we cannot digest them efficiently like cows, but SOME of it will be digested if cut up into short pieces and cooked or steeped in a tea. Some during war time or other famines have baked grass into breads. Even though much of it will not be digested, it will help relieve hunger pangs. Also all grass SEEDS are edible as long as you avoid any discolored seeds.
Some already drink wheat grass juice but don't know that other grasses can be used the same way.

Grapes and most bramble bushes have edible leaves as well as berries (blackberries, raspberries, etc.) Many have already eaten stuffed grape leaves.

Learn to identify and how to cook at least one or two common plants in your area during each season of the year and keep expanding your knowledge from there. You already have more knowledge than you think you do of some wild plants. Look up the ones you know to see if they are edible, and if so which parts and in what seasons. Then actually try it now so it sticks in your mind. Even with some you don't consider very tasty, it will help to at least know they are there, and many are actually delicious if cooked right.

[desertprovender]

Originally Posted by lanahi

2. Acorns in the fall. When the bitter tannic acid is leached from the acorn, it is surprisingly sweet, has a good quality fat, and high protein.

Just to add a bit of detail... Acorns can be prepped in either the hot or cold method. The hot is much quicker. It entails boiling shelled and crushed acorns in water until they are no longer bitter. The down side is a good portion of the oils melt and separate. You can recapture the oils, but it's a pain. The cold method requires a lot more time, but the nutritional value of the acorns are optimized. Soaking shelled and crushed acorn meats in multiple changes of lukewarm water until they are sweet maintains the oil content.

Originally Posted by lanahi

Something to know in case of desperation is that ALL GRASS is edible. There are no poisonous true grasses in North America.

There are no NATIVE toxic grasses in North America. That said, there are toxic grasses, and a number of them have been naturalized in the US. Examples are Arrow Grass, Sorghum and Sudan Grass, all of which can produce cyanic compounds depending on the conditions under which they grow. By and large, these compounds are found in the blades of the grasses, and only produced in drought conditions. Though poisoning from these grasses is rare, and generally limited to livestock, it's something to be aware of.

[Straight Razor]

Usually when blade grass (as opposed to seeds) is consumed by humans they dry it then grind it. That powder is added to various foods as a bulking agent. There's not much nutrition in grass.

[Observer]

For one who has spent thousands of hours in the outdoors and in the woods, This subject would be the serious shortcoming in my resume. I do not possess a lot of knowledge of edible and medical plants.

[Chaosult]

Originally Posted by Straight Razor

Usually when blade grass (as opposed to seeds) is consumed by humans they dry it then grind it. That powder is added to various foods as a bulking agent. There's not much nutrition in grass.

Hrmm...are you sure about that? What about wheat grass?