Edible Food We Found
Foxtail Grass - edible grains can be eaten raw or cooked.
Amaranth - we got some seeds from it (which is used as grain). It's great in stir fries and is easy to prepare. Enya even has a song about it :)
Lambs Quarters - European relative of spinach and beets and can be eater raw or cooked.
Wild Yellow Watercress - similar tasting to regular watercress and just as nutritious too!
Ladies thumb - another edible plant that grows plentifully on the compost heap.
Wood Sorrel 3 leaves shaped like hearts are sour like sorrel, which also grows in my garden
Wild Carrot - smells like a carrot, hairy stalk. Can eat the root and the seeds can be used instead of caraway seeds. More here
Black Locut Tree - Black locust blossoms taste something like sweet peas with a hint of vanilla, and their wonderful aroma and subtle flavor lend themselves magnificently in a variety of dishes
Wild Amenity - can't find any info on it online, so I may have the spelling wrong. It's edible and grows in abundance. It has triangular leaves and sharp stalks and down the middle of the leaf. eat the smaller leaves without much sharp spikes.
White pine -British soldiers made their boats out of them, and it was illegal to cut one down by anyone but the gov. But it's also good for making tea from the needles I hear.
Garlic Mustard - this is the mustard seed pod with edible seeds
Wild Grapes - I think they are the Fox Grape variety, the father of the concord grape that
is very sour and mmm good.
Black Walnuts- taste similar to regular walnuts, but much stronger. I use them in baking banana
oat cookies
Burdock Root - Used in chinese cooking
Also saw some Non -Edible, but useful to know plants
- Common Plantain
- Mug Wort
- Yarrow
- Jewel weed
- Poison Ivy
Philadelphia Inquirer apparently had someone on the tour as well and wrote a nice article about our adventures that day.
It was a very good learning experience, and I had since discovered other wild plants that are edible as well right in my back yard. Wild Purslane - didn't see on the tour but I had seen a recipe, wood sorrel, dandelions. On our stroll through the neighborhood my son and I we also saw some lamb quarters and more wood sorrel. And then I was asked "What's that daddy?" and I didn't know, but I promised to look it up and get back to him.
5 comments:
that is so cool! I've heard of the wildman. How did you manage to get a tour with him?
-barb
It was cool :) But a very hot day to be out. It's actually via the Pennypack Farm Education Program which I am a member of. We have been getting our veggies from there as part of the CSA.
Wildman said Philla is as far as he usually goes, but he may go out further, who knows?
wow - I looked at the picture of ladies' thumb and recognized it instantly! We started composting last year on a patch of our land that was equipment parking by the previous homeowner who was a contractor. This patch is mostly gravel for at least two feet, but every year, the classic prickly weeds have grown every year (I don't know the name of the weed but you know it). Last year we started a compost pile by digging a hole and then placing chicken wire over it. Then, this winter we got a compost bin. I noticed that many of the weeds this year were not the prickly variety but I hadn't thought much about it. It is definitely ladies' thumb. Very hardy.
I'm also a Pennypack member by the way - I found this post through the yahoo group.
Hey Mr. Curious, thanks for that excellent post... it helped me to identify a couple of those edible plants on a walk through Lorimer park last week with my family. My kids were impressed and a bit amazed at just walking along, picking, and snacking. It adds a whole new dimension to the walk in the woods.
That was very interesting. I found you blog from ETL.
Thanks,
Post a Comment