The Scout's Guide to Wild Edibles. Mike Krebill
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alt="image"/> Amaranthus retroflexus
RANGE:
Introduced and widespread throughout the United States and Canada
HABITAT:
Wherever soil is tilled or disturbed and moisture is adequate, green amaranth will be among the first and most persistent of weeds.
POSITIVE ID:
• Green amaranth’s smooth-edged, oval leaves seem soft, hairy and flaccid. A flaccid leaf is one that appears slightly wilted, like it needs water.
• Also known as “redroot,” its taproot usually has a pink or reddish color to it.
• Seedheads at the top of the plant and in several of the leaf axils beneath it have several fingerlike clusters, or spikes, containing hundreds of seeds hidden inside.
• The ripe seeds are tiny and black, and have a flattened circular disc shape.
• There are no thorns on this plant.
At the preferred size for harvesting the leaves for cooked greens, this green amaranth was one of dozens that grew as weeds in community garden plots in Ann Arbor, MI. Note the distinctive red root, helpful in identification, and why the plant is also known as “redroot.”
EDIBLE PARTS & PREPARATION:
The young leaves are edible raw or cooked. The seeds are an ingredient in wild food trail bites (award-winning recipe on page 162). Snip off several of the greenish brown seedheads into a paper grocery sack. Roll the sack tightly closed and shake it to free the seeds. As some of the seed coverings will be mixed in, it will be necessary to winnow the tiny black seeds to remove the chaff.
WHEN TO HARVEST:
Early summer for greens; late summer to early fall for seeds
SUSTAINABLE HARVESTING:
Collecting young leaves and dozens of seedheads will have little impact on this prolific plant.
PRESERVING THE HARVEST:
Drop leaves in boiling water for three minutes, then plunge into ice water. Drain and freeze. Use within 11 months. Keep hulled seeds frozen for up to one year.
When the plant grows larger, the seedhead begins to develop. The leaves become coarser and more fibrous. The stalk becomes tough and woody as the plant gets taller and taller. This is a stage not worth harvesting.
The mature plant has an enormous seedhead with finger-like branches and thousands of tiny, shiny black seeds. These seeds can be collected when the seedheads begin turning brown.
Asparagus
RANGE:
A garden and farm escapee in the lower 48 states and Canada’s southern provinces that became “wild” thanks to birds eating its berries and pooping the seeds
HABITAT:
Near farm gardens or fields where asparagus was raised. Wild asparagus bushes may be spotted as you drive along a road. Watch for them on the road bank below overhead wires and along fence lines where birds perch.
POSITIVE ID:
• Young shoots (spears) are identical to the asparagus spears you might add to your grocery cart in a store. They have triangular, papery bud covers where branches will emerge.
• The open, airy bush that develops from the spear has a woody central stem with thin, wiry branches. Being green, the stem, its branches and the fine, needle-like leaves can capture the energy of sunlight.
• The bush turns golden yellow in autumn.
• The female bush produces 1/4″ diameter round red berries which are toxic.
Wild asparagus shoots at their prime. Note that they are unbranched, and resemble asparagus that would be sold in stores. Wild asparagus and garden asparagus are one and the same, differing only in the location where they grow.
EDIBLE PARTS & PREPARATION:
The unbranched spear is the only edible part. For maximum flavor, eat it the same day you collect it. On a camping trip, our Scouts discovered wild asparagus. We dropped the spears in rapidly boiling, salted water for three minutes and ate them immediately. They were bright green, crunchy, and absolutely delicious.
WHEN TO HARVEST:
Spring
SUSTAINABLE HARVESTING:
Leave several spears from a group of asparagus plants, to capture the energy of sunlight and keep the roots alive.
PRESERVING THE HARVEST:
Drop spears in boiling water for three minutes, then plunge into ice water. Drain and freeze. Use within 10 months.
Once the spear begins branching out like this, it becomes too fibrous to eat. It also becomes more and more TOXIC, so do not collect it if it resembles this photo.
Eventually the branches develop into a bush with fine needle-like leaves. Each asparagus stalk visible in this photo represents one bush. Bushes can be either male or female. Female bushes will have hard red berries with seeds inside. These berries are poisonous to people.
Autumn Olive
RANGE:
Introduced, invasive and widespread through Central and Eastern U.S., Washington, Oregon, Montana, and the province of Ontario
HABITAT:
Woodland edges, abandoned fields, roadbanks, pastures, orchards and recreational lands
POSITIVE ID:
• This is a multi-trunked woody shrub with occasional thorns.
• Leaves are simple, elliptic, smooth to wavy-edged; grayish-green on upper surface, silvery beneath. Each leaf has a short, silvery-gray petiole.
• Flowers are yellowish-white, 4-petaled and tubular.
• Fruit is silver speckled, red and juicy when ripe.
Notice how perfectly plump and round the drupes have become. That's a tip-off that they are probably ripe and ready to harvest. A taste test will soon tell. They should taste tart, and leave no lingering astringency in the mouth.
EDIBLE PARTS & PREPARATION:
The flesh of fully ripe autumn olive drupes is tart, but not astringent. The kitchen tool of choice for separating the pulp and juice from the seeds, skins and stemlets is a food strainer. Dehydrating the juicy pulp produces delightfully sour fruit leather. See page 108 for how to make Fabulous Fruit Leather. The juice is a thirst-quenching replacement for lemonade that will wow your taste buds. The fragrant flowers make a nice tea.
WHEN