One of the most common of edible greens found is also one of the most
despised "weeds". The Dandelion! Look at any prepacked bag of salad
greens & you will see a very familiar leaf, that of the
backyard/meadowland dandelion. Funny how you are told it is weed that
must be destroyed, yet the food industry will sell it to you by the bag
full!
Edible Parts: Leaves, Roots, Flowers (basic yellow, though it is said
the seed of the cotton ball variety is edible as well).Another common
"weed" is clover. Both the leaves and flower are food.
We all heard about the first lady of the U.S. planting a garden at
the white house, but did you know they already had a food garden growing
that was well known of long before the Obama's came to office? Ever hear
of the Rose Garden?? Rose (wild or cultivated) leaves & flowers are
food. the hips (that part where the flower blooms from the stem) is also
what is used to make "Rose Hip Tea" which is known to have a soothing
effect on the stomach.
Common yard grass seed can be gathered to make millet for breads or
filler for soups & stews. It has the same nutritional value as corn
without the sugar (in case you're diabetic). Which is to say, NONE. But
it makes a great stomach filler along with other things added to the
soups/stews.
Snakeberrys a.k.a wild strawberry are a common meadowland fruit.
MOST Pine trees: Inner bark & roots (I hear even the needles though
never tried them yet). The cone can be roasted with the seeds in it &
the seeds removed as they are the food.
Acorns from the oak, Walnuts, Chestnuts, etc. Are excellent sources
of food. First remove outer shell (pulp) & roast inner shell over fire
(acorns you can just throw into the roaster straight from tree or
ground).
Many plants, though food, may need special preparation to make it
edible. Like the asparagus plant, they are poison until cooked
completely. Others like the wild carrot should only be considered by
those that REALLY can spot the difference in it from a similar plant as
the similar plant may be deadly. The wild carrot is a cousin to hemlock
& in the wild the two can be very similar. Some botanists have died of
poison thinking they were just eating a fresh wild green due to
misidentification.
Watch the animals, if just one species of animal or none eat a plant
DO NOT EAT IT. It is either of no food value or poison (remember the
koala eats eucalyptus - a poison). |
