What are your favorite wild edibles?

[Onatah]

Sure we pack our favorite camping foods. We usually pack extra 'just in case'. But how many of you have favorite wild edibles or even just know what you could eat should you need to find food if you were to become stranded longer than expected while camping in the woods?

Many species of mushrooms are edible but you must exercise extreme caution not to eat the wrong types. It pays to go mushrooming with experienced mushroom hunters to learn this one. Photos alone won't cut it.

I like young ferns, aka 'fiddleheads'. You can eat them raw but, when boiled, taste similar to asparagus. Dandelions are also a commonly found edible in many areas. Berries are a given but, again, caution must be exercised.

I strongly recommend researching the areas you plan to be camping in and what wild edibles may be available to you for the time of year you will be camping.

 

[Zack]

I love foraging for food. My favorite is indian cucumber. It grow all over the place in Maine. Would like to get into mushroom hunting, just need to find time to take a class. Would never take a chance on mushrooms unless I was 100% sure.

 

[campforums]

Would never take a chance on mushrooms unless I was 100% sure.

Yeah because there are some poisonous ones!

 

[HikingHans]

It would be difficult to narrow it down to one. Assuming you don't mean from hunting or fishing, both of which I have done, I'd go with blackberries. They are abundant and delicious in these parts. I've eaten them raw and in various dishes over the years.

 

[ashley0323]

We have wild blackberries all over the place here where I live. It's so easy to find them and they are SO good, yet they stain our fingers and clothes! lol Fun little "hunt" to go on with the kids though.

 

[happyflowerlady]

Here is a great tutorial for foraging and identifying some wild plants. Not every place would have all of these plants; but I was familiar with some of them, and I am pretty sure that a few of these are growing out in the back yard; so I might try harvesting a few and putting a bit in my green smoothies once I am sure I have the right plant.

 

[killeroy154]

When i was on a canoe trip, I slipped climbing up a bank and fell into some stinging neddle. I text my wife to ask what to do to relieve the burning effects of it. She told me to find some plantain chew it up and rub that on it. I was unsure what it looked like, so I suffered through with out the plantain. The Cherokee Indians believed that mother nature always provided a cure to an ailment.

 

[Alexandoy]

When I went camping with my cousins in Santa Rosa, California, we stayed in a mountain cabin that had no electricity but with water on the tap. It was really nice because it was a nature trip but we had the convenience of the kerosene stove. On our first morning, I woke up early to check the site. Lo and behold, there was a wild pear tree with lots of ripe fruits. The tree was high and it had thorns so my only option was to throw a small piece of wood to hit the fruits. There’s also the wild plum which I think is called sugar plum. The red berry, I forgot but maybe it is cranberry, sweet but tangy. Yeah, my favorite food in the wilds are the fruits and berries that I can find.

 

[rz3300]

I cannot really say that I have tried too many wild edibles. I mean if wild rice counts then I am probably a fanatic but I have the feeling that this is not really the sorts of things that you are talking about. I would be curious to try anything though, and outside of your occasional berries I have not really tried much.

 

[Bibsoutdoors]

My favorite wild edible is a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. Sorry folks, that's as wild as I get anymore.

 

[killeroy154]

I was afraid you had to many of those "cool ranch doritos" and you was in hospital and that's why we ain't heeard anything from you in awhile.