backwoods menu/Wild tea.

[nell67]

We've had rain alright, but we are still in very bad drought conditions.

It's not the water used in day to day consumption, but rather the water being used in the elec. plants throughout the state. Cut back on the elec. helps more for saving water than taking a quick shower.
We have gotten alot of rain recntly too,rain that normally would have left us pretty flooded,but no flooding this time,as the ground is so dry,it has soaked it all up,still well under the normal rainfall,maybe next year will be better.

[Sarge47]

We got about 3-4" of snow a few days ago, but it's melted off quite a bit. If we keep getting snow & rain then in April/May the Morel crop should be pretty good!;)

[FVR]

I would love to get some snow. It usually does not snow here until late Feb., and March. Matter of fact, I met my wife Caren during the snowstorm of 93 in Ga. It snowed close to two feet, started friday morning and snowed until Sunday.

I remember taking my blue chow Ashley running in the woods. I would take here off lead and we would go at it. She dissapeared. The snow had frozen to her coat and she looked like a snowdog.

Miss that dog.

[Tony uk]

For a day trip i take mostly preserved foods like beef jerky (Made In The USA :) ) or a MRE, also i take dried fruit and vegitables with a bottle of hot sauce (The good stuff)
Also the dried fruit packets you can get from any shop are good snacks. also dried soup powder is great (I eat it cold if i need to, its refreshingly cool but tastes better hot)

I take freeze dried coffee, hot choco, tea and screech (A kind of orange drink, search it on google its included in british MREs) all are nice to have at the end of a cold day

I like freeze dried American style rations, when you out in the wilderness they make a really tasety meal thats lightweight and nutritious :D

[The Koda]

I just tried pine needle tea for the first time....yum!

[Rick]

What kind? I like Red Spruce better than White Pine but I'll take either one.

I usually carry some home made trail mix, my old stand by Ramen noodles, some quick rice and tea or coffee bags. I found a package of Bumble Bee chicken breast in a foil pouch and I'm going to take it on my next trek (this week-end if we don't get a flood). It's fully cooked in the pouch.

[Nativedude]

Whatever I trap, snare, shoot, or catch (fishing) and all the edible greens I can find. I cook my meat/fish with wild sage and blue camas (usually). . .YUMMMMMM! ;)

[mbarnatl]

We've had rain alright, but we are still in very bad drought conditions.

It's not the water used in day to day consumption, but rather the water being used in the elec. plants throughout the state. Cut back on the elec. helps more for saving water than taking a quick shower.


People think we get a couple of days of rain and that ends the drought. I drive by Lake Lanier every day, it looks the same as it did before the rain we got this week. We need months of none stop rain to get us out of this drought. For a month our county was banning all outside fires except BBQ grills.

[canid]

uhmmm, i miss camas. have you had camas mead?

[The Koda]

What kind? I like Red Spruce better than White Pine but I'll take either one.

I've only tried white pine thus far, but I'll keep my eyes out for some red spruce! Do you find the tea tastes better when the needles are fresh or after they've been sitting around for a while?

[Rick]

You want to pick the tips (new growth) for the best flavor. I usually pick a stem about four inches long. If you look at a blue spruce, you can easily tell what is new growth and what is not. There's a very sharp difference in needle color. That would give you a decent reference with Red Spruce since the coloration doesn't differ that much.

I find that White Pine is a much milder tea and Red Spruce is a bit more flavorful and robust. Both have a nice clean flavor and are loaded with vitamin C (I've read 5 times that of an orange).

I usually rub the needles between my index finger and thumb to break them open and give more surface area to the water. Not enough to destroy the needles, however. Just enough to bring out the oil in them. I do the same thing to herbs by the way. It increases the flavor.

Some folks swear you should chop the needles but I've never done that. I just rinse the stems off, stick three or four sprigs in a cup and pour boiling water over them. I let steep about 10 minutes and enjoy.

Bon appetit!

[Last Mohican]

Does anyone have a good recipe for hardtack?

I just made a batch using:

4 cups rolled oats
4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup brown sugar
4 tbsp honey
2 tbsp salt

I baked it for half an hour @ 300 , flipped it over, cut into 3 inch squares, poked a bunch of holes, put it back in for another hour. After that take it out of the oven and let it sit overnight. The next day I put it back in the oven @ 200 for 2 hours or longer with the door slightly propped open.

It actually turned out pretty good. If anyone has any improvements, please let me know.

[FVR]

What is the consistancy of yours?

When I make it, it's like, really hard. It does taste good when there is nothing else.

[Sourdough]

Just buy Sailor Boy Pilotbread. Have you ever thought "FRUITCAKE". It has a half life of 200 years. Taste like Sh*t, but it will keep you alive, Maybe.....Plus you can use it for a brick if you are short of tent pegs.

[FVR]

For day trips, I just pick up a loaf of French bread. Take a little wine, cheese, crackers..........oh, oh, that's for a picnic. Just the bread sometimes.


At the rendezvous, I would leave pretty early, stop by Kroger and pick up one or two of their roasted chickens. After I set up camp and make a fire, I'd stick a stick through the chicken and stick it over the fire.

Pull and eat as necessary. I'd have two or three chickens depending on how many days I'd stay.

Always had roasted yardbird to eat.

[FVR]

I use to make apple pie in gallon jugs. After the first time, it was mand. that I bring apple pie.

I'd break it out at night after the firearms were put away.

Ya know, think I need to make some up.

[Last Mohican]

The dough is pretty thick when I mix it.

After it is finished baking and drying, it is hard enough to put a dent in a speed limit sign when thrown out the window @ 80 mph. Other than that it is pretty good. Just hope I don't break my teeth on it.

[Last Mohican]

P.S. I can't find pilot bread here in PA.
I thought about ordering it online. I read about it on wikipedia. They said it was big in Alaska.

[Sourdough]

P.S. I can't find pilot bread here in PA.
I thought about ordering it online. I read about it on wikipedia. They said it was big in Alaska.

Roger- roger, Ain't a private aircraft survival kit in Alaska that ain't half full of pilot bread.

Put some SPAM on it, and your eating like a real man.

[Proud American]

FVR-We talkin Gallon Milk jug!
I want to make SOME! Is it good? Im sorry Mohican but in my teenage mind it comes down to this......
Hardtack Never = Apple Pie!

[rt36crazyfists]

i was wondering what wild ingredients one can put in tea? i've heard but dont quote me, raspberry leaves, pine needles, willow wood? anything information to add on this? also what kind of pine needles would be useable? anything to stay away from?

[Sarge47]

I'm moving your post to the thread already started on this subject.:cool:

[Sarge47]

This is where your post belonged.

[Rick]

Sarge, I'm sorry but I don't know what you moved or where you moved it. I know this thread is on wild foods but I did a search and didn't find a hardtack thread. To answer LM's question, sorry if I posted wrong:

During the civil war, hardtack was often soaked in coffee (or what ever they were drinking at the time) to soften it up. You can add a little animal fat (bacon grease works) to the softened hardtack to improve the flavor a bit.

Here's a link to a bunch of recipes for hardtack. It also includes wild foods and their uses:

http://www.geocities.com/pentagon/barracks/1369/recipes.html

Here's a place you can buy hardtack crackers:

http://www.bentscookiefactory.com/hardtack.htm

[Sourdough]

10-4
Rick, I agree. I understand someone has to keep order (be the adult). But why not let the new subject run for 10 days, or till there are no new posts for 3 days. At that point sticky it where it belongs.

[corndog-44]

Not sure where to put this but can a person become sick by eating half-raw meat?

[nell67]

well you do run the risk of some nasty little parasites,and they can make you sick.

[Rick]

Are you talking about wild game? Fish? Domestic meats (cow, pig)?

[corndog-44]

Are you talking about wild game? Fish? Domestic meats (cow, pig)?

Eating half-raw meat would apply to all meat. Do you really trust meat inspectors at the packing houses? Not me. And domestic meats that are homestead grown are home-butchered a lot of times.

[Last Mohican]

Thanks Rick. I will have to check those sites out. I guess the hardtack thing is hereditary. Since the French and Indian war, my family has been in infantry divisions in the army including myself. I was an M-60 totin' ground-pounding grunt for six years.
I must be a glutten for punishment.

[FVR]

Maybe we should have a recipe area.

[FVR]

Sarge,

What have you done. I can post on two threads at once. Whooohoooooooooo..........

[Elkchsr]

A recipe area would be a great idea, especially for jerkys and other goodies we can make at home :)

[Rick]

Does anyone carry panforte with them? It's a mixture of flour, honey, shortening, nuts and dried fruit.

Here's a recipe for meatless pemmican for those of you that are vegetarians. It's from physicalmind.com:

MEATLESS PEMMICAN
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried pumpkin or squash
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup acorn or cornmeal
1/2 cup hickory nuts
1/3 cup honey or maple syrup
1/2 cup dried apples

In order to make sure that the acorn or cornmeal is bone-dry, spread it in a thin layer on a cookie sheet and place it in a warm oven for 15 to 30 minutes, checking frequently. The oven should be at the lowest possible setting. Then combine the dry ingredients and either chop them with a knife or grind them coarsely through a food grinder. Add the honey or maple syrup and blend thoroughly. Divide the mixture into 1/4-cup portions, press into cakes, and store in the refrigerator.

Watch out! Such fiber will have a 'bathroom' effect, and it will be very high energy from the sugars in the honey and fruit. However, the excellent fats and proteins from the nuts will help counter the over-abundance of energy.

[Rick]

With regard to Elkchsr's suggestion on a recipe area, what do you folks think of this? How about a forum library? It could contain sub categories of:

1. Forum Instructions such as my sticky on how to upload images.
2. Recipes
3. Survival documents - I have a number of Army survival documents I'd be willing to upload.
4. Gear reviews - A lot of folks have done write ups on gear and this would consolidate those.
5. How to's: Instructions on such things as How to build fires, How to purify water, etc. We've seen a lot of different suggestions that might not be found in a survival document.
6. The perfect whatever. Mitch did a nice job on the survival knife write up. We could include other items such as the perfect clothing material, hat, boots, socks. Whatever. There are a lot of opinions on each of those but Mitch circumvented the opinion issue very nicely and others could follow that example.
7. Wilderness Medicine

Those are just some ideas. Others could be added. Some of these deleted. I would expect that the "keeper of the flame" would have final say on what goes into the library. Some gatekeeper (Sarge) would probably need to control it to some extend. But that would give newcomers a place to go and find, "What's the best...." without having to search through the threads or start the 93rd thread on the same issue. I like vBulletin a lot but its search engine can be cumbersome at times.

[Sarge47]

Sounds like a good idea to me!:D:cool:

[Elkchsr]

That would be a great idea and an excellent expansion of what I said...

In the words of a famous poet....



:D :p GITERDONE!!! :p :D

[corndog-44]

Rick, I gotta give credit where credit is due... a forum library is a good idea.

[Rick]

Okay - In the spirit of Git-R-Done, the next question is should the library be 1. an open forum category, 2. a closed forum category or 3. a moderated forum category? I don't think we want anyone and everyone posting comments, etc. into the library yet we need to be able to post legitimate items such as Mitch's write up. So I would suggest it be a moderated forum category. That would require Chris or Sarge to validate any new post or thread. That might be cumbersome at first as we build the base (we could also leave it open at first and migrate to a moderated category later) but once the base is built it should be on a onesy twosy basis so they shouldn't have too much validating to do.

The second order of business is what sub-categories need to be included? Once those items are decided, all of this with Chris' permission of course, then Chris could add the forums.

Thoughts?

[nell67]

I think it should be moderated from the get go,that way it would eliminate the redundancy of information being added.

[trax]

Can't we just run a thread that's recipes only and Chris or Sarge can turf anything that isn't? We're bound to get some repitition in some of the recipes I'd imagine, and we can divide it up into like...wild meat or vegetables harvested wild categories....I dunno...you guys post recipes I'll go home and try them :D that works for me!

[wildWoman]

Wild raspberries, strawberries and saskatoons
Dandelion, fireweed and wild chives
boletus and meadow mushrooms

[Rick]

Oh, Lord. She said the bad word again. Here we go........

[wildWoman]

What was that?? my problem is I always have to rush so as not to waste too much energy and always seem to miss half of the posts...

[Rick]

Psssst. Mushrooms. We don't mention those things on here. We had the world's longest post over them. Once it gets started it just never ends.;)

[nell67]

Has anyone here heard of it ,or eaten it?It is made from the blood of a hog,and I remember my grandmother making it everytime we butchered hogs when I was a kid,I could never get the courage up to taste it though.
My grandparents always said you can use every part of the pig except the sqeal,and yea I remember them having "mountain oysters" when they castrated the young males,not eating that stuff either,somethings are better left off the table,and these are 2 of them in my opinion.

[canid]

moreover, many mushrooms have significant amounts of protien, wich [provided you have enough water, some fat intake and a bit of carbs] is a good source of calories.

the real danger, as with plants is the identification.

if you are in a subsistence situation, you'd be better off knowing a few key, useful mushroom species in advance, rather than trying to identify unfamiliar species when there is other food about.

i eat a new species of mushroom often, but in the comfort of my own home and after i've had the chance to be sure of the placement of said mushroom into a safe taxon. if i needed to condider eating mushrooms for subsistence, i'd stick to the few dozen species i can recognize on sight. if you are truely familiar with one or two, or six, or a dozen edibles and happen to come across one you know, same deal, would you sddenly trust them less?

[Rick]

Nell - It's also known as Black Pudding (sausage with animal blood). You can google up tons of info. I'll bet Tony knows a thing or two about it.

[nell67]

Yea I have googled it,and still no way I would even consider eating it.

[Chris]

I think the best thing would be for me to setup a wiki on this site... it is on my list of things

[flandersander]

Wild raspberries, strawberries and saskatoons
Dandelion, fireweed and wild chives
boletus and meadow mushrooms

Hey I live in saskatoon. In fact, my great great grandpa helped name the saskatoon berry. Or so the family story goes.

[cyc79]

no , they were like resberries but you could see through them , they were on a plant that looks sorta like a wild blueberry plant, there was just one cluster of em there iv nevery seen anything like it in books or whyle hiking

Cloudberries maybe?They look very similar to raspberries but turn yellow when ripe.They grow in muskegs & are hard to find as there's not many around.The Dene people call them muskeg berries.

[dilligaf2u2]

Try this!

http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/food.htm

Hard tack recipes is in here and how to use it.

Don

[LarryB]

This is a recipe thread, damn canucks... lol... how about a Moose meat recipe... lol
seriously thoug I wanna try some moose meat.

Ya, since sarge47 turned it into one, I guess...:confused:

[LarryB]

I don’t want to go alone into those deep dark woods ;)

No fear of that happening OwlGirl, if I'm anywhere near the far North woods! :cool: I'll even show you a few easy mushrooms in your hood, that you can eat safely. As you well know, sweet thing, it's ALL about the knowledge, when it comes to being in the bush. Lots of armchair experts waste time tellin' folks like you and me to stay away from mushrooms etc. etc. They'd rather stick to the negative side of life and try to tell you what they don't know for sure, than to hear what you DO know to be true.

People who have walked the walk and danced the dance of real-life woods living, know how to use as many natural food sources as are available in their immediate area, to the best of their advantage. Starving folks NEVER say, Ooouuww, I don't like mushrooms and frogs and stuff. When real starvation hits you, you would VERY likely eat a large bear or moose paddy and love it.

Don't let all the nay sayers get to you sweet missy, you and your partner are doing a swell job of being real up there and life-dancing in the North woods. That includes, your beliefs in eating any wild edible foods from your neck of the woods that you know to be so. :cool:

You know, I can't see these armchair experts and repeaters of bs, just walkin' by a whole whack of Chicken in the woods or Angel wings or Morels for that matter, and saying, oh no, I'd rather starve than waste my time on that dirty fungus...:D

Glad to hear you've tried to stick to the original subject matter as well, Owlgirl. Perhaps many could have learned a few new wild foods had most of these posts been about what I thought was an easy topic.

Oh well, I guess we do need a recipe thread started eh, sarge47? And a nutrition thread could even get a lot of arguments going about wasting our time while stranded in the woods along with another one about what NOT to eat out there to save you some time?

Chow,

[LarryB]

if i am in the woods i will eat mushrooms if any of you posers take the time to educate yourselves about wilderness survival you will learn quickly about five or six mushrooms that are easily identifiable and will help keep you alive food in the stomach will give you energy to keep going. honestly some of you need to get in some dirt time and educate yourselves.

always be prepared..

Here, Here, my Man Wareagle! Well spoken sir buddyman! That makes at least three of us now that aren't afraid to step-up for what is real...
Reality Rules!:cool:

[LarryB]

juniper berries, prickly pear cactus fruits, hunnysuckle, leeksAwesome! Thank You Borelli for bringing this thread back to where it belongs! You're a man with his head screwed on right. I like your wild food choices too.:cool:

Peace!

[hermitman]

birch and pine tea.

[plantdude65]

dude, i like to roast me up some wild onions! thats the best stuff when your feelin hungry. down here in the south we got tons of those growin back by the creek, and they are strong, oderwise.

[plantdude65]

also i like to munch on violet wood sorrel.

[Rick]

I ran across these recipes and had never heard them. Something else I'll have to try.

Blackberry Tea

Pick the blackberry leaves and dry them.
When you want to make tea, just crumble a couple of teaspoons of leaves
to one cup of boiling water.
Steep for five to ten minutes, and you have blackberry tea.

PINE-APPLE BEER

1 pineapple
Water
Sugar

Wash and then pare a pine-apple; if a good size, put the rind into about two quarts of water (in the quantity you must be guided by the size of the pine-apple); cover it for twenty-four hours; then sweeten to your taste, bottle, cork, and put it into the sun for five or six hours, cool it and it is then fit for use.
From The Carolina Housewife by Sarah Rutledge, 1847

SPRUCE AND BONESET BEER

1/2 c. hops
1/2 c. boneset
Water
1 tbs. essence of spruce
Sugar, molasses or other sweetener

Boil a small handful each of hops and boneset for an hour or two, in a pailful of water; strain it, and dilute it with cold water till it is of the right strength. Add a small table-spoonful of essence of spruce*, sweeten, ferment and bottle it.
The essences of hops, checkerberry, ginger, and spruce, put into warm water in suitable proportions, then sweetened, fermented and bottled, make good beer.
From The Young Housekeeper's Friend by Mrs. [M. H. ] Cornelius, 1863.

*Essence of Spruce is made by taking the tender new-growth tips off branches of either spruce or balsam fir trees and soaking them in water or molasses until the flavor is absorbed into the liquid. Strain and save the liquid for use in recipes such as these.

MAPLE BEER

4 gallons water, boiled
1 qt. maple syrup
1 tbs. essence of spruce
1 pint homemade yeast, or 2 packets or cakes commercial yeast

To four gallons of boiling water, add one quart of maple syrup and a small table-spoonful of essence of spruce. When it is about milk warm, add a pint of yeast; and when fermented, bottle it. In three days it is fit for use.
From The Young Housekeeper's Friend by Mrs. [M. H. ] Cornelius, 1863.

[Tony uk]

O.o I like the pineapple one Rick :D

Thanks A Lot :)

[launchpad]

i am new sow I dont now long this talk as bin going on but I like to eat shoe sting snard rabbit and sourdok and boild powk

[Rick]

Do you use a shoe string to snare them?

[launchpad]

yes boy scouts 1o1 if you have it on you find a way to use it o by the way sasafras tea is good to

[GVan]

This list isn't just mine, but as my wife grew up in the country side of Korea, some of it is hers as well.

Wild grapes
Wild grape leaves (steamed)
Wild grape stem inner core (boiled)
Cat Tail
wapato (a bit strong)
wild sage
sea lettuce
Large of tender wild grasses (steamed)
Wild rice
Palmetto leaf inner core
termites
Sugar ants
Snake
Turtle
early spring fiddle heads
Brown sea kelp
Sassafras Root, Bark, Leaf
Dandelion
Red clover
Pine needles
Pine Nuts
Oak Nuts
California Ice Plant leaflet cored
Prickly Pear
All kinds of rodents (rats, mice, rabbits, squirrels, Guinea pigs, bats (very hard to catch))
fish
frogs
birds (any size)
snails
Inner cores from many wild vines
Wild berries
Powdered dried earthworms make a great broth thickener that's high in protein


Now I'm hyngry,... I think I'll go and forrage in my back yakd for a while.

[Tahyo]

Try this!

http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/food.htm

Hard tack recipes is in here and how to use it.

Don

I just made some whole wheat hardtack yesterday and vacuum sealed it today. Though the stuff usually lasts a long time, I rotate it every year in the emergency bags in our vehicles. I tossed some flax seed in this year.

[grazer]

:rolleyes:Hi LarryB. Hundred choices around here. This time of year I like to enjoy the fresh stuff. lots of spring greens, a salad of violets, chickweed, and wintercress or watercress is a nice combo. The mildness of the violets and cress combined with the earthy flavor of the chickweed is a favorite. I also like some of the flower choices, throwing in some eastern redbud or whaterever is at hand.

[Timbo1]

My name is Timbo. I live in the UK although I've camped all over the world. I have bought a few woods to share with friends in the Uk - so we can camp without someone trying to stop our fun.

Really like this site...some good advice - although we don't have all the plants you guys have.

Timbo
http://owningyourownwood.blogspot.com/

[Rick]

Timbo - Welcome to the forum. I repaired your link. Hence, the reason for the edit in your post.

References to your web site need to be placed in your signature rather than the email. That is actually better for you in that it will appear in all your posts. The forum doesn't allow you to post links to your own site in the body of an email.

[KingFisher907]

since you asked us to keep it confined to flora, I will definitely have to go with:
#1- Morell mushrooms, they're just deee-licious!
#2- Alaskan blueberries or raspberries
#3- Alaskan cloudberries

[jayc32]

Wild leaks, rasberries, black rasberries, blackberries, huckleberries, elderberries...most any wild fruit and berries basicaly, and clover and danilions make a nice salad.

[Yooper_Jake]

1)moral mushrooms
2)dandelions
3)grape leaves

[snakeman]

dandelions, blackberries, honeybees, and honeysuckle.

[Cleankill47]

Not sure if they were wild, but I found two pear trees and about six peach trees and I love em.

I also like Dandelion greens as well as the wine made from the yellow tops.

And the fruit of the passionflower (maypop) 'Passionfruit!' Found a vine growing on the fenceline and love the fruit! (Makes a great smoothie!)

[Rick]

Welcome, Cleankill. Care to go over to the Introductions section and tells us a bit about yourself?

[erunkiswldrnssurvival]

I make chewing gum with bees wax, honey, and clearified Pine Resin,(some times i add a little cinnimon).

[hard county]

Hucklberry, persimmon, sumac-ade and hickory nuts are hard to beat. There are countless others which are delicious but these are my favourites.
Also, I prefer the chicory coffee to the dandelion coffee.

[crashdive123]

Hey there Hard County - welcome to the forum. When you get a chance head on over to the introduction section and tell us a bit about you. Thanks.

[erunkiswldrnssurvival]

ROSE HIP and SERVICE BERRY TEA.... from dehydrate! And dont forget about Pineapple
weed, wood sorel (lemon clover), New England Goose Berry, the Florida Glossy leafed HOLLY(contains Cafine),Labrador tea,Roasted and ground Pine Tree Root Bark.

[Nwy]

My favourite bush foods most definitely the top one has to be Cattail pancakes, usually made with porcupine or rabbit fat. (although rabbits don't have much fat on them) The most delicious tasting breakfast ever, especially if you have some blueberries to cook and pour over them... mmmmmmm

But for a meal, the one thing I have been craving over the years which I haven't had since my grandfather passed on would have to be pheasant, pit roasted with plantain, cattail shoots and arrowhead tubers, maybe dry and burn some coltsfoot for garnish/spice.

[Jericho117]

Sassafras leaves dired and crushed into powder and added to my stews. Skunk cabbage roots, thinned and dried, also added to my stews. My favorite game animal is Deer and Rabbits liver and eyes. I also like steamed grasshoppers, lol. My Acorn cakes are good as well. I have many favorite outdoor foods.

[Jericho117]

Nwy- you mentioned spice, Sassafras is the way to go. Lol.

[crashdive123]

When I was in the scouts (a reeeealy long time ago) we would use sassafras quite a bit. Now that it is known to be a carcinogen I will stay away from it.

[wareagle69]

last week alan introduced me to sweet gale tea very nice, this evening i used raspberry leaves i put 10 leaves in to steep for 10 minutes maybe next time i will only use 5 i wasn't overy excited about the flavor

[Flying Dog]

lol... it is illegal to pick mushrooms in most parts of australia

that aside, nothing is more rewarding to eat than something you have obtained from the wild!

i prefer any seafood because it is always fresher from the wild than any top class resturant (and free!) and easy to get

other favourites include rabbit, berries, honey and any plantation fruit you can steal

[biddysere]

How about Orange grass, Sassafras, and Green Briar ? And some Yaupon Holly tea!

[LudwigVan]

I make chewing gum with bees wax, honey, and clearified Pine Resin,(some times i add a little cinnimon).

I wouldn't mind trying that. Do you mind sharing the technique you use to make that?

[AVENGED]

Also In The Great Basin Nevada Region We Have Morman Tea Plants. They Can Cure AHeadache And Give You A Nice Boost Of Energy. And Also A Good Book I Keep With Me When I'm Out Is "Edible Wild Plants and Herbs: A pocket Guide" By Alan M. Cvancara.

[wildWoman]

last week alan introduced me to sweet gale tea very nice, this evening i used raspberry leaves i put 10 leaves in to steep for 10 minutes maybe next time i will only use 5 i wasn't overy excited about the flavor

Raspberry leaf is so astringent it leaves your mouth all dry. Don't like it that much either; we keep some around mostly for medicinal use.

[danmc]

1) muscadines (wild grape of the southeast). yum.

2) tough choice here, but I made some persimmon ice cream with some wild persimmons this year and it was fantastic. But... I don't know offhand where many of those grow

Others that come to mind, hickory nuts (mockernut and pignut), blackberries, elderberries, jersusalem artichoke (careful if you ever bring home a tuber and plant it in your garden, you may wish you hadn't).


I don't mind acorns after soaking but I wouldn't go out of my way for them unless I was really hungry.


still looking for a hot drink from wild plants that I like. Don't care for pine needle tea or dandelion tea. Persimmon seeds roasted and ground are good but at least for me they are no where nearly as widely available.

-Dan

[nell67]

persimmons grow rather wildly around here,nothing to pass by a wooded area and run over tons of them after they ripen and fall.

[fishpole]

some surprisingly easy critters to trap that i happen to enjoy:

muskrat
opposum
racoon
squierrel (witch im sure you have all eaten)
woodchuck

vegies:

cattail tubers (pounded and ground into flower, sun dried, or boiled)
wild onions
acorns
dandilion (and dandilion wine lol)

[danmc]

persimmons grow rather wildly around here,nothing to pass by a wooded area and run over tons of them after they ripen and fall.

this year a friend turned me on to the joys of roasting the seeds from persimmon and grinding them to use as a coffee substitute. It's pretty good and so far my favorite "wild" hot drink.

[chiangmaimav]

mulberry tea, mango, and a vegetable Thai call kah but I am not sure what English name is.

[danmc]

mulberry tea, mango, and a vegetable Thai call kah but I am not sure what English name is.

For the mulberry tea, is it from the dried fruit?

-Dan

[skunkkiller]

blood pudding is good all it is is the blood cooked it has the techer of pudding .when you cook a pork chop and the blood runs out and cooks on the edge of the chop that is what blood pudding is.

[chiangmaimav]

Dan, the mulberry tea is actually made from the dried mulberry leaves.

[edr730]

fried ditch lily with egg and cornmeal (a delicacy that is similar to fried squash blossoms)
elderberry (sour, but add sugar)
morel mushroom (superior to all other mushrooms)
poke salad (also some parts are very medicinal)

These are foods that I ate commonly as a child and still do eat, but less regularly. I agree with the tastes of others here, but I listed some that are a bit less common. Deer meat (if the tallow is cleaned off), cottontail (far better flavor then domestic rabbit or snowshoe), squirrel (prolific and easy to run down and shoot while just sitting there while you shoot it), fish (panfish have a delicate flavor even for those who don't like fish), Walnuts (unequaled compared to domestic varieties, all berries (all superior), maple syrup, honey (follow the bee). These are the delicacies of the forest that many of us have enjoyed. There are many others that I haven't mentioned, only tasted or only read about that are very interesting as well. Two that sound interesting to me at the moment are the cattail (almost all edible) and itchweed (stinging nettle...makes good rope and very edible and extremely medicinal). I am new here, but hope to learn more about this subject....and thanks for starting the post.

[danmc]

fried ditch lily with egg and cornmeal (a delicacy that is similar to fried squash blossoms)


I've never had either. Are the tubers similar to soloman's seal tubers? Is it the tubers you fry?

With regards to cattail, I haven't tried the tops yet. I find the steamed roots to be fairly bland. I wouldn't jump with excitement about having them for dinner (unless I was really hungry and then I definitely would) but I wouldn't complain either. Just don't eat the tough fibers. Suck off the starchy stuff and spit out the fibers.

-Dan

[edr730]

Danmc....it is the flower that you fry. I guess the tubers might be edible, but I never ate them. If you try the squash blossoms, only pick the long stemed ones; they are male and don't produce squash. Thanks for the input on the cattails. I may try them the roots soon to see if they are edible in the winter. I'll smash them up good, let them freeze, thaw them slowly and hope that the starch is the first thing to melt away. kinda like a shortcut to boiling the water away. This method has worked good on some other stuff.....maybe it will work, maybe not. It doesn't sound like it's something I want to make a part of my regular diet...at least not the roots.

[ClayPick]

Looks like a roast of moose and fiddleheads tonight, gees times are tough. My wife enjoys Labrador Tea so we gather a few lb’s of that every year. As far as I’m concerned I’d rather drink bilge water.:D

[Hcaterpillar]

Wild Garlic, Pignut (Conopodium), Thistle leaves.
Current faves for winter - Frosted dandelion, small leaved sorrel, juniper berries, pine needles (mostly just to chew on).

[Norse&Native]

1) muscadines (wild grape of the southeast). yum.

2) tough choice here, but I made some persimmon ice cream with some wild persimmons this year and it was fantastic. But... I don't know offhand where many of those grow

Others that come to mind, hickory nuts (mockernut and pignut), blackberries, elderberries, jersusalem artichoke (careful if you ever bring home a tuber and plant it in your garden, you may wish you hadn't).


I don't mind acorns after soaking but I wouldn't go out of my way for them unless I was really hungry.


still looking for a hot drink from wild plants that I like. Don't care for pine needle tea or dandelion tea. Persimmon seeds roasted and ground are good but at least for me they are no where nearly as widely available.

-Dan

Dan, try chicory coffee. It tastes a lot like dark coffee. Just dig up the root and roast it in your oven for about twenty minutes, grind it and add boiling water in a cup or French press.

[Road Scholar]

In Maine, my home state, burned over land or otherwise disturbed land usually produces big crops of wild blueberries. You can pick faster than you can eat em but not by much. As a kid, we followed a whole succession of wild foods, gathering them as a family, and then we all pitched in to make foods with them. In the fall, old abandoned apple trees on abandoned, overgrown farms still produced wormy apples but they cooked up fine after cutting out the bad stuff. Another plant that is found on those old overgrown, abandoned farms is the daylilly. These have edible blossoms and I'm told the roots can be eaten too. There's usually wild asparagus but you have to know where these are or you're too late by the time you can see those tall feathery leaves. The old farms will usually still have old, thin, sour stalks of rhubarb too but they are still good. An ornamental that is often found in such places is the japanese knotweed which has bamboo-like segments but is soft and sweet. These can be cooked and the stalks eaten. One of my favorite wild foods was always to catch a big mess of yellow perch. These fish are considered trash fish and no one will every object to taking even a bushel basket full of them. I experimented and found a way to make them quite edible and they are extremely easy to catch. I've even caught them from belly tickling before. The trick is to fillet them and once the skin is off, the fishy taste is mostly gone. You can soak them in sour milk, bread them, and fry for a very nice meal. Cattail stalks can be boiled when not too mature and they taste kind of like wheat. Drink a tea made from pine needles. It's got vitamin c enough to keep one healthy. It's common and very simple to find so it is very worth while. Basswood leaves can be used to wrap rice, grains, or other seeds and (lots of them) packed into a pan and baked. Think of grape leaves. I eastern europe, an easter meal is sarma which is rice and meat wrapped in grape or cabbage leaves and baked in a casserole. It's good too.
--
Harry, the Road Scholar

[biddysere]

To throw in a few; Wild onions and Camas stuffed inside a snowshoe hare and baked in the ground. Yum! Right now here in the south, the Greenbriars are shooting. Probably one of the best tasting plants down here

[NCO]

Arctic raspberry, Cloudberry, Lingonberry, Cranberry, Blueberry, Woodland Strawberry, Chanterelle, Porcini, Slippery Jack(the mushruum, not the person...), moose, rapit, grouse, etc...
There is so many things in woods you actually can eat that sometimes you just have to choose what to have, bow down and pick it up..
Also using dryed Red Clover flowers for tea!!

[snakeman]

wood sorrel, blackberries, wild strawberries, more blackberries, salmon and freshwater fish, and more blackberries, and venison.

[oldsoldier]

What about the nuts we got plenty of em here.. No but seriously. How about wild mulberries? We have a couple of mulberry tree on our land. The berries look like small blackberries. are SUPER sweet and we get 4-5 gallons every year. easy to gather too. We put a couple of 14'X 25' tarps out on the ground then shake the rap out of the branches the ripe or mostly ripe berries fall off onto the tarp. Just pick up the corners slide the berries to one end and dump em' in a bucket to take inside we usually rinse them well put em' ( the first couple of gallons or so) in freezer bags and put in freezer for latter use. Have had a bumper crop the last couple years and this year looks like another one!! tried canning some( jelly/jam) didn't work done something wrong BUT we did have a few pints of some of the best syrup I've tasted in a long time. My next favorite(s) would be the wild persimmons and the pecans that grow along the river bottoms a few miles from here.

[Rick]

There are a number of things that could have gone wrong with your mulberry jelly/jam.
1. Make certain you use pectin as a thickener. Too little or none can cause runny jam.
2. Too little sugar can also cause runny jam.
3. Undercooking - You need to bring it to a full rolling boil for one minute.
4. Overheating or uneven heat distribution can break down the pectin.

You'll also need to add lemon juice to the mulberries because they are very low acid.

Here's a great site on mulberry jams. Scroll down for the directions.

http://pickyourown.org/mulberryjam.htm

Mulberries contain resveratrol and large amounts of anthocyanins. Both have been shown to combat and/or be effective against cancer.

Indiana must be the mecca for mulberries. They grow everywhere!!!!! You'll find them ripe throughout June, July and into August in Indiana.

[oldsoldier]

thx. for the info added site to my favorites

[lanahi]

no , they were like resberries but you could see through them , they were on a plant that looks sorta like a wild blueberry plant, there was just one cluster of em there iv nevery seen anything like it in books or whyle hiking

There's a northern plant that is just like a raspberry called "thimbleberry", but it has a large maple-like leaf. It's delicious...much better than raspberries, I think!

[lanahi]

i was wondering what wild ingredients one can put in tea? i've heard but dont quote me, raspberry leaves, pine needles, willow wood? anything information to add on this? also what kind of pine needles would be useable? anything to stay away from?

You can make any wild edible plant into tea. I love mints especially, but nothing beats an energy drink like stinging nettle tea.

[springkitty]

I absolutely love to get the first tender spring leaves from stinging nettles. Pick with care, they bite! After washing them good, add to boiling water, turn heat down low and cover. Cook 10 to 12 minutes. Can be used like spinach or any kind of greens, just according to how many you picked.
You can also puree them after cooking and make soup, have say...a couple cups of the puree simmering and turn the heat off, add a half to a full cup of half and half or light cream, stir really good, allow to warm back up.
You can use your taste buds to see if the next time you'd like to add some slivers of ham or just whatever.
Wild onions! They are everywhere for the taking and oh so good!!! Raw or steamed and buttered!
Spring black berry leaves and any of the blooms for delicious table tea.
Then watch the bushes for the berries if you can beat the birds to them.
Passion Flower fruits.
The outdoors is similar to a grocery store.....
kitty

[Survival Guy 10]

down here in alabama bout tha only thangs that are edible is blackberrys,honeysuckles,deer,and if your lucky you'll find the occasional creek with fish

[Ken]

down here in alabama bout tha only thangs that are edible is blackberrys,honeysuckles,deer,and if your lucky you'll find the occasional creek with fish

Hey, Guy! After you find that creek, think you can find our Introductions Section and tell us a bit about yourself? http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=14

[Rick]

Alabama has a LOT more edibles than that. Wild plants o' plenty.

[pocomoonskyeyes]

Yeah SG10 you know those thorny vine everyone calls "wait-a-minute" vines, It's laurel leaf greenbrier / Smilax laurifolia (fairly sure thats the botanical name but all smilax spp are), the root is edible stay away from the rest of the plant or you won't "smile" when the lax(as in laxative) hits you.in wet swampy areas look for both kinds of water lilies the yellow pond lileis we call "gator tater" Cattails.... Man I could go on and on.there's a TON of edibles available to you. Get a good edible guide like the petersons and get out there your whole world will open up.
Oh one of my favorites is spurge nettle I ate that in NC while in the 82nd. They couldn't find us to resupply food, and the LT wouldn't send them a guide, so we had to "make do" for a few days. One of the guys fell so in love with Sassafras tea that it was all I could do to keep him from harvesting it ALL!!

[hoosierarcher]

The wild animals I have killed, harvested if you're faint of heart, deer, rabbits, squirrels,phesants, feral pigs and wild boar(not the same critter, trust me)All make great table fare.As well as a meriad of fresh water fish, crayfish and mussels.
I've personally foraged morel, inky cap, puffball, chicken of the woods,wild oyster and sulfur shelf mushrooms/fungi. As well as wild onions, wild asparagus, day lilies,cattail roots and shoots, wild sage and sage brush, wild bay leaves, wild mint, wild winter green, stinging nettles(makes a lovely tea along with wild herbs) spruce and pine needles (tea w/vitamin C), acorns, hickory nuts, wild pecans, pignuts, chestnuts, walnuts, persimmons,pawpaws, wild grapes, blueberries, raspsberries,blackberries, gooseberries(better have sugar on hand the are SOUR) elderberries, wild strawberries, apples, pears and peaches from feral trees, crabapples, mulberries, sassafras leaves and roots. Wild sorrel, savory and dill, chives, and basil, even tobbaco and marijuana/hemp grows wild here in Indiana, though I've never bothered with them.

[donkeynomad]

We have different plant foods in Australia. My three favorites are:

1, Muntries, a berry that tastes like dries apples
2, River reed (don't know the name) . The sweet underground stem growing tip tastes exactly like watermelon
3, Pigface (In Africa called hottentot fig). The pulp of the red fruits taste like lemonade when heated by the sun.

[erunkiswldrnssurvival]

We have different plant foods in Australia. My three favorites are:

1, Muntries, a berry that tastes like dries apples
2, River reed (don't know the name) . The sweet underground stem growing tip tastes exactly like watermelon
3, Pigface (In Africa called hottentot fig). The pulp of the red fruits taste like lemonade when heated by the sun.

I would like to try all of them... here in Florida we have the Paw Paw fruit, they taste just like cantelope. and the staghorn sumac that tastes like pink lemonaide.:clap:

[skully]

moleberry,crab apples and wild strawberrys

[rwc1969]

My three favorites! Morels, ramps and asparagus. All harvested together and fried over an open fire. Some bluegills would go nicely with them too. Wild tea? Chaga tea is pretty good. That's the only wild tea I've drank.

[rwc1969]

I had my first Sumac tea. "Scratching my head!" Pink lemonade? My first batch was a dark green/ brown and had no flavor, the berries themselves had no flavor and weren't very dark in color. My second batch was Amber in color and had a slight lemon flavor. The berries were dark and somewhat sour like lemons. Reminded me of lemon flavored iced tea. A far cry from pink lemonade though. Maybe I just need riper or better berries?? It was a good refreshing drink, but reminded me more of tea than lemonade.

[hybrid]

I'll make this a top ten just because it would go on forever otherwise.My favourite wild (or naturalised) foods are...

1> Macadamia nuts. They are native to my area and very common in some places. Very rich, full of oil and protein, and very tasty too. Excellent roasted with some chilli and garlic sloshed on.

2> Mangos. Not native although they may as well be, very common. Delicious, packed with vitamins and many cultures hold that they help expel stomach bugs etc. Also a fan of the green mango... raw,sliced with soy or tamarind... or made into chutney or dried to powder for curries.

3> Native Spinach. Tetragonia sp. It's a succulent spinach, hardy stuff, needs a change of water in boiling if you eat a lot of it due to traces of oxalic acid. Very tasty, bout the same as "real" spinach. Easy to find.

4> lilly pillys. An aussie native, they're about the size of a brazilian cherry and red, purple or pink. Taste and patability varies by species, all are edible but some are very astringent. Big juicy ones found deep in the rainforest by streams are the absolute best.

5> yabbies. Aussie freshwater crayfish. Red and blue kinds. Catch as for crawdads, boil up, munch. Great from good water, not so great from stale old dams etc. Easily trapped so you can get on with other things as they catch themselves for you.

6> Bugs. Yeah, I know :P But de-hopped grasshoppers, tree grubs and I'll include snails here are free, easy to catch, rich in protein and actually pretty tasty with some seasoning. A local trick is to smash anthills, termite mounds and collect the larvae, quick toast and they're very nutty. Snails require a lot of cooking to kill off potential hazards and best to keep em on a clean diet for a few days before eating, if you can manage it. You can eat almost anything with chilli sauce! Which brings me to ...

7> Chillis. Not native, naturalised in some areas of Aussie urban-wild fringe. I always keep a heap of seeds, and have plants on the go. My favourites are thai upwards pointing, and Jalapeno. the thai's get fried in oil (pop them first!) and go into a very hot but tasty sauce with garlic, the jalas are of course more for pan-cooked stuff. I have made a great roasted green Jala, rosemary, sage relish... delicious... and dried a stack of jalas after a quick vinegar dip and a salt rub. Amazing stuff.

8> native figs. only some species, others are awful to eat unless you're a bird. Preferably baked, with brandy cream but fresh from the tree is pretty good too :P

9> fish. easy, tasty, simple. My favourites are silver trevally and red snapper when on the coast, eel tail catfish and golden perch in fresh. Also oysters, mussels, crabs, etc.

10> wild rasberries. they are kind of tasteless most of the time, but edible and if the bush has one , it has a thousand. Good if you have a bit of stomach upset too.

Now I have to go eat , all that has made me hungry :D

[recon1]

Coon is very good to eat provided all glands have been removed. You do not want to cook a coon with the glands still in the animal it will taste horrible.

[Rick]

Hey recon - How about cooking your way over to our Introduction section and tell us a bit about yourself?

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7813

[canid]

one thing i can say i love about california: our wild figs are outstanding.

last year's half ripe figs [never seemed to finish ripening on a lot of trees] where even pretty sweet.
the caprifigs aren't good, and are a bit bitter, but you can eat them.

I would love to live somewhere where macadamia nuts where wild/naturalized.

[your_comforting_company]

This is a question for CanID.
A while back you had a link in your signature for preparing dandelions. I think I saved it on my now dead computer (I am taking over the kids comp now lol). Can you possibly post that link to this thread? I have a couple ways in a few of my books, but wanted to include that method in the notes section of one.

[justin_baker]

Im not much of a veggie guy, but i LOVE fruits and berries. My favorites around here are manzanita berries, blackberries, and madrone berries. A cider of manzanita berries mixed with fir needles really hits the spot :P

[crimescene450]

I just made some....

and lets just say it aint my cup of tea.... Anyone had it before?

And on a related note, Does any one ever make any wild teas? Whats your favorite?

[justin_baker]

When you come back to CA, try out bay leaf tea. I like it a lot better than say, fir needle tea. I mix it with crushed manzanita berries and it gives a nice refreshing kick.

[crimescene450]

When you come back to CA, try out bay leaf tea. I like it a lot better than say, fir needle tea. I mix it with crushed manzanita berries and it gives a nice refreshing kick.


yeah definately
i still havent found manzanita though

i need to get out of my little 300 acre forest.
haha

do you drink it hot or cold?

and also,
do all the oaks and bay leaf's in andele (or however is was spelled) have oak death? cuz all the bay leaf trees around my place have sudden oak death

http://www.ca.uky.edu/caps/images/sod_foliar.jpg

[crashdive123]

CS - rather than delete your thread as you asked, I've merged it with this thread.

[Scaru]

wineberries are delicicous

[Rick]

Bergamot (Bee Balm) leaf is a good tea. Echinacea or Coneflower leaf is okay as well. My favorite is pine needle.

[RangerXanatos]

So far, the only one I've tried and really liked is blackberry tea.

I make it in 2L bottles and since I'm in the south, it's sweet blackberry tea.

Fist full of blackberry leaves*
Boil on the stove for ~15 minutes
Steep on the stove for ~15
Pour one cup of sugar in the 2L bottle
Add the steeping tea, be sure to remove the leaves first.
Fill to the top of the bottle with cold water
Mix and enjoy!!

*I don't even dry the leaves in the sun, I just pick and start fixing my tea. I have also put in about 4-5 blackberries in while the tea is boiling. This might give it a very light pinkish color.

[randyt]

made some labador tea over the weekend. I was goofing off in a swamp and came across a patch and brought a handful home and brewed. it was the low bush variety.

[Rick]

Does blackberry tea taste anything like blackberries? I have to try this tomorrow. I have never had blackberry tea. My blackberries are done for the summer but if I can still make tea....woohoo!!!!!

[NCO]

When the upcoming winter is over and the spring comes I will make some birch leaf tea.. It's pretty good, but you need to use young birch leafs.

[RangerXanatos]

Does blackberry tea taste anything like blackberries? I have to try this tomorrow. I have never had blackberry tea. My blackberries are done for the summer but if I can still make tea....woohoo!!!!!

Try it for yourself and find out. :sneaky2: But if you aren't used to sweet tea, then skip out on the sugar!

[Rick]

I was just wondering what kind of flavor it had. I am going to try this tomorrow. I like sweetened tea and the berries this year were sweet but they weren't all that sweet. So I'll add some sugar to it.

[crimescene450]

So far, the only one I've tried and really liked is blackberry tea.

I make it in 2L bottles and since I'm in the south, it's sweet blackberry tea.

Fist full of blackberry leaves*
Boil on the stove for ~15 minutes
Steep on the stove for ~15
Pour one cup of sugar in the 2L bottle
Add the steeping tea, be sure to remove the leaves first.
Fill to the top of the bottle with cold water
Mix and enjoy!!

*I don't even dry the leaves in the sun, I just pick and start fixing my tea. I have also put in about 4-5 blackberries in while the tea is boiling. This might give it a very light pinkish color.

do you drink it hot or cold?
im gonna try this with himalyian blackberry this winter
and the native CA blackberry to see if there any difference in taste

[Otzi]

black rasberries... lemon balm... garlic mustard

I am a fan of Wintergreen berries. They stay on the plant even under the snow and really freshen your breath. I like sassafrass tea and boiled nettles too.

[Alaska Grandma]

No wild blackberries this far north, close to the Arctic Circle, but we do have a lot of wild raspberries. The leaves make a great addition to tea. I like raspberry leaves and wild rose petals the best, later in fall I add rosehips either fresh picked or dried.

Labrador tea is good, but don't want to drink too much of it.

This time of year in spring, Spruce-needle tip tea is delicious and very nutritious too.

Grandma lori

[grrlscout]

I don't remember if I replied to this already or not, and I'm too lazy to go through 20 pages to check. So please forgive me if this is a duplication.

The only wild teas I have tried so far and Mormon tea and cenizo tea.

Mormon tea (Ephedra trifurca) tastes a little astringent, but not too bad. It did have a very slight 'pep' to it.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/4260391177_2e7f42598e_b.jpg

Cenizo (Leucophyllum frutescens, purple sage, Texas ranger, Texas barometer bush, Texas silverleaf, Texas sage) tea has a slightly earthy, sagey flavor to it. It is supposed to be good for a cold, as it breaks your fever, and makes you a little sleepy.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4097/4887783277_a2cb74123d_b.jpg

I like it mixed with mint and honey.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/4994514169_aeb46b339d_b.jpg

Depending on where I am, I sometimes find wild mint growing too.

[Coastlander]

I am pretty new to wild edibles (about 2 years now) and a majority of what I've tried have been mushrooms but I think I already have a couple favorites.
I tasted Morels for the first time last season, but I think Black Trumpet mushrooms are my favorite. And I'll never buy blueberries from the grocery store again; wild blueberries are great!

[RangerXanatos]

do you drink it hot or cold?
im gonna try this with himalyian blackberry this winter
and the native CA blackberry to see if there any difference in taste

Sorry, I'm just now seeing this. I like to drink mine cold or whenever I've finished it. You can see that I finish the tea by filling the bottle with cold water. That's just to make it cool faster.

[grrlscout]

The cacti are budding and/or in bloom right now. So I made some ocotillo blossom sun tea.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5094/5589672811_e40112d977_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5030/5600825820_2bf5b46ef0_b.jpg

It had a very subtle, slightly sweet flavor; kinda like cucumber water.

Of course, I couldn't leave it alone. I wanted a more intense flavor. So I reduced it by half, on the stove.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5261/5600825894_cff3e7a1ae_b.jpg

Sadly, that turned the flavor harsh. :p

But it's nothing a little pomegranate syrup and gin couldn't fix.