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Thread: a personal " wild edibles " challenge

  1. #21
    Senior Member wareagle69's Avatar
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    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.
    always be prepared-prepare all ways
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  2. #22
    hunter-gatherer Canadian-guerilla's Avatar
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    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


    Quote Originally Posted by wareagle69 View Post
    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
    Last edited by Canadian-guerilla; 05-06-2010 at 08:06 AM.
    .
    Knowledge without experience is just information


    there are two types of wild food enthusiasts,
    one picks for enjoyment of adding something to a meal,
    and the second is the person who lives mostly on ( wild ) edibles

    Lydia

  3. #23

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    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.

  4. #24

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    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.

  5. #25
    Senior Member wareagle69's Avatar
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    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.
    always be prepared-prepare all ways
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  6. #26
    Senior Member grrlscout's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Canadian-guerilla View Post
    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.

  7. #27
    Senior Member grrlscout's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Canadian-guerilla View Post
    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.

    Good choice!

  8. #28
    hunter-gatherer Canadian-guerilla's Avatar
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    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
    .
    Knowledge without experience is just information


    there are two types of wild food enthusiasts,
    one picks for enjoyment of adding something to a meal,
    and the second is the person who lives mostly on ( wild ) edibles

    Lydia

  9. #29
    hunter-gatherer Canadian-guerilla's Avatar
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    time to walk the walk

    July is " wild edibles " month
    .
    Knowledge without experience is just information


    there are two types of wild food enthusiasts,
    one picks for enjoyment of adding something to a meal,
    and the second is the person who lives mostly on ( wild ) edibles

    Lydia

  10. #30
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Good luck.
    Can't Means Won't

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  11. #31
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Menus. We need menus and pictures.
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  12. #32
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    ....and a starting weight.
    Can't Means Won't

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  13. #33
    naturalist primitive your_comforting_company's Avatar
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    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!!
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  14. #34

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    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.

  15. #35
    hunter-gatherer Canadian-guerilla's Avatar
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    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


    Quote Originally Posted by rwc1969 View Post

    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
    .
    Knowledge without experience is just information


    there are two types of wild food enthusiasts,
    one picks for enjoyment of adding something to a meal,
    and the second is the person who lives mostly on ( wild ) edibles

    Lydia

  16. #36

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    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.

  17. #37
    hunter-gatherer Canadian-guerilla's Avatar
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    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

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    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
    .
    Knowledge without experience is just information


    there are two types of wild food enthusiasts,
    one picks for enjoyment of adding something to a meal,
    and the second is the person who lives mostly on ( wild ) edibles

    Lydia

  18. #38
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    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.
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

  19. #39
    naturalist primitive your_comforting_company's Avatar
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    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.
    Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. Helen Keller

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  20. #40

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    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.

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