| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
|
|
Gr33nday43
New Member
Uzbekistan
10 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2009 : 01:44:46
|
| I think if the SHTF then it would be better to rely on cultivated crops instead of those in the wild. There are too many poisonous plants and such. However if you can do the right research and can properly identify edible plants, it would be a nice way to supplement your cultivated crops. |
 |
|
|
Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
|
|
silverhalide
Penny Sorter Member
92 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2009 : 10:25:36
|
I do my share of foraging on the stuff that is easily identifiable but I will admit it is extremely labor intensive. Expending the energy to find it then shelling nuts and extracting pulp from wild persimmons for baking takes multiple hours of prep time.
With excepton to calorie dense wild edibles like nuts, fruits and berries which are easily identifiable I find this knowledge nearly useless. With many wild leafy plants they are net energy sinks as you would likely expend more calories to locate, harvest and/or prepare it then what you get out of it.
Something that is very low calorie dense and easily identifiable like a dandelion I can only tolerate eating about 10% of mature leaves mixed in a cultivated mild salad greens otherwise they become overpoweringly unpalatable. What recipes are there to make them palatable? |
|
|
|
Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
|
|
RJB
New Member
22 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2009 : 00:00:59
|
You can pretty much survive on wild edibles. A good book is Steve Brill's You must be logged in to see this link. He's a vegetarian who lives on wild edibles. Unlike most wild edible books, I've yet to try a recipy of his that wasn't good.
For more filling edibles you have to learn the root edibles, like burdock, Jerusalem artichoke, solomon's seal. I plant these around my house and no one is the wiser of my stealth gardens.
Greens like stinging nettle, mugwort are better than spinach. I'll subsitute them for spinach lasagna a lot.
As far as dandelions go, they are the most nutrious plant (along with water cress and lamb's quarters) At first I hated them, now I crave them raw every spring-- a tip, get dandelions when they are smaller, before the last frost, they aren't as bitter.
Here's another GIM thread. Although it's mostly for spring edibles. You must be logged in to see this link. |
|
|
|
Robarons
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
522 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2009 : 11:07:23
|
| Dandelions have always interested me in eating them because I keep hearing how good they are for you. So would you use the ones that just pop up in your yard to eat? And which parts do you eat, Flower? Leaves? |
Robber Baron= Robarons |
|
|
|
RJB
New Member
22 Posts |
 Posted - 09/02/2009 : 11:40:13
|
quote:
Originally posted by Robarons
Dandelions have always interested me in eating them because I keep hearing how good they are for you. So would you use the ones that just pop up in your yard to eat? And which parts do you eat, Flower? Leaves?
The leaves are best eaten BEFORE the last frost in early spring. For some people they're still too bitter raw. I like them raw however. (These were the bitter herbs the hebrews ate at passover.)
Here's one of my favorite cooked dandelion recipes. It's from steve Brill's book.
3 tablespoon of olive oil
3 cups of chopped onions
2 cups of grated carrots (or another sweet root, I'll add grated turnip sometimes.
2-4 cups of chopped dandelion leaves depending on your taste.
a few chopped garlic cloves
2 tablespoons of soysauce
1 tablespoon of wine
black pepper and other spices you might want to add (sometimes I'll throw in a tomato)
Stir fry the onion until soft. Add the other ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes or until the flavors blend evenly. Enjoy. I'll use it as a side or add meat to it. But sometimes this recipe will stick to your ribs as a meal on it's own-- a lot of wild edibles are so packed with nutrients, you won't need to eat as much.
By the time dandelions have flowers, the leaves will probably be too bitter. However I like to stir fry the flower heads and add eggs over them. They taste almost like eggs and mushrooms.
The roots can make an emergency meal-- not a tasty one. You can make a decent coffee subsitute. Dig the roots of 'lions or chicory, scrub them well, bake on a cookie sheet at 275 F for four hours or until brown all the way through. Usually I only bake for 2 hours and the center is usually white. There's more medicinal properties with the 2 hour methods but it doesn't have the robust flavor. Grind in a coffee grinder or just smash them up, and use the grounds as you would regular coffee or mix with coffee to stretch it out.
I usually switch to Dandelion cofee for lent when regular coffee becomes more of a necessity rather than a boost. 'lions cleanse the system. German studies show them to work to get the bile to flow and as a diuretic (gets you to pee a lot to get rid of toxins) that won't leech the body of potassium. Try drinking the "coffee" for a week and see if you feel better overall. A day is all that it takes for me. It may take some getting used to but the taste does grow on you.
|
|
|
|
RJB
New Member
22 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2009 : 11:41:39
|
| BTW, the dandelions in your yard should be fine. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
Edible wild plants
Forum Locked
