I will be living on only wild edible food that I find in this part of Pennsylvania.  The starting date will be April 17th continuing until May 17th.  On this site I will document the plants that I found, with short videos of their location and their preparation.  Additionally I will allow myself fish and game that I can obtain legally.  Trout season opens here in PA on April 17th.  Spring Gobbler starts May 1st.  Other than that I can only harvest groundhogs.  I have eaten these before and may just pass.

I have decided to start collecting some food early.  Since some delicious spring plants are already available I will go out tomorrow and start gathering.  Officially I will not start living exclusively off of wild plants until April 17th
.

This is my first day.  And it is also the first day of trout season.  I went out to go fishing but found people elbow to elbow at the creek.  I’ll wait until later.  Instead I went out to get my food for today.  The first thing was a snack, since I was already hungry.  Two good candidates were in my current area along Oil Creek.
———————————

First was violets.  They are everywhere.

And they are good eaten raw.  Somewhat similar to alfalfa sprouts.  I made sure to get them from areas away from to dust and fumes of the road.  Also I didn’t want any from an area that might be sprayed with insecticide.  I really should have taken them to the creek and washed them off  first, but I just started chomping away.  Delicious.  And nutritious.  My old buddy, Euell Gibbons (1), called them ‘nature’s vitamins’.  The leaves are high in  vitamin A and the leaves and flowers are high in vitamin C.  I ate plenty of both.

The next thing on the menu was a strange looking plant found all over the area.

As a child I used to think the speckled leaf of this plant was from all the oil underground in the area soaking into them.  But now I know it is just how they look.
The Trout Lily.   These little edibles are one of the first plants to pop up in the spring.  They really don’t taste all that good.  But then again they aren’t bad.  I ate several handfuls.

———————————

After I was full I started collecting foods to take home.

———————————

I decided to get some pokeweed while it was still edible.

Pokeweed is very good until it get 6 inches or so in height.  Then it starts to become poisonous.  The full-grown plants leaves, berries and root are deadly poison.  Even when young the root is still poisonous.  The sprouts should never be cut too close to the root.  In the picture there is a little too much red.  This should be cutoff and discarded.  A little bit of red will cook out after a couple of boils and rinsings.

The final item on todays menu is Winter Cress.

Winter Cress is a member of the mustard family and grows in old fields and pastures.  It’s name refers to it’s strange behavior of popping up before winter ends, sometimes as early as February.  It can be eaten raw if you like the taste of bitter leaves.  Much better cooked like spinach.  The flower tops are somewhat like loosely packed broccoli which eventually open into beautiful yellow flowers.
———————————
Back at home it was time to clean, trim and boil.
I boiled the pokeweed through 3 water changes for about 5 minutes each change. All of the red was cooked out and the shoots were tender. A little salt was all they needed.
I am not getting too fancy with todays meal. Later I will go little more in depth with cooking.
I also boiled the Wintercress for 2 water changes, about 5 minutes each. Just enough to get rid of any bitterness. Salt and pepper (and a little butter…okay I cheated) and they were better than spinach in my opinion. Here they are before boiling.

And here it the complete meal.

The pokeweed is on the left, the wintercress on the right with some violet garnish above. What’s that bamboo looking thing at the top. That is for tomorrow’s post.
By the way, did I mention that it is snowing here today? I think I’ll make some sassafras tea and go to bed. Tell you about that tomorrow too.
I welcome any comments or stories and pictures about your own favorite wild food. The comments are open.

Today I had planned on Dandelions, but the temperature went below freezing last night and they all closed tight.
Instead I went for another common flower that isn’t in bloom yet.
Day Lilies

That’s right. Those orange/yellow/red flowers you see growing all along the roads are edible. From top to bottom.
Before I go any further I was to emphasize that you make CERTAIN you know the plant you are eating. With the Day Lily DO NOT mix it up with the Daffodil which grow in much the same areas. THE DAFFODIL IS POISONOUS.
The best way to identify and be sure is to dig one up. Daffodils have a single BULB, like an onion.

Day Lillies have multiple Tuber, sort of like a potato.

I dug up two shovels of Day Lilies and had more than enough for dinner.
Here are the tubers cleaned and trimmed.

These crunchy little treats can be eaten raw but they are much better cooked.
The shoots can also be eaten.

Later on the flowers can be eaten too. One book says they are good as fritters. When I figure out what that is I might try it. I though it was one of those made-up cartoon words like succotash.
Just to add little variety I also included Dock.

There are several kinds of dock and they are all edible. Some taste better than others. This time I just prepared the leaves. Later on I’ll use the root.

Dock leaves definitely have to be boiled and rinsed several time to try to get rid of the bitterness. Personally I still don’t care for them.
I boiled the Day Lily Tuber in 2 changes of water. (see a pattern here?) Boil them until they are tender, maybe 10 to 15 minutes. I then cooked the shoots like asparagus.
And here was dinner.

That’s the Day Lily shoots at the top. The cooked Day Lily tubers at the right. The Dock at the bottom. And a few raw Day Lily tubers on the left. The Day Lily was delicious. The tubers is almost like little potatoes. I can’t wait to use these in some stew or soups. Having everything plain like this is boring.
Finally, I mentioned Sassafras Tea yesterday.
I am not going to cover recognize it yet. The leaves aren’t out. There are many ways of making it. Everyone has their own ideas. Dried roots. Fresh roots. Whole roots. Just the root bark. But basically I just pull up some small trees, wash the roots very well and chop them up a little. Then boil it for about 10 minutes and let sit for anothe 15 minutes. Times aren’t exact.

Then strain it through some cheese cloth (or white handkerchief).

We’ll come back to this later when the leaves come out for positive identification, although the root beer smell is hard to mistake.

Today was beautiful. A perfect day for dandelions.

If you can’t find any dandelions then wild foods are not for you. They are everywhere. And all parts are edible, although the flower stems are far too bitter to eat. The roots can be boiled, fried or anything else you can imagine. Roast the roots and grind them up and I’m told they make a decent coffee. I’m not a coffee drinker so I don’t know. I do know a decent tea can be made with the flowers and a little honey. Dandelion wine can also be made with the flowers and a lot of sugar. The flowers can also be boiled or stir fried. The leaves can be used for salads or cooked like spinach.
In the comments yesterday Linda recommended tempura for day lily tubers. I haven’t started using external things like tempura yet. I will in May. Right now I’m sticking with only things from the wild. The only exceptions are salt, pepper, oil (including margarine), vinegar and soy sauce. Anyway dandelion flowers, roots and crowns are also very good with tempura batter.
The crown is the part between the root and the top part of the plant. It is one of the best parts of the dandelion in my opinion because it is crunchy and not as bitter as the leaves and stems. But it is very hard to clean.


Today I am not using the roots or leaves. Just the blossoms and crowns. I’ll prepare the rest some other day.
I am going to stir fry both the blossoms and crowns with a little vinegar and soy sauce.
I’ve had some questions about how I am living on the single plate of food I am showing here each day. I am only showing the new items for the day. I am also preparing some other wild foods which I have left over. When I gathered pokeweed I got a lot more than I needed for the day because it doesn’t stay edible for long if it keeps growing. I keep it in the refrigerator and prepare some with my meals. Same with violets. Additionally I have some wild leeks (ramps) which I collected before my first day living on wild food. I use a little of this for extra flavor on some of the more bland greens. I haven’t found any more leeks since I started so I haven’t talked about them.
I am limiting myself to basic wild foods until May 1st. Then I will allow myself to use some other things to prepare the food, such as tempura and maybe eggs. I would get some wild eggs but the Canada Geese make a lot of noise when I get near their nests.
Also on May 1st I hope to add another wild food to my diet.

Mmmmmmm. Turkey soup with Day Lily tubers.
Today I am just having dandelion and one more thing I found.

I’m not sure if a fish that was in a hatchery 3 weeks ago counts as wild, but I’m eating it anyway.

And here it is.

And let me tell you, it was delicious.
By the way. When I say salt I mean Jane’s Krazy Mixed-up Salt. You have to try it. It is at local grocery stores or can be ordered at Amazon here, Jane’s Krazy Mixed-Up Original Salt Blend – 9.5 oz
Enjoy!
And remember, never eat anything that you aren’t absolutely sure is edible. Mushrooms still scare me. And some normally edible foods can even cause reactions in certain people, so start slow. I am not giving detailed descriptions here so make sure you consult another source. That can be a knowledgeable relative or a good book. Several of my favorite books are listed on the right hand side of this page.

Okay. I stole todays title from a chapter in Euell Giibbons book Stalking the Wild Asparagus.
But I don’t know of any other plant that would fit that description better.
Cattails

The cattail can be used for so many thing. It can be made into a substitute for corn on the cob. It can be used as baking flour. The shoots are excellent greens, and much more. That is todays meal. We’ll make the others later in the year so stay tuned.
The shoots are to be picked when they are less than about a foot tall. After that they are still edible, they just start to get tough.
To find the shoots the best thing is to look for the old cattails from last year. They won’t grow for exactly the same spot as the old ones. Cattails grow from rhizomes, which are basically roots that grow horizontally around the swamp and send up shoots where ever God decides they need to go.
The rhizomes are also edible, as is all of the plant. Again we’ll cover that later.
Today we are gathering the shoots. If you have ever slowly pulled up a grass stem to chew on (hence the term Hayseed) and heard the slight snap and squeak it makes as it disconnects from the rest of the plant, you will know how to pick cattail shoots. Normally you want to leave the outside layer of leaves and pull gently on the inside and it will pull out.

The bottom white part is what you want. The farther up the stem you go the tougher and stringier they get. The white part can be eaten right there in the swamp. In fact only about half of what I picked made it home.
When I a cooking them I usually leave a little more green on them to give it more texture, but you can do it to your taste.

I stir fried them in butter and seasoning. They are very good. Better than anything you can get at the grocery store. And they are free!

Again, this is only the beginning for the cattail. If you aren’t failiar with with it’s uses you will be amazed at the thing I do with it later.

Today was supposed to be Wild Leeks or Ramps as they are commonly known. But I had several jobs to do in other areas and decided to come back on the backroads and see if I could find some leeks. Nothing. I found some a couple weeks ago but they are gone. So I was heading home figuring out what else to have. While I was walking from my car to the house my neighbor yelled over, “Do you like Leeks?”. He had just collected a big pile of them. I didn’t say that I had to get the wild foods myself. Sometimes things just work out.
So here they are.

After cleaning them I had this.

That’s about half of what I started with because I was eating them the whole time I was cleaning them.
I didn’t get too fancy with cooking them. The bulbs and stems I stir fried along with some dandelion blossoms. I served them on a bed of leek leaves. I combined the rest of the leaves with some fresh dandelion leaves and made a salad with oil and vinegar.

I know that a lot of people out there have lots of recipes for wild leeks. I be glad to hear about them in the comments. At least locally wild leeks are probably the number one foraged food.
Here’s how to find them, if you can. It seems some people like to keep their leek patches secret. Once you find them there are usually a lot of them in the same area.
The leaves are broad, smooth and light green with white stems often becoming deep purple lower stems. They grow in bunches. You can be sure you have a wild leek by tearing the leave or stem. The oniony smell will be apparent.
For those of you who have never tried them I will try to explain their flavor. I guess it is kind of like a cross between an onion and a garlic but not overpowering with the same crunchiness as green onions.
When they are cooked the flavor is tamed down to a delicious mellow flavor.

Update:
I didn’t mean to make local folks sound selfish keeping their wild leek areas secret. They still share a lot. Just today I have run into 3 people with plastic bags full of leeks. And they all said they were given to them. It seems that leek lovers love to share their delicious find.

Today’s plant is one that most people wouldn’t think of eating. It doesn’t look very appetizing and can be painful to harvest.

The Bull Thistle. You may not recognize this plant this time of year, but it is probably familiar.
Later on it’s flower looks like this:

Today I am going to harvest the stem and the root. The leaves are also edible but I may just pass on them for now. The plant that I found had a decent sized stem. The root is very hard to get because it is what is called a taproot, meaning it grows straight down deep in the ground. In order to get it requires digging and loosening the dirt around the plant without damaging it.
Getting at the crunchy stem is also not easy. Canvass gloves are a must. To clean the leaves off the stem requires first pulling the entire plant. The leaves are cleanedoff by peeling the leaves off the stem from the bottom of the plant working up.
The plant that I found was actually several plants twisted together. The taproots weren’t very big and the stems weren’t very long but they worked for my purpose.

Once the stem is cleaned it can be eaten raw. It is very much like celery only better, I think. It does have strings like celery which get tougher later in the year. That why I decided to cook this now while it was still small and tender. It is still good later, it just might need the strings removed before using to cook with. The stem is even hollow so when chopped up is more like celery.

The root should be peeled. It is very easy to do with your thumbnail and leaves a clean, smooth, tender inside.


The Thistle really is best to use for cooking in other preparations such as soup or salads. Like celery, it really isn’t at it’s best alone, unless you are dieting. But since I am preparing simple meals at this time I just chopped and stir fried it.

Oh. One more thing. I added some leftover leeks. You can never have enough leeks.

A final note on Thistle roots. They contain a lot of inulin (the fiber that the plant stores its energy in instead of starch) that tends to cause an excess buildup of gas during digestion. If you know what I mean.

Friday night I decided to go out into the woods for a couple of days. I will be gather my food and eating it directly. I will have my camera to document the time but I will not have internet access. I will post these days when I return Monday. Please stop back.

Several people have asked what tools I use to gather my wild edibles. It is actually pretty simple. Here are my tools.

If I could only have one tool it would be my Fiskars.

It is pefect for cutting shoots. But if you get one be careful. The outside of the cutters are also very sharp blades. One side is serrated and the other straight. I have little cuts all over my fingers. Don’t loose the carrying case.
Also shown in the photo above is a small shovel for digging roots. A steel shovel with a wooden handle is the only way to go. Even the very best plastic shovels will break.
My all purpose folding knife.
Large storage bags and a good field guide. I only show one filed guide here but I usually have several with. There is always more to learn.
By they way, I have decided to stay in the wild a little longer. It has been cold and wet, but it is great to be outdoors.

I stayed out in the woods for several days. Much of the food I consumed was already covered here. Mainly because I have covered most of my favorites for this time of year. There were also some new plants to describe. Here is a buffet table while camping.

We’ll start with the familiar ones.



Each of these was prepared basically the same way they were earlier with one difference.

Only one pan over an open fire.

Now for some new food.
Ranking right up there with Wild Leeks as the most popular local, foraged food is this common site along creeks and swamps.

American Cowslips or Marsh Marigold. In fact they are neither cowslips nor marigolds. I use the term American Cowslip to differentiate from the Cowslip in England, which is part of the primrose family. American Cowslips are found all over the world but outside the Appalachian areas of the US they are mainly called Marsh Marigolds. For this writing I will use the simple, local term Cowslip.

Once you have found Cowslips you will always remember them. They are easily recognized, even before their five-sided yellow flowers appear. I have waited until now for the flowers to appear to help people identify them. Many of you have already been eating the leaves for weeks.
They can be prepared in many ways. I have found locally most people use them in soups, or steamed. One note, that does get some arguments at times. They should not be eaten raw. There is a toxin in them which can build up over time if eaten raw. Even a quick steaming breaks down this toxin. I have spoken to people who say it is not poisonous and they eat them raw. To each his own. But I am just warning the beginners. I have heard that some people can even build up an immunity to Poison Ivy by consuming a little, tiny bit each day an slowly increasing the amount. As someone who has had some bad cases of Poison Ivy I would not put any in my mouth, even for scientific study. Like this, maybe some people can just tolerate the toxin in Cowslip. Me, if the guide book says boil and drain a certain plant two times I will probably boil and drain three time.
By the way the name is not cows lip, like the facial area of a cow. It is much worse. It comes from the fact that the English primrose version would commonly grow in pastures. The word cowslip is a form of the old English word “Cu-sloppe” or Cow-slyppe. This refers to it growing along with the other “pasture patties” or “meadow muffins” if you know what I mean. Kind of makes Marsh Marigold sound more attractive.

The next plant isn’t very popular but is very common in swamps and wet woods in the eastern US. It is the Cuckoo Flower.

The Cuckoo-Flower or Lady’s-Smock as it is also known doesn’t look much like a plant you would want to eat. It isn’t great by itself but adds a nice pungent flavor to salads or soups. It can be eaten raw. It can be recognized by the 4 petaled white-to-pinkish flowers alternating on a long slender stem. It is the leaves that give it away. The bottom leaves are rounded, growing in opposite clusters. At the top of the plant the leaves get very narrow, almost looking like needles.

The area doesn’t have to be very wet for these to grow. I found them along a hiking trail through a damp forest.

That is probably enough edible foods for today. Tomorrow I will cover fern fiddleheads. Which ones are edible and which ones aren’t. Actually they all are Edible, just not all are Eatable, if you know what I mean. Which brings me to todays non-Eatable plant.

Probably no other plant gets talked about as being edible, with so few people actually trying it. I have tried it in probably every way imaginable. Double, triple, quadruple boiled. Dried and crushed and boiled into a paste. Dried or fried roots. New shoots. And I am hereby declaring it NOT EATABLE. Unless of course you like your meals served on the north end of a southbound skunk. And you like a very disturbing burning sensation on your lips, mouth and throat. Skunk Cabbage contains a lot of oxalic crystals which causes this burning sensation and can even cause serious digestive problems. Imagine the burning and tingling of sharp oxalic crystals all the way through your intestines. Completely drying and crushing is supposed to break up these crystals. I haven’t been able to do it. Some say it would be a good survival food because it is so plentiful. The amount of work it takes to make it edible counteracts any nutritional benefit. My recommendation. Leave it alone.
Not wanting to end todays posting with that memory in my mouth I will add one more, much more palatable, plant.

Whether it is called wintergreen, teaberry, boxberry, checkerberry, spiceberry, partridgeberry or any number of other names it is the same.
I prefer teaberry. This very low lying shrub can be found all year. In fact the berries can be found throughout the winter. The plant in this picture was just photographed with the berry still attached. That is rare this time of year but not unknown. It is hard to confuse with any other plant. Some may look like it but all you have to do is crush the leaves in your hand and you will recognize the wintergreen scent. It does make a decent tea, but I prefer just munching on the berries, or even the leaves, as I walk through the woods. I usually don’t have enough left to make tea by the time I get home.

Today was supposed to be fern fiddleheads. But after checking my Ostrich Fern locations I realized it is still a little early. The Ostrich Fern is the main edible fern but is a late bloomer compared to the cinnamon, interrupted and bracken ferns. Maybe next week.
So today I am grazing.
That means gathering and eating things as I go. No cooking.
I mentioned above that I was checking my fern location. I am referring to a map I have created showing where certain plants are located. Things such as fern and pokeweed are easier to recognize later in the summer. So I marked the places I found them last year.
Today I found a perfect grazing plant.

Cleavers or Goosegrass. Cleavers are easily identified. In the picture that is Wally and The Beav on the left. Just kidding.

Cleavers are spindly with whorls of narrow leaves arranged around the main stem. The stem is covered with small hooked hairs that make the plant stick onto clothing, animals and each other. But these hooked hairs don’t interfere with chewing them. They are not sharp. They can be picked and eaten right where they grow. Of course if they are growing along a trail you may want to wash them first. Dogs go everwhere.

For those of you old enough to remember there used to a Grape Nuts commercial with author and wild food expert Euell Gibbons asking “Did you ever eat a pine tree? Many parts are edible.” Well, I’m not going to eat a whole tree but I am covering some of the food that pine trees can provide.
First let specify what a pine tree is. There are many trees in the pine family which aren’t true pines. Generally the other trees are Spruce, Firs or Hemlocks. While many of these other trees are also edible I am focusing on the Pine.
Pine trees have needles in cluster of 2 to 5 such as this white pine with 5 needles per cluster.

Spruce and Fir have their needles attached individually to the branches and branchlets.

I am going to use the White Pine since it so easily identified with it’s cluster of 5 needles, and it tastes the best.
Probably the best atsting part of a pine is the catkins.

Catkins are actually the male cone or staminate.These are highly nutritious and can be eaten raw. But they are much better cooked with other items or even better, candied. I will be making candied catkins next week when I start using other than wild items to prepare my wild meals.
The young shoots at the ends of the tree can also be eaten if gathered before they become woody.
The tender bark of the white pine can be chewed for energy and flavor.
I will finish todays forage into pines with one of the easiest to prepare.
Pine needle tea. Simply gather the newest and tenderest needles, boil and strain. You will probably want to sweeten it a little or you might get the impression you are drinking the water from the Christmas Tree stand.
The needles can also be gathered and dried for storage, to make tea anytime, without having to go out in the snow.

I tried for a while this morning but I still don’t have any real wild meat for my meals. Luckily I am still catching fish.
I would like to show an extremely common plant along our roadways.

The Coltsfoot is a very early spring bloomer. It’s yellow flower looks a lot like a dandelion but the stem is different. The stem has what appears to be scales on it.

Coltsfoot is not so much an edible plant as it is a medicinal plant. It has been known for centuries as an excellent cough suppressant.
I am showing it now since the flower stalks will soon disappear and then the leaves will appear. This apparently backwards way of growing the flower before the leaves gives it it’s Latin name meaning “the son before the father”. This was also the name the American Indians gave it. The name Coltsfoot comes from the hoof shaped leaves that appear later. The leaves are the main part that is used for cough and have been made into cough drops, syrup and even smoked for throat and lung ailments.
While this remedy has been used for years it should be noted that some studies have shown that Coltsfoot can cause cancer and should be used sparingly. I will talk later about the leaves when they appear, but for now mark the areas that you see them. It makes them easier to find later.

May Flowers.
And we all know what Mayflowers bring….

.

.

.

No not that!!!
It brings easy to identify plants.
Now it is going to get good!
But for today I am eating a tree in my yard.  No, not another pine.
This is one most people wouldn’t think of eating.

The Linden Tree, also known as a Basswood.  I think they might be different trees but they look and taste close enough that I don’t worry about it.

This tree is actually my daughters.  She planted years ago in 4th grade.  So if she reads this I want  assure her I am not eating the whole tree.  Just the new sprouting leaves that I would normally trim away.
Believe it or not the fresh green shoots and leaves are really pretty good.  They make great salads.  It is already past the budding season but the buds are even better tasting. The flowers can be boiled to make a tea.
So take a look out in the yard and have a snack.

I know.  I haven’t posted in a few days.  I have been busy with my “day job”.  I’ll try to catch up.

Today I am eating Sorrels.
There are several kinds of sorrels. I will cover the 2 most common. And although these are both called sorrels and taste very similar they are not related.
First is the Sheep Sorrel also called Common Sorrel.

Sheep Sorrel should be very familiar to anyone with a yard. It is that arrowhead shaped leaf that many people try to kill instead of eating it.

Because someone might have sprayed the area with weed killer be careful where you gather these. After an area is sprayed these are some of the first to grow back and could be toxic. Once are sure you have the right plant from a clean location, pick a leaf and nibble on it. It will be sour. These leaf are delicious. But the sour is from mild oxalic crystals which can cause digestive problem if consumed in large quantities. I have eaten a lot of these and never had problems, but some people are different. Start out slow. They can also be boiled. In fact if you boil a large amount save the water by straining out the leaves. Chill it and it is a refreshing drink.
The next sorrel will usually be found in the same area as Sheep Sorrel.

No, it’s not a shamrock or a clover. It is Wood Sorrel also known as Common Wood-Sorrel.
The heart-shaped leaves of three do look like a shamrock and they are commonly called that but they aren’t related. I grew up calling it sour grass. They were nice to chew on while baling hay. The sourness helped keep my mouth wet with all the heat and dust.

The Wood-Sorrel can be used just like the Sheep Sorrel. The same warnings apply. I have found that usually the Wood-Sorrel is a little more sour than Sheep Sorrel. Both Sorrels are excellent when added to other salads, especially if you don’t have vinegar.

I have gone back to a few of the previous plants. Some of them have changed significantly.

The leaves of the Coltsfoot have arrived. These hoof-shaped leaves give it it’s name. The dandelion-like flowers are all but gone.

Cleavers have grown much bigger and thicker. Now the tiny white flowers can be seen.

Now for some new plants.
This plant may be recognized from it’s domestic counterpart.

The Wild Carrot has the definite carrot smell, but the edible root is much tougher and fibrous. They are tenderest this time of year. The best way to enjoy them is to peel the tough outside off and eat the more tender inner root. Later in thee year the plant will grow much taller and develop clusters of white flowers. It is from these flowers the plants other common name is derived. Queen Anne’s Lace. There are some poisonous look-a-likes at this point, including the deadly Hemlock. But the carroty smell makes it easy to distinguish.

Next is the Great Mullein.

Also known as Common Mullein or Velvet Dock.
This photo is of the first year rosette. These leaves will remain through the winter and next year will grow much taller with a center flowering stalk.
Mullein can be eaten but it is much more used as a medicinal herb. The Amish are known to use the dried leaves as a type of tobacco to smoke to relieve asthma, usually mixed with jimson weed. Euell Gibbons stated that the American Indians smoked dried mullein to correct mild mental disorders, such as bad thought or foul language.
Mullein flower have been used for centuries as a treatment for ear aches. The flowers are made into an oil by soaking them in olive oil in the bright sunlight for 3 weeks. The resulting oil was strained an drops put in the ears. It was also used for frostbite.

Today I want to talk about some common plants that you should not eat.

I’ll start with an extremely common flower.

The buttercup is a pretty little flower, but contain an acid which can cause serious digestive problems. In fact the acid can also affect the skin if rubbed on it, hence the old childhood game of “buttercup, buttercup” held up to the chin.
Another common plant in this area is Fleabane. If the the name is not familiar to you it’s picture probably will be.

Common Fleabane or Philadelphia Fleabane is a very common roadside or yard weed. Although it is not edible it is not without its uses. As the name implies it is a somewhat effective insect repellent. Crush the leaves and flowers and rub it on your skin. If it works good enough for you maybe you can quit buying Off or Cutters.

Today’s subject has to be the absolute most common “weed” in Pennsylvania. The variety of grasses.

The seeds of grasses include such common items as wheat, oats, barley and rice. It is still a bit early for harvesting the grains but I wanted to cover the uses of grasses including, surprisingly, crabgrass.
The seeds and seed stalks are mainly what we want. Although the grass leaves are edible they are to hard for us digest. Cows have 4 stomachs and can re-chew their food so this allows them to convert the grasses into juicy steaks.
The most common way of using almost every grass is drying and gring into flour. For making flour you can also use a lot of the stem. As author Linda Runyon says, “it’s all food”.
A little extra fiber won’t hurt you.

I’ve been eating Dandelians, Day Lilies, Trout Lilies.
Today is another pretty flower that is edible.

Locally I have found Trillium in two flavors. White and Red.

There is probably several other colors. All parts are edible.
This flower is almost too pretty to eat. In fact sometimes it grows in small isolated patches. Unless you are starving you should only pick trillium when it is in large bunches so you don’t destroy the patch.

From what I have seen locally there isn’t much danger of wiping them out.

I have concluded the diet of purely wild foods. Believe it or not I didn’t really lose weight. Must be the butter and grease I used for cooking and flavor.
I will say that it was enjoyable living off the land, but . . . I really did miss some of my favorite foods. I tried to make up for it by eating more of what I did have. I love pasta and cheese. I may be able to come up with a kind of wild pasta but I don’t think I can find wild milk to make some cheese.
I must admit I did get a little bored eating much the same things during the month. This was why I didn’t always post. Many times it was just more of the same. There are only so many plants in season (at least the ones I know) for one month. I tried to pick a good time of year. There are just a lot of things that did not come in season.
Things such as Sumac-ade and Cattail-on-the-cob. And remember the world of acorns and nuts. Not to mention the grains that ripen to make flour. Bread and hotcakes would be nice and I definitely want to try making wild grain bread.
And berries have not even begun to appear yet.

I hope you will stay with me as I continue to explore the wild edibles out there.

PS: Anyone who is familiar with mushrooms and is looking for a mushrooming partner, please let me know. I am not comfortable picking mushrooms without someone who knows what they are doing.
Also, I am planning a foraging outing to be open to anyone interested in learning or sharing their knowledge.
It will change the way you see the roadside weeds. The more you learn more it feels like you’re driving down a grocery store aisle.