Wild Wood Weeds, Forage, etc.

[WadePatton]

I don't think we've covered this topic, and searches present no contrary evidence so here goes the "stuff you never thought about eating" category.

I have pursued this bit by bit, but i get distracted eh?. The "Noma Show" (see post this section wrt Bourdain) brings this back to the forefront of my thoughts. I knew survivalists, naturalists, hippies, etc. ate wild-found stuffs but never thought a "world's best" award might go to a restaurant specializing in forage.

So now I'm out to identify and collect Purslane, and learn a few more this season.

Things in this category that I have tried/do eat are: Dandelion, Poke Weed, Lambsquarter, Morel, Fiddleheads, Honeysuckle, Stinging Nettles, wild strawberries, and a few more I don't know the names of yet.

Of course Raspberries and Blackberries are coming on strong right now, and so long as they are "free-range" and not the golf-ball sized flavorless farmed varieties, they make great table fare. But they're not unusual/uncommon as the theme of this thread.

Discovered wild Blueberries in one tiny micro-climate here too--but they are tiny. The local wild Raspberries have ruined my interest in Blackberries, because they are sweeter and earlier and just betterer!

Been eating Black Walnuts too. I collected and sold 4 pickup beds full (1600# IIRC) last Fall, thought I might save a few to eat...damn they're a bitch to open. Intensely flavored though. Hope my Pecans make this year.


Anyone else here fool with off-the-beaten-path (right next to it sometimes) wild stuffs? What's your fave? How do you fix* it?



*"fix" means "prepare" as well as "repair" in Southern English.

[steve garro]

IMG_2488.JPGYou know me, man…….
Fish
Berries - mulberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries
Wild grapes
watercress
celery
mushrooms - ceasar, lobster, oyster, chantrelles
Cactus fruits
On & on

Sad I don't live where there is asparagus anymore but I'm going to try cattail roots, the beavers sure like them.

Check out my sweet custom self designed Creighton fillet knife - isn't this too big, he asked?
Nope.

- Garro.

[nrs5000]

Do you get paw paws up that way?

Couple years ago my wife set out to pick enough huckleberries to make a pie. They are like tiny blueberries and progress was slow. She ended up making an apple and huckleberry pie; it was delicious.

[rowdyhillrambler]

Paw paws-tennessee's only citrus fruit.!
Black, huckle, mul, and raspberries.
Lots of greens, I will eat anything, but just can't stomach poke sallet.
Black walnuts ain't worth the time, but have a neighbor we trade them for. She does all the work and we trade her eggs. I get the better end of that deal.

Fungi and RAMPS!
Cat tails, not so bad. Gotta 15 acre lake in the front yard so fish always at hand.
Random berries and nuts. Have a pretty good orchard an 2O year old blueberry bushes.

I love a meal that comes out of the yard.

[rowdyhillrambler]

Persimmon pie or pudding.. Oh yes

[nrs5000]

Persimmon pie or pudding.. Oh yes

Yes oh yes. One time my parents and their pals went camping in the Ozarks. There was a birthday and the my mom made the birthday boy a persimmon pie. Everyone got him all excited about the camp-cooked pie my mom made. The persimmons weren't ripe and he puckered up like Sylvester the Cat eating a pile of alum.

[rowdyhillrambler]

Ripe persimmons=the best.

Unripe, only good for a laugh.

[WadePatton]

I've been unable to locate any ramps in my woods. Would like to know what else I can find on this ragged edge of the Highland Rim. Willing to try cattails when the water isn't too funky, but my pond doesn't have any yet. I do have a PawPaw patch, but i usually forget about it.

Always loved persimmons, but it's really WAY TOO EARLY to be considering tree-borne fruits and nuts. Thinking more about the Spring/Summer sprouts and blossoms worth collecting*.

I do chew the Sassafras twigs/leaves this time of year (Teaberry Gum, dead ringer).

*Smallie collecting is the plan for tomorrow.

[WadePatton]

... Gotta 15 acre lake in the front yard so fish always at hand.
...
I love a meal that comes out of the yard.

[drift]
Do you run any streams? Always looking for water where canoes/kayaks/waders go and Johnson and Evinrude don't. (I'm in the Collins tomorrow) PM fine.
[/drift]

[steve garro]

Black walnuts ain't worth the time, but have a neighbor we trade them for. She does all the work and we trade her eggs. I get the better end of that deal.

Well shit…….I knew people who liked jackrabbits, too…….I like a nice cottontail as much as anyone but those are nasty.

I have a HUGE BW tree across the street - we let the birds have them - there are SO MANY pecans……free, all you want.

I lost all my peaches, plums and pears………thousands upon thousands……….
Going to have tons of mulberries and pomegranates.
A few apples.

Going fishing with an eye on the freezer next week.
- Garro.

[rowdyhillrambler]

You live in the land of jackrabbits, round here, a cottontail, is rabbit.. Wanna eat rabbit, get a whitetail.

Well shit…….I knew people who liked jackrabbits, too…….I like a nice cottontail as much as anyone but those are nasty.

I have a HUGE BW tree across the street - we let the birds have them - there are SO MANY pecans……free, all you want.

I lost all my peaches, plums and pears………thousands upon thousands……….
Going to have tons of mulberries and pomegranates.
A few apples.

Going fishing with an eye on the freezer next week.
- Garro.

[rowdyhillrambler]

The lake in my front yard, 40m from where I sit right now, is the head water of spring creek. Spring creek is one of the few scenic rivers in TN. By rights, headwaters of the roaring river which is also a scenic. I know all the holes, and cleanest flows of this area. Kayak, canoe, or floating on a beer cooler, got the plateau covered.

[drift]
Do you run any streams? Always looking for water where canoes/kayaks/waders go and Johnson and Evinrude don't. (I'm in the Collins tomorrow) PM fine.
[/drift]

[WadePatton]

The lake in my front yard, 40m from where I sit right now, is the head water of spring creek. Spring creek is one of the few scenic rivers in TN. By rights, headwaters of the roaring river which is also a scenic. I know all the holes, and cleanest flows of this area. Kayak, canoe, or floating on a beer cooler, got the plateau covered.

Just followed Roaring to Gainsboro. See a few puddles up above your Spring Creek, which is also the name of the one in Wilson I frequent. I put off Collins until tomorrow. I gotta work on some stuff. Lemme know if you ever want to share some water.

[WadePatton]

And I mowed over some "mint" yesterday. This grows wild in the field, doesn't look like anything in the books (no positive ID) but makes nice tea. This has thin leaves, not like the "catnip" sort of mints.

Once upon a time in a hay shortage, my field was mowed for hay and the horse guys said the horses loved it, but that the cedar bush and briar stickers made it _un_pleasant to feed.

[JitteryJoe]

Things in this category that I have tried/do eat are: Dandelion, Poke Weed, Lambsquarter, Morel, Fiddleheads, Honeysuckle, Stinging Nettles, wild strawberries, and a few more I don't know the names of yet.

This is the funniest thing I've heard/read today.
:D

[rabo]

2 hours east of you the Cherokee eat Sochan Gettin’ Wild: Sochan | The Cherokee One Feather
and a number of other wild weeds and mushrooms.
Just got a meal offered in a home I visited, but "my god" they cook it with fatback.
Was about to do a training ride on the parkway after work , and that is not the stuff you want in your belly. People pay $45 for a gallon of ramps that grow all over the mountains. You can probably find info in the Cherokee literature or better, just talk to the old people.

[steve garro]

And I mowed over some "mint" yesterday. This grows wild in the field, doesn't look like anything in the books (no positive ID) but makes nice tea. .

All true mints have square stalks.
- Garro.

[WadePatton]

All true mints have square stalks.
- Garro.

sonofabitch (in tone of amazement)...i picked some last night and had never known about stem cross-section. It's not obvious, but quite distinct as you roll it between your fingers. Thanks Steve!

Methinks this is it: http://www.alchemy-works.com/mentha_arvensis.html


Now what's that clover looking stuff that's purple on the underleaf and tarty? anybuddy?

[steve garro]

sonofabitch (in tone of amazement)...i picked some last night and had never known about stem cross-section. It's not obvious, but quite distinct as you roll it between your fingers. Thanks Steve!

Methinks this is it: Wild Mint Seeds from Alchemy Works - Seeds for Magick Herbs and Pagan Gardens


Now what's that clover looking stuff that's purple on the underleaf and tarty? anybuddy?

:)
I truly do know how to live in the woods……….
Many years I only lived in a house maybe 2/3rds of the year or less.

Got a pic of the mystery plant?

I also worked growing native plants for Flagstaff Native Plant & Seed and used to get paid to collect seeds from remote patches.
Flagstaff Native Plant and Seed – Nursery and Landscaping CompanyFlagstaff Native Plant and Seed

- Garro.

[WadePatton]

Pics later, maybe more than one. Easy as it is to pull up "interenet imageries" sometimes they're all wrong and sometimes yer bro has the scoop without busting keys and guessing.

I REALLY want to learn more local fungi (of course there are dozens and some big ones), but going straight from the books is always scary when liver damage may be a consequence. Rowdy may be my guide there. Morels are darn nearly fool-proof. And yeah, I know the "free-range-psyllis" when i see them. I'm talking chow!

time to fab up something now though.