Living off the land foods

[omarick1948]

Greenup is just around the corner, they are telling us. When camping or on an outing for the day, I like to gather from fields, streams and forest, edible items to add to the midday or evening meal. Wild Morels and wild Aspergas comes to mind in the Spring, but I know that there are a whole host of wild greens ect.

What's some of your favorites and how you prepare them for the table?

 

[Rancocas]

Ramps.
Ramps are a wild green that appear in the woods and mountaintops around here in early spring.
Polk County, Tennessee has their "Ramp Tramp" coming up soon. A bunch of folks go out and pick the ramps, clean 'em up, chop 'em up, and cook 'em up with scrambled eggs and bacon. Local bands tune up guitars, and fiddles, rosin up the bows, and spend a day pickin' and grinnin'. Folks start in cloggin' and stompin'. Some vendors set up awnings and sell sourwood honey, rustic furniture, and whatever. A good time is had by all. I'm anxiously awaitin' this year's Ramp Tramp.

 

[Mad Professor]

For spring dandelions, cattail shoots/tubers/pollen, lambs quarters, nettles, garlic mustard, elderberry blossoms, clover, wintergreen tea/berries, watercress, book trout stuffed with leeks....

 

[boar]

You can't forget the poke greens,good for what ails you. I try to have at least one batch every year. I get them under 12 inches high. Boil and change at least two times. Have big cast iron skillet hot with some vinegar&oil, add greens, get them hot, scramble two eggs, some bacon bits, yum, yum. Dilly

 

[hawk]

asparagus and fiddle heads or firn sprouts ...boil
and add butter ,black and white(pepper and salt)

good with wild turkey.

...won't be long now!

cheers!

 

[bigbore442001]

I gleaned this off of the historical trekking site.

Consider this survival food with an elegant twist...
Step One.."Fiddle" worms up from the ground with two sticks, one with notches running up and down its length, stuck into the ground with the sharp end. Another stick rattles or "fiddles" up and down the stick until the vibrations bring the worms up.
Dont use them for bait though..put said worms in a bowl of salty water for a period of 1/2 hour. This will force them to regurgitate all the grit in their gutts.
Remove from salted water. Use a couple tablespoons of oil in a hot pan, with a handful of wild chopped onions, fry them as you would until they appear to be nice crispy baconettes...
They are wonderful and can be happilly munched on while
others tell of big game that got away, to the growl of their empty stomaches


It is tempting in a strange way.

 

[Bob Gular]

I'll pass on the fried bait, thank you.

 

[greyghost]

We've got a lot of those type foods here in the desert, I'm just trying to think of what they are.
I'll get back to ya. :rotf:

 

[Crossfire]

Cattails and dandelions are available in moister parts of the desert. Have eaten both. Used to eat ramps back in West Virginia (urp). Pardon me. Those ramps do repeat on you. Have eaten nopales (prickly pear pads) and they are ok, but not my favorite - slimy like okra with a taste about like green beans. Not fond of either of those. Pine nuts can be found if you happen to be out at just the right time. Also have eaten ground mesquite beans fried as bread. yummy and tastes like cinnamon.

 

[David Snellen]

Gentlemen,
Fried dandilion heads are great! Get the yellow ones (not the orange-ish color as they are getting older) soak them and batter with tempura batter. They taste a LOT like fried mushrooms (easier to find too).
In the spring, gather handfuls of maple 'helicopters'. Split the pod with your thmbnail, get out the green "pea" and boil til soft. Butter salt and pepper. They taste like a combo of peas and hominy. Only pick the very green ones on the trees. Once they get older they are woody. Also, raw they are really nasty.
David

 

[Birdman]

only two things I recomend if wildcrafting for food.1)make sure you know what it is your putting in your mouth, many things can kill ya or make ya wish you were dead and they look almost identical to the stuff thats ok to eat and 2)only eat very small portions until your dijestive system gets used to the different type food your eating, fresh from the woods can give ya a case a the trots like a white tornado.

 

[greyghost]

Crossfire,
We really do have a lot of food scources in the desert, I was just pulling thier leg. Right now and since fall we have the fruit of the barrel cactus and the items you mentioned and the meats of differet cacti are available but are much better boiled like other greens. Of course in the fall or around August we have the fruit of the prickley pear, but there are all types of greens and tubers. Of course one can always french fry a couple of scorpions. :rotf:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

these parts we have wild carrots and onions in addition to greens.
don't grow around these parts but out west sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes) grow wild lots of places, the tuber is very nutricous and starchy. this verly likely what the NDNS fed L&C when they got across the mountain to the Pacific near starved. they gorged on them and the gas they caused (full of fiber also) nade them very uncomfortable as noted in Lewis' journal. I have grown them in my garden to eat and they give me gas something terrible but they are tasty.

 

[Bob Gular]

Be careful with or avoid completely the wild carrots, there are a couple of look-alikes that are VERY poisonous.

 

[trent/OH]

Maple syrup is the BEST part of Spring!
And it's so easy. Collect the sap, then boil most of it off.

 

[Crossfire]

forgot about the prickly pear fruit. makes good margueritas. :thumbsup:

Have not had fried scorpion, but have seen it eaten. I'd have to be pretty hungry to mess with scorpions.

Forgot about rattlers too. Have eaten rattlers several times. not much to say. doesn't taste much like chicken or really anything else. mainly just chewy and stringy.

 

[Pork Chop]

The rattlers that I have had were good - not stringy at all. They were almost identical to gator...

 

[dsuursoo]

i've always carried a small bottle of red wine vinegar and a matching bottle of olive oil while on a hike/trek/rove.

dandelions, miner's lettuce, fireweed, chickory flowers, etc, tossed with vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. feel free to garnish with crushed cranberries, raspberries or blackberries as they are available. if you find almonds, acorns, or walnuts, feel free to shell and chop and add(if you're really gung ho, you'll have a lump of bleu cheese to crumble into this, and then we're having real fun), along with whatever else you like.

just because we're in the wilderness doesn't mean we can't eat civilized food, i always say. the salad, by the way, goes well with my next favorite.

my other big living off the land food be rabbits. mm. this year i'll try my hand with my .36 cal navy revolver, but in the past i just used my .357 magnum loaded with .38 special or shotshells(depended on the rabbit). a slow lead round knocks them top over teakettle just fine. aim high to avoid gutshooting. a sharp loud whistle will stop them in their tracks and make them pop up if you need a better shot.

grill them, roast them, steam them(if you have a big enough pot), wrap them in big moist fern leaf bundles and bury them under a fire, have fun.

 

[dsuursoo]

forgot about the prickly pear fruit. makes good margueritas. :thumbsup:

Have not had fried scorpion, but have seen it eaten. I'd have to be pretty hungry to mess with scorpions.

Forgot about rattlers too. Have eaten rattlers several times. not much to say. doesn't taste much like chicken or really anything else. mainly just chewy and stringy.

i had some lovely rattler kebabs while out with some friends on the high plains of idaho/washington. clove of garlic, hunk of onion, some veg, it's good stuff. i think they soaked the meat in a brine for a few hours before cooking though.

 

[crockett]

What about mushrooms? Sort of strange but I can't recall ever reading a period piece where mushrooms are mentioned.