Foraging For Food

Van Living Forum

Help Support Van Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Sheryl,<br><br>This is such good information. Thank you so much.<br>I have to say the soap making ebook is fantastic.<br><br>I am curious. I like the soft soap that comes as body wash in plastic bottles that you just sqeeze out to use.<br><br>Is there a way to turn the soap you show us how to make into a soft flowing body-wash type?<br><br>thanks again<br><br>
 
Thoreau,&nbsp; so sorry you've been sick.&nbsp; I have a touch of that head cold stuff, too, but it hasn't wiped me out.&nbsp; Hope you are well again soon.<br><br>Glad you are enjoying the wild edibles.&nbsp; Sheryl seems to be very knowledgeable!<br><br>Sheryl, your plantago is what we call plantain.&nbsp; It grows in spring and fall here.&nbsp; I don't like it raw, but I do like it as a cooked vegetable.<br><br>Mallow doesn't grow in our area, either.&nbsp; I have been looking for the little cheese wheels for years!&nbsp; <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><br><br>What I like doing best with dandelion is making coffee from the roots.&nbsp; Until I tried it, I thought it would be a very poor substitute for the real thing.&nbsp; But I was stunned by how delicious it really was.&nbsp; It was rich, mellow, complex, and had undertones of chocolate.&nbsp; Beats Starbucks any day!<br><br>Violets grow here in abundance in spring.&nbsp; As do mint, purslane, wild blueberries, wild blackberries, bracken fiddleheads, nettles, amaranth, lambs quarters, wild carrots, groundnuts, a few Indian Puttyroot.&nbsp; They are rare so I only ate the roots of one plant.&nbsp; Raw, they are like starchy, crunchy water chestnuts.&nbsp; Cooked, the will literally stick your teeth together.&nbsp; Ask me how I know.&nbsp; <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><br><br>I've also eaten bull thistle roots (1st year--taste like turnips, but give you a ripping case of gas!), the strong celery-tasting bull thistle flower stalks (carefully peeled), and black cherries for jelly.&nbsp; Our crabapples are abundant, but the apples are so bitter that no amount of sugar can make them really good.&nbsp; I still occasionally try to make a good tasting crabapple butter, but haven't succeeded yet.<br><br>We also have autumn olives, staghorn sumac, tender, crunchy greenbrier shoots for spring and much of the summer.&nbsp; I tried thickening soups with bullbrier roots and didn't care for it.&nbsp; In the summer, we have evening primrose growing out by our ditch.&nbsp; I haven't found jewelweed here, and I've looked for years.&nbsp; I know it must grow around here somewhere.<br><br>We also have several kinds of wild lettuce.<br><br>We don't have chamomile here -- way too hot and humid for it.&nbsp; But we have several kinds of honeysuckle.&nbsp; My favorite is the white heavenly smelling Japanese honeysuckle (which is also a noxious weed).<br><br>We do have hibiscus, roses, yellow dock, curly dock, clover.... and we have Solomon's seal and false Solomon's seal.<br><br>I'm sure I'm missing a ton of the things I've harvested over the years.&nbsp; But I still grieve that burdock and Jerusalem artichoke don't grow wild here.&nbsp; <br><br>My blog is a mixture of all things that interest me.&nbsp; Some of it is about tatting, most about camping, but there are several wild edible posts buried in there.<br><br>I intend to make wild edibles and mushrooms my number one priority in the coming year.&nbsp; I've coasted and just played with them the past few years, but am getting antsy to really dig into it again.<br><br>I used to go on foraging trips.&nbsp; Would hike into a national forest for 5 days and take only a few staples like salt, sugar, oil and coffee, and forage for my food.&nbsp; The first day was always a little scary, but after that I would find far more than I could use.<br><br>I've toyed around with acorns, but haven't done a lot with them.&nbsp; I learned I don't like the hot watcher leaching method.&nbsp; I saw an article once where a girl cold water leached them in her blender.&nbsp; That's something I want to try next fall.<br><br>Anyway, it's an endlessly fascinating hobby that can also vastly improve your nutrition.<br><br>For a newbie, I'd suggest that as soon as the snow is gone, you start taking an hour walk two or three times a week and LOOK at the plants.&nbsp; At first, don't even try to identify anything.&nbsp; Just get used to noticing the different shapes and forms of leaves and plants.&nbsp; If you start that way, then start looking for some of the easily-identifiable yard weeds, your knowledge will grow.<br><br>I didn't learn by leaps and bounds at first.&nbsp; It was a pretty slow process.&nbsp; But once I started SEEING plants, it really took off.<br><br>And it is definitely worth the effort!<br><br><br>
 
I am really enjoying going through my wild edibles photos and reliving the days I found them.<br><br>I decided that I will post the same ones I posted on my blog today here for your convenience and so there will be a permanent reference here for anyone who is interested.<br><br>However, it's very time consuming going through my files, resizing the photos, uploading them and posting them here.&nbsp; I'm happy to do it if there is enough interest, but if there is not, I'll stop posting them here.<br><br>Let me know if it's a valuable reference to you.<br><br><img rel="lightbox" src="http://tinycamper.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/wild-persimmons.jpg" class="bbc_img"><br>Wild persimmons<br><br><br><img rel="lightbox" src="http://tinycamper.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/black-cherries.jpg" class="bbc_img"><br>Black cherries<br><br><br><img rel="lightbox" src="http://tinycamper.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/wild-strawberry.jpg" class="bbc_img"><br>Wild strawberries<br><br><br><img rel="lightbox" src="http://tinycamper.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/baby-oyster-mushrooms.jpg" class="bbc_img"><br>Baby oyster mushrooms<br><br><br><img rel="lightbox" src="http://tinycamper.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/violets2.jpg" class="bbc_img"><br>Wild violet flowers<br><br><br><img rel="lightbox" src="http://tinycamper.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/violets.jpg" class="bbc_img"><br>Wild violet leaves<br><br><br><img rel="lightbox" src="http://tinycamper.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/poke-salad-shoot.jpg" class="bbc_img"><br>Poke salad shoot.&nbsp; Up north, they call it poke salat.&nbsp; <img rel="lightbox" src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" class="bbc_img"><br><br><br><img rel="lightbox" src="http://tinycamper.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/bracken-fiddleheads.jpg" class="bbc_img"><br>Bracken fiddleheads.&nbsp; Note last year's dead bracken leaves that show you where to look.<br><br><br><img rel="lightbox" src="http://tinycamper.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/bull-thistle-flower-stalk.jpg" class="bbc_img"><br>Bull thistle flower stems.&nbsp; (Must be before the flower blooms.)&nbsp; I cut the flower stalk off, hold it in a gloved hand, then use my Leatherman pliers to peel off the bristly outside layer.&nbsp; The stalk tastes like celery and can be eatern raw or cooked.<br><br><br><img rel="lightbox" src="http://tinycamper.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/indian-putty-root.jpg" class="bbc_img"><br>Indian putty root is too rare to use for food.&nbsp; I tried it once just so I would know what it is like.&nbsp; Raw, the bulbs taste like starchy, crunchy water chestnuts.&nbsp; Cooked, it will stick your teeth together, and is best used as a glue -- which is what the Indians used it for.<br><br><br><img rel="lightbox" src="http://tinycamper.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/daylily-corms.jpg" class="bbc_img"><br>Daylily corms<br><br><br><img rel="lightbox" src="http://tinycamper.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/daylily-shoots.jpg" class="bbc_img"><br>Mild, oniony tasting daylily shoots<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>
 
I'm so glad you liked the soap book, Ontheroadagain! I answered your question on another "Hobbies" thread entitled "Soap Making"...&nbsp;<img rel="lightbox" src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" class="bbc_img">&nbsp; In case there are other soapmakers here that want to discuss soap making.&nbsp;<br><br><strong>'NOT BITTER' WILD JELLY:</strong> &nbsp;For making jelly from the very, very bitter things like crabapples and wild grapes, it is important to use only the watered juice and NO PULP. I cover the cleaned fruit with water, bring to a boil, cover and turn off the heat and let it sit and steam over night. In the morning, I gently drain off the liquid through 'real cheese makers cheesecloth' or window curtain&nbsp;sheers. DO NOT SQUEEZE THE PULP! You want only the clear liquid for jelly making.&nbsp;I made fabulous wine from both wild crabapples and tiny wild grapes like this, as well as crabapple jelly that was not bitter, but it is important to keep ALL the pulp out of it.&nbsp;<br><br><br>Thank you for all the info and pictures, Sunny1!<br><br>I am getting excited about foraging this spring! I have added to the list above. I am going to try to keep it updated to have a more complete list when spring gets here! <em>(For myself to use, as much as anyone else. )&nbsp;<img rel="lightbox" src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" class="bbc_img"></em>
 
What a shame to waste all those crabapples!<br><br>Sunny1, I'm going to try the ground dandelion coffee this year! Thanks for the idea. Do you slice, dry then grind the roots?<br><br><br>
 
Sheryl, the way I did it was to scrub the roots, then put them whole on a big flat baking pan and bake them at 250 for about 5 hours.&nbsp; You can break one of the roots at that time to make sure it's a nice, rich brown inside.<br><br>At that point, put them in the blender to "grind" them.&nbsp; They will not be even.&nbsp; You will end up with some almost powder, and some that are irregular chunks.&nbsp; There's no way to get them even.&nbsp; <br><br>You cannot make dandelion coffee in a drip coffeemaker.&nbsp; If you do, you will end up with an unsatisfactory tea.&nbsp; You have to use an old time stove-top percolator.<br><br>I devised a way around that.&nbsp; I put water in a pot, lined a large sieve with a coffee filter, and put it over the pot so that the grounds are submerged in the water.&nbsp; Bring the water to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer it until it's the strength you like.<br><br>
 
Sheryl, you gave me an idea of what to blog about today... dandelion coffee!&nbsp; Thanks!&nbsp; <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><br><br>While I was getting that post together, I found one picture taken on one of my long-ago hiking/foraging trips.&nbsp; It's the only one I have left and I have long since lost the original in crashes. It shows the ingredients for one of my lunch soups, and includes oyster mushrooms.<br><br><br><img rel="lightbox" src="http://tinycamper.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/wild-edibles-lunch-ingredients.jpg" class="bbc_img">
 
Thanks for the dandelion coffee info! The soup ingredients look good. I love mushroom soup! We used to have a large amount of shaggy mane mushrooms growing near our chicken house. We got as many as we could but the chickens loved them! I'm looking forward to looking for more this spring.&nbsp;
 
Tara, it's the most fascinating hobby I've ever been involved with.&nbsp; What makes it so much fun is that you can EAT the results!&nbsp; I always feel like a kid finding treasure when I look for wild foods.<br><br>Hope you have as much fun with it as I do!&nbsp; <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle">
 
Tank, it's not a hobby for anyone who isn't willing to take their time and study details.&nbsp; The biggest, most dangerous mistake most beginners do is convince themselves that a mushroom is edible because it looks like a picture in a book.<br><br>BUT, there are ways for beginners to safely learn the best and most common ones.<br><br>I'm quoting one of my earlier posts in answer to your question.<br><br>
<span id="post_message_1276244252">If you are interested in mushrooms, I'd like to recommend my favorite book for beginners.&nbsp; It introduces you to safe, easily identifiable mushrooms with no poisonous lookalikes.&nbsp; If you follow his instructions at the beginning of each mushroom description, there is no way you can poison yourself.&nbsp; It's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Edible-Mushro...words=edible+wild+mushrooms+of+north+americ a" rel="nofollow"><em><strong>Edible Wild Mushrooms of North America</strong></em></a> by Dave Fischer.&nbsp; I've included the link to it at Amazon.<br><br>I have a library of mushroom books, but that is still one of my favorites.&nbsp; And my very favorite for beginners.</span>
 
Great info and photos. &nbsp; Two people i know went out on a little hike just to see if they could forage anything and came back empty handed.&nbsp; I think maybe they didnt have color photos because something has to be out there right? <img src="/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle">&nbsp;
 
Hi, Tank.&nbsp; Yes, the Europeans aren't as phobic about mushrooms as we Americans are.&nbsp; Plus the knowledge is passed down, so it feels natural.<br><br>Asians who come here often poison themselves with our mushrooms, because our deadly amanitas look a lot like their straw mushrooms.<br><br>DG, it depends on where you live.&nbsp; If your ground is covered in snow, no, there's not much.&nbsp; But there are a lot of cool weather edible plants that will pop up in winter when the snow melts.&nbsp; Or, if you are farther south, there are a some growing here in Georgia right now.
 
Thanks Sheryl...great site!&nbsp; Who'd of thunk those milk weeds we played with as kids were good to eat!&nbsp; Guess it didn't make the cows sick!<br><br>Rae
 
Top