Some resources for foragers

Back in the early '90s I had a strong interest in Euell Gibbons' writings on edible wild plants and began to wonder about all the nutritous treasures that Nature constantly provides us with, but that Western culture has deemed noxious weeds and uses all manner of poisons to stamp out.

With Spring coming soon, the foraging bug has bitten again. For any FLDGers who may share this pastime, here is an interesting page. There are undoubtledly many such resources available online.

The very weeds that sprout in your lawn, like dandelions and chickory, were purposely brought to the United States by our immigrant forefathers as edible plants.

Italians, along with the Greek and Spanish, are one of the few western cultures that continue to forage for wild food to this day. Any culture which has had to face hunger and famine took to explore the "wild" for edible plants. The Italians, in particular, have a history of foraging that goes back to Roman and, even, Celtic origins.

Edible Weeds - From Your Lawn to Your Table

Thanks for posting this, Paul. I'm always interested in this subject. When I moved to New Mexico one of the most disorienting things was not knowing the native plant life and what was used for what medicinally and culinarily.

I've eaten most of the items listed in the article. My dad has made dandelion wine a time or two.

You know, Cynthia, just the other day I popped over to a local health food outlet and bought some expensive but very pleasant dandelion flower honey. I can actually pick up the characteristic scent of dandelion flowers in the honey. It's way too expensive to use for mead, but that's what I'd make from it if I had access to a larger amount at lower cost.

It's amazing that the dandelion, for example, which is so nutritious and healthy a plant (it contains more vitamin A than the famed carrots we were all taught about) has pretty much become the most detested "weed" of all in much of North American thinking. For those who don't seek to poison it away for "esthetic" considerations (and it's not really about esthetics - it's about visual uniformity, i.e. blades of grass marching in monocultural lock-step ), the plant represents a viable source of nutrition if the knowledge is there. It's that same attitude, I dare say, that seeks to categorize other plants as "better" vs. "worse", when in fact Nature put it all out there and there's good in all of it if one looks for it.

What's most ironic, of course, is that dandelions are so abundant ... yet the varietal honey is so expensive! Something's not right there.

Thanks Paul for this post! I was just thinking about this yesterday. I am a huge forager. Last summer, I did not buy mixed greens or lettuce once. It was amazing how many of my weeds are edible. I have 2 books about it... that is both good:

Edible Wild Plants by Lee Allen Peterson
Edible Wild Plants of Pennsylvania and Neighboring States by Richard J. Medve and Mary Lee Medve

I would love to hear other recommendations for books as well. I was able to identify nearly all of my weeds using these books, but there are still of few I am not certain about.

Two things I plan on doing this yr that I didn't do last yr are 1) Dandelion wine, 2) Stuffed grape leaves.

I made lots of yummy salads, soups, and sautéed greens, along with horseradish and mustard. I'll post some dishes once the weeds start popping up. I would love to hear about other foraging adventures and recipes.

Edited to add: This is a good page too http://foragingpictures.com/#E

I remember when the Burpee seed catalog had a two-page spread on growing dandelions.

I've eaten dandelions and I've also made dandelion wine. Good stuff.