Foraging

Britesea

Sustainability Master
Joined
Jul 22, 2011
Messages
5,676
Reaction score
5,732
Points
373
Location
Klamath County, OR
Oh yes, there are tons. Some are mainly for medicinals, such as the roots of quackgrass (good for UTI's) others, like Stinging Nettle are superfoods that can keep you alive in the early spring while waiting for the more conventional crops to come in. The younger leaves of plantain, besides being so good for bee and wasp stings, are also quite a tasty green although the mature leaves have heavy fibrous veins that make it tough. Buckthorn is a variety of plantain that doesn't have the tough veins and makes a good salad- it's also called Minutina. I'm planning to grow some in my greenhouse this winter because it's very cold hardy. The seeds are also edible-- it's closely related to Psyllium and has the same nutritional benefits. Mache is also called corn salad, because it tended to grow between the stands of winter wheat. It's so hardy it won't even germinate in warm weather!
Don't forget Cattails- you can eat the tubers, the pollen, and the seed ears (try steaming and eating like corn on the cob!) Golly, the more I think, the more I can remember--- Also, you can eat parts of a lot of conventional crops that most people don't think about-- radish greens make a lovely cream soup reminiscent of watercress, carrot tops are perfectly edible- try the young shoots in salads. I just remembered Fiddlehead ferns, although we are too dry here for most ferns. The young shoots of pine trees have a citrusy flavor in tea and give you insane amounts of Vitamin C. Indians in this area used to collect the berries of manzanita to make a kind of cider. etcetera etcetera etcetera (voice of Yul Brynner)

okay, I'll get off the soapbox now :hide
 

sumi

Rest in Peace 1980-2020
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Messages
7,025
Reaction score
5,296
Points
337
Location
Ireland
@Britesea get back on that box and tell us more! This is great information :)
 

frustratedearthmother

Sustainability Master
Joined
Mar 10, 2012
Messages
20,485
Reaction score
22,520
Points
453
Location
USDA 9a
I LOVE free food! But, I'm terrible at gathering it. I do have purslane all over the yard....and when it gets cooler I'll have chickweed. But, I never really do anything with it. :(
 

Britesea

Sustainability Master
Joined
Jul 22, 2011
Messages
5,676
Reaction score
5,732
Points
373
Location
Klamath County, OR
Here's a couple of easy salads to get you started. By the way, Purslane has more omega-3 fatty acids than any other plant.

Winter Chickweed Salad

3 cups chopped chickweed
¼ cup daikon radish matchsticks
¼ cup matchstick carrots
Toss with Vinaigrette:
1 ½-3 Tbsp olive oil to taste
1 Tbsp wine vinegar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Top with 1 tsp lemon zest and finishing salt to taste


Tomato Cucumber Purslane Salad

1 large cucumber, peeled, quartered and deseeded, then chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
A bunch of purslane, thick stems removed and leaves chopped
(about ½ cup chopped)
1 jalapeno seeded and minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 Tbsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
 

Latest posts

Top