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With many wishing to learn to edibles, I thought I would share the “Big Four” that are found just about everywhere in North America and beyond.
For edible wild plants, it should be noted that many of the books and references out there state a plant is edible or medicinal. That maybe true, but it maybe a certain part collected at specific time of year, and prepared in a certain way. Otherwise, it maybe inert or even poisonous. OR, a book may say “believed to have been used by the Cherokee for…” to reduce the author’s liability. So make sure you know what you are doing.
Taking it a step further, you may see reference that a particular primitive culture used a plant in a medicinal way. Funny thing is different cultures perceive things… well, differently. This maybe an exaggeration, but in some cultures if you go to a medicine man with a headache, he may give you something to make you vomit to forget about your headache. Just food for thought (no pun intended) as you may read about these sorts of things.
So to make things simple, here are the big four edibles with my own personal observations.
BIG FOUR
1. Pinaceace Family – all 2-5 needle pines. You can eat the cambium layer (inner bark) raw as a survival food. Very easy to collect with a sharp knife from a young branch which minimizes damage to the tree. You can eat the pine nuts raw in the fall. The green bud can be eaten raw in spring. You can also make a tea from the needles (make sure they are fresh and remove the fascicles (paper like sheath at the base) ~ simply steep. You can also chew on the needles. It doesn’t get any better than White Pine (Pinus strobus) for all the above and there are additional medicinal values.
2. Quercus spp. – you can eat acorns. Although I have never eaten any from the red oak group, as they are extremely bitter and full of tannic acid, you can eat them from the white oak group. FYI, oaks fall into two groups, red and white, you can find info on this in most tree ID books. Even in the white oak group you will want to follow this process: shell, winnow (remove paper sheath), dice, boil (put acorns in boiling water, do not put in water then boil or they will remain bitter), repeat boiling with fresh water until they taste good ~ this past fall when I did this it was five exchanges of water, most books say a minimum of three. Also, the used water from boiling will be full of tannic acid, which is a great astringent and antiseptic should you need it. Again, all acorns are full of tannins, if you eat many raw, you will get a belly ache. And even though the white oak (group) acorn drops in the Fall, I found many viable chestnut (Quercus prinus) acorns this past weekend, one was even sprouting which could have been picked off and prepared ~ so as a survival food, the acorn may be available for months.
3. Graminaceace Family – grasses are hollow except at the node, they are also rhizomonous and have parallel veins to help with ID. Spring to summer you can chew the leaves and spit out the fiber. Rhizomes too. Late summer to fall ripe seed heads can be pulled off easily. Just winnow and they are ready to eat. Watch out for Ergot which is a fungus that will actually replace a seed (will be larger than the other seeds). Can’t give you a whole lot of personal experience here as I have found other things to eat!
4. Typha spp. – Cattails - you can eat the stalks raw. Grab low and pull the plant out (not much there in winter if anything). Peel the leaves to you reach the center shoot where it would not be touching the water. You will most likely see a clear gelatin like substance as you peel and that it OK!!! In fact that snot-like substance in an analgesic and hemostat. Eat up the stalk until it starts to turn green. In winter, you can eat the rhizomes just make sure you wash off with treated water ~ chew then spit out fiber. Pollen can be made into a flour substitute or used for tinder, or insulation.
Personally, I think plants are what REAL FOOD eats. While it is great to know edibles, it takes a lot of time to be confident outside of these four. For a survival situation, I believe you are better off learning and honing trapping skills. And that comes after you have satisfied shelter, water, and fire. Food is really the least important thing in a short-term survival scenario. In my humble opinion, Plant ID and knowledge is more important for fire, tools, traps (to make & where to set), and shelter than it is for food. Nonetheless, here are some useful links…
http://plants.usda.gov/
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/DENDRO/DENDROLOGY/main.htm
http://www.alabamaplants.com/
http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/Survival/Pages/home.html
https://fp.auburn.edu/sfws/samuelson/dendrology/
http://herb.umd.umich.edu/
Peace, Chris
For edible wild plants, it should be noted that many of the books and references out there state a plant is edible or medicinal. That maybe true, but it maybe a certain part collected at specific time of year, and prepared in a certain way. Otherwise, it maybe inert or even poisonous. OR, a book may say “believed to have been used by the Cherokee for…” to reduce the author’s liability. So make sure you know what you are doing.
Taking it a step further, you may see reference that a particular primitive culture used a plant in a medicinal way. Funny thing is different cultures perceive things… well, differently. This maybe an exaggeration, but in some cultures if you go to a medicine man with a headache, he may give you something to make you vomit to forget about your headache. Just food for thought (no pun intended) as you may read about these sorts of things.
So to make things simple, here are the big four edibles with my own personal observations.
BIG FOUR
1. Pinaceace Family – all 2-5 needle pines. You can eat the cambium layer (inner bark) raw as a survival food. Very easy to collect with a sharp knife from a young branch which minimizes damage to the tree. You can eat the pine nuts raw in the fall. The green bud can be eaten raw in spring. You can also make a tea from the needles (make sure they are fresh and remove the fascicles (paper like sheath at the base) ~ simply steep. You can also chew on the needles. It doesn’t get any better than White Pine (Pinus strobus) for all the above and there are additional medicinal values.
2. Quercus spp. – you can eat acorns. Although I have never eaten any from the red oak group, as they are extremely bitter and full of tannic acid, you can eat them from the white oak group. FYI, oaks fall into two groups, red and white, you can find info on this in most tree ID books. Even in the white oak group you will want to follow this process: shell, winnow (remove paper sheath), dice, boil (put acorns in boiling water, do not put in water then boil or they will remain bitter), repeat boiling with fresh water until they taste good ~ this past fall when I did this it was five exchanges of water, most books say a minimum of three. Also, the used water from boiling will be full of tannic acid, which is a great astringent and antiseptic should you need it. Again, all acorns are full of tannins, if you eat many raw, you will get a belly ache. And even though the white oak (group) acorn drops in the Fall, I found many viable chestnut (Quercus prinus) acorns this past weekend, one was even sprouting which could have been picked off and prepared ~ so as a survival food, the acorn may be available for months.
3. Graminaceace Family – grasses are hollow except at the node, they are also rhizomonous and have parallel veins to help with ID. Spring to summer you can chew the leaves and spit out the fiber. Rhizomes too. Late summer to fall ripe seed heads can be pulled off easily. Just winnow and they are ready to eat. Watch out for Ergot which is a fungus that will actually replace a seed (will be larger than the other seeds). Can’t give you a whole lot of personal experience here as I have found other things to eat!
4. Typha spp. – Cattails - you can eat the stalks raw. Grab low and pull the plant out (not much there in winter if anything). Peel the leaves to you reach the center shoot where it would not be touching the water. You will most likely see a clear gelatin like substance as you peel and that it OK!!! In fact that snot-like substance in an analgesic and hemostat. Eat up the stalk until it starts to turn green. In winter, you can eat the rhizomes just make sure you wash off with treated water ~ chew then spit out fiber. Pollen can be made into a flour substitute or used for tinder, or insulation.
Personally, I think plants are what REAL FOOD eats. While it is great to know edibles, it takes a lot of time to be confident outside of these four. For a survival situation, I believe you are better off learning and honing trapping skills. And that comes after you have satisfied shelter, water, and fire. Food is really the least important thing in a short-term survival scenario. In my humble opinion, Plant ID and knowledge is more important for fire, tools, traps (to make & where to set), and shelter than it is for food. Nonetheless, here are some useful links…
http://plants.usda.gov/
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/DENDRO/DENDROLOGY/main.htm
http://www.alabamaplants.com/
http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/Survival/Pages/home.html
https://fp.auburn.edu/sfws/samuelson/dendrology/
http://herb.umd.umich.edu/
Peace, Chris
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