wild growing foods

[nik4411]

so i was watching bizarre foods yesterday, the show hosted by Andrew Zimmerman. i really enjoy his show. well this particular episode he was visiting the Appalachian mountains. for part of it, he was hanging with a man who picked wild mushrooms to eat. not the hallucinogenic kind. it was pretty cool. there were several different types, a sweet one, some that were huge and tasted kinda like steak, one that looked like wood that they ground up and made a sort of coffee. etc.

so i was wondering, is there anyone here who does that sort of thing? not only mushrooms, but I've heard before that you can find asparagus growing wild. does anyone eat poke salad? or any other wild growing foods? I'm curious about this sort of stuff. my grandmother has always told me about poke salad, and boiling it like cabbage.

[lasomeday]

There is a weed in my yard called Lamb's Quarters (Chenopodium album)that I put in salad's. One of my old professors told me about it. I forgot the name of it, but the leaves taste kind of nutty and good. I put it on sandwiches too. It is supposed to have a lot of vitamins. It is pretty common in OKC, so you might have some growing in your neighborhood.




People also eat dandelion leaves. I hear they are bitter.

[nik4411]

thanks for your input. lamb's quaters huh. going to look that up now

[Euphoria]

Boil polk twice before you eat it. Also only pick the most tender shoots, the bigger the plant the tougher it gets.

I'm also not a big fan of mushrooms but I have been known to hunt morels from time to time. Lightly saute them with a little butter.

If you happen to be in southeastern oklahoma try the fruit of the prickly pear cactus if you get the chance. You have to peel it first though My boss makes a melomel out of them that's apparently really great, he hasn't shared
yet though.

Finally, my grandfather would often prepare jerusalem artichoke. It tastes pretty good but absolutely tears up my stomach (and his too, but he didn't care).

[FFLady]

Wild Onions!! And they are very tasty. They general grow around the river banks. Some of the NDN Church's around here will have a wild onion dinner, for a benefit dinner. If you ever get the chance, go check it out. Good eats, Maynard!

[rcjunkie]

Wild Onions!! And they are very tasty. They general grow around the river banks. Some of the NDN Church's around here will have a wild onion dinner, for a benefit dinner. If you ever get the chance, go check it out. Good eats, Maynard!

I agree, my Grandmother use to make a wild onion soup that was delicious. I've picked a few and tried making the soup, but no one can cook like Grandma can, God Rest Her Soul!

[Dustin]

spearmint grows wild in my backyard.. Unusual?

[nik4411]

im not sure if thats unusual, but it sounds cool. do you use it?

[jstanthrnme]

The first thing that comes to mind for me would be sand plums. Easily to identify, and common in NW Oklahoma. Another one is Purple Poppy Mallow which has a small purple cup shaped flower, about the size of a quarter. The root is the edible part of this one, and it is a starchy, potato-like tuber. All parts of cattails are edible, but its said the springtime shoots are the best.

Lets not forget the obvious either, pecans, and for the brave soul, honey.

Those are the ones that I can think of, but there are sooo many more.

[Wambo36]

Boil polk twice before you eat it. Also only pick the most tender shoots, the bigger the plant the tougher it gets.

I had an aunt who would cook it for us when I was a kid. She had the boil twice rule and then she would give it a quick fry in some bacon drippings. She would send us out to gather it before the berries turned red. She said if the berries had already turned, it wouldn't be any good to eat. I guess that's to make sure you get the young plants.

We also used to dig up sasafrass(sp?) root and make a root beer like tea from it.

[FFLady]

I love sasafras tea!!!!!

[nik4411]

thank you all for your input. i am definitely going to look into everything that has been mentioned here. still, no mushroom hunters here?

[lasomeday]

I have gone mushroom hunting before, but I did it with mushroom specialists. We gather oyster mushrooms. We were in Oregon. They were so delicious!

There are clubs that go mushroom hunting in Southeast Oklahoma. Fall is the best time to go mushroom hunting, or a week after a good rain.