Stuff you had no clue was edible...

[Blackbird]

Until the last couple years I never knew that..
Burdock!!
Not only a GREAT medicinal plant for skin conditions and a plethora of other issues, but the leaves and roots are edible! If you can get the root out of the ground.. Tastes like carrot!

 

[freemotion]

I've got to try burdock this year. I have lots of it. It is the first year plants before they send up the flower stalk, or so I've read. Why struggle with the root? I wonder....why not just dig as far down as you are comfortable, then break or cut it off? I read about people struggling to dig out a three foot root, and scratch my head over that....

 

[Farmfresh]

Those orange daylilies that you see in roadside ditches.

The roots are edible although I have not tried them and the flowers make the best tempura!

Radish tops.

Cattails are a basic survival food - roots & blooms.

Standard Russian thistle. Strip the peel off young shoots and steam ... tastes like asparagus!

Rolly Polly bugs! Cook and eat like shrimp - they say they taste the same!!

 

[tamlynn]

Rolly Polly bugs! Cook and eat like shrimp - they say they taste the same!!

No way! Are you serious?

 

[Blackbird]

The other day I had a nice salad that I picked fresh; dandelion, plantain, and purslane with a light misting of ACV. I've learned to really like those bitter and strong tasting plants, they have much more flavor than 'common' garden greens and way more vitamins and minerals.

Other wild plants that I nibble on are curly dock, wood sorrel, and young raw nettle tops. Just lick your fingers, get them nice and wet, and pluck the top off, and it can go straight into your mouth, no sting!

On the hike my brother and I took yesterday at a local state park there was plenty of the above mentioned, plus other edibles and medicinals; cattails, curly & yellow dock, motherwort, echinacea, yarrow, chickweed, true Solomon's seal, cannabis, mullein, goat's beard (I looked it up and the leaves and roots are edible!), wild strawberry, raspberry, gooseberry, plum, acorns, clover, joe pye weed, etc. etc. I'm constantly reminded and forever amazed at what beautiful, nutritional, helpful, and nourishing plant friends grow all around us!

FF, what are 'Rolly Polly bugs'??

Free, I just try to collect as much of the root as possible, if it's a big root and I dig down a foot and still can't get it out, and it doesn't break with all the pulling, then I just cover it back up and let it be. I try not to tackle the huge guys though. OH! I was just reading that burdock seeds can be SPROUTED like a grain and eaten! How cool is that?!

 

[FarmerDenise]

What people call goats beard around here is salsify. I've dug it up cooked it in vinegar water, then cooked it again in plain water. I love it. I grew up with it though. Also known as oyster plant.

Chickweed is something I only recently started eating. It tastes really good, like a nice lettuce. I nibble on in when I am working in the garden and get hungry and don't feel like coming in to get something to eat. Here it grows nice and big in the winter, our rainy season.

 

[Farmfresh]

FF, what are 'Rolly Polly bugs'??

Also known as wood lice. Those little rolly bugs you used to play with as a kid. Mind you ... I have never eaten these, I just know you can.

 

[Blackbird]

Hmm.. Actually, I don't believe I played with bugs as a kid. They were always treats to give to the chickens! Perhaps I should have..

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Rolly Polly bugs! Cook and eat like shrimp - they say they taste the same!!

No way! Are you serious?

How cool! I found this link when I searched for this. My daughter is a master rolly polly gatherer, I can't wait to see her face when I tell her this.

http://www.earthlife.net/insects/woodcare.html

 

[Wifezilla]

I think the ducks would have a heart attack if I started eating their rolly pollys!

It is one of their favorite treats!

As for cat tails, you can also eat the bottom parts of the shoots.
http://www.articlesbase.com/camping-articles/the-cattail-best-of-the-wild-edible-plants-495731.html

It tastes a little like cucumber.