Eating Wild Plants
There are a number of reasons you might want to use wild
plants as food.
Wild plants have some unique flavors that can be among
your enjoyed favorites. Watercress with something sweet
such as pancake syrup in a peanut butter sandwich is one
I particularly enjoy. Dandelion greens pesto mixed with
spaghetti sauce is another.
Since the taste of many wild edible plants is so
different from the usual cultivated vegetables, you
likely will at first not accept some of them as a
delicious flavorful food. Just about any food flavor
other than sweet, salty, starchy, and fat are, I
suppose, acquired tastes. It takes time for your mind to
recognize an unfamiliar flavor as a 'tried and true'
favorite. Introduce a wild food into your diet by eating
a small amount when you are most hungry. Repeatedly
doing so can make the new food one that you especially
enjoy.
The amount of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients in
wild food, according to many sources, is on the average,
greater in wild foods. Domesticated vegetables have been
selectively bred for looks, production quantity, taste,
length of storage and other qualities other than
nutrition.
The fruits and vegetables sold in the supermarket have
been chemically fertilized; exposed to herbicides,
pesticides, fungicides, and a variety of other
chemicals; and they may have been genetically modified
and/or irradiated. The safety of eating such produce is
of concern to many people. Wild foods for the most part,
avoid those concerns. If you do gather wild foods avoid
taking them from along roadsides, lawns that have been
treated with chemicals or any other areas that may have
been treated.
There is the possibility that supermarket food can be
contaminated with pathogens. Dozens of diseases can be
spread by an infected person handling food anywhere from
the time it is harvested until it is put into your
grocery bag. Plants growing in the wild are untouched by
human hands.
Wild plants can be prepared in many ways. Greens can be
put through a food processor or blender to make pesto.
Add just enough oil and/or water to let the mixture
process well. The pesto can then be easily mixed with
other ingredients such as peanut butter, tomato sauce,
or syrup for flavoring. Some greens such as
lambsquarters, chickweed and purslane can be used anyway
that spinach is prepared. Strong or bitter tasting
greens can be boiled changing the water once or twice to
reduce bitterness. This is sometimes done with dandelion
leaves. Then other ingredients can be added for
flavoring and texture.
Wild fruit can simply be mixed with nuts or seeds such
as sunflower seeds or almonds.
Some plants such as cattail tuber shoots and burdock
root can be boiled to increase tenderness or to reduce
strong flavors and then simply eaten as is.
Be sure of what it is that you are going to eat and be
sure that it is edible. Consult a good reference book.
If possible have someone who is familiar with a
particular plant point it out to you. Most photographs
are not of high enough quality to be relied upon to
positively identify a wild plant.
Some edible plants have poisonous look-alikes. Some
plants have edible parts and have poisonous parts. Some
plant parts are edible only after being prepared in a
particular way. It is common that a small quantity of a
plant can be eaten without problems but if you eat too
much your digestive system will protest forcefully.
There's about 6 or 8 disaster scenarios that I can think
of that seem likely to happen at some time. They seem
unlikely to happen in my lifetime. But you never know.
Isn't it prudent to be prepared, at least to some
extent, in the event the normal food supply is
interrupted. Examples of disasters that seem likely to
happen are an asteroid hitting the earth, a massive
nuclear war, a global epidemic, and the failure of one
or two major crops such as corn and wheat due to a
widespread disease or climate change.
The gathering of wild foods is interesting and
enjoyable. Foraging for a favorite or new addition to
your menu may take you through woods, through open
fields and meadows and other places of beauty. It is a
great way to get out into the natural world and enjoy
its complexity and majesty. It adds to the perception
that the world is a good place that is to be enjoyed. It
is emotionally pleasing to find something that seems
free and of exceptional value.
Making use of natural foods gives you greater awareness
of the inter-relatedness of living things to each other
and to the environment. That greater awareness helps us
more appreciate the weather and climate, the abundance
of nature, agriculture and the food supply, and the
importance of protecting those things.
If you are interested in a few detailed recipes and a
couple of other general preparation methods see
www.bobcatswilderkitchen.com
For more information on wild edible plants and recipes
see Foraging the Edible Wild,
http://community.webtv.net/Taimloyd/FORAGINGTHEEDIBLE
For a list of links to more information see
dmoz.org/Recreation/Outdoors/Wildlife/Plants/Edible/
For a few books on wild edible plants see
theforagerpress.com/bookstore/plantguides.htm
Alan Detwiler is the author of several books on things
to do for fun. The books are available at Amazon.com
His web sites are www.leisureideas.com
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