Fall Foods

[Mistwalker]

Autumn is here and Winter is just around the corner. Tomorrow I am going to try to hit the woods and do some foraging. I am by no means a plant I.D. expert, it is something I am still studying and hope to have learned a lot more by next spring so I can see just what all I have been missing.

I live in a primarily deciduous temperate rain forest and I do know some of the things that are available in the woods now and soon. We have lots of walnuts, Hickory nuts, and acorns.

Hickory Nuts

Walnuts

There are lots of tubers, and several species of wild berries here; cherries, June berries...persimmons.
I can only find pics of the cherries though.

we have a lot of wildlife

and along with all the rabbits and deer we also have a lot of squirrels, quail, some grouse, and LOTS of Turkey.


I am very familiar with the Southeast U.S., and while all pics are welcome and I would love to see some from all over, I'd especially like to see pics of what is available in the Autumn in other places like the Northern regions, the Midwest, the desert scrub out west, the North West. What are the natural Autumn foods sources of your areas?

 

[fujita yuji]

Akebia.
for detail, please see wikipedia below
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akebia_quinata

Sometimes hard to find but birds, especially japanese white eye (Zosterops japonics)
often tells the location.
This bird is known for lovely looking and beautiful voice but actually has quite aggressive
temptation and try to get rid of even humans from their favorite food.
They give us conspicuous alarm call if we make approach when they are feeding on these fruit.
But their call is also cute beautiful voice
By this call we can know where these fruit are.

 

[GregY]

I have pokeweed growing very close to my front door. In the other direction, also very close to my front door is something that looks an awful lot like water hemlock.

I'm going to want to seriously work on my identification skills before even thinking about wild edibles.

 

[dipbait]

Oyster mushrooms grow in the fall. Easy to identify. A good tree can yield multiple pounds. They have no poisonous lookalikes. They are a delicacy and grow on dead wood standing or lying. My favorite area to pick them are along the Mississippi. If they are not fresh, I dont fool with them.

 

[Tristan570]

Here in Pennsylvania we have have Hen Of The Woods growing right now. Found about a pound yesterday and I'm heading out to look for some more today.

 

[Mistwalker]

Thanks for joining in guys.

Akebia.
for detail, please see wikipedia below
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akebia_quinata

Sometimes hard to find but birds, especially japanese white eye (Zosterops japonics)
often tells the location.
This bird is known for lovely looking and beautiful voice but actually has quite aggressive
temptation and try to get rid of even humans from their favorite food.
They give us conspicuous alarm call if we make approach when they are feeding on these fruit.
But their call is also cute beautiful voice
By this call we can know where these fruit are.

Wow, cool pictures Fujita thanks for posting them. that's a very unique looking fruit, I'd like to try some one day. Must really be nice to have beautiful song birds to let you know when your close, sounds like hunting for it would make for a very interesting quest. I'd like to see more wild foods from over there.

I have pokeweed growing very close to my front door. In the other direction, also very close to my front door is something that looks an awful lot like water hemlock.

I'm going to want to seriously work on my identification skills before even thinking about wild edibles.

Poke weed is something we have a lot of here. I love poke greens, I pick them for one of my neighbors every year and she fixes some for me. I have had, and do like the taste of fried poke stalks but I have always eaten only small amounts of them. Certain precautions need to be taken with the greens I know for sure...most here thrice boil them...I'm not sure on the stalks as I've only had them a few times and have never cooked them myself.

Oyster mushrooms grow in the fall. Easy to identify. A good tree can yield multiple pounds. They have no poisonous lookalikes. They are a delicacy and grow on dead wood standing or lying. My favorite area to pick them are along the Mississippi. If they are not fresh, I dont fool with them.

I think I know the ones you speak of. Got any pictures? How do you prepare them?

Here in Pennsylvania we have have Hen Of The Woods growing right now. Found about a pound yesterday and I'm heading out to look for some more today.

I've heard people talk about hen of the woods but I've never had it or seen it prepared. How's the flavor compare to other types of mushrooms?




I didn't get out for as long as I meant to today, I saw that my brother was in town and wanted to talk to him about "borrowing" some of the fire brick that were left-over from building his house for another experiment I am working on.

Anyway I did get up on the side of the mountain for a while checking out the Acorn and Walnut harvest. I have been waiting for fall to get here to try my hand at making flour from White Oak acorns and there should be plenty this year.

We have lots of Honeysuckle berries too. These aren't edible by humans but are a big part of the diet of the local bird population...and the birds are edible.

The Walnuts are looking good too. Walnuts are probably my favorite fall treat here in this part of the country. They taste great and can be used to make both green and brown dyes. The green with the outer coating and the brown from "gooey" bit inside the hull close to the shell. Down in Southern Georgia we had Pecans and I do really miss those.

and actually there are several more Walnut trees under hidden that Kudzu. I have been thinking of attacking the base of the vines on and around the Walnut trees.

You can tell looking at the Walnuts that some have been on the ground for a while, they've already darkened. There are even still a few left over from last year.

This is one with the outer hull removed you can see how my fingers are brown at the tips. If I hulled many in a row that stain would stick.

The hulls are still very hard at this point as you can see by the missing bark (one reason I miss the Pecans), and all of the marks made on the shell without cracking it open.

Also right now the nuts are still very "wet" inside and strong tasting, but they sure look good. Soon they will be perfect for some Walnut bread or banana Nut Bread.

 

[fujita yuji]

Those Kudzu root provides good starch.
Collected by crush then precipitate in water, although I've not tried in person.

 

[Mistwalker]

Those Kudzu root provides good starch.
Collected by crush then precipitate in water, although I've not tried in person.

Hmmm never heard that before, I'll look into it. Thanks!

If this is the case then I definitely have my starches covered if TSHTF

 

[dipbait]

Heres a good pic of the oyster mushrooms. Easily identified. I like to slice them, dip in egg then in cracker meal and fry them. The colors Ive found range from white to tan on top with the gills always white.

I dont have one but a cold steel bushman would be the perfect knife for harvesting the oyster ,for they are often out of reach. Tap the knife on a long stick and whack away. Now I have an excuse for a new knife.

Heres a video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc952knbbFI

 

[fujita yuji]

Kudzu starch is highly evaluated here.
Kudzu-Yu is a popular winter drink made of Kudzu starch melted in hot water,
with sugar taste and ginger flavor.

 

[dipbait]

Im off to hunt for some oysters right now.

 

[PayetteRucker]

Steelhead!

 

[tonym]

Great thread Mistwalker! I can't really add to what has been said here as I have about the same plants as you from the looks of things. I was messing with some Black Walnuts on Thursday. While removing the nut from the husk, I got a squirt of juice in my eye. OUCH!!!!! THAT STUFF IS SUPER ACIDIC! It does put a wicked patina on 01! My knife was purple with in seconds.

 

[Mistwalker]

Heres a good pic of the oyster mushrooms. Easily identified. I like to slice them, dip in egg then in cracker meal and fry them. The colors Ive found range from white to tan on top with the gills always white.

I dont have one but a cold steel bushman would be the perfect knife for harvesting the oyster ,for they are often out of reach. Tap the knife on a long stick and whack away. Now I have an excuse for a new knife.

Heres a video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc952knbbFI

Thanks for the video, I know I've seen those before...maybe in the river bottoms where the Willows grow here.

Sounds like as good an excuse as any...lol, better than a lot of them.

Hope you find some and bring back pics.

Kudzu starch is highly evaluated here.
Kudzu-Yu is a popular winter drink made of Kudzu starch melted in hot water,
with sugar taste and ginger flavor.

That definitely sounds interesting, I'll have to look up an actual recipe and give it a shot.

Steelhead!

We used to do a lot of Trout fishing in the brackish waters in Tampa. My favorite ways to eat were cooked over fire on the shore or broiled with butter, lemon, pepper. How do you fix it?

Great thread Mistwalker! I can't really add to what has been said here as I have about the same plants as you from the looks of things. I was messing with some Black Walnuts on Thursday. While removing the nut from the husk, I got a squirt of juice in my eye. OUCH!!!!! THAT STUFF IS SUPER ACIDIC! It does put a wicked patina on 01! My knife was purple with in seconds.

Thanks Tony, glad you like. Feel free to add any pics you'd like man, they're all welcome and I'm having a hard time getting out as much as I'd like right now...first the youngest got sick...now the wife doesn't feel very well so I've been the "nurse" this weekend.

Yes they are pretty acid and why they have such a strong smell and flavor if eaten before they dry out some. We used to use walnut hulls and water to "stain" our steel traps when we first got new ones years ago. We'd put a lot of walnut hull in a bucket with the traps and fill with water and let it sit for a few days stirring now and then.

 

[TheGame]

This is one of the things I have been trying to get better at, and so far these pictures are already helping me out! Great thread, I hope to see more pics of edibles in here.

:thumbup:

 

[Mistwalker]

This is one of the things I have been trying to get better at, and so far these pictures are already helping me out! Great thread, I hope to see more pics of edibles in here.

:thumbup:

Thanks T.G., glad you like the thread. I'm learning too.

I also hope to see more pics from a lot of places.

 

[dipbait]

My short jaunt didnt yield any oysters. I did find a Hen of the Woods and a persimmon tree.

 

[Rockywolf]

Awesome thread. This is why I love this place, its like school with the great teacher you wanted to learn from. Good stuff. Now I need to get myself outside!

 

[Mistwalker]

My short jaunt didnt yield any oysters. I did find a Hen of the Woods and a persimmon tree.

Great pictures! I love persimmons and have been looking for some but I haven't been able to get to back to places on the mountain where I know for a fact there are some. I have been looking in new places closer to home with no luck.

On the oyster mushrooms, do you slice them up like some people do portabellas or do you cook them whole? They look rather large so I'm thinking slices but unsure of how much shrinkage there would be.

Awesome thread. This is why I love this place, its like school with the great teacher you wanted to learn from. Good stuff. Now I need to get myself outside!

Thanks Rocky, glad you like the thread. I started it in hopes of many posting so there should be many teachers in this one

 

[dipbait]

I slice them up and fry them. This year I want to throw some on the grill with butter and garlic. Heard they were good that way.