Wild Edibles

[RBM]

Florida Foraging 3

This is the third one. On Greenbriar stem tips with Usnea thrown in. Greenbriar isn't hard for me to identify and I have eaten my fair share but I have a hard time sometimes figuring out just "which" Greenbriar it is so I was vacillating over whether it was Laurel or Bull Greenbriar. As I stated in the description I am not yet comfortable with or finished studying Usnea and the fact there is not much of it around to be eating it just yet.



Since doing this video and posting it I was given a link that I somehow missed on figuring out the differences of Greenbriars.

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fr375

 

[waddler]

Redbuds are setting pods. Should be ready 10 days or so.

 

[RBM]

Anticipation

Berry anticipation that is. I just checked again at the big patch today in hopes to shoot video. I see more new berries but none are ripe yet. Color change from green to red on the Huckleberries (both large leaf and small leaf high bush) and Blackberries but the Blueberries still have not changed from green yet. Some like the large leaf low bush Blueberries have not even put out blossoms yet. I did find some small leaf high bush Huckleberries. So bottom line is there seems to be a real good berry crop for this season but they just haven't gone ripe yet and I am still waiting so no video yet.

I am trying to keep a close eye on them so I can get to them "before" all the critters wipe them out. lol

 

[waddler]

Greenbriar shoots are out on existing vines, but no new spikes from the ground yet. Mullein is growing rapidly, should start harvesting leaves next week. No mushrooms yet.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Morels are popping here, and the ramps are getting good sized. Life is good.

 

[waddler]

Couple of handfuls of Greenbriar shoots chopped
half pound hamburger
cup of brown rice
two eggs
soy sauce
salt
paprika

Cook meat in the skillet, drain, then saute shoots in meat juice, put two eggs beaten with soy sauce into drained meat, dust well with paprika and add back to shoots in the skillet, bog it all down in rice and let simmer for awhile.

Wash down with glass of red wine.

 

[RBM]

Florida Foraging 4 Part 1

Here is the first part of the berry video. The video was so large I had to split it into two parts. Links are included under the video description as usual. I will put it up in the forum also.

 

[RBM]

Florida Foraging 4 Part 2

Here is the second part of the berry video. I probably should add caution when working around the berries among other edibles as critters are drawn to the edibles like berries. That in turn draws snakes laying in wait for critters to come along. Snakes will hang out in Palmettos and berry patches waiting for critters to pass by. So watch out for snakes. Bears are not so much of problem here around the berries but not to say that the odd bear couldn't have a patch of berries staked out so its good to exercise caution.

 

[RBM]

I guess no wild edible discussion would be complete without mention of the avoidables. The avoidables are the poisonous and toxic plants we want to avoid and stay away from. So I am putting together some of the main backwoods avoidables that are in this area and get it into a video. It may take a while. We want to eat wild edibles without getting sick or worse. So we want to eat wild edibles safely. For example, it might be a good idea to know those leaves you are putting into your tea, salad, or stew that you picked do not have some others mixed in there that you might have accidently picked along with the edible ones. It would only take an avoidable growing next to an edible. We need to know avoidables for this reason if no other. Please examine your harvest and clean it to make sure that what you have does not have things you don't want. Toxic bugs, toxic fungus, and the wrong plant are not what you want. Discard the bad and keep the good. We can't really know wild edibles without knowing avoidables also. Ignorance can be deadly.

 

[RBM]

Why Forage? By Deane Jordan

Good article by Deane about foraging in the latest issue of Wildness.

http://issuu.com/wildnessmagazine/docs/wildnessjulaug_14_1_

 

[RBM]

Grapes are on

Wild grapes are on the vine here but still small and green. The tiny bunches are hard to spot right now behind leaves. Maybe later like the end of July or early August I am guessing before they are ripe. The animals will clean the lower vines and they probably won't wait until they are ripe just like the Hucks and Blues but the higher grape bunches that they can't reach might escape the animals. Birds are another matter.

When they are ripe I will try to do a video clip that may be by itself or go with other clips. But they are still a ways off yet before being ripe.

 

[waddler]

The recent rains missed my place and the ground is littered with green grapes and also a Pignut Hickory cast its fruit. I can only guess it was dry weather that caused it.

 

[RBM]

You Florida folks might find a couple of books useful. Fairly cheap also. A starter handbook and a more comprehensive one we have never had before now.

Florida's Incredible Wild Edibles by Richard J. Deuerling and Peggy S. Lantz.

Florida's Edible Wild Plants: A Guide to Collecting and Cooking by Peggy Sias Lantz.

Both books are worth the money. By no means a complete list but many major common plants. Peggy is a contemporary, friend, and fellow expert of Deane Jordan. They differ on a few plants as to be expected but for the most part agree with each other. Deane has given a good review of Peggy's book. Since Deane has no book, now there is a foraging handbook for Florida folks.

Later Dick and Peggy teamed up to produce “Florida’s Incredible Edibles” which has a lot of Dick’s traipsing through the woods in it. More comprehensive than that, Florida’s Wild Edible Plants provides a colorful foraging handbook for a state that really did not have one. Peggy’s book is a solid, botanically-based foundation for anyone interested in wild edibles in Florida. I have already used it for a reference several times. There can be no higher compliment.

Deane's Newsletter 20 May 2014.
http://www.eattheweeds.com/newsletter-20-may-2014/

 

[elmer_fudd]

Here are a few I have not seen mentioned, and I have tried myself:
kudzu
hog peanut
maypop (passion fruit)
pine (inner bark)
bear corn (aka squaw root)
cattail
maple seeds
snails
groundnut tubers

 

[RBM]

FloridaForaging5

Another foraging clip and the wild grapes here are now ripe. This one was difficult for me to describe the shape of the grape seed and I just called it round but its really tear-drop shaped. Also I have never seen a Canada Moonseed other than pictures and what I have read. We don't have Moonseed here so I have to rely on references. Those were my two biggest problems with this video. I will put it up in the forum also.

 

[SELFBOW]

Found this today. Consensus says its Lions mane and a highly sought after edible.

 

[SELFBOW]

I took the Lion's Mane today. Grilled it w butter and garlic salt and put it atop a vension burger.

 

[waddler]

How was it?

 

[waddler]

My "Oyster" logs flushed for the third time. Found them Tuesday afternoon. This after all the freezing weather.

 

[justknight]

Spring is here so I thought I would do some backwoods foraging videos. This is the first one on Saw Palmetto. Links are included in the video description. I will put it up in the forum also.

Quick question for you Robert, I came across some Saw Palmetto Berries scouting for hogs, looked like these were being eaten by the local wildlife. There were lots of em scattered around. I did research and it appears the indians used to eat them, but they say the taste is pretty awful. Have you ever tried them?