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Thread: Wild Edibles that actually taste good ??

  1. #21
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    I can't speak to Australia but most of the foods here have been selectively bred for storage and shipping. Taste fell by the wayside. A greenhouse tomato is nearly tasteless and hard as a rock, usually. It wouldn't take a whole lot for cardboard to taste better.
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  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by rwc1969 View Post
    Not counting mushrooms?!
    How oh how could I have forgotten mushrooms?!?! One of the most delicious and otherwise awesome wild foods for me!

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by rwc1969 View Post
    Not counting mushrooms,ramps, cattail shoots, cattail flower heads, daylily flower buds, autumn olive berries, curly dock, stinging nettle, asparagus, spring beauty roots, common evening primrose flowers and buds, hazelnuts, sorrel.

    Those are just off the top of my head, but I'm sure there's at least 5-10 more that I commonly eat and really do taste good. I've heard people say that wild edibles forthemostpart are not that tasty and not worth the effort learning to ID, find, and prepare them, but that's simply not the case. They're great!
    I must admit (before this thread) That was my mindset exactly....

  4. #24
    Voice in the Wilderness preachtheWORD's Avatar
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    Besides the obvious - berries, nuts, fruit, dead "aminals" - there are some wild edibles that are surprisingly good.

    Lots of people have mentioned dandelion. I just don't care for it. Just too bitter for me. Maybe I haven't had it cooked right.

    Here are two of the best that I have encountered: daylillies (especially the flowers), and indian cucumber-root.

    I posted a thread on daylillies last year. Check it out here:http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...light-Daylilly

    Indian cucumber-root tastes very much like a sweet, crisp cucumber. Probably better than actual cucumbers. It's not very abundant, though.
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  5. #25
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    I think it was your thread that convinced me to try them this year.
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    I was at the park today and I decided to try some dandelion. They were growing under the shade of a big pavilion and when I tried a flower I was surprised that it was actually sweet. Maybe the older plants are bitter but this one didn't taste bitter at all. I couldn't stop eating them.

  7. #27

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    Maybe it was the 'fertilizer' on the dandelions in the park that tasted good.
    Seriously though, some good points about being careful with your identifications.

  8. #28
    Senior Member randyt's Avatar
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    A treat that I enjoy in the winter time when it's nice and cold is frozen high bush cranberries. Being frozen changes the taste to the better. maybe it's like cheap beer, ya know it has to be super cold to freeze the taste buds LOL. good beer as we know tastes best at cellar temps.

  9. #29
    Senior Member r0ckhamm3r's Avatar
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    The ones I have tried and really like are stinging nettles (like a mild flavored spinach), wild garlic, cattail stalks (taste like cucumber to me), paw paw (kind of like custard), persimmons, morel mushrooms and puffball mushrooms.

  10. #30
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    The smaller leaves, especially before the dandelion blooms, are the best for eating in a salad. At least that's what I've found. The bitter stuff is called taraxicin and is more concentrated in the larger, older leaves. You can still eat them but it's best to cook them to remove the taraxicin. They'll be less bitter once cooked. I have no idea what the sun does but those in shade always seem to have less of the taraxicin in them so I'm assuming the sun does something to concentrate the bitter stuff in the leaves.
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  11. #31
    hunter-gatherer Canadian-guerilla's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by preachtheWORD View Post

    Here are two of the best that I have encountered: daylillies (especially the flowers), and indian cucumber-root.

    I posted a thread on daylillies last year. Check it out here:http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...light-Daylilly
    i love the " fresh veggie crunch " of day lillies

    alone with purslane, 2 of my favorite " pick'em n eat'em " wild edibles


    NOTE - Purslane has a non-edible lookalike - Spurge
    .
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    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

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  12. #32
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Personally, I don't think spurge looks anything like Purslane. I can see why some folks might get the two confused, however. Once you know what purslane looks like you won't mistake it. Also, spurge has a milky sap and the sap of Purslane is clear.
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  13. #33
    Senior Member r0ckhamm3r's Avatar
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    Rick, you have convinced me to give dandelions another try. I have never heard there was a difference in taste based on the amount of light they receive. I have tried them several times in the past and even with boiling in a couple of changes of water, they were still bitter to me. I will give it a try and let you know how it turns out. Thanks.

  14. #34
    Senior Member Old GI's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick View Post
    Mat - Everything I've ever read says to break the needles up and put them in boiling water. I've done that but I've also used whole needles and just dropped them in. I really can't tell much difference. If you are a bit tougher than me you might try blue spruce. It has a stronger flavor than pine. A bit more piney flavor. I guess it's the turpines(?) but, as I said, those needles are killers.
    When I was taught and imbibed pine tea, we just put them in whole. Don't recall any bitterness and, at about 10 degrees in the Uwharrie, what a warm, wonderful elixir!
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  15. #35

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    I love Wood Nettles. If you get them right when they are coming out of the ground they taste like broccoli. If you boil them for 2 minutes the whole young plant is excellent. Fern fiddle heads are almost as good.

  16. #36
    Senior Member ClayPick's Avatar
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    Dulse is a daily staple in my household. It’s a geographical thing and most likely an acquired taste. Seaweed tends to go over the top on the nutrition scale.

  17. #37

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    Quote Originally Posted by rwc1969 View Post
    autumn olive berries, [snip] common evening primrose flowers and buds

    +1 on the autumn olive berries. I like those straight from the tree and love jam made from them. The jam reminds me of rhubarb.

    On the evening primrose flowers, are you eating those raw in a salad or do you cook them? I don't know the plant yet but it is on my short list of ones I need to learn.

  18. #38

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick View Post
    I can't tell from the picture but pine will have 5 needles coming out of a single ..
    white pines (pinus strobus) have 5 as do some of the western pines but in the east only white pine has 5. Others like loblolly have 3 or 2 like virginia pine. I certainly don't have the full list memorized. My personal taste seems to not be a good match for pine needle tea (I've only tried with white pine). I'll save that for when I'm really in need of the vit. C. I do like a cup of hot white pine inner bark tea when I feel a cold coming on though.

  19. #39
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    You're right. I should have been more specific. I guess I was thinking white pine and thought everyone would (shrug). We have several different varieties of pine but white is by far the most prolific. My neighbor beside me has one and my neighbor behind has one. Both grow next to my fence so snatching a late night......I mean white pine is easy to find.
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  20. #40

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    Quote Originally Posted by danmc View Post
    ...

    On the evening primrose flowers, are you eating those raw in a salad or do you cook them? I don't know the plant yet but it is on my short list of ones I need to learn.
    I just eat them straight off the plant, but they'd be great in salad.

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