What Can We Eat, Honey?

[Rick]

I do sorta okay on wild edibles around here. I can harvest a little variety for a salad or cooked greens or a nice tea. I'm no expert by any stretch but I can get by. That's here in the Midwest. I was really out of my element this week and at one point I told my wife, look out across the mountains and desert. What can we eat in all of that? The truth is, I had no idea. Some prickly pear cactus but not much more. An extended stay would have made for a great diet because I would not have been eating. And I can tell you that AZ is one state that does NOT believe in guardrails on the road so a trip over a ledge could be a reality or an injury out hiking or any number of things that could go wrong.

The point is, it was an eye opener for me because I suddenly realized how vulnerable we would be if something bad did happen. I did have a pocket knife, a small PSK and two quart bottles of water but no knowledge of the plants. Sooooo....I've now challenged myself to learn about desert and mountain edibles. At least a few that could keep me going. I would suggest you do the same if you don't already know about some other part of the country. If you are from Canada, take a look at what Florida or Arizona have in the way of plants and vice versa. It could save your life.

[Alpine_Sapper]

:eek: Are you seriously suggesting that we step outside of our comfort zones? :eek:

That would be like...like...learning how to survive in the wilderness... or something. :D

Seriously, great suggestion.

[Alpine_Sapper]

Are you just learning about the edibles, or are you trying to aquire them where you're at now to experiment as well? Not so much in a "honey look what I picked on our trip" type of aquire, but as in, getting them and trying to grow them in some type of natural environment to be able to see them in all stages?

(Yes, I know it's freezing where you're at, but artificial environments can be created just about anywyere....)

[Rick]

I'm trying to learn about edibles in other environments. It was apparent to me that if something happened while we were out there and we were some distance or time from rescue I had no clue what to eat in the mountains/desert. We were in the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix. So you know what the environment is like. All those plants (and I'm sure animals although they were scarce) and I had no idea which were edible. I did manage to find what I think were scorpion holes (about three inches wide and only about two inches high) but I could have been wrong about that.

Up around Flagstaff was a bit more like home but the Phoenix area was like a different planet from a knowledge perspective.

[Tony uk]

Alot of what grows in scotland grows in england, However not everything that grows in the highlands grows in the lowlands and i think thats where the divide is. Fortuaneatley the UK is not nearly as large as the USA and the climate does not vary that much

[crashdive123]

Good idea. Often times we become "comfortable" with where we are. What happens when you take a vacation and travel someplace new? At the end of last year we did some hiking in Smoky Mt's. Did alot of research on wild life (not a large bear population in N.E. Florida) but I didn't go much beyond that. I will in the future. Again, good idea.

[Rick]

Perhaps it's something we can share on the forum. If someone is planning a trip to some location and plans to do some camping or hiking just post it on here and those that live in the area can respond with some good native plants. That would give the traveler a start for researching specific plants and to learn what they look like.

[Alpine_Sapper]

Perhaps it's something we can share on the forum. If someone is planning a trip to some location and plans to do some camping or hiking just post it on here and those that live in the area can respond with some good native plants. That would give the traveler a start for researching specific plants and to learn what they look like.

In South Texas, one of the best edible plants is the cannibus sati..uh, nevermind. :cool: Forget I said anything.

[wildWoman]

The furthest I've managed to travel in the past 8 years was 200km from where I live, so I'll pass on studying up on poisonous spiders, cacti and tumbleweed for now. Am still too ignorant about too many plants and critters in my backyard.