Edible plants?!
Yes! So much talk about violence and sex on this website (which might explain why a fair amount of my fans are from Brazil…)
Kidding, kidding!
But in all seriousness, we talk about those things for a good reason—they’re pretty important. Sex and violence are your heritage as a human, and there’s no reason that you shouldn’t be able to do both of them well.
But with that being said, I am a man of peace as well. And as such I have many interests that are less…”in your face”. Obviously, you all know that already with my interest in poetry, prose fiction, and music. But, as only the most dedicated fans will remember, I’m also something of an outdoorsman as well!
While I don’t profess to be an expert in the field, I am into woodcraft, survivalism, foraging, and the like. The latter is what we’re going to be dealing with today:
For those of you who would want to forage for plants, you don’t have to go to some far off locale to find stuff—you can likely find many edible plants within walking distance of your home. And don’t you want to stick your thumb in the eyes of agrobusiness? Of COURSE you do!
- Gingko
Gingko biloba, the only living representative of the Gingko genus still extant today, is a primitive sort of tree native to Asia. They are tall trees (frequently reaching about 100 feet), with “bullets” on the branches (Actually spur shoots that contain the gingko’s reproductive parts). Their leaves are unique amongst trees by being fan-shaped with veins upon them.
But the important thing to know is that the nuts are edible (and yes, I know that they might not be “nuts” from a technical perspective)
Whatever they are, they are edible WHEN COOKED PROPERLY. Raw, they’ll make you violently ill. Cook them at 300 degrees for 40 minutes to an hour in their shells until they crack open and the meat turns green. The tree will only fruit in spring and summer, but you should be able to find nuts around the tree throughout the year
2) Sassafras
The delightfully named sassafras may not have the panacea properties that 19th century charlatans claimed it had, but these plants still taste pretty good and might have some anti-bacterial properties as well. Best known as the “root” in root beer, sassafras tastes pretty good as a hot tea or as a cooking herb as well.
On a sassafras tree, all the branches point up like a candelabra. On mature trees the bark has vertical “plates” with horizontal splits. It is a rich reddish brown under the bark, and the wood will also smell like root beer when you crack it open (as the name implies, the root has the most of the spice compound in it). The juvenile stems are green and tan mottled, and the leaves are a unique three-pronged shape. The root is good to eat at any time.
To prepare it for a drink, just bring a pot of water to boil, and throw a piece of sassafrass in. Let it soak for about an hour until it turns a rich reddish brown.
3) Wild Strawberry
There are several species of wild strawberry (all edible) that differ slightly in leaf size and color, but these plants are all identified by being a low-to-the-ground perennial that has running vines that connect specimens to each other. Leaves are ovular in groups of three with jagged teeth and little hairs. The flowers are white with yellow centers and 5 petals. The fruits look more or less like the store bought strawberry, except smaller. The fruits grow only in the summer.
The fruits and leaves are good to eat, although the leaves in excess will give you the shits.
4) Thistle
Surprisingly, yes! A mild pinprick to touch, but edible with preparation. Thistle plants are stout and tall herbs that range from 1-6 feet tall, a 2 inch thick stalk that is covered with irritating hairs.
The leaves are basal and look vaguely similar to dandelions (coarse teeth and lobes), but with sharp prickles. The flowers are white, pink, or purple, and have spiky pistils (I like to think they look like little cacti).
The stalks are edible by splitting them open and eating the pulp inside, or whittling off the hairs and eat similar to celery. The root is also edible like a carrot.
6) Dandelion
Okay, we all know what dandelions look like, but just a review:
Its leaves are a low rosette with coarse teeth and lobes. From the middle of the rosette grows the flower.
The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked like spinach, and the root is a large taproot like a carrot.P
And of course, as Ray Bradbury reminds us, you can make wine from the flower heads.
7) Field Garlic
A very common edible root. It looks kind of like regular old weeds and grass, but field garlic has thin round and cylindrical stems, (not flat like grass), it’s waxy to the touch, gets “squiggly” at its far ends, and it smells like garlic or onion. The smell is very strong and noticeable—if you don’t smell it, it’s not field garlic.
You can eat it raw or cook it like chives or shallots. The root is a bulb which can be eaten like onions. Edibility varies in seasons—the seeds are edible in summer, the stems are only good to eat in winter. The bulbs are good year round, but obviously they’re underground so you can’t really find them until the stems come up (stems come up winter-to-spring).
Do NOT confuse with star of Bethlehem (poisonous, star of bethlethem is flat, has a white vein, and doesn’t have an onion smell, so it’s not hard to tell the difference)
Enjoy not spending money on groceries, and happy foraging!