Print PDF
Favorite
Email
If you're ever walking along somewhere and feel a bit peckish, this instructable might help you! You'd be surprised how many common plants are perfectly edible.
This instructable is a short guide to several plants that are good for just nibbling on as you pass them by - this isn't about foraging or cooking anything. Just tasty stuff to keep your teeth occupied... better than chewing gum!
All of these are pretty common (some localised) where I live in NW England, I assume most are easy to find over the rest of the country and possibly much of Europe or elsewhere.
Photos are all my own except a few from Wikipedia until the right time of year comes around and I can take some myself!
This instructable is a short guide to several plants that are good for just nibbling on as you pass them by - this isn't about foraging or cooking anything. Just tasty stuff to keep your teeth occupied... better than chewing gum!
All of these are pretty common (some localised) where I live in NW England, I assume most are easy to find over the rest of the country and possibly much of Europe or elsewhere.
Photos are all my own except a few from Wikipedia until the right time of year comes around and I can take some myself!
Remove these ads by
Signing UpStep 1Beech
Beech can be a huge tree or made in hedging, and is easy to recognise. It has smooth greyish bark and spiky brown buds that open into green serrated leaves (see photos). In the autumn the trees have plenty of nuts with a taste somewhere between walnuts and chestnuts.
In spring the new leaves can be eaten while they are still bright green and floppy, but get bitter fast when they become darker and stiffer in a couple of weeks. I find that if they're chewed too long they start to taste bitter too so just give them a couple of munches. Loads of them around though!
The nuts come in a hard outer shell that opens up by itself when ripe, the nuts (called 'mast') are small but plentiful and drop to the ground making them easy to gather. Looking like a steep three-sided pyramid, use your nail to crack off the thin inner shell then rub off the bitter hairs before eating it.
The trees don't seem to produce them every year, or sometimes just empty shells... Not sure whether this is just normal for beech or if it depends on the weather and seasons.
In spring the new leaves can be eaten while they are still bright green and floppy, but get bitter fast when they become darker and stiffer in a couple of weeks. I find that if they're chewed too long they start to taste bitter too so just give them a couple of munches. Loads of them around though!
The nuts come in a hard outer shell that opens up by itself when ripe, the nuts (called 'mast') are small but plentiful and drop to the ground making them easy to gather. Looking like a steep three-sided pyramid, use your nail to crack off the thin inner shell then rub off the bitter hairs before eating it.
The trees don't seem to produce them every year, or sometimes just empty shells... Not sure whether this is just normal for beech or if it depends on the weather and seasons.
| « Previous Step | Download PDFView All Steps | Next Step » |
Mint I didn't include because it's not very common (but maybe I will after all) and chickweed because I've never found and tried it!
Clover's interesting... I'll have to hunt some up and try it :)
It gets too bitter for my taste weeks before it flowers though, so I doubt anyone would want to eat it then anyways.
Ramsons brings back memories of my wedding-day to me. On leaving the reception we found that our 'friends' had filled the car with wild garlic.
Perhaps a warning/disclaimer in the first step would be useful. While your photos are clear and well referenced when not yours, it would be good to recommend people look up other pictures before trying some things so they don't get mixed up with less edible plants!
I didn't put cow parsley for example because I don't have any decent photos and that can easily be confused with hemlock and other stuff.
In Germany all of these can be found, too.
Jayefuu is right, especialy the leaves of Lily-of-the-Valley are easily mistaken for ramsons....and they grow in the same places, extremely poisonous!! So check carefully before you eat them!
Wood Sorrel
Here in the states, we have this as well. But I've never seen it with a white flower. Ours have yellow flowers. Same great taste. In my back yard it grows in abundance.
Also, if you can find it, check some books by Euell Gibbons. Here's a start:
http://www.wildfoodadventures.com/euellgibbons.html