PREP Foraging for Survival

[bracketquant]

The only foraging I'll be doing is catching brim, bass, and tilapia in the backyard pond, but that only as a last resort.

If it were me, once a year I would catch, kill, clean, and cook, just to keep the skills from getting rusty.

 

[Babs]

Mushrooms. But it takes years to get to know which ones are only edible once. There are lots of look alikes. I would recommend going with someone who is experienced.

 

[helen]

My wife years ago, studied the properties of Pokeweed, and found that the root could help stop the cytokine storm one has when infected with H1N1 or bird flu.

You just need to poison your self with the poke root a tiny bit at a time. Starting off with just a skin contact. Then a kiss. Then a chew and spit. Then a vary small dose and so on.

Any adverse reactions, stop.

But we never tried it. I'm vary interested in the fact one can eat the leaves after a triple boil.

Grandpa told us we would die if we tried it.

 

[Old Gray Mare]

If it were me, once a year I would catch, kill, clean, and cook, just to keep the skills from getting rusty.

For many it may be a humbling experience. I was skunked the last surf fishing attempt. Could I kill, clean and cook a caught fish? Sure, but there's a reason it's called fishing and not catching.

 

[medic38572]

Use Poke leaves!

Pine cones!

 

[Samuel Adams]

Grandpa told us we would die if we tried it.

Gramma told us boys we’d drown, sure, was we ever to fall into thet they Spoon River……


Hope she got to watch, from Heaven, when I tubed that levee break…..




Meanwhile…..MUSTARD GREENS !!!

(brassica nigra)

The leaves are very horseradishy, in the raw, and are a great addition to roast beef sandwich or hamburger, etc…..or salad….

Wilting them in butter or the like takes all the horseradish bite out of them and leaves them with an entirely different whole country flavor.

Black mustard is my personal favorite green.
We let them take over a portion of the garden each year……a little to the west and sunny side of the Jerusalem artichoke patch.

 

[helen]

Mushrooms. But it takes years to get to know which ones are only edible once. There are lots of look alikes. I would recommend going with someone who is experienced.

I would trust the self-reported STD history of a complete stranger before I would trust anyone to properly identify mushrooms in the wild.

 

[Samuel Adams]

I probably have 50 books in my collection, dealing solely with with plants, their uses, recipes and positive identification.

My obsession began when I was 11….and even my role model Gramma, in either a brief fit of dementia or slight surrender to the temptation to insanity (it couldn’t possibly have been founded in genuine concern) once confided in my mother (sadly, a city girl, at heart) that I might be SPENDING TOO MUCH OF MY HARD-EARNED RABBIT, EGG AND DEW WORM MONEY ON BOOKS !!!

Inconceivable.

Anyhoo…..my all time favorite go-to for edible plant particulars was always Oliver Perry Medsger’s “Edible Wild Plants”.

Still available…..

edible wild plants oliver perry medsger for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for edible wild plants oliver perry medsger at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

www.ebay.com

 

[bracketquant]

Mushrooms. But it takes years to get to know which ones are only edible once. There are lots of look alikes. I would recommend going with someone who is experienced.

Sorry Babs,

But I have to say no, for me, on this one. This thread is about foraging for SURVIVAL.

Mushrooms have near zero calories, along with the old saying...there are old mushroom hunters and bold mushroom hunters. But, there are no old bold mushroom hunters.

Now, if one were out walking, in doing an activity for their survival, and came across absolutely identifiable safe mushrooms, that were no extra burden to carry back, that I could see.

 

[Babs]

I would trust the self-reported STD history of a complete stranger before I would trust anyone to properly identify mushrooms in the wild.

There are some of us that know mushrooms very well, and the sense to stay away from the ones that we don't know. Some are very easy to identify, such as Morels, Chanterelles, white caps. There are also very simple ways to test an unknown mushroom. Mushroom foraging is very popular in my area, and I've heard of no one dying of ingesting any but it does take study.

 

[Babs]

Sorry Babs,

But I have to say no, for me, on this one. This thread is about foraging for SURVIVAL.

Mushrooms have near zero calories, along with the old saying...there are old mushroom hunters and bold mushroom hunters. But, there are no old bold mushroom hunters.

Now, if one were out walking, in doing an activity for their survival, and came across absolutely identifiable safe mushrooms, that were no extra burden to carry back, that I could see.

Mushrooms have many health benefits, some of which would be very important in a survival situation.

Health Benefits of Mushrooms

Find out what nutrients are in mushrooms and learn how it can help everything from obesity control to lower blood pressure.

www.webmd.com

Excerpt: "Mushrooms are a low-calorie food that packs a nutritional punch. Loaded with many health-boosting vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, they’ve long been recognized as an important part of any diet. "

 

[bracketquant]

For many it may be a humbling experience. I was skunked the last surf fishing attempt. Could I kill, clean and cook a caught fish? Sure, but there's a reason it's called fishing and not catching.

In surf fishing, you're at the mercy of fish being in, or not in, your area, along with whether they are actively or passively feeding.

In a small pond situation, generally speaking, the fish are almost always in casting distance, and usually in an opportunistic feeding mood. Most small ponds, that I visit or read about, do not have an abundance of forage, and the fish are often stunted in their growth.

The first key to fishing is to put your bait/lure where fish can sense it. After that, who knows?

 

[bracketquant]

Mushrooms have many health benefits, some of which would be very important in a survival situation.

Health Benefits of Mushrooms

Find out what nutrients are in mushrooms and learn how it can help everything from obesity control to lower blood pressure.

www.webmd.com

Excerpt: "Mushrooms are a low-calorie food that packs a nutritional punch. Loaded with many health-boosting vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, they’ve long been recognized as an important part of any diet. "

Obesity control wouldn't be much of a problem, in a foraging for survival situation.

Another thing would be the availability of mushrooms. Here, there are almost always enough of them around, seasonally. 2022 was an exception to that. Late spring and all through summer, there was a severe drought. In my walks, I did not see a single mushroom of any kind. In the fall, it started to rain. There were perhaps 2-3 days of seeing a few mushrooms, and then a hard frost came, killing everything.

In a survival situation, cultivated mushrooms would be the way to go, not foraging.

 

[Babs]

In a survival situation, cultivated mushrooms would be the way to go, not foraging.

The thread, as you pointed out above, is about foraging.

 

[hiwall]

foraging for survival means a nomadic life.

 

[packyderms_wife]

I keep these dogs fat for a reason.

You're planning on eating your dogs?

 

[rhughe13]

I've eaten a lot of Poke Salat and it grows profusely in the South. Cook and rinse three times, or until bitter is gone. If I eat the berries it's usually anywhere from 1-6 a day. I usually put them whole in my mouth and work up a spit to swallow them whole. Don't chew, as you will score the seeds and that is where the poison is located. The seeds will pass through just like with birds. They don't die and you wont either. You can sieve the juice of Poke Berries and use that as any juice, ie Pies, Jams, Wines, etc. The Root is the most powerful medicine and you can dice it up and make a tincture. Let sit for 6 weeks. It is highly toxic so you would only be using one drop at a time. Increase every day until you feel loopy, then back down. It will reset your immune system. If you have Rheumatoid Arthritis, it will reset your immune system so that you can fight the arthritis naturally.

I am contstantly on the look out for Lions Mane Mushroom that grows in trees and easy to identify. Excellent to slice up and cook. A good Lions Mane will hold you for a few days and they will grow back in same spot every year.

 

[ioujc]

I probably have 50 books in my collection, dealing solely with with plants, their uses, recipes and positive identification.

My obsession began when I was 11….and even my role model Gramma, in either a brief fit of dementia or slight surrender to the temptation to insanity (it couldn’t possibly have been founded in genuine concern) once confided in my mother (sadly, a city girl, at heart) that I might be SPENDING TOO MUCH OF MY HARD-EARNED RABBIT, EGG AND DEW WORM MONEY ON BOOKS !!!

Inconceivable.

Anyhoo…..my all time favorite go-to for edible plant particulars was always Oliver Perry Medsger’s “Edible Wild Plants”.

Still available…..

edible wild plants oliver perry medsger for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for edible wild plants oliver perry medsger at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

www.ebay.com

THIS:
COMPLETELY CHANGED how I looked at plants, and, for me, made plant identification and knowledge MUCH, MUCH EASIER!!

I have also studied the culinary AND MEDICAL uses of plants over about the past 7 years. I feel very comfortable knowing I can provide all of my fresh vegetable food from wild plants. The kicker, of course, is getting enough PROTEIN, and, to a lesser degree, fats. There are plants that provide these needs, but those would require cultivation, as they do not grow in enough quantity unaided in nature, to satisfy nutritional needs.

I find that a better idea is to find the plants that make my chickens and rabbits fat and sassy, and provide these plants to them as a way to "grow" protein from plants.

As far as mushrooms, I had a severe reaction to some that were gathered by myself and a lady who was very knowledgeable about mushrooms. So, I caution EVERYONE to be VERY CAREFUL in eating wild mushrooms, as EVEN IF a mushroom is generally considered safe to eat, SOME INDIVIDUALS MAY HAVE ALLERGIC REACTIONS. My reaction was quite unpleasant. Not only did my stomach hurt, and I felt nauseous, but I also had an intense burning and tingling in my mouth, followed by SEEING SPOTS in my vision. Thought I may have poisoned myself!!!

 

[Samuel Adams]

Protein

Stinging nettle (urtica)

50% protein when dried down…..compared to alfalfa’s 20-22%.

We sautée nettle when young and tender, stem and all, or steam like spinach.

Butter, salt and vinegar are your friends….

Dried nettle can be taken as tea or crumbled a bit and added to soup.

Onion, nettle, potato and cream soup is to live for, especially when the snow is blowing.

 

[jward]

I was going to suggest guerrilla gardening now also. Great minds think alike.

Indeed they do. So do ours, apparently : ) Though to be fair looks like Shadowman had also already made the very good point, as well.

There are threads and sites on Guerilla Gardening if you want to go that rout. I'd prefer to own or control specific ground and cultivate wild crops on it. Thinking food forest. Editable berries, grapes, fruit trees and bushes and nut trees would be high on the list.

It's not an either-or proposition and they are not mutually exclusive. I think of resiliency- and that is at the crux of what we're discussing here, as being "onion like" and comprised of multiple layers. You start with a core of owning a hunk of land, with multiple generations on it, ideally, and own, control, understand and provide updates and repairs for all the systems involved in keeping that running. I.E. You heat, cool, provide for not only growing and raising the food, but processing, storing, heating and serving it, your own water, sanitation, electric, medical etc etc etc.

I haven't done the forest farming (?) on any of my properties, and the permaculture efforts are still in the nascent phase, but you're of course correct that you do all that IN ADDITION to the guerrilla gardening and foraging.

I also agree you're absolutely correct about the hiding things in plain site- to this day I'm still being amazed and delighted to stumble upon those efforts in the back 40- when I find an apple n mulburry trees we'd "stealth planted" and had forgotten... and using plants for the landscaping and windbreaks and wildlife that is dual focus is also a major piece of the puzzle- I consider some of the quail habitat as "fruit bearing" if not in the traditional sense, for instance. . .

 

[buttie]

Cattails.

The old roots can be crushed and soaked in water to get out a flour-like starch. New roots can be roasted like young potatoes. The pollen is edible, and makes a high-protein flour substitute. I've always wanted to try to make pasta from it, never got around to attempting it though. In the spring down through early summer, grab the cattail stalk firmly and yank the whole stalk out, it should detach from the roots. Peel the leaves away from the stalk until you're left with a solid inner core, called Cossack asparagus (not sure why, coz it tastes like corn and that would be alliterative too). Can be eaten raw or cooked as a pot vegetable.

Here in Texas we have live oaks. These are supposed to be the sweetest acorn of any oak. The Lipan Apache used to press them to get an oil much like olive oil. Another thing I want to try, but the drought last year stressed the oaks so we've hardly got any acorns to work with.

I could stick my head outside the door and find three edible plants(pigweed, purslane, acorns), that's the easy part. The hard part is finding enough.

We're thick with live oaks here in N. CA too. Didn't know about the oil, thanks for the info.

 

[KFhunter]

I won't be foraging, I'll be eating Chinese take out.







You take them out, then you eat them.








(just kidding of course)

 

[Samuel Adams]

I won't be foraging, I'll be eating Chinese take out.







You take them out, then you eat them.

Now, see…..you are obliged to share recipes.

 

[hiwall]

The leaves on mulberry trees are an excellent source of protein. Cook them like spinach.

 

[Samuel Adams]

The leaves on mulberry trees are an excellent source of protein. Cook them like spinach.

What you got against eating the protein-rich silk maggots ?

 

[bracketquant]

foraging for survival means a nomadic life.

Not if the local resources do not get depleted

 

[Luddite]

Speaking of maggots, what happened to China Connection?

 

[Samuel Adams]

Good question…..

 

[ShadowMan]

As I mentioned earlier, we need to combine Guerilla Gardening and Permaculture in our immediate environment.

FIRST: Identify and then clear out toxic/poisonous plants from your immediate area. A lot of urban decorative plants are highly toxic. A plant very common here on the West Coast is Oleander, however it's HIGHLY HIGHLY POISONOUS!! Every single part of it! Yet it's used as an evergreen decorative plant. It used to be very commonly used on our freeways here separating the opposing traffic lanes. Proper education to identify such plants is paramount.

Second: Seed the area with a MIX of different edible plants. Many weeds are highly nutritious: Lambs Quarters, Purslane, Dandelion and so on. We have several varieties of wild mountain currents, strawberries and such in my area.

Third: Seed and Plant perennials, herbs, brambles and grains. Mix in grasses and other edible plants into the matrix. No row crops, the wilder looking the better. Remember most folks don't have a clue what they can eat if they are not in a grocery store. Jerusalem Artichokes comes to mind as a perfectly edible plant that doesn't look it out in the wild. Here on our mountain we have many native plants that are edible that you wouldn't think were.

Fourth: PLANT TREES. Think "MAST", trees that produce fruit and nuts, not only for human consumption but for the wild life in your area. These will draw the wild life into your area.....squirrels, raccoons, deer, birds, right there at your back door. Pine nuts comes to mind, as well as acorns and various nut trees.

 

[Babs]

THIS: View attachment 390827
COMPLETELY CHANGED how I looked at plants, and, for me, made plant identification and knowledge MUCH, MUCH EASIER!!

I have also studied the culinary AND MEDICAL uses of plants over about the past 7 years. I feel very comfortable knowing I can provide all of my fresh vegetable food from wild plants. The kicker, of course, is getting enough PROTEIN, and, to a lesser degree, fats. There are plants that provide these needs, but those would require cultivation, as they do not grow in enough quantity unaided in nature, to satisfy nutritional needs.

I find that a better idea is to find the plants that make my chickens and rabbits fat and sassy, and provide these plants to them as a way to "grow" protein from plants.

As far as mushrooms, I had a severe reaction to some that were gathered by myself and a lady who was very knowledgeable about mushrooms. So, I caution EVERYONE to be VERY CAREFUL in eating wild mushrooms, as EVEN IF a mushroom is generally considered safe to eat, SOME INDIVIDUALS MAY HAVE ALLERGIC REACTIONS. My

reaction was quite unpleasant. Not only did my stomach hurt, and I felt nauseous, but I also had an intense burning and tingling in my mouth, followed by SEEING SPOTS in my vision. Thought I may have poisoned myself!!!

Allergic reactions can happen with any substance, at any time.

 

[hiwall]

What you got against eating the protein-rich silk maggots ?

I got nothing against it. I'm in the you eat what you want and I eat what I want camp.

 

[helen]

Foraging for food out of necessity implies death from diarrhea.

 

[ShadowMan]

Foraging for food out of necessity implies death from diarrhea.

Only if you're ignorant and/or stupid.

Example: The Tomato was outlawed in Europe not long after it was first introduced to Europe from Central America....because: THE ONLY EDIBLE PART OF THE PLANT IS IT'S FRUIT. Everything else is TOXIC.....i.e. because it's in the Deadly Nightshade family.

 

[helen]

Only if you're ignorant and/or stupid.

Example: The Tomato was outlawed in Europe not long after it was first introduced to Europe from Central America....because: THE ONLY EDIBLE PART OF THE PLANT IS IT'S FRUIT. Everything else is TOXIC.....i.e. because it's in the Deadly Nightshade family.

Actually, foraging out of necessity implies death from exposure. Diarrhea is part of that.

 

[hiwall]

Everyone who is able should at least learn to forage some in their area. The knowledge would never hurt and it could be helpful. At least that is how look at it.
At the same time they should learn to identify medicinal plants in their area too.

 

[bracketquant]

I would trust the self-reported STD history of a complete stranger before I would trust anyone to properly identify mushrooms in the wild.

I went mushroom foraging once in my life. After the other person identified the one and only mushroom that he picks, I asked him to eat one on the spot, and then to call me the next morning.

Only then did I trust his picking judgement.

 

[bracketquant]

Speaking of maggots, what happened to China Connection?

Pupal stage?

 

[West]

Allergic reactions can happen with any substance, at any time.

Why you always sniff, wait a hour, then touch, wait a hour or more, then lick and spit, wait. Then eat a tiny tiny bit. And wait a day.

If you wake up the next day and healthy eat a good bite.

Then the next day eat two bites, so forth and so on.

But everything in moderation.

 

[jward]

Mushrooms have many health benefits, some of which would be very important in a survival situation.

Health Benefits of Mushrooms

Find out what nutrients are in mushrooms and learn how it can help everything from obesity control to lower blood pressure.

www.webmd.com

Excerpt: "Mushrooms are a low-calorie food that packs a nutritional punch. Loaded with many health-boosting vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, they’ve long been recognized as an important part of any diet. "

Everyone who is able should at least learn to forage some in their area. The knowledge would never hurt and it could be helpful. At least that is how look at it.
At the same time they should learn to identify medicinal plants in their area too.

We can eat on the cheap now by gleaning and foraging, but it seems we'd be best served assuming we had to provide our own calories else ways... but probably the best bet if anyone is taking seriously the examples of history and knows the real risk of profound food scarcity, is to build up your stores on site, and aim to grow every bit- every bite- that you can. No matter what you think, you are on the bottom of the food chain in your area, and cannot count on foraging/fishing/hunting for anything meaningful.

Probably the best bet is to look at areas available as forage as an untapped medicine chest.. things don't look as obviously useful and you have better odds of finding them there when you need them. As always, look at double and triple duty- for instance, my roses are all selected to be hip bearing. Hopefully it will never matter, but. . .

 

[dioptase]

About the only local wild plants here that I can recognize as food (seen in open spaces, county parks, and the like) are Claytonia ("miner's lettuce") in the spring, wild raspberries, dandelions, and fennel (I'm pretty sure it's fennel). Maybe some wild onions, too.

We're infested with live oaks too, but the squirrels generally get (and plant) all the acorns. Frequently in obnoxious places like my flower pots and planters.