Wild foods?

[Britesea]

I remember reading how the Native Americans would shake their heads in disbelief when they found white men dying of scurvy in the shade of a pine tree...

 

[Denim Deb]

I read part of a story several years back about a couple that got lost and got stuck in the snow on a road they shouldn't have been on. It was over a mountain pass, and was closed for the winter. They died from starvation and weren't found for months. The area the car was in was covered w/pine trees. I'll admit that that upset me since almost every part of the tree is edible. If they had just know that, they may have lived.

 

[baymule]

Anybody know what greenbriar is? It is a thorny vine with tendrils like a grapevine has. To make sure it is greenbriar, look for the thorns and tendrils. The tips of the growing vine is tender and tastes like asparagus. I snap them off and eat them raw. The root is a starch and can be eaten also, but I never have.

 

[Denim Deb]

I've never eaten it, but I'm very familiar w/it. There's actually several different varieties.

 

[sumi]

Oh yum, blackberries! Cobbler sounds delicious, but jams will store for winter... I'd personally go with jam and stretch out the treat as long as possible. But here are some recipes for both:

Blackberry cobbler

Ingredients
1/2 stick butter, melted, plus more for greasing pan
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup whole milk
2 cups fresh (or frozen) blackberries
Whipped cream and/or ice cream, for serving
Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 3-quart baking dish with butter.

In a medium bowl, whisk 1 cup sugar with the flour and milk. Whisk in the melted butter.

Rinse the blackberries and pat them dry. Pour the batter into the baking dish. Sprinkle the blackberries evenly over the top of the batter. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over the blackberries. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 1 hour. When 10 minutes of the cooking time remains, sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over the top. Top with whipped cream or ice cream.

Chunky Blackberry Jam

1kg (2lb 2.3oz) blackberries
1kg caster sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 pinch salt

Directions

In a stockpot, combine the blackberries, sugar, lemon juice and salt. Bring to a rolling boil, and cook stirring frequently for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the temperature of the mixture has reached 105 degrees C (221*F).

Transfer the mixture to hot sterile jars, leaving 1cm headspace, and seal. Process jars for 10 minutes in a water bath. Refrigerate jam once the seal is broken.

 

[Britesea]

Gardengertie, I like to can some of my wild fruits with just a light syrup or juice for versatility. I can later convert them into jam if I want, or syrup for pancakes, or cobblers and pies, or in muffins... or even just as they are with a little ice cream or something.

I'll have to look up greenbriar; I've never heard of it so I don't know if we have any or not around here.

here's a picture of a couple of weeds I get a lot of in my garden and the land around it. I think we have lambs quarters and purslane here: The one on the right is, I think, purslane; the leaves are fleshy and

the plant hugs the ground. The one on the right- is that lambs quarters?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Wow - that explains it! Thank for posting that info!

 

[baymule]

Well I went and found an article and pics of the greenbriars.

http://www.foragingtexas.com/2008/08/greenbriar.html

The dry vines cut in lengths are great kindling for starting your fires too.

 

[baymule]

I like to make fruit crumbles, they are fast, easy and good!

1 stick of butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar, more or less to taste
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon mace
mix these in the melted butter, then add
Raw uncooked oatmeal, until the mixture is crumbly. Sorry, can't tell you how much, I never measure it

Put fruit in a casserole dish, cover with crumble and bake at 350 until the crumble is browned and the fruit is bubbling at the edges.

I bag up frozen black berries and blue berries so I can have crumbles all year.

 

[Denim Deb]

Britesea, I think you're right on for those being purslane and lamb's quarters.