Here's another installment from Mark Hammar.
When thinking about the edible wild it is important to remember that the foremost authority on the subject, the person that everyone looks to in aw, died from eating something in the
wild that he shouldn’t have. Remember, when in doubt; do without. With this in mind I do have a few things that I will eat in the wild with no fear.
Pine needles - any pine needle, when boiled in water, will make a tea which is a good source of vitamin C.
They also smell nice and taste pretty good. My favorite is made from the needles of the Eastern Hemlock tree.
Just break a stick from the tree with needles and boil the whole thing in the pot of water until it is coloured and tastes to your liking.
Now I know what you’re thinking, isn’t hemlock what killed Socrates. That is the water hemlock which is a plant which grows in creeks.
It provides a particularly nasty death with convulsions and writhing on the floor, but luckily for us it does not look anything like a tree and can’t be confused with one.
Bulrushes & cattails - The next thing to mention are the bulrush & cattail.
These are often called natures grocery store since you can eat every part of it.
The roots, if pulled up, are like potatoes, the pollen in the spring can be used like flour, and the shoots are even edible.
Dandelions - Everyone knows what these look like. The young leaves can be used in a salad.
The older leaves are more bitter, but can be boiled like spinach, and the roots can be
dried and ground to use like a coffee substitute (Yuck -- there should be no
substitute for coffee). This plant is rich in vitamin A.
Puffball - This is the only mushroom I will ever eat from the wild. It is easily identified since it is a large white ball which has no stalk. When they have turned brown they are no longer
edible and will ‘puff’ out a cloud of spores if pressed. The only thing that looks like them is a similar mushroom which has small spikes on the skin.
The latter should not be eaten since it can make you sick. The former though, when cut up and fried in butter, is a great tasting mushroom which tastes kid of sweet.
