Wild edible plant foraging

Gardens-in-the-sand was inspired by Friday’s post on wild edible plant foraging around the neighborhood:

http://gardens-in-the-sand.blogspot.com/2013/05/wild-edibles-walk-around-my-yard.html

There are some good points in there. Though we’re in decent shape down here in the south, edible-wise, it would still take some serious searching to get all you needed off wild lands and not end up going Donner. And animal sources of food – like deer – are some of the best you can get. Living on boiled thistle leaves won’t sustain you for long. That said… deer, rabbits, squirrels, etc., would probably disappear quickly in a full-on crisis situation – hence, knowing edible insects and roots is a good idea.

Delicious woodland!

Note: I wouldn’t eat that black and red-orange locust pictured by Gardens-in-the-sand. They’re toxic:

“Adults of eastern lubber grasshoppers possess a variety of abilities to
defend themselves. Their bright color pattern is a warning to
predators that the lubber contains toxic substances. Indeed, there are
several records attributing the demise of individual birds failure to
exercise caution when selecting prey items. Also, small mammals such as opossums have been known to vomit violently after ingesting a lubber, and to remain ill for several hours. However, shrikes are reported to catch and kill lubbers.” (more on lubbers)

I believe all other locusts down here are edible, though. I’ve eaten wild grasshoppers… just never the lubbers. I do like the paper wasp eating idea. Hmm…

Anyhow – that aside – I think doing “wild edible” photo tours is a great idea! So thank you, Gardens-in-the-sand, for the inspiration.

Here’s a Challenge

If anyone posts a “Wild Edible Walk” on their site, let me know and I’ll link to it. Share your pictures and thoughts! Did you try something that was awful? Did you make a salad from Spanish Moss? Got a recipe for whitegrub fritters? Put it in there! (Just try not to poison yourself or your readers.)

Show us what you got!