If you were out in the woods and needed food would you be able to find edible berries or plants that would help keep you alive until you could travel home or until help arrives? Below I am going to give information on plants that can provide edible parts of the plants that are safe to eat and provide vitamins and minerals. The trick is to be able to recognize the edible ones and know when and how to pick them, and know how to prepare them safely, Some must be cooked to be eaten, for some taste delicious and are easy to digest, but others are tart, sharp, acidic or downright unpalatable.
CATTAIL (Typh spp.)
This wetland plant is one of the most easily recognizable, being a tall green and erect, with sword-like leaves and cylindrical brown heads consisting of tiny flowers on straight stems.
It is found in swamps or marshes and along lake shores throughout the United States. The edible parts are the roots and the Spring, early young shoots, and the pollen filled head.
Harvesting and Preparation
The plant you can dig up the roots to get the small, pointed sprouts which are then peeled to a tender white core. They can be eaten raw or boiled for 15 minutes.
During the summer new sprouts growing underwater can be picked and peeled, and eaten raw, or boiled like asparagus for 10 minutes and eaten with butter, salt and pepper.
The flowering head is also tasty if picked before it bursts from its papery sheath; and boiled for a few minutes. Cover with butter and eat like a corn on the cob. Later in the late summer when the flowering heads are in bloom, yellow pollen can be collected by shaking the heads into a paper bag, then the pollen can be mixed with wheat flour, for it is protein-rich baking flour for bread and biscuits, and cookies.
Video's Part 1-5 On Harvesting and Preparing Cattails
Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)
This is a shrub that grows from 3 foot to 13 feet high with upright spreading branches and a broad wide crown. The leaves are opposite, compound and feathery, six to ten inches long, composed of five to eleven coarse-toothed leaflets. The flowers are white, showy, flat-topped clusters; and the fruits are clusters of deep purple berries.
They are found through-out North America, in rich, damp soils along roadways and open woods, streams and fence lines.
The flowers and fruit is edible.
Harvesting and Preparation
Pick the entire flowering head and dip it into batter and fry it for a tasty fritter. The flowerlets can be picked off and added to a pancake or waffle batter to add flavor. They can be used to make wine or tea. In late summer the purple berries can be made into a delicious jelly or wine, but should not be eaten raw, as they can give you the runs. The fruit can be cooked, then used as juice, or for tea, or made into a pie using a sweetener and a tapioca flour, to thicken the juice.
CATTAIL (Typh spp.)
This wetland plant is one of the most easily recognizable, being a tall green and erect, with sword-like leaves and cylindrical brown heads consisting of tiny flowers on straight stems.
It is found in swamps or marshes and along lake shores throughout the United States. The edible parts are the roots and the Spring, early young shoots, and the pollen filled head.
Harvesting and Preparation
The plant you can dig up the roots to get the small, pointed sprouts which are then peeled to a tender white core. They can be eaten raw or boiled for 15 minutes.
During the summer new sprouts growing underwater can be picked and peeled, and eaten raw, or boiled like asparagus for 10 minutes and eaten with butter, salt and pepper.
The flowering head is also tasty if picked before it bursts from its papery sheath; and boiled for a few minutes. Cover with butter and eat like a corn on the cob. Later in the late summer when the flowering heads are in bloom, yellow pollen can be collected by shaking the heads into a paper bag, then the pollen can be mixed with wheat flour, for it is protein-rich baking flour for bread and biscuits, and cookies.
Video's Part 1-5 On Harvesting and Preparing Cattails
Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)
This is a shrub that grows from 3 foot to 13 feet high with upright spreading branches and a broad wide crown. The leaves are opposite, compound and feathery, six to ten inches long, composed of five to eleven coarse-toothed leaflets. The flowers are white, showy, flat-topped clusters; and the fruits are clusters of deep purple berries.
They are found through-out North America, in rich, damp soils along roadways and open woods, streams and fence lines.
The flowers and fruit is edible.
Harvesting and Preparation
Pick the entire flowering head and dip it into batter and fry it for a tasty fritter. The flowerlets can be picked off and added to a pancake or waffle batter to add flavor. They can be used to make wine or tea. In late summer the purple berries can be made into a delicious jelly or wine, but should not be eaten raw, as they can give you the runs. The fruit can be cooked, then used as juice, or for tea, or made into a pie using a sweetener and a tapioca flour, to thicken the juice.