Plants you didn't you know you could eat

I've been on a foraging kick lately.

There are some foods i've been eating forever like fern fiddleheads.

I recently learned that you can eat daylilies and hostas, and some say they taste good, really good!
Mine are just coming up, but I'm going to give it a try.

My mom and dad grew up very poor and pretty much had to eat what they foraged. My mom
told me that most plants are edible, even poisonous one. They just have to be cooked/processed correctly.
Of course there is a mushroom or two that is only edible once, but for the most part I think my mom had wise words.

So, please expand my horizons, what can you forage that is edible and that surprisingly tastes good. Skip over the obvious like mushrooms/berries.

Im a fan of dandelion. I prefer it raw in a salad, but it wilts nicely and can be mixed in with spinach and/or arugula.

And pine nuts. No one harvests pine nuts, and they are fantastic.

a reply to: JAGStorm

The light green tips of pines.

Venus belly button.

And so many more.

Your mother is right most plants are edible even the poisonous ones, but its allway a matter of amount.

Don't fill your belly with either of the to metioned above.

Salt is edible as well, fill your belly with it and your in for trouble

NC

Teeny tiny baby curled up Fern leaves are edible.
The Petals of daylilies [not tiger] are edible and tasty.
When you learn to identify it there are types of wild cranberries that are available even during the winter.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Common Mallow , This stuff grows so fast I could never defeat it in my back yard .

I dont care what anyone says, kale is an inedible plant...

originally posted by: Bluntone22
I dont care what anyone says, kale is an inedible plant...

I have to agree with you on that.
I tried kale chips once, It almost killed me.

I'm not exaggerating, it literally almost killed me. I took one bite, and it was horrible and dry, and got stuck in my throat and I started full on choking! How do people love that stuff?

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
Im a fan of dandelion. I prefer it raw in a salad, but it wilts nicely and can be mixed in with spinach and/or arugula.

And pine nuts. No one harvests pine nuts, and they are fantastic.

My mom loves pine nuts, me not so much.
I have an above average sense of smell and it tastes like soap to me because of the pungent smell.
I can't get it past my nose.

Love dandelion though! I'm also going to try dandelion root coffee.

a reply to: Gargoyle91

Is that marsh-mallow, does it grow in marshes??

I've never done much foraging, I wouldn't mid giving it a try here in the UK.

a reply to: Kurokage

It grows just about anywhere I believe, It's extremely invasive but also good for you I found out .It's related to Marsh Mallow .

I am going to interject here for a moment because I have the duty to do so. Do your due diligence in research, identify your edibles fully and completely especially look alikes.

For example, some daylillies are edible, not all are. Common names, especially local names, can be confusing. Some people call all curled up ferns fiddleheads, they are not. Queen Anne’s Lace has a very edible root, wild carrot. Poison hemlock, not so much and they look very much alike without mature flowers. Fortunately hemlock root does not smell like carrots when broken. Unfortunately it does not take much liquid to kill you. Not sterilizing a knife that cut hemlock before cutting vegetables or fruit, like a slice of apple while waking can kill you.

Just be sure and when in doubt, eat someone SOMETHING else that you are sure about. Even a pro can grab a false morel.

a reply to: Ahabstar

That's why Mushrooms scare the crap out of me .

I've found even with a book with pictures in your hand you can't be sure . Anyone who's a true forager would have to be taught by someone who's had it passed down to them or at least I would no way I would trust my ID ability .

a reply to: JAGStorm
I haven't tried this, but there seems to be a long history behind it;
Nettle soup

a reply to: Ahabstar

Yes, I second and agree with everything you said.

Some people call all curled up ferns fiddleheads, they are not.

Just curious what do you call them? We have a different name for them in Korean dishes, but I always knew it as fiddlehead, or sometimes bracken. I know something might be lost in translation but there was only one type that they would eat. I remember picking it since I was a toddler. In The Washington state area they have picked this fern to almost extinction, so now there are laws.

You can eat any plant, but some only once.

Cattails are edible. I have only eaten the internal crunchy shoots which reminded me of water chestnuts or a crispier cucumber raw. Supposedly, you can eat many parts of cattails. They seem to be quite plentiful though I would avoid roadside ditches due to all the contaminates possible. I grow them in my backyard ponds.

Edible parts: The lower parts of the leaves can be used in a salad; the young stems can be eaten raw or boiled; the young flowers (cattails) can be roasted. Yellow pollen (appears mid-summer) of the cattail can be added to pancakes for added nutrients. Shake the pollen into a paper bag and use it as a thickener in soups and stews or mix it with flour for some great tasting bread. The root can be dried and pounded to make nutritious flour. Young shoots can be prepared like asparagus but requires longer cooking time to make them tender. Added to soup towards the end of cooking, they retain a refreshing crunchiness. They're superb in stir-fry dishes and excellent in virtually any context.

Source that includes all the other uses for cattails as well to survive

In the old days, everyone probably knew this. Now we have grocery stores to dictate what we need to eat. Let's not forget the convenience of fast food. There you may get some biological things not intended to consume.

Had a big salad just last night. It's soo fresh and really good.

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: JAGStorm
I haven't tried this, but there seems to be a long history behind it;
Nettle soup

Only really ever tried blackberries. sad I know.
I've been tempted by nettles and also elderflower.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
Im a fan of dandelion. I prefer it raw in a salad, but it wilts nicely and can be mixed in with spinach and/or arugula.

And pine nuts. No one harvests pine nuts, and they are fantastic.

Honestly, I can only stomach dandelion flowers when they are doused in batter and fried. Then they taste like battered dipped mushrooms! Yum. The leaves though just seem to bitter for me, though if one is starving, I would stomach them.

The dang squirrels and birds seem to get to the pine nuts before I can in the wild. For now, I have only enjoyed them from the store.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Leaves from sassafrass trees .
Leaves from wild grape vines.
Young peeled shoots from thorny berry plants like blackberry.
All grasses are edible.(though maybe not too palatable).