What can we eat in nature ?

[Holly Lindin]

Before anyone else misunderstands me, what I meant by posting about cannabis (and I don't care if it's "illegal" or not because I don't follow laws I don't agree with.) and recommending its amazing properties is because of thinking of plants, anything we can walk out into a forest and gather, as medicines. Cannabis is one of the greatest medicines out there, so if there's ever an issue where it isn't just about food, per se, and more about health or healing a specific problem, cannabis can do a great deal - and many who are experts in these field don't believe there's a greater medicine than that. That's all that I meant by it - I haven't read through the thread, so I don't know if anyone has mentioned it or not, but I just thought I would put it in there. <3

[Gaia]

Des Pissenlits par la racine


Tt is the root of the dandelion has been the most used for its bile, choleretic and purifying the liver, kidneys and gallbladder. Is harvested in spring or fall when the plant has at least two years. It can be eaten raw or dried, boiled or steamed, as a decoction and tincture. It is used for constipation (She has a mild laxative), skin problems (Eczema, acne, psoriasis) or rheumatic (Gout, arthritis) And as a tonic. The washed root takes about two weeks to dry, stretched on a rack or grill, in a place in the shade and well ventilated.

[pyrangello]

how about dandelioned wine? My grandma always told me about that???

[Maria Stade]

Thank you Gaia Yes I read that dandelion also is helpful if exposed to radiation !

pyrangello Yes I have once picked flower for danelion wine It was very good, taste like almond oddly.

[luciole]

Ok Maria, all the best luck with your homemade food dryer! Let us know how it worked! A photo maybe?
Does anyone have some food drying methods?

I did some research on the one you sent a video link, Icecold, have you tried this one out?

[luciole]

Posted by Icecold (here)
Wild Food Recipes

http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/wild-food.php

Hummm, the nettle beer sounds nice, with all the nettle around here, I'll just put on my washing gloves, and make myself some beer!

[sunnyrap]

Pine trees can save your life by providing both water, vitamins and protein. White pines, mostly, were used by the Indians in the winter to survive long periods of no game and no vegetable sources. They would peel the outer bark from the tree and scrape the white inside woody pulp and make it into a mash which they would cook into a kind of bread. Pine needle tea is a bit bitter but very rich in vitamin C. When water is scarce, you can tie plastic bags to the tips of pine tree branches and affix them tightly. Overnight, the branch will give you a cup or so of potable water.

Here's a well-illustrated article on it (ggod survival site, too): http://www.survivaltopics.com/surviv...ble-pine-bark/

[Rainbowbrite]

Thanks for the great thread! As a family we eat a lot of foraged food - i see it as a great way to pass on skills to my children and also to deepen all our relationships with nature. I also think it essential that children (and adults!) know where food comes from and how to harvest respectfully, sustainably and safely - good skills to have... I have really enjoyed reading this!

I would like to add that Dead Nettle is also a good, none sting-y, source of vit c and iron - great starting plant to get any little ones involved in foraging. This is in the Food for Free book mentioned previously in the thread - a really good book - but i felt it a good idea to mention it seperately as it's so tasty, for those without the book. Dead Nettle is really easy to ID as it's very similar in looks to stinging nettle except for the fact that it has white or pink flowers - these flowers look a little like pea flowers - and it often grows near stinging nettle. You only have to cook the leaves a little as there is no sting and they're really good gently stir fried with garlic, lemon juice and tomato (and/or dandelion root if you fancy)

Elderberry is my favourite wild fruit - very easy to recognise also, it has 'umberellas' of white flowers in spring (also delicious and makes a very good wine )which form into deep purpleish small berries towards the autumn. The berries require cooking as eating too many raw can upset the stomach, also they do contain lots of tiny seeds, if this bothers you then just pass the cooked berries through a sieve and sweeten to taste. I use them to make an 'Elder Meringue Pie' - really tasty. And also elderberry jam is a fab way of preserving the berries for up to a year or more - you can also use crab apples in this jam to bulk out quantities and, imo, improve the flavour and texture. Another method of preserving the juice is as a syrup - i give my children a tablespoon of this a day throughout the winter for the added vit c boost.

I hope these ideas aren't repeated from earlier - especially in the videos, i struggle to watch them as my internet connection can be shaky at times... If this is a repeat then please feel free to delete!

Brightest Blessings to All

Rain

[conk]

Posted by Gaia (here)
Des Pissenlits par la racine


Tt is the root of the dandelion has been the most used for its bile, choleretic and purifying the liver, kidneys and gallbladder. Is harvested in spring or fall when the plant has at least two years. It can be eaten raw or dried, boiled or steamed, as a decoction and tincture. It is used for constipation (She has a mild laxative), skin problems (Eczema, acne, psoriasis) or rheumatic (Gout, arthritis) And as a tonic. The washed root takes about two weeks to dry, stretched on a rack or grill, in a place in the shade and well ventilated.

Dandelion root cures some cancers as well.

Dandelion and chicory root make a wonderful, very tasty coffee substitute. It tastes very similar to coffee and has become my favorite and only breakfast drink, other than water of course.

[Nyce555]

My great grandmother makes dandelion wine and my grandfather made some greens that grew wild from his backyard. He called them Poke leaves and he told me that our Indian ancestors used to cook them. They were very bitter, not as tasty as collards, kale or mustards, but I guess if you are starving, they will get the job done.

[Mathilde Lares]

I use the leaves in salads, and also in omelets. Not only it is a great plant for humans but also for dogs, they love it cooked with eggs!

[PixieDust]

thanks for this thread! im taking my first steps to becoming self sustainable before im forced too. which i already feel somewhat forced with everything thats already happening. I feel the urge to push others to as well. Im a fire person and the fire is burning hard to start moving others into making the leap. anyway i would have never thought that nettle was eatable! i know its used medicinally but when we would visit my grandma in the mountains my sister and i learned the hard way that nettle hurts after "sledding" down a mountain side over thick vegitation that happened to be all nettle. After covering ourselves in mud (a trick our mom taught us) to sooth the burn and extract the poison we got back to the house we learned to stay away from that plant!

also after working in my moms herb shop i learned that almost all weeds and plants people try to exterminate are actually herbs and good for you. you can litterally walk outside and make a salad! obviously you guys know this though. i plan on starting to start foraging around the property and exploring more food options.

[NeverMind]

Yes, You Can Eat Dandelion to !

The whole plant can be used it can be dryed to. All plants can be dryed !

The root should be made to bits so it dry fast !

I fancy the flowers that are sweet and good fresh in sallad or as tea warm or later as cold.

Dandelion has been traditionally eaten in many parts of Europe for centuries, if not longer. It is delicious in salads, especially with potatoes and a little garlic, but only as very young greens, in early spring. Later, it becomes bitter.
However, you can harvest those gorgeous yellow heads and make preserves alternating layers of dandelion and sugar (I use different types of brown sugar, for a more gourmet effect :-)) in a glass jar. Then you put the glass jar on a sunny window sill and wait for nature to work its magic. It will turn into a dark golden-brown syrup that can be eaten alone or as a sweetener. It is a wonderful tonic, especially for women, and contains a lot of vitamin A.

BTW, the same procedure has been used for many centuries to preserve young, tender tips of spruce (the light green tips that grow in spring). They are an ancient folk remedy against cough. You can munch on the tips alone, however. I do, every spring. I just like the tart flavour. :-)

A favourite drink in many parts of Europe, especially central Europe, is elder flower syrup, fashioned in the same way, only with the addition of a few slices of lemon. It is absolutely wonderful when diluted with cool water, and elder is, of course, an old remedy against high fever.

For more savoury tastes, wild garlic (Allium ursinum) is a wonderful substitute for ordinary garlic. Some even prefer it to garlic.
You can prepare it along with the nettles leaves for an invigorating soup or sandwich.

There are many, many more things in nature good enough to eat.

[pie'n'eal]

Finger nails?

[NeverMind]

my sister and i learned the hard way that nettle hurts

My grandmother's standard answer to this particular complaint would be: "Well, lucky you, at least you'll never get rheumatism!"
That is an old belief. Nettles, like everything that stings, are supposed to ward off complaints like rheumatism and circulatory malfunction (which actually makes a lot of sense).

Oh, and nettle "tea" is not only extremely healthy (a tonic, especially for the blood) as a drink, but can also be used as a tonic for massaging the hair. Among other things, it is supposed to prevent hair loss.
Research it, you'll see.

[nomadguy]

Posted by Maria Stade (here)
Latin name: Chenopodium album

English name: Lamb’s-quarters, pigweed



This is another common plant !

It can be dried and used as Nettels !
Or fresh as they are

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0swabMLoBo

Yummy

Good stuff, it tastes quite a lot like spinach and will grow large and for a long duration. This one is on my list.

[Arrowwind]

I haven't read this thread but just adding here what I posted in another forum that I frequent...

I just found lambs quarters all over my property.. its always been there but I didn't know what it was. We had it steamed with dinner tonight and it was really good.

Here's what Mother Earth News says about it. Its probably the most nutritious vegetable there is and for me, its FREE!

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natur...y-to-Heal.aspx

Nature's "Mineral Tablet"

The health food store shelves are full of pills, including mineral tablets. But nature provides an excellent alternative-one that you take advantage of by eating. This is lamb's-quarter, a spinach relative found worldwide in the wild. It probably grows in your garden even if you don't plant it. Used raw in salad or in juice mixes, 100 grams of lamb's-quarter (about a cup) contains about 80 mg of vitamin C, 11,600 IU of vitamin A, 72 mg of phosphorus, 309 mg of calcium, and small amounts of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and iron. These figures are slightly lower when you cook the lamb's-quarter for a spinach replacement, or in soups, egg dishes, or vegetable dishes. You could nearly survive on lamb's-quarter alone!





Further Info and photos:

http://herbalspirits.blogspot.com/20...squarters.html

Seedling of common lambsquarters, Chenopodium album.

Photo by Jack Kelly Clark.



.

[Artemesia]

Just took a foraging class with my friend and amazing woman traveler whom I used to guide with. Her recent book is on this topic, titled "Pacific Feast" by Jennifer Hahn. For more info, check out pacificfeast.com

She offers classes on foraging etc. Her big focus is on the sustainable aspects of it, how to do it kindly so you eat and the plants still live on to produce your next harvest. There is major issues with this 'wild edibles' movement right now in the PNW. During the class she discussed an incident where a friend of hers came upon some folks in the Bellingham area with big garbage bags full of fern fiddleheads (the newly sprouting leaf heads, curled up like the end of a violin or 'fiddle') back in February/March. The friend was wise to remain in neutral observer and just asked what they were doing, since they seemed to only be venturing into the woods in the first 20-30 feet of the roadway.

The group explained that they were harvesting the fiddleheads to be sold at top dollar at Pike Place Market in Seattle, WA, where the foodie culture has gone WILD over wild edibles, and will pay premium prices for yet another mode of chic, local, 'natural' cuisine. The trouble was, the sustainable way of harvesting is to only take a maximum of TWO per plant, allowing the rest to mature and the fern to go on living. These folks had plucked every 'good looking' fiddle off every plant in the 30 foot by however long swath of roadway they were 'working'.

Another example of how the 'elite' or at least 'moneyed class' seeks to reconnect with nature and their wild selves, yet uses their money in ways which inadvertantly perpetuate ignorance and hardship on the natural world. One can make the same choices to savor the best of the wild cuisine world, but doing it FOR ONESELF, using known sustainable techniques, can bypass this issue.

Funny how even the best ideas, when employed and or brought to light in the current consciousness climate, demonstrate beautifully how any energy, if poorly focused with improper foundational principles, will backfire on itself and implode the very principle it was seeking to glorify or experience.

A valuable lesson, once again, brought to you by our mother, and my favorite teacher of all in this lifetime, MOTHER NATURE.

[Arrowwind]

Keep an eye out for wild asparagus... and you can plant it in low lying areas that are moist and it will take off.
Marth Washington type will reseed itself... they are good into zone 3. Hybrids like New Jersey giant will not but the plants will produce up to 15 years.

[Carmen]

This the stuff you mean Nyce555?

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRF24LY5pvw