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smittysurvival
06-29-2010, 04:33 PM
as i was walking through the woods today what would i find but a boat load of wild edibles. a massive patch of what i think are called chinese wine berries (i call them wax berries on the account that your fingers feel very waxy after eating them.) and another patch of may apples that has about 20-40 apples in it. its kinda weird that its the end of june and they still arent ripe isnt it? well anyway. . . i was wondering if there is any special recipes for these rarities. and of course there is onions everywhere but thats normal around here. anyother edibles is should be looking for this time of year?

P.S. ive gott a little bit more time right now. in between track and football two a days. please help quick

Rick
06-29-2010, 04:40 PM
May Apple Jam

Pick 2 quarts of mature fruit.
Wash fruit, cut off any stem and flower remnants.
Cut fruit into quarters.
Add 1 cup of water and simmer 15 minutes.
Mash fruit and filter through colander.
To 4 cups of pulp, add one box Sure-Gel or Certo.
Bring to boil and add 4 cups sugar.
Hard boil for 1 minute. Skim off foam.
Pour into half pint jars and seal.


Make certain you only use the ripe fruit. All parts of the plant, even the unripe fruit is a cathartic.

Canadian-guerilla
06-29-2010, 05:01 PM
i've been waiting for mayapples too

the berries are green now, but from what i understand

i should wait until they are yellow and drop from the plant

anyone know if i picked some green berries,
would they ripen on their own and turn yellow ?
or should i just wait for nature

smittysurvival
06-29-2010, 07:49 PM
thats a good question bc ive noticed that wild animals have a taste for the fruit and they dont last long once ripe. do i need to peel the skin off the fruit for that jam? and what flavor does it have? is it bitter or sour or sweet?

Rick
06-29-2010, 07:54 PM
For a jam you will mash the fruit. Jams generally contain some of the actually fruit but not the peel. If the peel is included it's actually a marmalade. For a jelly, only the juice, usually strained through something like cheese cloth, is used.

Oh, as for taste. It's been a few years since I've had them but I would say wild grapes would be pretty close.

smittysurvival
06-29-2010, 08:09 PM
great. im sure it will be easy to find 2 quarts. these ar emonsters. i would compare the largest ones to small peaches or plums. thee smallest to large grapes

Rick
06-29-2010, 08:22 PM
You might be surprised. About the time they turn ripe they all disappear. Wildlife has a habit of doing that. :)

smittysurvival
06-29-2010, 09:34 PM
but might they be like bannanas, mangoes, and other fruits and ripen over time

crimescene450
06-29-2010, 10:38 PM
(i call them wax berries on the account that your fingers feel very waxy after eating them.)


doesnt a waxy type feel suaully mean something is poisonous?

smittysurvival
06-29-2010, 11:59 PM
:blushing: i sure hope not bc ive been eating them for the last three or four years. not only are they perfectly safe to eat but they have nothing that looks like them in my area

Rick
06-30-2010, 12:08 AM
I've never picked them and tried to let them ripen so I don't know. I have a large patch I've got staked out but I'm afraid I'm going to have to wrestle the deer for them. That won't be pretty.

smittysurvival
06-30-2010, 09:14 AM
well is this anything like that mutant sqquirrels

:tank::rambo: :taz::taz::taz::taz:
:tank::rambo: :taz::taz::taz::taz:
:tank::rambo: :taz::taz::taz::taz:

(we really need a squirrel smiley)

rwc1969
06-30-2010, 05:56 PM
i've been waiting for mayapples too

the berries are green now, but from what i understand

i should wait until they are yellow and drop from the plant

anyone know if i picked some green berries,
would they ripen on their own and turn yellow ?
or should i just wait for nature

Maybe if you wrap them in brown paper bags or newspaper they will, or put a ripe banana in with them.

They don't have to fall from the plant, but they certainly need to be yellow thru and soft. I think they are very tasty, but as soon as they ripen the critters tear em up. It's kinda like trying to pick hazelnuts. Good luck getting to them before the tailgating squirrels do.

I've heard folks get the squirts from the ripe ones as well though if too many are eaten, but haven't experienced that myself. :blushing:

Canadian-guerilla
06-30-2010, 06:04 PM
Maybe if you wrap them in brown paper bags or newspaper they will, or put a ripe banana in with them.



well i just picked some mayapples this afternoon to experiment with

http://wildedibles1.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/mayapple-ripen.jpg

Rick
06-30-2010, 06:06 PM
Keep us posted on this, please. Like I said, I have a pretty large patch identified so I'd like to know if they ripen off the plant. I'd never even considered it. That would be great if they do. You can collect them before they ripen and the animals get them.

rwc1969
06-30-2010, 06:32 PM
Ya, I'd be interested to know as well.

smittysurvival
06-30-2010, 07:22 PM
you know you guys . . . i wonder if you could actually tame this things. . . the inside is an open pit istn it? so seed is ruled out . . . maybe its loke strawberries and it just pops up year after year. if you could dig them up then you could put these things in a greenhouse patch to grow and not worry about the bugs or animals. i suppose an outside patch would do the same job but do nothing agianst bugs and only prevent some animals even with a fence. . . . im really loving this idea

and i think ill pick some of the small ones and try a few different things. first ill try popping them in the freezer over night and letting them sit out over the day (a same thing with pawpaws)

then i could try your guy's idea

Canadian-guerilla
07-01-2010, 08:56 AM
i decided to number 6 of these mayapples
in the background is 4 mayapples wrapped in newspaper

http://wildedibles1.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/mayapple-1-6.jpg

smittysurvival
07-02-2010, 12:16 AM
um . . . what does that do if you dont put the apples in different conditions?

Rick
07-02-2010, 06:58 AM
I feel better about this experiment knowing you can count. :innocent:

Canadian-guerilla
07-02-2010, 11:26 AM
with the numbers on the mayapples, i can get the exact area/color a few days apart
what i didn't do was take pics of the mayapples before wrapping them in newspaper :smash:

hoosierarcher
07-03-2010, 09:30 PM
Either no plants produced fruit around here this year or animals got to them fast, because I didn't find one may apple this year. Thousands and thousands of plants but no fruit. You were blessed.

rwc1969
07-04-2010, 09:27 AM
HA, I was just out checking on several mayapple patches and none had fruit?? WTF! The critters are eating them unripe? The little stem was there, but it was just a dry nub of a stem with no fruit on it. The fruit appears to have fallen or been pulled off by something and all the mayapples appear to be trampled.

I did find 3 and they were still green.

Canadian-guerilla
07-04-2010, 12:56 PM
MAYAPPLE testing – picked two of the mayapples that looked the ripest

http://julywildedibles.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/hpim1852.jpg?w=300&h=270

cut a little piece for tasting

http://julywildedibles.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/hpim1854.jpg?w=300&h=282

and did some more cutting

http://julywildedibles.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/hpim1855.jpg?w=300&h=262 http://julywildedibles.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/hpim1856.jpg?w=300&h=293

the inside little ball actually had an apple taste, not sure if eating some of the seeds was a good idea, but i did

i'll be having small bits throughout the day

Rick
07-04-2010, 01:26 PM
The seeds are supposed to be cathartic as well. I've never eaten them so I don't know. You might be having small FITS throughout the day. :innocent: Keep us posted.

Canadian-guerilla
07-04-2010, 01:57 PM
http://julywildedibles.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/hpim1856.jpg?w=300&h=293


ok, no more seeds


Caution! May Apple root can be toxic and should only be used by experienced herbalists. The seeds and rind are not edible, and are said to be poisonous. The whole plant, apart from the ripe fruit, is highly poisonous in large doses.


http://www.prairiemoon.com/seeds/wildflowers-forbs/podophyllum-peltatum-may-apple/?cat=0&from_search=Y

i wonder what is considered " the rind "

would that be the outer part of the berry in the above pic ?

Rick
07-04-2010, 03:47 PM
I guess it's a matter of semantics. I've always thought of the outter portion as the meat of the fruit but "rind" is a good description and accurate. The core, to me, is the central part of the fruit with the seeds. Petersons says, "The pulp surrounding the seeds..." so I defer to them. Pulp it is.

rwc1969
07-04-2010, 07:08 PM
I think I would try to get a hold of whomever made that statement and have them expalin themselves. WTF is the fruit if not the rind or seed portion? That's all there is to them.

There's a lot of varying opinions on mayapple edibility and parts and someone needs to clear it up.

Rick
07-04-2010, 08:11 PM
Uh, what statement are you referring to?

By the way, I checked on my plot this afternoon and they are all gone. There are a few plants that are starting to dry but the fruits are gone and a good portion of the area is trampled. It looks like something has made a home next to the patch of apples. It's burrowed into some wild grape vines and has a pretty slick set up. There's enough vegetation overhead it might even be fairly waterproof. It's large enough for a coyote to bed down in.

smittysurvival
07-05-2010, 04:55 PM
i think it may be an area thig. mine are still on but some have goe missig. . . hhmmm 0.o
but i have gathered four mayapples. one i will place in the freezer, the other i the fridge in the fruit storage, and the last at room temp.
the last one im just gonna cut up and take a look aroud.


P.S. i think the rind might be the layer just inside the skin? just a thought

smittysurvival
07-09-2010, 05:13 PM
BREAK THROUGH

left all the mayapples sit on the table by accident and checked on them today and guess what. . . they got yellowish white. they also got soft but it is questionable bc they have a few brown spots on them. im not very familiar with the taste and what not so maybe somebody else should try this experiment

rwc1969
07-10-2010, 04:07 PM
I found some huge ones the other day and they had a reddish hue to them. I put one in the car and in two days it was ripe....or cooked, I'm not 100% sure.

LowKey
07-10-2010, 04:38 PM
The best way to propagate may apples is by root cuttings in the spring. They spread by underground stolens. If you cut them up so you have one or two eyes on a segment you're good to go. Don't decimate a wild population digging them up. And do it before they come up. Very early spring.

They like a good woodland soil with lots of leaf mulch. Dappled sunlight or shade for a good part of the daylight hours. If you are going to build a bed, you might want to chop up the leaves when throwing them on top. That way they come up straight and strong in the spring.

If you do try seeds, you have to cold treat them. Plant them and let them sit out over winter. The first year, all you will see is a single roundish leaf sticking out of the pot. It takes about 3 years to flower and fruit.

The deer got mine. Along with two of my small apple trees, @#$@#. The plants just withered up in the heat last week too. I only have a few from stock bought at a local Native Plant place (Garden in the Woods). Slowly building up a patch. They used to grow wild here but not so much anymore. Lots of things like that now.

bulrush
07-22-2010, 02:42 PM
What does "cathartic" mean? Does it mean you get "the runs"?

Rick
07-22-2010, 04:24 PM
It means it induces catharsis.

Rick
07-22-2010, 04:28 PM
Okay, okay. Yes, that's one definition. It actually means cleansing or purgative. You can say Exlax is a cathartic medicine not to be confused with candy. You could also say I find WSF carthartic in the evenings....meaning it's a way to release emotional stress.

crashdive123
07-22-2010, 05:37 PM
Okay, okay. Yes, that's one definition. It actually means cleansing or purgative. You can say Exlax is a cathartic medicine not to be confused with candy. You could also say I find WSF carthartic in the evenings....meaning it's a way to release emotional stress.

We give you the runs?:blushing:

Rick
07-22-2010, 08:55 PM
I was thinking Exlax is a way to release emotional stress. It depends on where you do your thinking I guess.