I've decided to catalog a few of the wild plants that I have come to enjoy eating, and share them with you. Disclaimer: I am not an expert nor is this to be considered professional dietary, nutritional, medicinal, or any other form of advice. These are just some pictures and info to share about a plant that I recently ate, which may encourage you to do some research and foraging yourself, so that if you ever wanted to, or needed to, you could find something growing somewhere that could be used as food. Whether it's classified as being a survivalist or prepper, or just being wise or frugal is not up to me. I just know that I enjoy these plants and eat them frequently.
Basic Rules for these posts:
- I will only post pictures which I have taken myself.
- I will eat the plant that was photographed prior to posting.
- If the postings cease suddenly, you may want to conclude that I made a mistake and perhaps ingested some lethal vegetation by accident.
#1 - Common Yellow Wood Sorrel
Though I have seen this plant for most of my life in multiple states and even enjoyed popping the exploding seedpods, I did not realize that it was edible until a sister told me about it last year. Man, what a treat! As far as wild plants that you can eat raw, I would rank wood sorrel very high on the list of unique and pleasant wild edibles that one can enjoy. It is similar in shape to that of a clover, with three heart-shaped leaves at the end of its stems. The flowers on this particular variety are small and yellow, and eventually turn into elongated seedpods that will burst and broadcast the mature seeds once they ripen. This is why wood sorrel can be very abundant in certain locations. I have personally enjoyed eating the stems, leaves, flowers, seedpods, and seeds. The flavor seems to be consistent throughout, and it personally reminds me of a sour apple Jolly Rancher candy. I've actually used it as a treat before for my children and some of my nieces. They loved it! Others claim that it tastes similar to lemon grass or lemons, and it certainly has a sourish zing to it. I'm contemplating seeing if it can be used to made a drink that would taste similar to lemonade. It can also be used to zest up a fresh salad and add a surprising edge to it. If you've never had the pleasure of meeting this plant, I'd say you are missing out. I know that I was. I believe that the scientific name of the plant is Oxalis stricta, if you want to do any of your own research.
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