[scienceteacher]

I know of its many uses for poison ivy, sunburn, and other skin problems but is it a wild edible. Just wondering because I saw an elderly Korean neighbor cutting the jewelweed from the side of the road and collecting it in quantity and was wondering if she is an herbalist making soap salve or ointment or is it a food she's making. She picks and cooks nettle (she says it is very nutritious tastes like fresh cooked spinach and cutting it protects the kids in the neighborhood from the stings)

 

[Freeholder]

Jewellweed or another name "Touch Me Nots": "The young shoots up to 6" can be cooked in 2 changes of water for 15 minutes and served as a cooked green". thats from my Petersens guide to wild edibles. I have it all around my yard but haven't tried it. It's one of those I know it's there in an emergency type foods. By the way, in the fall the tiny mature seed pods (look like miniature bean pods) really do explode nicely at the slightest disturbance. I like to carefully pick them and hand them to unsuspecting people and say the pods have "jumping bugs" inside. Scares the [email protected] out of em when they pop.

 

[bikerdruid]

it is a simple fact that very few plants are toxic
step one: find out which plants in your area are toxic. know them.
basically, almost everything else is edible, to on e degree or another.
i graze a lot. i sample this and that. some are nasty, most aren't.
i have discovered some very tasty greens this way.
i make some pretty bizarre salads, but they're tasty.

 

[Straight Razor]

it is a simple fact that very few plants are toxic

That view will land a forager in the hospital or the morgue. If one has great health insurance and doesn't mind being sick for several days to weeks by all means graze at will.

Edible plants are an extreme minority of wild plants. What is deadly is a matter of degrees. Onions can kill you. Acorns can kill you. Then there are the deadly one that will dispatch you long before you can get to the hosptial.

If one identifies a plant beyound a doubt the chances of being ill are small, excluding allergies. (Excluding mushrooms) if you are not deathly sick within the hour, you will probably survive, albeit you could be miserable for weeks.

 

[bikerdruid]

That view will land a forager in the hospital or the morgue. If one has great health insurance and doesn't mind being sick for several days to weeks by all means graze at will.

Edible plants are an extreme minority of wild plants. What is deadly is a matter of degrees. Onions can kill you. Acorns can kill you. Then there are the deadly one that will dispatch you long before you can get to the hosptial.

If one identifies a plant beyound a doubt the chances of being ill are small, excluding allergies. (Excluding mushrooms) if you are not deathly sick within the hour, you will probably survive, albeit you could be miserable for weeks.

i've been grazing, for 20 +years in my area.
i'm just fine thanks.

btw...i'm canadian. i have great health insurance.:thumb:

 

[Straight Razor]

i've been grazing, for 20 +years in my area.
i'm just fine thanks.

btw...i'm canadian. i have great health insurance.:thumb:

Canadian. Ah, that would explain your liberal socialism though I hear the health care is not so good.

I teach foraging. That is how I make my living. Most plants will make you sick. Quite a few can kill you. Keeping beginners from "grazing" is my prime challenge. You might graze knowingly. They most certainly do not. Teaching people what to eat is easy. Keeping them from eating what can make them sick is a full time responsibility. (Plus you forage in a temperate, distinct seasonal climate, much different than elsehwhere.)

 

[Kara]

I'm with you BikerDruid - the body intelligence will tell you if a plant is a nastie or not. One smell (sweet or not sweet), or nibble and you know whether to spit or swallow. I especially like the jewelweed flowers, but I stop eating them when they stop tasting sweet - the body knows when to move on.

 

[tinareid22]

I'm with you BikerDruid - the body intelligence will tell you if a plant is a nastie or not. One smell (sweet or not sweet), or nibble and you know whether to spit or swallow. I especially like the jewelweed flowers, but I stop eating them when they stop tasting sweet - the body knows when to move on.

That's true!

 

[chinagreen]

I eat it up until the time the plant flowers.