Outdoor Edibles » Fall

Shaggy Mane/Lawyer’s Wig Mushroom

Wild Edible — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:05:18 +0000

Wild Shaggy Mane Mushroom

The wild Shaggy Mane or Lawyer’s Wig mushroom has a cap that is so distinctive and large that it can be easily identified with a little practice. A freshly harvested wild Shaggy Mane mushroom has a cap that is long, white, and cylindrical, with upturned, brownish scales, and whitish gills. Another distinguishing feature of the wild Shaggy Mane mushroom is the ease in which it is crumbled.

Typically found scattered in pastures, growing in soil or wood chips, wood lots and lawns, the wild edible Shaggy Mane mushroom is best harvested in the spring, summer and fall. The largest of a group of wild edible mushrooms called “inky caps”, the Shaggy Mane mushroom is best picked before the caps begin to turn black.

Until you become familiar with identifing this wild edible mushroom, be sure of your identification by checking for the developing ink.

The wild Shaggy Manes mushroom is delicate and should be picked young and eaten the same day. One great way to enjoy the flavor of the wild edible Shaggy Mane mushroom is to saute it in butter and season with nutmeg or garlic. It is also really good in scrambled eggs or chicken dishes.

Puffball Mushrooms

Wild Edible — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:27:04 +0000

Wild Puffball Mushroom

The wild edible mushroom called the Puffball is round or pear-shaped and might or might not have a stalk-like base, and are typically gray, whitish, or tan. The interior of a puffball is solid white initially, gradually turning yellow, then brown as the mushroom gets more mature. Finally, the interior changes to a mass of dark, powdery spores, Size: 1″ to 12″ in diameter, sometimes larger.

The best time to harvest wild edible Puffball mushrooms is in the late summer and early fall. They are most often found in open woods, on soil or decaying wood, pastures, empty lots, or even on your lawn.

Puffball Mushroom Interior

It is important to slice the wild Puffball mushroom from top to bottom in order to inspect the interior of the mushroom. Much like a slice of white bread, it should be completely white and featureless inside. Any traces of brown or yellow will spoil the flavor.

If complete inspection of the Puffball mushroom reveals a stalk, gills when you examine the interior, and a cap, you might have the wrong type of mushroom. If you are not absolutely certain of the identity of the mushroom, do not eat it.

One great way to eat the wild edible Puffball mushroom is to simply dip it in batter and fry it, after removing the tough outer skin.

Chestnut

Wild Edible — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:56:33 +0000

Chestnut trees grow in temperate and tropical regions throughout the world, and is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family. The American Chestnut tree could grow to ten feet in diameter and 100 feet tall and could live to be 600 years old. It provided food, shelter, beauty and income for many people in the Appalachians.

Its bark is smooth when young, of a vinous maroon or red-brown color for the American Chestnut, gray for the European Chestnut. With age American species’ becomes gray and darker, thick and deeply furrowed; the furrows run longitudinally, and tend to twist around the trunk as the tree ages – it sometimes reminds of a large cable with twisted strands. Castanea sativa male catkins (pale buff) and female catkins (green, spiny, partly hidden by leaves).

The leaves are simple, ovate or lanceolate, 4 – 12 inches long and 1.5 – 4 inches broad, with sharply pointed, widely-spaced teeth, with shallow rounded sinuates between.

The flowers follow the leaves, appearing in late Spring or early Summer or onto July. They are arranged in long catkins of two kinds, with both kinds being borne on every tree. Some catkins are made of only male flowers, which mature first. Each flower has eight stamens, or 10 to 12 for Castanea mollissima. The ripe pollen carries a heavy sweet odour that some people find too sweet or unpleasant. Other catkins have these pollen-bearing flowers but also carry near the twig from which these spring, small clusters of female or fruit-producing flowers. Two or three flowers together form a four-lobed prickly calybium which ultimately grows completely together to make the brown hull, or husk, covering the fruits.

Chestnuts can be found on the ground around trees

The fruit is contained in a spiny (very sharp) cupule 2 to 3 inches in diameter, also called “bur” or “burr”. The burrs are often paired or clustered on the branch and contain one to seven nuts according to the different species, varieties and cultivars. At around the time when the fruits reach maturity, the burrs turn yellow-brown and split open in 2 or 4 sections. They can remain on the tree longer than they hold the fruit, but more often achieve complete opening and release the fruits only after having fallen on the ground and is partly due to soil humidity.

The chestnut fruit has a pointy end with at the tip a small tuft called ‘flame’ in Italian, and a hilum – an oblong spot at the other end of the fruit. In many varieties the fruit is flattened on one or two sides. It has two skins. The first one, is a hard outer shiny brown hull or husk, called the pericarpus; the industry calls it ‘the peel’. Underneath the pericarpus is another thinner skin, also called “pellicle” or “episperm”. The pellicle closely adheres to the seed itself, following the grooves usually present at the surface of the fruit. These grooves are of variable sizes and depth according to the species and varieties. They can make the peeling in many cases difficult without the appropriate technique.

Cut an X into the top of each chestnut (the end with the little tuft of spikes on), and drop into a shallow panful of simmering water. WEARING RUBBER GLOVES, a minute or two later take two or three out with a slotted spoon. The shell peels down from the top, and if the skin doesn’t come with it, it will soon follow with a rub from your gloved fingertip. Don’t peel the shell right down to the bottom until you’ve done all four sides (you don’t want it to cool) and then rub any remaining skin off. Any skin caught in the folds can be tweaked out by a helper (non glove-wearing), or with a knife, or rubbed off gently with a toothbrush. If the nut cools down too much and the skin readheres, pop it back into the boiling water for 30 seconds.

The nuts go floury if they’re cooked for too long, so about six nuts at a time in the boiling water is about right so you can do two or three batches of peeling. It is still labour intensive, but you get beautifully clean nuts (matron), waste much less, and spare your fingers.

Ripe nuts are usually picked in autumn, although unripe nuts picked while green may also be used for food. Perhaps the easiest way to prepare them is to roast the ripe nuts in embers. Cooked this way, they are quite tasty, and you can eat large quantities. Another way is to boil the kernels after removing the outer shell. After being boiled until fairly soft, you can mash the nuts like potatoes.

Cattail

Wild Edible — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:54:37 +0000

Cattails is easily recognizable, and commonly grows in full sun areas at the margins of lakes, streams, canals, rivers, and brackish water. Cattails have strap-like, pointed leaves, with parallel veins, resemble other wetland plants, but last year’s stalks provide positive identification, which are white, dense, furry, cigar-shaped overwintered seed heads standing atop very long, stout stalks, even as the young shoots first emerge in early spring. When in doubt, look for the dead cattail plants from the previous year which should be profuse in any enduring stand.

Every part of the Cattail has uses. It ís easy to harvest, very tasty, and highly nutritious. It was a major staple for the American Indians, who found it in such great supply, they didn’t need to cultivate it.

Before the flower forms, the shoots prized as “Cossackís asparagus” in Russia are fantastic. You can peel and eat them raw or cooked well into the summer. When the cattail is immature and still green, you can boil the female portion and eat it like corn on the cob, and in the spring, pollen from the male flowers is often abundant, bright yellow and can be used as a flour substitute.

The rhizome or root, which can be harvest year round (although it is often very tough), is a very rich source of starch. Pulverizing the rhizome is the easiest way to remove the starch and use it as a flour.

Other uses for the Cattail include: Using the dried leaves for weaving material, the cottony seeds can be used for pillow stuffing and insulation, the fluff makes an excellent tinder, the dried Cattails make an effective insect repellent when burned, the stems can be soaked in cold water to remove the starch and then the water rendered to make a starch paste, and the leaves, which swell when wet, can be used for caulking cracks in barrels and boats.

Burdock

Wild Edible — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:53:12 +0000

Burdock Seed Pod

The Burdock is thistle plant native to the Old World, although several species have been widely introduced in temperate climates worldwide. It is often found in disturbed habitats, roadsides, vacant lots, and fields. It is a major wild food source and has long-stalked wedge-shaped, wavy edged, toothless leaves that looks much like Rhubarb. Burdock leaves are roughly two feet long by one foot across and are white and fuzzy underneath (Unlike other similar species, like Rhubarb, which has poisonous leaves).

Burdock Leaf

During the first and the beginning of the second year of growth, the basal rosette of leaves stays close to the ground, then, in mid-spring of the second year, a central flower stalk arises to a height of two to nine feet, topped by flowers that resemble purple or pink shaving brushes. If Burdock is discovered in early spring, before the flowers appear, you can harvest both the immature flower stalk and the large, deep, beige taproot.

You can eat the flower stalk raw or prepare it by first peeling and parboiling it for one minute to get rid of the bitterness, then cooking for another 10 to 15 minutes for tenderness as desired. Burdock flower stalks taste much like Artichoke hearts, and can be used in any Artichoke heart recipe as a substitute.

Flowering Burdock Plant

The Burdock roots can be eaten raw or prepared by boiling, baking, or first thoroughly scrubbing the root with a coarse copper scouring pad, then slicing it thin and simmering or sautéing for 20 minutes until tender. It has a hearty flavor reminiscent of potatoes, although it is related to artichokes.

The fruits that follow the flowers are brown globular burrs that stick to clothing and virtually anything else. The Burdock typically lives for two years, making it a biennial, then, after dispersing its seeds, the plant dies.

Folk herbalists consider dried burdock to be a diuretic, diaphoretic, and a blood purifying agent. The seeds of A. lappa are used in traditional Chinese medicine, under the name niupangzi. Burdock is a traditional medicinal herb that is used for many ailments. Burdock root oil extract, also called Bur oil, is popular in Europe as a scalp treatment applied to improve hair strength, shine and body, help reverse scalp conditions such as dandruff, and combat hair loss.

Burdock Flower

A liquid made from the roots will help to produce sweating and increase urination. Dry the root, simmer it in water, strain the liquid, and then drink the strained liquid. Use the fiber from the dried stalk to weave cordage.

Incidentally, the invention of Velcro is attributed to Burdock’s influence. In the early 1940′s, a Swiss inventor became curious about the seeds that had attached themselves to his clothes and his dog’s fur. When he examined them under a microscope, he found the familiar hook-and-loop system that the seeds use to hitchhike on passing animals, and realized that the same approach could be used to join other things together as well.

Blueberry

Wild Edible — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:51:34 +0000

Blueberries

Most people who live in Canada or the United States are very familiar with wild Blueberries. They often grow in open, sunny areas, and variations are found in many north temperate climates around the world. Among other common names, Blueberries are also known at Huckleberries, Bilberries, and Deerberries.

The Blueberry is a shrub which can vary from one to several feet in height. They have elliptical, alternate, simple leaves, and in the spring, their flowers are typically white, bell-shaped, and are said to be edible as well. The berries are typically harvested in summer or early fall, and go from green to dark blue, black, or red as they ripen.

Blueberry Bush

Leaf of the Blueberry Bush

Black Eyed Susan

Wild Edible — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:49:36 +0000

Black Eyed Susan

The Black Eyed Susan is an easily recognizable plant native to most of North America. It most often grows in moist thickets or fields. It can reach a height of around 3 feet, and has alternate, mostly basal leaves 4 to 8 inches long, covered by coarse hair. The Black Eyed Susan flowers from June to October. The familiar yellow ray florets circling a brown or black, domed center, makes it a plant that is easily distinguished.

The roots but not seedheads of the Black Eyed Susan can be used much like the related Purple Coneflower. It is an astringent used as in a warm infusion as a wash for sores and swellings.

Black Eyed Susan

The Ojibwa used it as a poultice for snake bites and to make an infusion for treating colds and worms in children. The plant is diuretic and was used by the Menominee and Potawatomi. Juice from the roots had been used as drops for earaches. The spring greens can be cooked and eaten.

Wild Carrot

Wild Edible — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:53:33 +0000

Wild Carrot Plant

The Wild Carrot, otherwise known as Queen Anne’s Lace or Bird’s Nest, is a common plant in the Parsley Family. It’s most distinctive features are the roots, which resemble and smell like carrots, and the flat-topped umbel of white flowers. It is most typically found in dry fields. It grows to 1 to 3 feet in height and has a slightly hairy stem.

The edible root tastes quite a bit like a carrot, and the first year roots have the most flavor. There are other similar species, some of which are deadly poisonous, therefore it is critical to correctly identify this plant before consuming it.

Like the cultivated carrot, the wild carrot root is edible while young, but the wild carrot will quickly becomes too woody to consume with age. Incidentally, its use for the purpose of birth control was first described by Hippocrates over 2,000 years ago in the form of a teaspoon of crushed seeds.

Wild Carrot Flower

Similar species include:

Water Hemlocks (Cicuta) – DEADLY POISONOUS
Fool’s Parsley (Aethusa cynapium) – poisonous
Hemlock Parsley (Conioselinum chinense)
Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum) – DEADLY POISONOUS
Caraway (Carum carvi)
Other members of the Parsley Family

Beechnut

Wild Edible — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:20:04 +0000

Beechnut Pod

The Beech tree grows in temperate regions throughout the world, and generally prefers forests. It is commonly found in the eastern United States, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. In addition, Beech relatives are found in Chile, New Guinea, and New Zealand.

Beech trees are large, symmetrical forest trees that have smooth, light-gray bark and dark green foliage. The most distinguishing features are the bark, the female flowers borne in pairs and the male catkins in the spring and early summer, and the clusters of prickly seedpods in the fall. The leaves of beech trees are elliptical, entirely or sparsely toothed, around 4 inches long and 2 inches wide.

Beachnut Leaves

The fruit of the beech, also called “Beechnuts” and “mast”, are found in the small burrs that drop from tree in autumn. They are small and triangular, are edible though sometimes bitter, have a sweet taste and are highly nutritious. Because of the high oil content, the Beechnut is an extremely useful survival food.

Another use for the Beechnut is as a coffee substitute. Roast them so that the kernel becomes golden brown and quite hard. Then pulverize the kernel and, after boiling or steeping in hot water, you will have a reasonable coffee substitute.

Black Birch

Wild Edible — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:58:31 +0000

Black Birch Stem And Leaves

Black Birch is a tree that grows in forests throughout temperate regions in eastern North America. This common tree’s cambium (the green layer under the bark) contains the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory oil of wintergreen, which you can smell if you scratch-and-sniff the twigs or bark.
The Black Birch is most easily distinguished by the alternate (unpaired), elliptical, short-stalked, finely toothed leaves, the pointed, prominent, evenly spaced veins forming the letter “V” on the leaves, the slender twigs, and short, pointed leaf buds. The male catkins appear during the winter, before the leaves develop, and release pollen into the wind in early spring.

Black Birch Bark

The bark of the Black Birch is smooth, grey and puncuated by horizontal lenticels, which let the tree breathe. Unlike cherry trees, the bark isn’t riddled with cracks. The female flowers typically resemble green catapillars and appear in early spring.

Black Birch Catskins

There are several ways to make use of the Black Birch, including simply chewing on the delicious, wintergreen flavored twigs like chewing gum, or steeping the twigs for tea. A strong cup of Black Birch tea is said to be the equivalent of 1/4 to 1/2 of an aspirin.