a personal " wild edibles " challenge

[Canadian-guerilla]

gonna pick a month and eat only wild edibles ( not sure yet about meat/protein )

may even expand it to " wild water " ( no tap water/milk/juices )

i think a water challenge will be harder than wild edibles because it's so accessable

looking at May for my own personal wild edibles " put up or shut up "

at the end of May, i'll grade myself and maybe try again for July and/or Sept

i'll try to find a cheap half-decent camera

i always wanted to start a " wild edibles " blog

[RangerXanatos]

Hope it all works out for you.

[preachtheWORD]

Good luck with it! Something tells me that it will be tougher than anyone would think. I expect you'll lose some weight.

[Batch]

Wow, I would say a month is pretty ambitious!

I would have to start by living off of wild edibles for one day. LOL

Would wild game in the freezer be allowed?

Good luck and keep us posted.

[rwc1969]

You make few but excellent posts CG. I think the challenge is a good idea, and you should start a blog. You have great info to share.

Around here May would be a great month to try, lots fish, plants, morels, oysters.

[crashdive123]

Good luck CG. A blog as rwc1969 suggested would be a good idea. It would be interesting to read about how your got to where you are now, and follow your progression along the way.

[Rick]

I think a month will be a long time and it will be a difficult challenge. Don't negatively impact your health. Good luck and I look forward to seeing what you eat and how you fare.

[Ted]

Don't really know whats in your area. But it can be done, no problem! I agree a blog sounds like a great idea.

If your going the all raw, "fasting" route, PM me and I'll be happy to give you some adivce.

Best to ya!

[welderguy]

Good luck CG, and I look forward to hearing the results.

[your_comforting_company]

I'm taking it a day at a time, and one plant at a time. I've been munching sheep sorrel all day, and surprisingly, after a hearty supper.. no gas!
Good Luck and BE CAREFUL!

[huntermj]

good luck!
I think an even better challange would be. we all eat an wild this month.

[crashdive123]

good luck!
I think an even better challange would be. we all eat an wild this month.

Does eating with my fingers count? That's almost, kind of, sort of wild.

[Rick]

No, but eating A finger would be considered wild.

[crashdive123]

I always thought that those places that sell finger food were kind of up to no good.

[Rick]

Sort of gives new meaning to "finger licking good".

[rwc1969]

I try to eat something wild every day in May. Well, I don't try it just happens. Usually, fish, asparagus, ramps and morels. I have expanded that and will try a few more this year like Japanese knotweed for one.

I'm still a lil iffy on the greens as many look similar to me. I did see some wild lettuce coming up today and am waiting on the nettles and Garlic mustard.

[your_comforting_company]

No, but eating A finger would be considered wild.

sweeny todd?

[Rick]

Jeffrey Dahmer?

[crashdive123]

sweeny todd?

Don't forget Mrs. Lovett. She baked some mean finger food.:innocent:

[Canadian-guerilla]

i'll try to find a cheap half-decent camera

i always wanted to start a " wild edibles " blog


now that i have my camera ( i have lots of pictures lined up )

looking for some FREE BLOG SITE recommendations

any/all blog help would be appreciated

TIA

[wareagle69]

ambitous plan CG, have you done this before? like for a week? why a month? don't take it the wrong way CG it just seems like folks are in too much of a hurry nowadays, like going into the bush for a year, when a month or a couple of weeks would be good to start.
I kind of look at it the same way that RWC does it, i just try to add wild foods to my diet on a daily basis, might be a few years before i can live for a month off of them.
best of luck to ya, hope to learn from your blog, i have a free one look at my sig line, not that i post on it but it twas free.

[Canadian-guerilla]

i haven't forgotten about this, just putting it off for 1-2 months

i could get by but right now mostly everything would be " greens "

i'll wait a bit for some berries and roots to balance out the leaves, stems



the one thing i am very aware of by learning from lydia is that there are two types of wild food enthusiasts, one picks for enjoyment of adding something to a meal, basically where i am at, and the second is the person who lives mostly on edibles ,


trying to get to # 2

[justin_baker]

I dont think that it will be that hard to find enough food, just hard to go completley without meat. If you guys have thistles up there, go for those. We have fields full of it, its plentiful and easy food.

[Chris]

When I was in highschool I did this for a day. One saturday in the summer.

Had to only eat things I found outside, but also I couldn't use the kitchen, or anything modern (though... I used aluminum foil... guess I cheated) nor could I use modern fishing tackle or guns or anything for game.

I ended up eating some bluegills I macgyvered out of our pond, wild strawberries, and wild parnsips mostly.

[wareagle69]

a suggestion if i might.
maybe try freezing or drying wild foods now and then in a couple of months you can eat wild for a month by harvesting what is currently available and also what you have allready picked and is no longer available, won't be as much work to feed yourself then.

[grrlscout]

now that i have my camera ( i have lots of pictures lined up )

looking for some FREE BLOG SITE recommendations

any/all blog help would be appreciated

TIA

I find WordPress to have to most features, and is the easiest to use.

[grrlscout]

i haven't forgotten about this, just putting it off for 1-2 months

i could get by but right now mostly everything would be " greens "

i'll wait a bit for some berries and roots to balance out the leaves, stems





trying to get to # 2

d'oh! I see you already got one. :blushing:

Good choice!

[Canadian-guerilla]

JULY

the one bad thing about this experiment is that i'm picking my month

a survival situation in March or October wouldn't have the same variety/selection of edibles as July

depending on how this July experiment goes, i may try again in Sept

not much on being a vegetarian, i'll limit my protein to one can of tuna a day
plus whatever wild protein i come across out on my walk/rides


will try to find another camera before July

[Canadian-guerilla]

time to walk the walk

July is " wild edibles " month (http://julywildedibles.wordpress.com/)

[crashdive123]

Good luck.

[Rick]

Menus. We need menus and pictures.

[crashdive123]

....and a starting weight.

[your_comforting_company]

Please, please, only eat the wild things you are 110% confident in identity. I applaud your efforts, and I really don't want one of our guys going all cold and blue.
Make us proud brother! Best wishes!!

[rwc1969]

I'll second the starting weight. I think it would be good to see if you lose or gainor stay the same.

What kind of plants and such do you think you'll be consuming ?

I hope to get a days worth of food for a family of three today, we'll se how that goes. A lot of the plants/ etc. I'm targeting may not be at the stage I'm hoping for harvesting.

I like your idea of subbing tuna with the diet, cuz one could easily find an equal amount of wild fish if needed, at least in my area.

[Canadian-guerilla]

no starting weight, one thing i learned in my musclehead days
is that you can drive yourself crazy jumping on a scale 2-3 times a day
i'm using a " luggage strap " as a belt for my pruners
when my belt starts slipping down, i'll let ya know





I hope to get a days worth of food for a family of three today, we'll se how that goes. A lot of the plants/ etc. I'm targeting may not be at the stage I'm hoping for harvesting.


one of the things i want to do this summer is try wild edibles OUTSIDE of their regular eating times

when the bottom line is survival, out-of-season may not seem that important

[rwc1969]

It can be difficult getting wild veggies at the "right" stage. And my 3 person meal was a success somewhat, but I didn't get any fish, gathered many cattail flower spikes, milkweed buds, daylily buds and a few raspberries as I went. I also found a good number of wild mushrooms, chanterelles, black trumpets and old man of the woods. I gathered up a bunch of sumac berries and made sumac-ade.

Unfortunately the sumac berries weren't entirely ripe and the ade was green. It tasted good though, but I pitched it after a few sips just because of the appearance. I tore the berries loose from the main stem and maybe that's why it turned out so green; Tannins? Many berries are ripe, others are still green and some are inbetween. Different species apparently ripen sooner than others as I saw at least two distinct species of sumac, staghorn and what I think is Smooth sumac.

The cattail spikes were quickly approaching past prime. I only found one with the male flower still green, about a third had still green female flowers, only two were still sending off pollen and the rest were barren or had large brown spikes that when eaten, cooked or otherwise, reminded me of insulation. They are almost fluff by now. Just last week they were beginning to spike out. they mature very quick apparently. I tried them in all stages raw and cooked. If they were even slightly brown the flavor was reminiscent of cardboard, otherwise they were very mild and more than acceptable as a veggie. Some of the green ones turned brown by the time I got home and cooked them.

The cattail shoots on the plants with no flowers were getting pithy and stringy, but I believe had some core parts that would still make a good veggie. I did notice the aloe like gel was extreme. There was not near as much this spring when the shoots were more tender. I placed some on my mosquito bites and it seemed to soothe them slightly, but didn't relieve any itching. they are very slimy and messy.

Interestingly enough I happened along some broad leaf plantain and jewelweed at the same time. The plantain offered no immediate relief, but the jewelweed, like magic instantly relieved the ithcing and held it at bay till the next morning.

The milkweed flowerbuds were a-ok. Some were opening, but many were still tight and green/white. Some were turning purple. No pods yet and I did see a few smaller ones whose shoots may have been ok to eat. The dogbane seems to be maturing at a slightly slower rate. The butterfly milkweed is in full flower. My skin is somewhat sensitive to the white sap, but eating the buds raw didn't seem to bother me. I only ate a very few just to get a taste. Raw they were mild with just the slightest bitterness. Cooked they were similar and had a slight hint of asparagus taste to them. A very good, mild veggie as well. I noticed no difference in flavor from the immature pale flowerbuds all the way up to the almost mature purple ones. I didn't try any that were already opened up. The monarchs, other butterflies and bees were having a field day.

The daylily buds were prime and in all stages from tiny green bud all the way up to wilted flower. I've munched and munched on the unopened buds raw and they are great with no ill effects. They just taste great period, raw or cooked. I did forget them on the stove and steamed them to mush. They require very little cooking, just enough to heat them I think. I wanted to see what the roots looked like at this stage, but was unprepared to dig them.

The mushrooms are weeks ahead of schedule and are beginning to rapidly dry out even with all the rain we've had in the past two months. Nevertheless, there were many and all were bug free. They made a nice white sauce which was served over toast with smoky links for breakfast. I had originally intended to serve it over filet o' fishes.

I found some large fresh grape leaves and was intending to use them to make some wild food rollups. I didn't get no fish so I scrapped that idea. I did eat one raw and it tasted somewaht like the skin of a grape. Not bad at all, just slightly tart.

[Canadian-guerilla]

a mini heatwave has changed my " wild edibles " experiment

yesterday my puter was having heating problems, my apartment is a renovated attic, it's like a sauna here right now, so i picked up a 6" fan, took the side cover off my computer case and this setup seems to be working so far

http://julywildedibles.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/hpim1886.jpg?w=640&h=573

bought some bananas, oranges and apples yesterday, not going to take any chances with an unknown number of calories from wild edibles during this heatwave

NO WILD EDIBLES TODAY, gonna try something else

humidex is supposed to hit 40′ C again

leaving my place at 8 am with 2 litres of water, 1 banana, 1 orange, and 1 apple

and see how i do for the next 12 hours with only the above

whether riding my bike, or just sitting under a tree, not going home until 8 pm, although i will have some money with me to buy food/water, just in case

and depending on how i do today, i may do the same wednesday with only 2 litres of water ( after having fruit for breakfast )

may as well use this ” mini-heatwave ” for test purposes

back in 12

[Rick]

The biggest killer of electronics is heat dissipation (or the lack thereof). The answer is air flow, the cooler the better. Your set up should work just fine. Computers could easily be the size of calculator if they could figure out how to dissipate the heat they would generate.

[your_comforting_company]

Be careful in the heat. Your experiment must be going well. Let us know how you fare this evening!
We've been incorporating wild edibles into our regular diets this month in almost every meal. I'm still in the middle phase (discovering, learning, then eating). There are some plants that you just can't mistake for others and I'm very familiar with them. Those are the ones we are eating this year. Next year will be full on "natures garden" meals.

[rwc1969]

How did the wild edibles challenge turn out CG? I noticed you were on recently, had figured you must have got poisoned or worse since you haven't posted since this.

[Canadian-guerilla]

when we had that mini heatwave back in July, my computer went kaput
more time in the bush for me
the only bad thing was not having the internet for plant id checking
figured i'd wait until winter came before i got up and running again

[crashdive123]

when we had that mini heatwave back in July, my computer went kaput
more time in the bush for me
the only bad thing was not having the internet for plant id checking
figured i'd wait until winter came before i got up and running again

CG - this is NOT a criticism on your decision at all.

Often times we rely so heavily on the computer that when they are not availible we sometimes find ourselves unprepared.

[rwc1969]

I am becoming more and more computer/ technology dependant every day. A double edged sword is she, LOL!

[your_comforting_company]

... Better use it while you can. This is preparing. All our learning is preparing. Who knows how much longer we will have access to such a wealth of information. I am dependent on the internet much more than anything else in my life.. yep, even money.
I turned off the satellite TV, then the tv set went out. I don't watch tv anyway (at least not enough to say I watch much) Been down to 1 pc for over a year now, mine died a while back and I haven't had the extra cash to get it going. Busted another cell phone (darn gravity! GRRR) and went a week without a cell. Didn't miss a thing, but I DO need it for work.
I'm slowly but surely cutting out all those things that take up extra time, money, resources, and living more simply. One day I will have enough knowledge to 'cut the cord' and disappear. Till then, I view the interweb as a resource and put it high on my list of priorities.
If this one tears up, I'd go in debt to get a new one. Learning right now, is the most important thing I can do to prepare... Like right now, between reading threads, I'm trying to ID some apiaceae plants I saw in the woods over the weekend.

Don't sell yourself short RWC. It's not "dependence", it's exploiting a resource for personal benefit. Same thing we humans do with every other resource we have.

[Canadian-guerilla]

... Better use it while you can. This is preparing. All our learning is preparing. Who knows how much longer we will have access to such a wealth of information.

Don't sell yourself short RWC. It's not "dependence", it's exploiting a resource for personal benefit. Same thing we humans do with every other resource we have.

+100

i have 4000+ pics of wild edibles ( 2 copies on thumb drives plus CD's )

but i'm always looking for another nice picture / another angle / close-up details
of any plant i can consume or use in other ways

[redandwhite]

If ever a young person needed to get away from their home environment, to re-charge their batteries, to live a healthy life communing with nature and to be guided by caring, month or two at a wilderness camp would seem the ideal solution.

[canid]

if your computer is overheating with the case off and a desk fan on it, you seriously need to have the thermal compound on your CPU changed.

the faster our CPUs are getting, the hotter they are running, and thermal paste has a service life.