- Joined
- Jun 3, 2010
- Messages
- 1,516
I had a break between stormy weather in mid afternoon. Good enough reason for a day hike. Wanted to check out if there were any wild strawberries. Feared I was running late for them. Hopped in the truck packing my camera, PSK, poncho and Nalgene full of ice tea. I am no expert on this topic. Don't eat, rub, burn or jump around in any plant based on an internet thread. If any of my IDs are wrong let me know. Also any medicinal or other claims are to be taken with a grain of salt as I am no MD.
Older growth broad leaf plantains found in the parking lot. I think there are some cordage opportunities with the older plants but never tried that.
The dirt parking lot had much to offer. These young jewel weeds grew on the parking lot edge near a stream. If applied in time it can counteract the effects of poison ivy and has for me reduced skin irritation from a multitude of things.
Speaking of parking I did that under a White pine. There were some violets growing nearby. The flowers are past season but the leaves are still edible. Heard the roots are not edible.
Found these wineberries along the margins of the woods and parking lot. They have a long way to go but once ready they're one of the best wild berries in my neck of the woods. An invasive species that seems to be crowding out native red raspberries which are getting much harder to find.
On the trail to the fields found young broad leaf plantains. A wild edible with medicinal properties.
Young growth.
On the side of the trail in an area exposed to sunlight found some wild carrot. Looks like first year growth.
The tap root or carrot.
It had a strong carrot small but the insides were as white as the outside.
Notice the hair on the queen's legs. This is a good indicator it isn't the deadly poison hemlock. If unsure of the ID keep far away from this wild edible as a mistake could be fatal. I know this is a common saying with wild edibles but poison and water hemlocks are just so deadly and are within the same general family hence the occasional lethal mistake.
Wood sorrel found in the same area as the wild carrots. I really like this stuff. The leaves can be eaten raw. It has a lemon like flavor. They do contain oxalic acid however so does many other plants like spinach which is good enough for Popeye.
Along the margins to the field grows sweet fern which isn't a true fern.
I use it for a smug or crushed up applied to the skin to repel mosquitoes. To be honest repel doesn't seem like an accurate word. If a mosquito finds me they will ignore the sweet fern rubbings. Near as I can tell once generously applied the numbers of bugs seem to drop substantially. As if area location for them becomes harder but not very very near location. There are simply less of them but those very near will still bite. Hard to explain. I am sure someone could find info online disputing these claims. Human observations aren't perfect but still I believe sweet fern helps.
The sun kept dancing among the gathering storm clouds. The mountain laurel are in full bloom. These are NOT edible however they're my State flower.
Looking along the margins of the brush growth I found what at first appeared to be strawberry flowers. This was surprising as it is late in the season.
Upon closer inspection I decided they were really low growth blackberries. There might be another name for them? Here are some flowers from the bush variety growing in the same field.
There always seems to be some red clover growing in a field. Another wild edible. I like to bite off the sweet bottom of the flower cluster. Naturally sweet is a relative term.
Black cap raspberries growing in the shadow of the taller blackberry bushes. These are native and will mature just days before the invasive wineberry. Maybe that is giving them an edge which the red raspberries lack? Who knows......
Multi floral rose flowers. The blackberries and wild strawberries have similar looking flowers. The Indian or wood strawberries have yellow flowers. Not sure why white is so popular? The rose thorns are nasty evil things however the hips makes for a nice tea.
Hiked out just in time as the weather hammer came down. Guessing it is a bad year for strawberries because even my planted ones aren't doing all that well. On the flip side it should be a nice raspberry/blackberry year if we don't have a drought.
Thank for looking.
Older growth broad leaf plantains found in the parking lot. I think there are some cordage opportunities with the older plants but never tried that.
The dirt parking lot had much to offer. These young jewel weeds grew on the parking lot edge near a stream. If applied in time it can counteract the effects of poison ivy and has for me reduced skin irritation from a multitude of things.
Speaking of parking I did that under a White pine. There were some violets growing nearby. The flowers are past season but the leaves are still edible. Heard the roots are not edible.
Found these wineberries along the margins of the woods and parking lot. They have a long way to go but once ready they're one of the best wild berries in my neck of the woods. An invasive species that seems to be crowding out native red raspberries which are getting much harder to find.
On the trail to the fields found young broad leaf plantains. A wild edible with medicinal properties.
Young growth.
On the side of the trail in an area exposed to sunlight found some wild carrot. Looks like first year growth.
The tap root or carrot.
It had a strong carrot small but the insides were as white as the outside.
Notice the hair on the queen's legs. This is a good indicator it isn't the deadly poison hemlock. If unsure of the ID keep far away from this wild edible as a mistake could be fatal. I know this is a common saying with wild edibles but poison and water hemlocks are just so deadly and are within the same general family hence the occasional lethal mistake.
Wood sorrel found in the same area as the wild carrots. I really like this stuff. The leaves can be eaten raw. It has a lemon like flavor. They do contain oxalic acid however so does many other plants like spinach which is good enough for Popeye.
Along the margins to the field grows sweet fern which isn't a true fern.
I use it for a smug or crushed up applied to the skin to repel mosquitoes. To be honest repel doesn't seem like an accurate word. If a mosquito finds me they will ignore the sweet fern rubbings. Near as I can tell once generously applied the numbers of bugs seem to drop substantially. As if area location for them becomes harder but not very very near location. There are simply less of them but those very near will still bite. Hard to explain. I am sure someone could find info online disputing these claims. Human observations aren't perfect but still I believe sweet fern helps.
The sun kept dancing among the gathering storm clouds. The mountain laurel are in full bloom. These are NOT edible however they're my State flower.
Looking along the margins of the brush growth I found what at first appeared to be strawberry flowers. This was surprising as it is late in the season.
Upon closer inspection I decided they were really low growth blackberries. There might be another name for them? Here are some flowers from the bush variety growing in the same field.
There always seems to be some red clover growing in a field. Another wild edible. I like to bite off the sweet bottom of the flower cluster. Naturally sweet is a relative term.
Black cap raspberries growing in the shadow of the taller blackberry bushes. These are native and will mature just days before the invasive wineberry. Maybe that is giving them an edge which the red raspberries lack? Who knows......
Multi floral rose flowers. The blackberries and wild strawberries have similar looking flowers. The Indian or wood strawberries have yellow flowers. Not sure why white is so popular? The rose thorns are nasty evil things however the hips makes for a nice tea.
Hiked out just in time as the weather hammer came down. Guessing it is a bad year for strawberries because even my planted ones aren't doing all that well. On the flip side it should be a nice raspberry/blackberry year if we don't have a drought.
Thank for looking.
