Be certain to consult a professional (or a really good field guide) in order to positively identify this plant before trying this for yourself. The owners of this site will not be held responsible for any lapses in judgment or stupidity when handling or consuming wild plants.

Milkweed is one of those plants that I have fond memories for. As a young boy I used to love opening the late summer seed pods to feel the silky soft down inside and watch the wind catch it as I would toss one after the other in the air. I’m sure I was the bane of the nearby farmer since a good amount of the seed would land on his fields.

In my late teens and early 20s, when I was big into practicing wilderness survival skills, I would often use the outer fibers on the stalk to make a serviceable cordage (I still enjoy doing this) and I learned to use the seed down but it wasn’t until I was a bit older that I learned how wonderful this plant is as a wild edible.

I always knew it was edible, however I never bothered trying it since all the books I had read on the plant indicated that to render this plant palatable, it required multiple (three or more) boilings in order to remove the toxins and “bitter” taste. Given that there were so many other wild plants I enjoyed eating, I never bothered with this one. This all changed when I read Samuel Thayer’s book called The Forager’s Harvest.

Through his own experiences, Samuel learned that many of the wild-foods books that are out there were just parroting what others were saying, which is that Milkweed is a very bitter plant that requires multiple boilings to get rid of. This appears not to be the case. I was also able to confirm this (by trying milkweed raw) that it is not bitter at all, but is in fact slightly sweet. Given this new perspective, I was excited to learn about how to prepare and eat this plant. Here’s how to do just that:

How to Identify Common Milkweed

The first step before eating any wild edible is to positively identify it. Since Common Milkweed has some poisonous look-alikes (dogbane and butterfly-weed), it’s very important you learn to positively identify this plant before attempting to consume it. Here are some key items to look for in order to positively identify Common Milkweed:

	Leaves Opposite: Leaves grow in opposite pairs along the stalk. Generally are 4-9 inches (10-23 cm) long and 2-4 inches (5-10 cm) wide. Oblong or ovate in shape with smooth margins. Thick, meaty leaves — not succulent.
	Velvet “fuzz”: (hard to see in the picture) The entire plant is covered in a light pubescence giving it a soft, velvety feel (dogbane on the other hand lacks this throughout the plant).
	Exudes Latex when Broken: If you break the leaves, petioles, or stalk it will exude a large amount of white, milky latex.
	Flavor is Slightly Sweet: If a small tongue-taste reveals that the plant is bitter, it is not Common Milkweed!

How to Eat Common Milkweed

Variety of Foods in Common Milkweed

Common Milkweed is similar to cattail in that there is such a variety of different foods to eat during the various seasons (except winter)t. The parts of the plant that are all delicious are the following:

• Shoots and new growth stalks
• Young leaves
• Flower buds and flowers
• Immature seed pods and silk

In the following picture you can see most of the above foods except the shoots (found in late spring where I live) and silk (mid to late summer). In the next section I’ll demonstrate how I process these into a delicious and healthy meal.

How to Prepare Common Milkweed

The four ways I like to prepare Common Milkweed is: boiling, frying, and fritters. Here’s some examples from the above milkweed parts that I recently harvested:

Flower Buds and Flowers

There are two ways I like to eat the flowers (3 if you count raw): par-boiling and fritters. For both preparations I’ll par-boil the flowers for about 3 minutes (multiple changes are not necessary):

For half of the bunch, I’ll put a little bit of butter and salt on them and the other half I’ll dip them in a flour and egg batter and fry them to make fritters (they are fantastic with a little bit of honey):

The flower buds and flowers are also excellent in soups.

Young Leaves

The young leaves found on the top portion of the plant can be boiled (only once is required), but I prefer to cook them in a bit of olive oil. They come out crispy and very tasty with an excellent earthy flavor:

Immature Seed Pods

You’ll want to gather the immature seed pods when they are around 1.5 inches or smaller. Here is a picture of some 1/2 inch pods on a plant:

These are excellent boiled or fried. To boil, cook them in boiling water for about 5-7 minutes:

Shoots and New Growth Stalk

Since I gathered these in the Summer, I couldn’t demonstrate the new shoots being prepared. The shoots appear in late spring and are excellent when prepared like Asparagus (cook for around 20 minutes).

If you love the taste of the shoots, you can get a similar taste during the summer by picking off the new growth (be sure to keep the leaves as they are excellent as well) and boiling them for about 10 minutes. Here’s a photo of me pointing that out:

Conclusion

Milkweed is an often ignored wild edible due to the misconceptions that are still out there regarding this plant. This is one that is definitely worth your while to learn to harvest since it is so prolific and provides an amazing food source throughout most of the year.

Here’s a great meal: Boiled flowers with butter and salt, milkweed fritters w/ honey, fried and boiled seed pods and young-leaf stir-fry. Filling and fantastic, Bon Appetit!

Be certain to consult a professional (or a really good field guide) in order to positively identify this plant before trying this for yourself. The owners of this site will not be held responsible for any lapses in judgment or stupidity when handling or consuming wild plants.

In one of my earlier articles on wild edibles I wrote about how to make sumac lemonade from the Staghorn (or Smooth) Sumac. In this post I want to share another food source from this wonderful plant – the peeled shoots.

How to Identify Staghorn or Smooth Sumac

The first step before eating any wild edible is to positively identify it. Here are the four key items to look for in order to positively identify staghorn and smooth sumac (taken from my previous article):

1. Compound Toothed Leaves: Both species have pinnately compound leaves with serrated edges.
2. Unique Stems and Twigs: Staghorn sumac has velvet (hairy) twigs and smooth sumac has no hair but instead a fine white powder that is easily removed when touched.
   

   Staghorn

   Smooth

3. Red Fruit Clusters: Since poison sumac has white berries (green early in the season), if you see the red one’s you’re safe. See the following pictures of the two varieties.
   

   Staghorn Fruit

   Smooth Sumac Fruit

4. Milky Sap: Both varieties exude a milky sap when broken

Just to see the contrast, here’s a picture of poison sumac fruit cluster and leaves (notice they are smooth and not serrated). Stay away from this plant:

How to Eat Sumac Shoots

Most wild-edible foragers are familiar with using sumac for the lemonade-like beverage you can make from it, however few know about the other important edible it provides: the peeled shoots.

I first learned of eating sumac shoots from Samuel Thayer’s wonderful book, The Forager’s Harvest (highly recommended btw). From his book,

Sumac shoots are largest and best in their first year growing as suckers or stump sprouts, but you can also collect the tips of the branches from older plants. The portion of the new growth that bends and snaps easily will make a good vegetable. (Examine the thick end of the shoot to see if it has developed noticeable, light-colored pith. If it has, that part is too old; break off a few inches until the shoot is solid and opaque green all the way through.)

	Here’s a picture of the new growth that appears on the end of an older sumac plant. The newer growth (in staghorn sumac) will have little hairs whereas the old growth will be woody (not seen in photo).
	If you break open the new growth you’ll see a solid green green center all the way through. This is the part you want to eat.
	If you break open the new growth and see a white pithy center, then it is too old and you’ll want to work your way toward the end of the branch until it is solid green.
	After you’ve broken off your pieces of solid new growth, begin preparing it for eating by peeling the bitter, tender bark. It should peel away almost effortlessly.
	Now that you’ve collected a decent amount, you can eat them raw (very tasty) or cook them up and enjoy!

Unfortunately there is no clearcut answer for this since it’s highly dependent upon where you live. But if I would boil it down to the top 50 essential wild edible, tea, and medicinal plants that occur in most areas of the northern hemisphere this would be the list:

Note: I’ve added links to the plants which I’ve covered in detail on this site on how to identify, prepare, and use for food or medicine. Bookmark this page since these links will continue to grow as I demonstrate the uses of these plants in upcoming articles.

50 Essential Wild-Edible, Tea, and Medicinal Plants

1. Amaranth/Pigweed (Amaranthus) – Food
2. Arrowhead/Wapato (Sagittaria L.) – Food
3. Balsam Fir (Abies balsamia) – Food
4. Blackberry (Rubus L.) – Food
5. Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve) – Food
6. Blueberries (Vaccinium L.) – Food
7. Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum) – Food
8. Burdock (Arctium lappa) – Food
9. Bulrushes (Schoenoplectus L.) – Food
10. Bur-Reed (Sparganium L.) – Food
11. Birch (White) (Betula pendula) – Food, Drink
12. Catnip (Nepeta L.) – Medicine
13. Cattail (Typha L.) – Food
14. Chamomile (Anthemis L.) – Tea
15. Chicory (Cichorium L.) – Food
16. Clover (Trifolium pratense L. and Trifolium repens L.) – Food
17. Curly Dock (Rumex crispus L.) – Food
18. Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) – Food
19. Daylily (Hemerocallis L.) – Food
20. Elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) – Food
21. False Solomon Seal / Treacleberry (Maianthemum racemosum) – Medicine
22. Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) – Food
23. Goldenrod (Solidago L.) – Tea
24. Heal-All (Stachys L.) – Medicine
25. Japanese Knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum) – Food, Medicine
26. Lambsquarters (Chenopodium album L.) – Food
27. Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) – Tea
28. Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca L.) – Food
29. Mints (Mentha L.) – Tea
30. Mullein (Verbascum thapsus L.) – Medicine
31. Mustard (Sinapis L.) – Food
32. Oak (acorns) (Quercus L.) – Food
33. Pine (Pinus L.) – Food
34. Plantain (Plantago L.) – Food
35. Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) – Food
36. Queen Anne’s Lace / Wild Carrot (Daucus carota L.) – Food
37. Rose Hips (Rosa L.) – Food
38. Sheep’s Sorrel (Rumex acetosella L.) – Food
39. Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica L.) – Food
40. Sumac (Rhus typhina L. and Rhus glabra L.) – Food
41. Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) – Medicine
42. Thistle (Cirsium L.) – Food, Medicine
43. Violet (Viola L.) – Food
44. Weeping Willow (Salix babylonica) – Medicine
45. Wild Lettuce (Lactuca L.) – Food
46. Wild Leek (Allium tricoccum) – Food
47. Wild Rice (Zizania L.) – Food
48. Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) – Food
49. Wood Sorrel (Oxalis L.) – Food
50. Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) – Tea, Medicine

Most Common Places to Find these Plants

ROADSIDES

• Chicory
• Curly Dock
• Daylily
• Elderberry
• Fireweed
• Japanese Knotweed
• Meadowsweet
• Milkweed
• Mullein
• Queen Anne’s Lace
• Yarrow

WOODS

• Balsam Fir
• Blue Aster
• Bracken Fern
• Oak (acorns)
• Pine
• White Birch
• Wood Sorrel

BROOK AREAS OR SWAMPS

• Arrowhead/Wapato
• Bullrushes
• Bur-Reed
• Cattail
• False Solomn’s Seal
• Weeping Willow
• Wild Rice

FIELDS, LAWNS and GARDENS

• Amaranth
• Blackberries
• Blueberries
• Burdock
• Catnip
• Chamomile
• Dandelion
• Daylily
• Field Sorrel
• Goldenrod
• Heal-All
• Lamb’s Quarters
• Mint
• Mustard
• Plantain
• Purslane
• Raspberries
• Red & White Clover
• Rose Hips
• Sumac
• Strawberry
• Tansy
• Thistle
• Wild Lettuce

Some Helpful Hints on Identifying and Getting Started

Be sure to check out my article on How to Identify Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants for some helpful tips and recommended resources in getting you started.

Be certain to consult a professional (or a really good field guide) in order to positively identify this plant before trying this for yourself. The owners of this site will not be held responsible for any lapses in judgment or stupidity when handling or consuming wild plants.

Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) is one of those plants you’ve probably seen a hundred times but haven’t realized it.

A native to southeast Asia, it was introduced to the United States in the late 1800s as an ornamental and has since become one of the most invasive plants in the United States, quickly spreading across to more than 40 of the 50 states. It’s root system is so invasive and strong that it can damage foundations, buildings, flood defenses, roads and so on.

Despite its bad rap, Japanese Knotweed is a great source of food and medicine and one of my favorite wild edibles in the early Spring. And since it is an invasive species, you don’t feel bad about over-harvesting it. In this post I’ll explain how to identify and harvest Japanese Knotweed and how to make a simple but delicious recipe from your foraging.

How to Identify Japanese Knotweed

The problem with Japanese Knotweed is that once you typically notice it, it is usually too late to harvest for food. In early spring, it starts out as a humble shoot that quickly grows (over an inch a day!) into a mature plant reaching upwards of 10 feet high.

Although the time to eat it is in the early spring before it begins to turn woody (under 12 inches), you’ll want to be able to identify it during its later stages of growth as well so that the next year you can return in the early spring and harvest it.

Spring Identification

Spring is the time you should be on the lookout for this plant. Here’s what to look for:

	In the early spring red/purple mottled green shoots appear from the ground and grow rapidly forming canes. This is the ideal time to harvest the Japanese Knotweed shoots. You’re looking for 6 inches or less.
	Late spring shoots with initial branching. You can still harvest the plant at this point as long as it is under a foot. At this stage you’ll need to peel them before consuming, since the outside has begun to get more fibrous.

Summer/Fall Identification

By summer this plant has grown to its full size. Since it typically grows from a networked root system, all of the individual mature plants form what appears to be a large shrub:

	Here’s a good example of how the knotweed comes to form what looks like a large shrub.
	Bamboo-like canes.
	Shield shaped leaves that are aligned in an alternate pattern.
	In the late summer you’ll also begin to see the flower growth.

Late Fall/Winter

During late fall and winter the knotweed’s energy will begin to travel back into the root system in preparation for the winter time. During this time the leaves fall and the stems die and turn brown. The stems (canes) typically stand during the winter which can serve as a good indication of next year’s growth.

Since it grows in colonies, the winter skeletons are easy to identify from afar.

How to Eat Japanese Knotweed

While you can eat Japanese Knotweed raw (it is tart and crispy and tastes very similar to rhubarb), ideally you’ll want to cook it. Since it tastes very similar to rhubarb, you can use Japanese Knotweed in any dish that calls for rhubarb – my favorite being strawberry knotweed pie…yumm.

Here’s a simple dish that I got from Steve Brill that I love:

Japanese Knotweed Surprise

Ingredients (for one serving)

• 2 cups sliced apples
• 1 cup sliced Japanese Knotweed shoots
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• sugar to taste (optional)

	Step 1: Gather your harvested knotweed and remove any leaves and stems.
	Step 2: Chop the knotweed into a small enough size to fit into your cooking pot and peel those shoots which have begun to form leaves (these will have already begun to turn stringy).
	Step 3: Throw the knotweed and chopped apples into a pot and pour apple juice on top, bring to a boil and begin to simmer.
	Step 4: Simmer for about 20 minutes or until soft. You will notice that the knotweed seems to melt into a thick, sauce-like consistency.
	Step 5: Once the knotweed turns to a sauce-like consistency, serve and eat!

Japanese Knotweed Nutrition and Medicinal Information

Japanese Knotweed provides an excellent source of vitamin A and vitamin C. It also provides potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and manganese.

Japanese Knotweed is also an excellent source of resveratrol, the same substance in the skin of grapes and in red wine that reduces bad cholesterol and lowers the risk of heart attacks.

According to master herbalist, Stephen H. Buhner, Japanese Knotweed is very effective when it comes to treating and preventing Lyme’s disease. As an anti-inflammatory, it also helps the immune system to combat various infections, relieves symptoms of arthritis and can protect the body against neurotoxin damage.

Knowledge of wild edible and medicinal plants is an important asset in every survivalist’s mental toolbox. They allow you to supplement and extend your food storage. They provide a fresh source of vegetable and fruit matter that is full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants — much of which is diminished in bulk-stored food.  And they provide a source of medicine in an extended grid-down situation where hospitals and modern medicine might not be available.

However, when it comes to identifying wild edible and medicinal plants, many people become overwhelmed and intimidated by the “wall of green” that they see in nature. They don’t know where to start. And even those who are ambitious enough to purchase a field guide and get out there to try to identify their local plants, they quickly become disenchanted and frustrated at the difficulty in matching what’s in the field guide with what’s in the field.

Having a fair amount of experience with wild medicinal and edible plants — both in the identification and use of them — I wanted to share with you some of the methods and resources I use to break through that “wall of green”. This, I hope, will put you on the road to successfully identifying and using many of the wild edible and medicinal plants that grow in your area.

Resources

Field guides are probably the most commonly used method of learning to identify and use wild edible and medicinal plants. However, if you don’t have the right kind of guides you’ll only frustrate yourself.

When beginning to learn about edible/medicinal plants, most people will go to the bookstore and pick up the fattest field guide they see with a bunch of colorful photos. This is not the best option.  Before you go and waste any money on less-than-optimal guides or even some that could get you killed, let me clue you in on a few that I’ve found to be very effective in helping you identify and use the many plants around you.

As a side note, when it comes to identification, I feel that detailed drawings and descriptions are much more effective in helping you positively recognize plants compared to photos. Drawings (as long as they are detailed) provide an average representation whereas photos only capture one instance of a plant and, depending on the habitat, may look a bit different in your area. There are exceptions to this rule (see Forager’s Garden and Nature’s Harvest below) if the author depicts multiple good-quality photos.

	A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and central North America (Peterson Field Guide) The standard on Wild Edible plants. Not the best book for taking out in the field to do on the spot identification but it’s excellent for using as a basis for journaling since the drawings are excellent and the descriptions are thorough.
	The Essential Wild Food Survival Guide Linda is well respected for her knowledge of wild edible and medicinal plants since she lived for 13 years out in the wilds with her family living off of them! Although the drawings and photos have much to be desired, this book has great recipes, wonderful first-hand stories, and contains a solid collection of core plants that everyone should know. A good resource overall.
	The Forager’s Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants Samuel Thayer hit it out of the ballpark with this book. It has excellent descriptions and photos, is well organized, and goes into detail on where to find the plants, when to gather them (missing in many books) and how to prepare them. Best of all, this book is not just a rehash of other peoples views and experiences — every plant in here that he talks about, he has had personal experience with (something that I value highly). This is highly recommended.
	Nature’s Garden: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants Another home run for Samuel Thayer. This book is a continuation of his previous book (see above) which covers many more plants that he did not get into in The Forager’s Harvest. Excellent resource and again, highly recommended.
	Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide When it comes to going out in the field and identifying what you see, this book is king. It uses an ingenious system of identification that is based on natural structural features that are easily visible even to the beginner  (no more looking up all the plants with white flowers and hoping on finding a hit). After using this book for a while, what I’ve noticed is, your ability to observe and distinguish differences among plants becomes highly tuned. This book helps to train your eye to see unique qualities of plants (very important to proper identification when your goal is to eat them). Note: This book is primarily for the North Central or Northeastern states but it still contains quite a bit of overlap
	Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places Although this book is not ideal for going out in the field and identifying new plants, once you do know the plants then it is an excellent resource to return to time and time again. I particularly like that the book is organized by season and the habitat within that season. This helps me to know what edible/medicinal plants I should be on the look for when I go hiking in a wetland area in the fall for example.

The Importance of Applied Knowledge in Learning Edible and Medicinal Plants

After successfully identifying a plant for the first time, your likely response will be a feeling of excitement since you now know the plant’s name. It’s at this point that most people make the error of stopping since they now think they “know” the plant. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I’m of the opinion that you never truly know a plant until you use it. When you use a plant, something amazing happens. It becomes a part of you. You go beyond mere identification since you now have seen it, touched it, smelled it, and in many cases consumed it. Studies have proven that when you involve multiple senses in the learning process, you’ll remember that thing so much better. This is very true with plants.

So next time you positively identify a wild edible or medicinal plant, bring it home and learn how to use it. This will forever be etched in your memory, so much that the following years when you see the plant again — instead of it being just a name — you’ll feel a real connection to it because you know it intimately.

Journaling as a Learning Method

Journaling is another fantastic way to learn wild plants. And best of all, you can do it in the winter when the plants are dormant!

What I do is look in the field guides for edible or medicinal plants that grow in my area (I like the Peterson’s Field Guides for this). I’ll make a list of them and organize them by habitat. After making the list I’ll then begin journaling these plants.

The best way is not just to copy the plant from the field or from a field guide but to use the minds-eye approach. Here’s how it works:

1. Study the photo or drawing of the picture: Spend around 5 minutes studying the picture of the plant. Try to focus on the structure of the leaves. Do they grow opposite each other like a person putting out their arms to the sides or do they grow up the plant in an alternating pattern? Are the leaves round, oval, compound? Do they have serrated or smooth edges? Is the stalk woody, green, succulent or non-existent. Try to close your eyes and see the plant in your mind’s eye.
2. Draw the plant: After studying the plant for 5 minutes, close the field guide and without looking at the picture or photo, begin to draw the plant based on what you see in your minds eye. Draw as much as you can until you’re stuck. If you can’t move on or forgotten a detail, refer back to the field guide to refresh what you saw, close the book, and continue drawing. Continue this process until you are finished.
3. Imagine the plant’s habitat and general size and other characteristics: For this step, you’ll want to read about where the plant typically, its overall size, and any other attributes like fuzzy leaves, or woody stalks and so on.

   Then again, in your minds eye try to imagine seeing yourself in a location where this plant grows. Picture how tall it is relative to you and imagine bending down and touching the plant. How would it feel?

4. Imagine preparing and using the plant: For this final step, I want you to use your minds eye to imagine taking the plant home and processing it into a meal. If you can eat it raw then imagine picking the leaf or other edible portion and eating it. Try to be as detailed as possible.

I know a lot of this sounds like hokey new-age crap, but in reality, this method works. I can’t tell you the number of times I would be out in the field and “discover” a plant that I had already had experience envisioning during a previous winter! Try it for yourself.

Expert Mentors

A final way to learn wild plants is through expert mentors. While we may not all be lucky enough to grow up with an naturalist in the home, if you do a search in your area you’ll likely find someone offering nature courses on identifying wild and medicinal plants.

These classes are an excellent means to quickly learning plants in your area. One thing I do want to note is that these classes are much more effective after having learned a few wild plants on your own. This way your eyes will be trained to subtle differences that will make the class all the better.

If you live in the New York area, I would highly recommend visiting “Wildman” Steve Brill’s Central Park nature walks. Bill has a unique gift of teaching wild edible and medicinal plants in a memorable and fun way.

Be certain to consult a professional (or a really good field guide) in order to positively identify this plant before trying this for yourself. The owners of this site will not be held responsible for any lapses in judgment or stupidity when handling or consuming wild plants.

With the summer coming to a close here in New England, one of my favorite wild edibles that I seek out in the late Summer and early Fall is the Common Elderberry (Sambucus nigra). In this article I’ll be showing you how to properly identify the Common Elderberry, where to find it, and how to process it into a delicious jelly.

How to Identify Common Elderberry

Here are the main things you’ll want to look out for in order to properly identify the Common Elderberry:

	Compound leaves: Common Elderberry leaves grow opposite each other and are divided into 5-11 coarsely toothed, elliptical, pointed leaflets (each around 3-4 inches long).
	Corky bumpy branches: Besides the bumpy “pimples” on the branches, if you crack open the branches or the twigs you’ll find a spongy, white pith.
	Late spring/Early summer — white, lacy flower clusters: The flower clusters spread over 6 inches across and are flat-topped to slightly rounded.
	Late summer/Early fall — purple-black to black berry clusters: Similar to the flowers they grow in clusters. Each juicy berry is about the size of an airsoft BB (1/4″ across) and the clusters are large and heavy enough to weigh down the branches causing them to droop. A note of caution: Stay away from the red elderberries (a different species of elderberry), these are toxic and will make you sick

Where to Find Common Elderberry

Common Elderberry can be found growing in large thicks stands. They seem to prefer moist places with a good amount of sunlight. You’ll want to look for it along roadsides and riverbanks, in marshes and in moist woods, and thickets in the eastern part of North America.

Here’s the range map indicating where Common Elderberry has officially been found:

How to Make Elderberry Jam

This recipe will make 3 pints (6 cups) of Elderberry jelly.

What You’ll Need

• pectin
• 4 cups sugar
• 6 cups of elderberries

How to Make Elderberry Jelly

	Step 1: Remove the elderberries from the clusters with a fork doing your best to make sure not to include any of stems or other plant materials. Wash these in cold water.
	Step 2: With the heat set to medium/medium-high cook the elderberries in a pot crushing the berries with a potato masher until the natural juices are released. I’ll sometimes add a little water to this recipe (1 cup of water for every 6 cups of berries). Bring to a boil allowing it to cook for around 15 minutes.
	Step 3: Pour cooked berries and juice In a colander lined with a cloth (t-shirt, multiple cheese cloths etc) allowing the juice to collect into a bowl. Since this will be very hot, let it sit for an hour to drain through and cool off.
	Step 4: Once it has cooled off, begin squeezing any left-over juices through the cloth filter.
	Step 5: Pour elderberry juice in a cooking pot, add sugar and pectin (for the proper amount of pectin, see instructions indicated on your packet) and bring to a rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Let it boil only about 1 minute.
	Step 6: At this point it’s a good idea to test a small amount of the liquid to ensure that it’s setting properly (thickening into jelly). To do this, take a spoonful of the liquid and pour it into a bowl or a small plate and place it in the freezer. After a few minutes, if there is enough pectin, the liquid will have jelled up into the consistency you desire. If not, add some more and bring to a quick boil and test again. If all is well, pour the liquid into canning jars and process those canning jars in a hot-water bath or as desired in order to make an airtight seal. Properly sealed jars of elderberry jelly will store for at least a year without issue. You’ll want to finish open jars within 2 weeks since there are no preservatives.

Elderberry Nutrition Information

Elderberries are very nutritious. They are particularly known for their immune boosting capabilities and can be made into an effective cold medicine (more on that in a future article). Here is a comparison chart with other fruits:

Be certain to consult a professional (or a really good field guide) in order to positively identify this plant before trying this for yourself. The owners of this site will not be held responsible for any lapses in judgment or stupidity when handling or consuming wild plants.

The daylily (hemerocallis fulva) is a very common ornamental plant that has found a home in many yards and gardens throughout the United States. Despite its common occurrence, few realize the year-round food potential of this plant.

In this article I’ll go into detail about how to identify, process and eat these delicious plants.

How to Identify Daylilies

Before you attempt to eat any wild edible you need to be absolutely certain you can identify it with 100% certainty. Luckily, daylilies, when in flower, have no poisonous look-a-likes. But to those that only see a “wall of green” out there, everything looks alike. In that case here are the 4 key things to look out for when properly identifying daylilies:

	6-petaled flower that faces upwards. These are typically orange but some have been bred to be different colors. In all daylilies the flower only lasts a single day (hence the name )
	Leafless flower stalk that is about 3 feet tall. The stalk that supports the flower head will have no leaves on it. This is a good comparison to the Blue Flag Iris which is poisonous and has leaves on its flower stalk.
	Light-green basal leaves that are long and sword-like with pointed tips.
	Root is a tangle of small tubers. The tubers are around pea size to about the size of a large almond.

If you can positively identify each of these 4 attributes above, it’s pretty certain that your looking at a daylily.

How to Eat a Daylily

Eating in the Different Seasons

The great thing about daylilies is that there is always something to eat from this plant all year round. In the late Fall and Winter (as well as all year round) you can eat the tubers (root nodules), in the Spring the young shoots are edible and delicious as a stir fry, and in the Summer you can eat the flower buds and the flowers.

I would recommend waiting until Summer to eat these as it will have all of the attributes available to make for an accurate identification. Since it’s a perennial plant (lives longer than two years) you can then come back to the stand during the following springtime to get the young shoots.

If you do decide to gather them in the Spring, care must be taken not to mistake them with some of the poisonous irises and lilies that emerge around the same time. One of the best ways to identify them is to unearth the young shoot, roots and all. You’re looking to find small potato-like tubers with tiny hair-like roots attached to them (see the picture I took in the section above). If you unearth one long, thick rhizome without tubers or a single bulb, then you’ve got the wrong plant.

What Parts to Eat

The edible portions of the plant (tubers, young shoots, flower buds and flowers) can all be eaten raw. However, there have been reports that some people react with nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea — especially if they eat a bunch of it). Cooking it is supposed to help reduce these effects. Just try out a small amount and see if you have any symptoms. All my friends and family who try this plant have never experienced this.

	Tubers: You’ll want to remove the hair-like roots and thick rhizomes. Wash and clean them and boil them in water for about 15 minutes for best taste (you can eat them raw). Some people like to peel them like potatoes, however I find the skin is just fine to eat along with the starchy centers — without the hassle. In this picture I’ve peeled some and left others with the skin.
	Flowers: The flower have a pleasant sweet taste when eaten raw and also can be dipped in batter and fried. Day-old Flowers: The wilted flowers (above-left in the picture) can be reconstituted in soups. Flowers Buds: Both the flower buds about to bloom (bottom left) and those that still have a while (bottom right) are excellent in your favorite stir fry recipe.
	Young Shoots: The young shoots are excellent raw, in salads or with dip. They are also great in stir fry.
	The benefit of learning wild edibles is that it can greatly improve and extend your long-term food storage. Here’s an example of using some of my stored rice with some fresh daylily flowers, stir-fried buds, and boiled daylily tubers. Yumm!

Daylily Nutrition Information

Daylily flowers and tubers are high in protein and oils. The flower buds are good sources of beta carotene and vitamin C.

Other Notes

Although daylilies are an excellent food source, you should be aware that research done in Chinese laboratories have reported that there are potentially toxic substances in the roots which may be cumulative. Keep in mind that people have been eating these plants for centuries without being poisoned so use them with respect and in moderation.

If you’ve already tried preparing the dandelion greens from the prior article than you know how delicious this wild plant can be.

In this article I wanted to quickly present you with another pair of delicious recipes using a different part of this common every-day plant: the flowers.

Pickled Dandelion Flower Buds

I’d like to thank Rosalee de la Foret for this recipe!

For this recipe, you’ll want to harvest the flower buds when they are still tightly closed — before they ever opened.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup onions
• 3 tablespoons fresh minced ginger
• 4-5 garlic cloves
• 1 cup dandelion flower buds
• apple cider vinegar
• tamari sauce

The Process:

Rinse the flower buds well and place into a pint jar with the onions, garlic, and ginger. Fill halfway with the apple-cider vinegar and then fill halfway with the tamari. Cover with a plastic lid or a metal lid with a buffer (vinegar will corrode the metal lid). Let sit for three weeks and then enjoy on salads, as a snack, or on tuna fish sandwiches.

Dandelion Fritters

Ingredients for the Batter:

• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1/2 cup of milk
• one teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon of honey

The Process:

There are different ways of making this recipe.

One is to combine all of the above ingredients, dip the flower heads in the batter and then fry on a greased pan as I demonstrate in the following picture:
The other is to combine all of the above ingredients, mix the flower heads in the batter and then fry on a greased pan like a pancake as I demonstrate in this picture:
You’ll end up with them looking like this (very tasty!):
While the above recipe is good, my favorite recipe however, is to take a 1/4 cup cornmeal and 1/2 cup flour and put that in a bowl. Then put an egg with a dash of salt in another bowl and finally heat up some olive oil in a small pot or wok:
Then just take a flower head, dip it first in the egg then the flour mixture and then just drop it into the oil:
When it’s done you should have the best tasting flower fritters that are super light and fluffy (sort of like tempura), that look something like this (unfortunately the picture doesn’t do it much justice):

As I mention throughout this site, the more you can practice these skills — whether it be learning to identify and prepare wild edibles to learning different off-the-grid medical treatments — during tranquil times, the better off you’ll be if you are faced with serious hardships during times of trial.

How’s that saying go? “The more we sweat in times of peace the less we bleed in times of war.” There’s a lot of wisdom to that quote. Now get out there and practice!

One of my favorite wild edibles during the early Spring happens to be the bane of all lawn owners: The Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale).

This article details how to identify and prepare this commonplace but excellent tasting and nutritious wild plant — knowledge that is an excellent addition to your survival info store.

How to Identify Dandelion

Dandelion is a perennial, herbaceous plant with long, lance-shaped leaves. The leaves are deeply toothed and resemble it’s namesake (dandelion comes from the Old French “Dent-de-lion” meaning lion’s tooth). Here are the key components of dandelion that you’ll want to look for:

deeply toothed, lance-shaped leaves (3 to 12 inches long) leaves grow in a basal rosette leaves are hairless leaves and flower stalks exude a white milky sap when injured yellow, composite flowers (1 to 2 inches wide) flowers turn into round white seed heads that float in the wind

Dandelion Greens – How to Prepare Them

Instead of waging backyard chemical warfare on dandelions why not eat them instead?

The best time to gather and eat dandelion greens is in the early Spring before the flowers emerge. At this time of year they are only minimally bitter when eaten raw. When added to a stir fry (as I show you below) even finicky eaters will like them.

Here’s one of my favorite ways to prepare and eat dandelion greens:

You’ll notice the first shoots appear as a basal rosette
Gather around 3 cups of dandelion greens
With some olive oil, cook around 2 cups of onions until soft
Add the dandelion greens some chopped garlic and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and cook for around 15 minutes
viola! some awesome tasting dandelion green stir fry!

Dandelion greens can also be added raw to salads and are excellent in sandwiches. If you eat the greens after the flowers emerge, they will be noticeably more bitter. However, you can still eat these. Just boil them in two changes of water (be sure to bring the water to a boil before adding the greens) and they’ll taste just fine.

Dandelion Greens Nutrition Information

Dandelion greens (leaves) are more nutritious than most anything you can purchase in your produce section.

They’re higher in beta carotene than carrots and the iron, vitamin K, and calcium content is far greater than spinach and brocolli. And for the price of pulling them out of your (and your neighbor’s lawn ) you get vitamins B1, B2, B5, B6, B12, C, E, P (bioflavonoids) and D, biotin, mositol, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and zinc.

Still think this is a bothersome weed? Think again.

When you look at your average pine tree, rarely does one think that it has the ability to sustain you in a survival situation if the need ever arose. It’s sharp needles and gnarly bark give off the impression that it’s a less-than-friendly flora. On the contrary, pine provides some of the most readily available food sources in nature.

Pine Nuts

All pines contain edible seeds in the late season cones. The only issue is the quality and size of those seeds are highly dependent upon the species of pine.

As someone who lives in the Northeast, species of pine available here do not offer up seeds big enough to warrant the effort required in gathering and processing them. However, if you live in the Great Basin areas where Pinyon pine grows, you have an excellent source of food in the fall time.

Gathering and Processing Pine Nuts

The best time to gather pine nuts is in September and October. Look for the round open cones. Simply gather the cones, remove the seeds and shell before eating raw or roasting.

Notice the seeds w/in the cones

Pine Needle Tea

The needles of all pine make an excellent mild tea (not at all pitchy tasting as you’d expect) that is loaded with Vitamin C.

To make the tea, simply gather a good handful of fresh green pine needles. With a knife or sharp stone, dice the needles as fine as possible. Next, take these needles and put them directly into a cup of boiling water, letting it boil for a minute or two. The water should turn a light yellow color. Add some honey, drink and enjoy!

Male Pine Cone Flour

In the spring time, the pollen from the small male pine cones (as pictured below) can easily be shaken from the cone into a container and used as a stew thickener, or flour substitute that is a great source of protein.

Edible Pine Bark

You can eat bark? Absolutely! When first learning about wild edibles this comes as the biggest surprise to most people. But when I make it for them at home they’re actually amazed at how good it actually tastes.

Keep this in mind. When you cut off the bark of any tree be sure never to completely girdle the tree or you will kill it. The best option is to cut a small strip at most 1/10th the circumference of the tree. This will allow the tree to easily heal itself. Pine should be plentiful, so a small strip from each tree is more than sufficient to make a survival meal.

Choosing your tree

The first thing you’ll want to do is to choose a large, mature pine tree since it provides the most inner bark without harming the tree. If you have white pine in your area, consider yourself lucky since it’s one of the biggest and tastiest of all the pines.

Collecting out inner bark

With a heavy duty knife, drive the tip of the knife through the outer bark with a strong stick (this is where a good survival knife comes in handy).

Then begin to pound the back of the blade with a strong stick to drive the edge of the knife down the bark. Continue doing this until you’ve made a decent size rectangle.

Peel away the outer bark making sure to peel off the tender cambium layer (the inner bark) that comes with it.

Continue peeling the larger sections of the inner bark.

With a knife or other sharp object, scrape away the remaining inner bark stuck to the tree (this is the most tender and sweetest part of the inner bark).

Cooking the inner bark

There are three ways to eat the inner bark:

1. Boiling
2. Frying
3. Drying and Pounding into Flour

I’ll be covering the first two.

Boiling

I find this the least palatable of all the options. Just peel the inner bark collected from the last step into thin pieces and boil them. The end result is a softer, less chewy version of the raw inner bark. Only slightly better than peeling it off the tree and stuffing it in your mouth.

Frying

This is by far the best tasting way to prepare pine bark (even my wife likes it ). Like in the boiling step, peel the the inner bark into thin strips and simply fry them in some butter or oil until medium brown and crispy. Add a little bit of salt and it tastes like potato chips.