Sometimes, you have to think outside of the freeze-dried food paradigm. You may find yourself in the woods forced to run from your home or camp because of marauders with nothing to eat. Fortunately, there are many edible plants that can save your life if you know what they are, how to identify them and are comfortable with preparing them.
I don’t personally think that I will love eating a bunch of weeds to survive, but I will if needed. In a long-term disaster, I would certainly consider them vital to preserving life and the right edible plants could augment your gardens and food stores. I wanted to write up this list of 20 edible plants that are found mostly in the temperate region. There are certainly others you could find growing near you, but this is a good start. If I am able to master 20 edible plants in the area where I live, I would consider that a huge benefit to my prepping needs.
There are a lot of very recognizable plants you can eat like strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and so on, but I didn’t want to add those to the list.
Plants to avoid
Before you grab a good book on edible plants and run out into the woods with a bowl and a fork, you should practice some caution with this process. Not all plants are edible and knowing what not to eat is just as important as knowing what to eat. Before you forage, here are some simple rules to follow when you are trying to identify a plant.
Do not eat any plants that have the following traits
- Milky or discolored sap
- Grain heads with purple/pink or black spurs
- Beans, bulbs or seeds inside pods
- Yellow, white or red berries
- Soapy or bitter taste
- Never eat plants with thorns.
- Steer clear of plants with shiny leaves.
- Don’t eat mushrooms. Many are safe to eat, but many are highly toxic and even deadly, so it’s not worth the risk.
- Umbrella-shaped flowers are a bad sign. Stay away from these plants.
- Avoid anything that smells like almonds.
- Same as poison ivy, stay away from plants with leaves in groups of three.
In addition to avoiding all of those traits, you want to forage for wild edible plants in areas that are less likely to have toxins. Plants growing near homes could have been sprayed many times with chemicals. Plants in water that is contaminated will likely hold that same contamination. Plants by the road will have picked up many harmful chemicals and pollution.
Before eating, use the Universal Edibility Test
Before taking the test, you need to fast for 8 hours. If you are desperate enough to need to find edible plants, this might be already the case.
- Test only one part of a potential food plant at a time.
- Separate the plant into its basic components – leaves, stems, roots, buds and flowers
- Smell the food for strong or acid odors. Remember, smell alone does not indicate if a plant is edible or not.
- During the 8 hours you are fasting, test for contact poisoning by placing a piece of the plant part you are testing on the inside of your elbow or wrist. Usually 15 minutes is enough time to get a reaction if there is going to be one.
- During the test period, take nothing by mouth except purified water and that plant part you are testing.
- Select a small portion of a single part and prepare it the way you plan to eat it.
- Before placing the prepared plant part in your mouth, touch a small portion (a pinch) to the outer surface of your lip to test for burning or itching.
- If after 3 minutes there is no reaction on your lip, place the plant part on your tongue and hold it there for 15 minutes. DO NOT SWALLOW.
- If there is no burning, itching, numbing, stinging , or any other irritation, swallow the plant part.
- Wait 8 hours. If any ill effects occur during this period, induce vomiting and drink a lot of water.
- If no ill effects occur, each ¼ cup of the same plant part prepared the same way. Wait another 8 hours. If everything is still good after all of these steps, the plant is considered edible.
Note: Just because the part you tested is edible, that doesn’t mean the entire plant is edible. Test all parts the same way before eating them.
List of Edible Plants
Amaranth (Amaranthus retroflexus and other species)
Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis)
Burdock (Arctium lappa)
Cattail (Typha species)
Clover (Trifolium)
Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
Chickweed (Stekkarua media)
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)
Plantain (Plantago species)
Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)
Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia species)
Purslane (Portulaca oleracea)
Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)
Sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella)
Thistle (Cirsium species)
Water lily and lotus (Nuphar, Nelumbo, and other species)
Wild onion and garlic (Allium species)
Wild rose (Rosa species)
Wood sorrel (Oxalis species)
Now that you have some more information about the edible plants near you, why don’t you try eating some of these varieties the next time you go for a hike in the woods. Any wild edible plants that you eat that didn’t make the list?