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An Edible Wild Plant PrimerIn this section we offer some important big picture information to integrate beforeyou set off learning the top ten edible wild plants. Check it out:Hazard Alert – Poisonous Plants!There are wild plants out there deadlyenough to kill you. Did you know that ifingested, just a pea sized chunk of waterhemlock root can kill an adult human?Wow. Take your time here.We have intentionally chosen the specieson our top ten list in part because theyDeadly poisonous Water Hemlockdon’t have poisonous look-a-likes. That makes them that much safer.In the big scheme of things, poisonous plants are quite rare, relatively speaking.You’re more likely to get hurt from a car accident, so long as you take the time tolearn and respect the poisonous plants in your bioregion. There are probably justa handful that you need to know.We’ve designed this guide for beginners, so you can feel safe learning and eatingany of the wild edible plants on our top ten list. However as your learning journeyprogresses, be sure to learn the poisonous plants that are out there before goingmuch further with edible wild plants.Once you learn the poisonous plants, it makes learning edibles easy, becauseyou've already "weeded out" the poisonous ones. We highly recommend you getyour hands on Peterson's Field Guide to Venomous Animals and Poisonous10

Plants by Roger Caras and Steven Foster. This book will be your ally in identifyingpoisonous plants.How to Identify Wild EdiblesIt’s important to learn basic plant identification skills before gathering and eatinganything. There are many plant look-a-likes and you need to identify with 100%certainty the one you're looking for. While it’s true that most plants are notpoisonous enough to kill you, there are plenty that will make you sick if ingested inthe wrong way.You'll discover that it’s necessary to know which parts of the plants are actuallyedible, and that there are certain processing and cooking techniques needed tomake your wild plants safe to eat.People tend to overreact to hazards, so put what we’re saying in context here.Apple and cherry seeds are toxic to humans if ingested in enough quantity, and wehave just learned not to eat them, and now take that knowledge for granted.Some of the best ways to practice identifying edible wild plants is to learn theplants in their various phases of growth. You can do this by visiting your sit spotthroughout the seasons. This will give you a chance to observe the plants in theirdifferent stages. From there, journal the plants, using your mind’s eye, and usefield guides as a resource for learning.This guide will give you a good introduction to basic plant identification skills.Again, as you progress beyond the edible wild plants covered in this guide, weencourage you to deepen your plant identification skills. We recommend checkingout Newcomb's Wildflower Guide by Lawrence Newcomb. This book has a simplekey system that makes it very easy to identify plants.11

Harvesting Wild Edible Plants – How, When, and EthicsIt's important to have the proper outlook when gathering wild edible plants. Beinghonorable, sensitive, appreciative, and aware of the plants and animals that liveand breathe through the landscape every day is an essential part of thatperspective. When you gather from a plant, collect at most 5% of the plant standwhere you are. That way the plant can reproduce and maintain its integral role inthe larger ecosystem.Our earth based ancestors took the time to give thanks for the life of the wildedible plants. Imagine feeling their heartfelt gratitude of seeing the first burst ofchickweed leaves in early spring after a long hard winter. Life was literally beingrenewed in front of their very eyes. How could one experience such a thingwithout profound gratitude?Life is so full of stress and challenges. Spending time in nature, slowing down,and opening up our senses becomes good medicine for our all too often rushedlives. Experiencing the beauty, simplicity, power, and life essence of edible wildplants is inspiring! Authentic gratitude is a natural response, and sets the stage forethically harvesting edible wild plants. Of course we would want to conserve thesetreasures.When you gather plants in their appropriate stages, you create a beneficialsymbiotic relationship with you and the plant. You wouldn't want to gather the plantin the wrong phase of its life cycle because the plant is busy investing its lifeenergy in its other parts. For example, you wouldn't want to harvest roots in themiddle of the summer because all the energy in the plant is above ground, workinghard to grow the stalk and leaves.12

The general rule of thumb for gathering edible wild plants in season: Gather leaves in spring and summer Gather fruits in late summer and fall Gather seeds after flowering in late summer and fall Gather roots in late fall and winterWhen you gather, it's nice to have a container or basket, a tool for cutting theplants or a shovel for gathering roots. The methods are different for gathering eachplant and its parts simply because each plant is unique. Over time, you'll learn howto become more sensitive to the plant and more efficient with your time andenergy.For example, when harvesting burdockroots, you’ll quickly discover that the soiltype makes a huge impact on how easyor difficult they are to harvest. They willpop right out of soft muddy soil, but theywill hang on for dear life in hard and rockyground. As well, you’ll find that a diggingstick makes harvesting those roots muchFreshly harvested Common Burdock plantseasier.Processing Edible Wild PlantsSo you've gathered some amazing and beautiful wild edible plants; now it’s time toprocess them. If the plant needs washing, depending on what kind of plant it is,gently rinse the plant material in cool, clean water. For drying your bounty, thereare many ways of hanging, lying ,or drying such as using screens, paper bags,bundled bunches, or food dehydrators. It’s mostly berries that get frozen although13

you can freeze leaves as well. We have a variety of approaches and recipesincluded in this guide to help you get started.Tasting the Wild! Eating your HarvestSome plants can be appreciated when you combine them with others and someplants are wonderfully savored on their own. Some are solely edible while othersare also medicinal. During your research with this eBook and beyond, be sure toget to know the properties of the plant you’ll be working with.Consider taking a moment to presence gratitude once again for your harvest. Feelthe connection with the food you're eating and send your mind's eye back to thespot where it grew. Can you recall all the details of that special place? Can you stillsmell the aroma of that patch of woods? Can you feel the same feeling in yourbody as you did back there? This powerful connection includes you in the systemof giving and receiving, life and death.Some plants need cooking before eating and some don't. It's different for eachplant so here's where research comes into the picture. Once you've got a body ofexperience with wild edible plants, try to practice foraging and browsing on wildedibles directly in the field, like the other animals do. Again, using recipes forcooking edible plants is a great way to learn and experiment!14

The Top Ten List of Edible Wild PlantsOK, all set? With no further ado, we now present our top ten list of edible wildplants:1. Dandelion2. Broad-leaf Plantain3. Cattail4. Stinging Nettle5. Chickweed6. Red clover7. Spearmint8. Common Burdock9. Wild Strawberry10. Wild GingerIn the section below, each of these ten plants is expanded upon at length. Takeyour time as you learn about these plants, and put what you learn into practice!15

DandelionDandelion is a very common plant. Youcan find it almost anywhere. It’s aperennial plant which means it comesback year after year from the same root.You can’t mistake dandelion. It has beencalled the supermarket of the lawnbecause literally every part of the plant isedible. In the spring dandelion flowerheads are bursting with tiny yellow flowerpetals splashing lawns, fields and meadows everywhere.Field Marks Green toothed leaves growing from the base of the plant. Grows 2 – 18” tall. Yellow flowers packed with petals. Seed heads: Tiny brown seeds are embedded in an airy sphere of silveryfuzz, 1-2” wide.Poisonous Look-a-Likes None.Flowering and Fruiting Season Flowers spring and summer.16

Habitat Roadsides, woods, meadows, lawns, parks, in sidewalks. They love growing in low grass. Prefer moist soil and full sun.Range Throughout North America.How to Harvest Leaves: clip off leaves in the spring and summer. Flowers: pluck off flower heads in spring and summer. Roots: 1 – 2” around the leaves dig 6” or more straight down into the soil toloosen and pull roots out.How to Process Leaves: Rinse in cool water and pat dry. Flowers: Pull the yellow flower petals out from the small green leaves(sepals) surrounding them, then rinse in cool water and pat dry. Roots: Scrub well, peel if desired, rinse and let dry.How to Preserve Leaves, stems and flower petals can be frozen for later use in a containeror zip lock bag. Leaves and roots can be dried on screens. Store roots in an airtight container or glass jar for later use.17

Dandelion RecipesDandelion Salad Gather a hearty handful of small, young dandelion leaves. Wash and rinse.Add to salad and toss with salad dressing (our favorite is extra virgin oliveoil and balsamic vinegar). The slight bitter taste of dandelion leaves helpstimulate and activate digestive juices, thus strengthening your digestionoverall.Dandelion Root Coffee In the fall and early spring the dandelion roots are storing the highestamount vitamin A, C, iron and calcium. Thus, this is the best time to brewup a cup of dandelion coffee. With a garden spade or shovel dig downaround the leaves and loosen the soil. The dandelion roots should pull upfairly easily once the soil has been loosened. Once you’ve processed the roots (see above), roast in the oven at 125degrees (or your oven’s lowest setting) until roots are dry. Grind in a coffeegrinder. Steep 1 tsp. in one cup of boiling water. Steep for 20 minutes ormore. Let cool and drink by itself or add cream and sweetener if desired.You might just not drink regular coffee again after drinking this herbal elixir! Dandelion roots have many medicinal benefits as well. Dandelion root tea isgreat for kidney and bladder ailments because it helps to eliminate toxins.Dandelion also helps with weight loss, weak digestion and due to its highfiber content, it also helps with constipation. Dandelion has a lot of vitaminC in it which is good for the health of your liver. Try this drink even as an allaround tonic or blood purifier for cleansing.18

Dandelion FrittersIngredients 2 cups dandelion flowers, rinsed 1 ¼ cups flour 1 egg 1 cup milk of any kind Olive oil, canola oil or butterPreparation Combine flour, egg and milk and mix well. You can add a little more flour ifyou want your batter to be thicker. Heat olive oil in skillet. Dip dandelionflower heads into batter until completely covered and lay into skillet. Cookjust like pancakes to the brownness you like. Serve warm with dandelionblossom syrup or other syrup, honey or applesauce. Dining on dandelionfritters will re-awaken dreams of warm and balmy summer days when thewind blows the dandelion seeds up to the sky, inviting you to float withthem.Dandelion is a tremendously powerful plant. They are adaptable and courageousanchors holding the soil with their long and hardy roots. They disperse themselvesby their umbrella-like seeds, floating through the air through many kinds ofweather only to plant themselves in the soil and take root under just about anykind of condition. They’re like the networkers of the field and forest. Dandelionsare living legends in their own right.19

Broad-leaf PlantainLook down on lawns everywhere in thespring and summer and you’ll find theBroad-leaf plantain. Plantain leaves makea great addition to wild salads, and theirseeds are full of Vitamin E which is anatural mosquito repellant. When you’vegot a wasp or bee sting on your hands atthe height and in the heat of the seasonit’s plantain that will bring you immediate relief. Once you start searching aroundfor plantain it naturally becomes easy to find.Field Marks Long, oval and ribbed green leaves all growing from the base of the plant. 6 – 18” tall - tightly packed greenish-white flower head. Tiny indistinguishable flowers packed on a spiked body.Poisonous Look-a-Likes None.Flowering and Fruiting Season Late spring to early fall.20

Habitat Lawns, meadows, grasslands, roadsides and even disturbed areas. Prefer sunlight and moist soils though can survive in dry soils. Can be found growing near dandelion and/or clover.Range Throughout North America, except parts of far north.How to Harvest In the spring pluck young leaves from the base of the plant. In summer and fall, select the smaller, younger leaves for best results.How to Process Wash leaves and let dry.How to PreserveDry Lay out on a screen in full sun or a dehydrator for best results.Freeze Blanch leaves by plunging them into boiling water for just a few secondsand then follow with a quick dip in ice water for a few seconds. Dry them offand place in a container in the freezer for future soups, stews or stir fry. This process sets the color of the plant without actually cooking it all thewhile preserving the plant’s texture. Boil for 10 – 15 minutes when you thaw them for future use.21

Broad-leaf Plantain RecipesPlantain SeasoningIngredients ½ Tbsp. sesame oil ½ Tbsp. Braggs or soy sauce ½ garlic clove A handful of roasted plantain seedsPreparation Mix and let rest for 5 minutes. Enjoy sprinkled over rice, pasta or salad oranything you’d like to try it as a condiment on!Plantain Salad Gather the fresh young plantain leaves in the spring and early summer.Wash and dry. Add to your salad and toss with salad dressing. It’s thatsimple!Plantain Poultice One of the simplest ways of letting plants heal wounds and injuries isthrough making a poultice. Just chew up the leaf well and put it on thewound, then cover with a Band-Aid to keep the plant matter in place overthe wound. Saliva and the moisture in your mouth contain many antibacterial properties.22

I (Jeannine) once took a walk in the woods with a group of children I was leadingat one of our summer camps. A young girl, Marina, suddenly got stung by a yellowjacket that had emerged from a log she had stepped over. I described plantain tothe kids and lo and behold another child, Anna, wandered off and found a bunchswiftly.I had Marina chew it up and place the leaf poultice directly on the sting area andsure enough she calmed down immediately. The medicine acted quickly. We thensat for a while and shared with each other the amazing relationship that plantainhas with wasps and bees and the dependency that humans have with plantain asa result of something like a wasp or bee sting. What started off as a challengingsituation turned out to be a moment of deep connection for all of us!23

CattailCattail has been affectionately called thesupermarket of the swamp. It is a veryimportant and common wild food, with avariety of uses at different times of year.Beyond its edible qualities, it has variousmedicinal and utilitarian uses as well.Field Marks Green spike in spring leading to a brown spiked flower by the end ofsummer and a fluffy brown seed head in the fall, up to 27” long. Long green sheath-like leaves growing up to 10 feet long. Stands up to 10 feet tall.Poisonous Look-a-Likes None.Flowering and Fruiting Season Late spring all through summer.Habitat Prefers open direct sunlight. Loves to grow in wet, damp soils, swamps and water.Range Throughout North America.24

How to Harvest To gather early shoots: In springtime, find the base of the plant and look forthe young green leaves poking out from the center. Harvest the shoots thathave not started flowering at the top yet. While mucilaginous and sticky,with a good grip to the inner core they should pull right out with a good tugto them. To gather cattail pollen: In summertime, bend the flower head at an angleand put a paper bag over it. Lightly shaking will release the pollen into yoursack. It helps if you gather on a non-windy day. You could also try dustingthe pollen into your hands. See what works right for you. To gather roots: get a shovel and dig last year’s roots in the springtime. Youneed to dig down quite deep as they are firmly planted deep in the mud andother kinds of soil. You’ll get a good work out from digging up cattail rootsbut keep working at it and they’ll come up.How to Process Shoots: Once you rinse them off well and peel them, they are ready to eatas is like cucumber or asparagus. You can also add them to soups, saladsor stir fry. There’s a lot of Vitamin C and other vitamins and minerals inthese shoots. Roots: After washing them, you’ll either need to peel off the outer skin andthen lay them out to dry for pounding out the starch, or you can put theroots in a large container of water and work to loosen the starch from theroots for a bit, then let the water settle. After a while the starch will settle tothe bottom of your container and you can pour out the water and keep thestarch. You can thicken soups with this and it’s delicious. Alternatively, youcan mix this starch in with flours for various baked goods.25

How to Preserve Pollen: store in an airtight container in a cool place. Pollen can be put intoyogurt, applesauce, pancakes, bread, muffins or other kind of baking. Youwon’t need to b

An Edible Wild Plant Primer . In this section we offer some important big picture information to integrate before you set off learning thetop ten edible wild plants. Check it out: Hazard Alert – Poisonous Plants! There are wild plants out there deadly enough to kill you. Did you know that if ingested, just a pea sized chunk of water