NOTE: I have not tried all of these plants before and this information was collected from online and in books over many years. I am not a professional. If you try this at home, it is at your own risk. Ingestion of certain plants can lead to sickness and possibly death. Always follow guidelines listed for each particular plant and if you aren't sure don't try it.
NOTE: I would not recommend trying to forage for wild mushrooms. While there are many different edible varieties, some toxic ones look similar and even well train professionals have been know to get sick and/or die. Do not try this at home.
Acorns
The ultimate survivor
food, packed with fats and nutrition. Along with black walnuts, butternut
walnuts, pecans, hickories, beechnuts, hazelnuts and pine nuts, acorns can be
gathered from the ground. They must be soaked in warm water to remove
irritating bitter tannic acids. They can also be ground into flour
One ounce of acorn nut meat from any
species of Oak contains a little over 100 calories. These are high carb nuts,
with some fat and protein, giving these nuts a nutritional profile similar to
bread. Just shell them and soak them in water for a few days to remove their
bitterness.
Acorns can tend to be bitter, they
are highly recognizable as well, they should be eaten cooked and a limited
amount.
Amaranth
These small shiny black seeds
contain 90 calories an ounce, 3 grams of protein, and some calcium and iron.
The leaves are also edible, but have very low nutritional value.
Can eat all parts of the plant, but be on the lookout for spines that
appear on some of the leaves. While not poisonous, amaranth leaves do contain
oxalic acid and may contain substantial amounts of nitrates. Recommended that
you boil the leaves to remove the oxalic acid and nitrates. Don’t drink the
water after you boil the plant. Can eat raw if worse comes to worst.
Artichoke Blossom
That said we really don’t eat the blossoms of
the artichoke. They are actually bitter but if you want to have at it. We eat
the floral bracts, read fat leaves below what will become the flower. We eat
them raw, boiled, steamed, baked, fried, stuffed, and marinated. When marinated
they are called artichokes hearts. In Europe they are dried and used in soups.
The inner portion of the flower stalk is also edible, much like true thistles.
The flowers themselves are used for a substitute for rennet, meaning they will curdle
milk. I said they were bitter. Young artichoke leaves are fed to snails to
improve their flavor. Yum. Artichokes have been around for a long time.
Arrowhead
Entire rhizome edible. Underwater tuber can be
dislodged from main roots with toes, floats to top. Tubers are edible raw. Raw
unwashed tubers can be stored for several months. Tubers can be cooked, sliced,
dried for storage, and later boiled. Tubers are usually several feet from
parent plant. Stems can be cooked. Varieties in Manitoba are Arum-leaved
arrowhead and Wapato. Grows in calm water in plains, foothills,
and montane regions. Warning: some species can cause skin reactions.
Asparagus
Wild asparagus has a
much thinner stalk than the store-bought variety. Reliable source of vitamin C,
thiamine, potassium and vitamin B6. Eat it raw or boil it. Young shoots are edible raw, shoots are best when cooked, plants grows by roadways, disturbed areas and fields, handling young plants can cause contact dermatitis.
Bachelor Buttons
Also called the cornflower, they have been tossed into salads and used for
a garnish for a long time. They got the name cornflower because the hardly
species grew in English grain fields, and corn once meant any grain. Their
flavor is spicy, sweet, reminds one of cloves.
Beach Lovage
Use the leaves raw in salads or
salsas, or cooked in soups, with rice, or in mixed cooked greens. Beach lovage
can have a strong flavor and is best used as a seasoning, like parsley, rather
than eaten on its own. Beach lovage tastes best before flowers appear,
and is also called Scotch lovage, sea lovage, wild celery, and
petrushki.
Bearberry
Berries have thick skin and a mealy taste. Berries can be dried for
storage. dried berries can be ground and cooked into a porridge. dried berries
can be popped when fried in grease over low flame. varieties in Manitoba
are Common bearberry and Alpine bearberry. grows
in dry open woods and gravelly or sandy soils in arctic and alpine regions. warning:
may cause nausea or constipation if eaten in quantity, prolonged use may cause
stomach and liver problems and should be avoided by children and pregnant or
breast-feeding women.
Bedstraw
Stem, leaves and flowers of
plant can be eaten raw. plant is best when collected before fruiting. Raw plant
has mild/no taste and older plants have an unpalatable texture. Plant is best
when cooked. A good source of vitamin C. Varieties in Manitoba are Cleavers,
Northern bedstraw, and Sweet-scented bedstraw. look
for bedstraw alongside low-growing vegetation and disturbed soil sites. warning:
acts as a mild laxative when eaten in quantity.
Begonias
Begonia blossoms are edible raw or cooked, as are the leaves of most
of the Begonias, particularly the Wax Begonias. The flavor, like the tulips,
varies with the color. It can range from swampy to sweet. The leaves reduced to
a paste and mixed with sour cream, a little sugar, and then baked make a
delicious tartlet. And of course, the blossoms are an attractive and tasty
addition to salads.
Bistort
Leaves and shoots are edible raw. Rhizome can be eaten raw or be
steeped in water, roasted/dried, and ground into flour. Rhizome is suitable for
use as a potherb. Seeds are edible, either roasted whole or ground into
meal/flour. Small bulb lets can be eaten raw. Plant is rich in vitamin C. The
variety in Manitoba is Alpine bistort and grows in moist, open
areas on montane, alpine, and subalpine slopes. Warning: eating raw plants in
large quantities can cause diarrhea.
Bittercress
Plant is edible raw, plant
is best when cooked. plant has a peppery taste. the variety in Manitoba
is Pennsylvania Bittercress. grows in moist woods and meadows in
montane and subalpine regions.
Blue Porterweed
Blue Porterweed blossoms are edible. No doubt their edibility was known long ago
because the flower has been used for at least a few hundred years to make tea,
beer and as a flavoring. Two versions, a native which grows low, and a tall
cultivated one. The flowers on both are edible, and the odd part is they taste
like raw mushrooms. As with many delicate flavors the nose is quite involved,
and it takes a few moments for the flavor to come through. Tasters find it
amazing. The flavor does not survive cooking. Incidentally, the leaves are used
to make a tea and beer and the stem is used for flavoring.
Bugleweed
Roots are edible raw. Roots are best gathered in spring. Roots were
traditionally steamed or boiled. Roots have a mild, sweet taste. Roots can be
dried for storage. Varieties in Manitoba are Northern bugleweed and
American bugleweed. Grows by lakes and streams, in marshes and in peat
bogs.
Bulrush
Shoots and lower stalk are edible raw. growing tips of rhizome are
edible raw. dried rhizome can be crushed to remove fibers, ground into flour. fresh
rhizomes can be boiled into gruel. The gruel can either be dried and ground
into flour or used wet in pancakes/breads. Young rhizomes can be crushed and
boiled to make sweet syrup. Pollen can be pressed into cakes and baked or mixed
with other flours. Seeds are edible raw or parched. Seeds can be ground into
meal. Sweet dried sap that exudes from the stem can be rolled into balls for
storage. Varieties in Manitoba are Hard-stemmed bulrush and Soft-stemmed
bulrush. Grows in shallow calm water.
Bunchberry
Berries have mild taste, berries
have hard/crunchy central seed, which is edible, plant can be found in
foothills and montane regions. Warning: unripe berries can cause stomach
cramps.
Burdock
Known as wild rhubarb, it has large woolly heart-shaped leaves and reddish
steams. The roots can get
Large sized plant with
big leaves and purplish thistle-like flower heads. Can eat the leaves and the
peeled stalks of the plant either raw or boiled. The leaves have a bitter
taste, so boiling them twice before eating is recommended to remove the
bitterness. The root of the plant can also be peeled, boiled and eaten.
Young leaves are edible raw. Older
leaves are best when boiled in 1-2 changes of water with pinch of baking soda. Roots
of first year plants can be cooked in a soup or stir-fry. Roots can be mashed
and fried as patties. Roots can be dried for storage. Roots can be roasted or ground
as coffee substitute.
Roots are best when shredded/sliced
and soaked in water for 5-10 minutes to reduce harshness. White pith of young
flower stalks is edible raw.
varieties in Manitoba are Common
burdock and Woolly burdock. Look for burdock on disturbed
soil sites. Do not confuse with Cocklebur whose leaves are
poisonous if not thoroughly cooked. Cocklebur has rough rather than velvety
leaves and has more solid burs.
No comments:
Post a Comment