Wild foods

Anyone do any backyard or wood lot foraging? I just found wild lettuce and lambs quarter in my back yard. Now I have to water them and get the bigger.

 

My backyard has only rabbits but my neighbours may judge me if I "harvest" them

 

I have done that, but had a couple of acres and no close neighbors to horrify
But if you have rabbits you probably have some great wild greens!

I am fascinated by the prospect of wild greens. From what I have learned lately they are far more nutritious than the farm grown greens available at the store.
There was an article that was talking about how our farms produce veggies these days. The point made was basically that the industrial farms have been brewing with the same tea bag for about a 100 years, meaning that the soil used is largely depleted of the vital minerals needed to grow healthy greens. I am sure there is some value in these grocery greens, but the wild stuff growing in undisturbed soil are far more nutrient dense.
In addition to poor soil we have also bred our greens for taste rather than nutrition. They are also selected for good production.
This is why home grown stuff tastes so much better than store bought, if your soil is rich and healthy. The key here is living soil.
This concept would also hold true of wild game. No poor breeding practices, no drugs or medications, and a lifetime of free range nutrient dense foods consumed. It just stands to reason that wild meats are much better for our health. The ultimate free-range meat!

Our grandparents were tuned into this fact I think. Or perhaps it was more out of necessity (great depression and WWII), but they were far more likely to take the greens offered up in their yards for free.
When I was a whippersnapper I was lucky to have a neighbor who taught me many of the wild edible plants and mushrooms growing in our area.
It pains me to think of a generation that doesn't know these things. If it isn't wrapped in plastic it must not be good to eat. :/
</soapbox>

I hope to get out today and see what kind of wild greens I can turn up for either cooking or juicing. But do know what you are eating. You have to positively identify wild plants.
If you search YouTube for wild foraging you will see that there are a ton of resources along these lines. And it's the prefect time of year to get out there and look.

If you eat wild greens post your finds.

 

Unfortunately no wild greens, I'm in the city and this city just happens to be infested with rabbits.
My backyard is rather small and I've only planted herbs last year and some heirloom garlic last fall that I'm hoping survived the awful winter we had. Growing up I did eat a lot of wild stuff back in Cuba, our backyard seemed like a forest with several varieties of mango, avocado, guava, banana, plantain, soursop, coconut, sour plums, limes, sour oranges, etc. We also had free range chickens and even grew our own pigs feed with natural foods (the taste is incomparable). We lived by the sea so I would also go fishing on the weekends and eat fresh fish when we could catch enough. Some of this was out of necessity but I sure miss the taste of all that naturally grown food.

The size of that backyard (my grandma's place) has decreased since then due to hurricanes and construction but there is still enough that she has to give away most of the fruit when in season. Here is a pic of when I last went back for a visit almost a year ago. We also had some wild root vegetables that were the best thing ever.

 

water cress and morels is about the extent of my wild harvesting. Won't be long till Morel season?

 

You'd have to school me on Morels Mike. I hear they are fantastic eating. I don't think we have many here in the dry southwest, but I've heard of some being found.
In November mushroom hunting really lights up here. I started following a Facebook page on it and saw a lot of cool stuff posted.

 

Very timely!

Yesterday my 4 year old brought back an 'onion' he picked from a neighboring lawn while on a walk with my dad. He insisted I mince it up and mix it into the soup I was serving him for lunch. He told me it was delicious!

For me personally, about 8 years ago I foraged for wild mushrooms in a pine forest while visiting the in-laws overseas. That was the second time in my life I had harvested mushrooms. The first time was when I was 3 years old and ate a mushroom that was growing in the backyard of our house. That supposedly resulted in my mom rushing me to the hospital, where the quickly induced vomiting.

 

That is so cool about the onion! Pretty amazing that a 4 year old has that kind of gumption.
There is a certain amount of caution due for any wild foraging, but when it comes to mushrooms an extreme caution is called for.
I personally wouldn't eat any new mushrooms without an expert identifying it in person.
I only know one variety that I would eat without expert guidance. In AZ there is a group that gets together during the season and they all go out and hunt, then come back and all are identified positively before consumption.
Wild greens are a bit easier to deal with. Most edible greens are fairly common and there are ample photo and video resources to positively identify them.

 

Morels are easy to recognize and known safe. and yes, they are delicious especially with a nice charred steak.