any plant resources?

[Bladen]

i know we have the great database here on this site.
to be honest, its a bit intimidating.

does anybody have any really basic plant resources?
id like to learn more about edible plants and medicinal plants.

i know next to nothing at this point.

thanks in advance,

[crashdive123]

I like the Peterson Field Guides. Edible Wild Plants and Medicinal Plants and Herbs might be a good place to start.

[Bladen]

thanks alot.

these book look really great.

[gryffynklm]

I like the Peterson Field Guides. Edible Wild Plants and Medicinal Plants and Herbs might be a good place to start.

I use the same guides.

[rwc1969]

Not sure where you are bladen, but if it's like the midwest you might want to check out Sam Thayer's book "The Forager's Harvest". He really goes into a lot of detail and it makes the whole process of starting to ID, harvest, and most importantly eat wild edibles much easier.

I use the Peterson guide to perform quick, rough, basic ID's, but I don't trust it enough to try and eat anything.

[Bladen]

im in northern minnesota if that helps anybody else-
and thank you.

[your_comforting_company]

I use those 3 books mentioned, the two Peterson's guides and "The Foragers Harvest". If you are looking for a website to help identify, try www.discoverlife.org. There's a couple others I use as cross reference, but they are not bookmarked on this computer.

It can still be a little confusing and I just want to repeat for safety's sake: "If you need a book to identify a plant, you are not ready to eat it." (thayer). So, just because you have a couple books, don't go sticking stuff in your mouth until you've studied the plant intimately and can recognize it without the aid of a book. It took me months to be able to identify a few plants and I even went back to NOT eating some of the wild stuff I used to eat until I knew for certain what it was... NOT the generic "old folks" name for stuff.

you can google "wildflower identification key" and it'll turn up a few sites.

[Rick]

Here's our book sticky. You should be able to find a few in here:

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ead.php?t=5483

I use Peterson's as well. I also have a couple of laminated, folding references by the Pocket Naturalist. One is Medicinal Plants and the other is Edible Wild Plants, $5.94 each. You can pick up all three at Bolden's. I'm sure any of the big book stores carry them.

[gryffynklm]

YCC, thanks for the book recommendation I just ordered one.

[pocomoonskyeyes]

Well here's another one that WarEagle told me about "Edible Wild Plants" By Thomas S. Elias & Peter A. Dykeman. It covers regions,Seasons, and usage guide for @ 200 species.

[Canadian-guerilla]

you can google "wildflower identification key" and it'll turn up a few sites.

i've been making my own wild edible picture database
i go to google images and type in " wild edibles " or the plant itself
i get a half decent picture and i follow the link
i have quite a few pics of each plant: leaves, flowers, seeds/fruit, spring/winter
plus any possible lookalikes

been looking at getting a laminator, my printer pics don't like rainy weather
and with Photoshop, i can make my own montage for a specific plant
the only downside, i've gone thru lots of printer ink
for some leaves, i use a simple black/white outline

find some pics you can trust, and go out and get hands-on " in the field " experience


i've been looking like forever for The Foragers Harvest

[SARKY]

Best bet is to go to Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com then search not just for edibles and medicinal plants but also for the area of the country you live in. There are plants that are common for the entire US then there are plants that are specific toa region of the US.

[Batch]

Yeah double check where it covers. I have bought a couple. The last one said Eastern United States. Then when you read the introduction it specifically says it doesn't apply to South Florida.

[owl_girl]

have you tried cattail root yet? last year i made a list of all the common wild plants i wanted to try and what time they would be in season and how to prepare them. with some plants there are things you need to do to them or ovoid doing to keep that plant from being toxic. like raspberry leaves are healthy fresh or dried but when wilted they become semi toxic and to much like that could make you sick. i did get to eat all the plants on my list. ive lived in MN a few times so i can help you make a list for your area if youd like

[Batch]

Yeah, my Dad was into the natural foods long before me. So, we hit all the most common. Now, did you know that cattail starches can be converted to sugars? Still, that may not be of use to all.

My dad also did not have the internet back when we suffered these trespasses on the taste buds. LOL

[Bladen]

id love to hear how to convert cattail starches into sugars.

[crashdive123]

Just eat it. Your body will convert it for you.

[Batch]

Actually, I guess the starches are already converted in the stalk. I came across the info while researching ways to get sugars from nature for distilling ethanol. I know that when malting starchy grains such as those in corn and barley you convert the starches to sugar and the sprouts have all kinds of nutritious benefits. There are also enzymes that are produced that will convert unmalted starches into grains. So you can add 2lbs of malted grain to 8lbs of unmalted grain called adjunct and the enzymes will convert the unmalted grains to sugar during the mashing process.

Sugar can be taken directly from the stalk of cattail in the same way it is taken from corn stalks.

http://www.biofuelswiki.org/canvaswi...ex.cfm/Cattail

I have yet to try it. But, I think I am paying about a $1 a pound for sugar. At least that was what I paid for the brown sugar I am using to ferment this batch.

So, I was looking for what could be used naturally around me. Its on the back burner right now. I got some ferment going now that should of stopped bubbling already. But, it is still bubbling so I got to let that sit. Then, I have a brand new grain mill, some malted barley and some corn adjunct. That will go next. Maybe after that I will go gets some cattail. Not, a hard task I can walk to the Everglades from here in about 15 minutes.

[Wildlander]

i know we have the great database here on this site.
to be honest, its a bit intimidating.

does anybody have any really basic plant resources?
id like to learn more about edible plants and medicinal plants.

i know next to nothing at this point.

The problem is that there is really not to much that is easy to learn. Certainly you can learn about cattails and plenty of website tutorials online that teach you how to harvest and prepare. But the more prolific arcane plants take a lot of botanical knowledge. Otherwise you run the risk of eating something that might kill you or make you very ill. The best way is to just start going out foraging with someone who already knows.


The next best thing to do (at least for those in the US) is bite your tongue and join the yuppie native plant society. Go out with them on outings. They will teach you your plants. Also consider taking a course in plant taxonomy from a local college if you get into a more serious mode. If you are in Washington State, contact me. I am a botanist, ethnobotanist and know my native plants here.

Wildlander

[wareagle69]

i also use several other resources
weeds of canada and the northern united states-france royer and richard dickenson

invasive plants-guide to identification and the impacts and control of common north american speceis

also google works great, mainly wikipedia also when using the computer i have found that looking for weeds other than wild edibles results far better results.
now do not expect to eat anything for the first 3 years, the first year you will id many plants some edible most not, but by the time you id them, they will be past edibility, next 2nd spring you will id them by rosette and location of flower from last year, then you will have learned the plant in all seasons and positively id the plant then the 3rd year you will be ble to eat it, but wait now you will say crap i spent all this time learning what it is but how, when do i harvest and prepare it, well thats what samuel thayer is for.

best of luck, it is a long endeaver, but i hope you persevere.
WE