Wild Foods Currently Poking Their Heads Up in the Southeast

In the Southeast , where I am, Morels are up, and have been for a couple of weeks. (I'm not an adventurous mushroom hunter. Morels and Puffballs are about the only ones that I feel totally comfortable in picking and eating.) We collected enough Morels to fill several bowls like this one. Some we battered in egg and corn meal, and fried up for immediate consumption; some we fried and mixed with scrambled eggs; and we dehydrated the rest for later use in soups and such. I find that a gallon sized baggie of sliced Morels results in about a sandwich sized baggie of dried mushrooms.


While we were out, our little one gathered a small armload of wild spring onions. I helped him make a fairly good Onion and Potato Soup out of them. We started with a couple of inches of water, with a chicken bullion cube, a dash of salt, and a bit of black pepper. We added a few small, finely chopped, potatoes; some parsley; some bacon bits; and the bulbs and tender green tips of the wild onions he had collected. After about an hour on a low boil, the ingredients produced a fairly decent soup. Because the flavor of the onions is so strong, very little other seasoning is required.

In the next couple of days, we'll be collecting some Poke Weed for use as greens, and to mix with scrambled eggs.

 

Im jealous. I just got a few more inches of snow last night. Going to be a few more weeks till greens season here in the north I guess.

 

Wondering about getting some mushroom spores and trying to grow a few in one of my old chicken houses... Anyone ever raised any?

 

You cannot imagine how envious I am. I grew up in Ohio. The only thing I miss is Morel Mushrooms. I am a Morel Maniac. My brain is permenantly imprinted with the image of Morel mushrooms. I hunted them with my father and my grandfather in the beginning of my 17 year span of collecting those delicious morsels. I quickly exceeded their expertiese in hunting anything as well as fishing. They were good teachers, and then I sought out others to learn from as well as tons of books.

 

Great post, I remember spending 2 weeks along the river as a pre training exercise just before I joined the servive. Late summer wild onions were used to flavor everything from rabbit stew to catfish. That trip proved that the most important long term survival need was SALT and PEPPER. Just call it a comfort food additive that makes your life more normal in bad times.

 

I haven't yet, but it's something we hope to give a try some day.

 

I hear most plants respond well to music. I would think mushrooms would respond best NPR radio. (they thrive in crap)

 

The family went foraging today. Here in western NC, the Morels are coming up. We battered this batch in egg, flour, and spices. They turned out awesome.

We also found some fiddlehead ferns. Sauteed them in butter, along with some onions and bacon. Another hit.


And my wife chopped up a bunch of the remaining fiddleheads, which had been sauteed, and mixed them with scrambled eggs. Even better.

Our son collected a bunch of wild onions, and turned out a very good soup with some beef bullion, garlic, and a couple of spices.


A day spent foraging is rewarding, but it gives you a whole new level of respect for our hunter-gatherer ancestors.