Challenge to all Survival Monkeys

Besides the endless fields of corn, soybeans & wheat that surround me...strawberries, blackberries, apples, wild onions, cat tails, dandelions, pine nuts and acorns are abundant.

 

Too easy: Wapato, Virginia waterleaf, and Cattail root. Also many other plants are still thriving in my Wisconsin area, like Stinging Nettle, Thistle, Burdock, Goosefoot, Ground Beans, Watercress, etc, etc. Ask this question again in two months and my list will be quite a bit smaller due to our harsh winter. At that point we would be talking about inner tree bark and stuff like Rock Tripe... not really crowd pleasers but it will keep you alive for a while.

 

That is a new one. I am going to research rock tripe.

 

Currants, bolete mushrooms, dandelions, serviceberries/saskatoons, miner's lettuce, lamb's quarter/gooseleaf, curly dock. Yarrow is more of a medicinal herb, but that's here too. That's more than 3, but oh well

 

Muscadine grapes make pretty good wine... a little on the sweet side... try some Duplin wines Carolina Red... the college I work at is one of two in the state with vintering and enthology courses... we make our own wine as well...

 

Muscadine, onions, garlic, mushrooms(although I REALLY need to learn how to tell which ones are edible) strawberries, blackberries, walnuts,acorns, kale and much more all depending on season.

Deer, wild pig, and many smaller creatures that won't be first on the meat list
Catfish,bass,trout and mudbugs
Oh, and 4 very fat house cats

 

Wild Onions

Black Walnuts



Mulberries


Couldn't live on a diet of it but it's a start.

Cattails although not super common


Jerusalem Artichoke

 

Mulberries yum! nice one!

 

We have more wild edibles then I can mention. I will however try. Grapes, strawberries, black berries,raspberries, cat tails, water cress, Lilies, winter green, Mushrooms, Sassafras, Mulberries, Acorns, Beach nuts, Apples, and soon to be peaches, pears and Cherries.

 

Confirmed this morning. Guavas and avocados.

 

My new location has milk weed, dandelions plus I have a tree in my yard. I haven't positively identified but it looks like a cousin to the willow tree. I know it is edible but won't try it until I positively ID.

 

Lemons, Limes, Pindo Palm fruit, lowquit & paw-paw are pretty much picked clean by the squirrels, grapefruit & oranges won't be ripe until December. It is still possible to eat them now, but I'd rather wait until December.

 

Pecans, mesquite bean, acorn, wild onion, Hackberry, mimosa, dock, plantain, chickweed, garlic growing wild, thistle, brier roots, milkweed, mustang grapes, nopal pads and fruit, persimmons, turkey tail and rieshe mushrooms, wild plums.

 

I live next to a partially developed park. It is a Dandelion factory. It is berry season here in the bowl - raspberry, blackberry and
salmonberry.


WIld foods eh?
Agutuk/Akutaq
Agutuk (or Akutaq, depending on the dialect) is an old local “dessert” sometimes wrongfully called “Eskimo Ice Cream,” that it is not for the faint of heart. A delightfully bizarre mix of reindeer fat, seal oil, snow, and wild berries whisked together to form a light, satisfying foam, it's a natural energy enhancer.

BTW - seal oil is not for the faint of heart. Huuuff-da.

Low bush cranberries - used to supplement my .mil issue CHOW with berries picked as we hiked along....
Devil's Club buds - fried.

Sadly, never got a chance to work the Alaskan tidewaters while playing games for Uncle Sugar...

 

I am surrounded by vineyards, and orange groves, doves, rabbits, ground squirrels, date palm, pepper tree, fig tree, lemon tree,
cat tails, rattle snakes, weeds ,wild gourd (not identified. )

 

My three favorite that I cultivate and they appear as wild weeds are:
Burdock. Large root stock, very medicinal, very tasty, pretty much year round edibility. bonus, most live stock ignore the bitter leaves.
Jerusalem artichokes. Lots of tubers per plant, tasty, year round starch.
Stinging nettle: awesome green-- I like it better than spinach, packed with nutrition. bonus, no one but me messes with them.

Very honorable mentions: dandelions (greens and roots), lamb's quarters, watercress are the most nutritious plants in North America according to Steve Brill

I make a very medicinal and ancient spring tonic mead with honey, burdock, dandelion, and nettles.

If you have earthworms in your area, you have no excuse to starve. Personally, I prefer to let my chickens turn the earthworms into eggs or my fishing pole turn earthworms into fish

 

Blackberries are full on right now. There is a 50' wall next to my vacant lot by Dad's that is jam packed. We also have wild carrots, wild onions, shallots, garlic, wild sunflowers, also some cherries, and several apple trees left over from early pioneers. I need to check into what the local Indians were harvesting.

 

Staghorn sumac for a tasty drink ( so I am told). Apples. Maple trees for syrup.

 

Sumac is ground and used as a sour spice in mid eastern countries. It's also very medicinal and nutritious. You need a fine grinder or order it online.