Keep your eyes peeled for wild plants you can actually eat! Once you learn to recognize your favorites, you’ll be surprised how often you can find them. Next time you head for the hills, do more than stop and smell the flowers. Or simply chew on the fresh green tips for a natural, energizing treat on the trail. Boil them in hot water or let them soak in water under the sun for a refreshing, nature-made drink. You can harvest the needles anytime of the year for infusing tea with a citrus-pine flavor, but it’s the tender bright green branch tips in spring that offer the most flavor. The Douglas fir is the most common tree in the Pacific Northwest landscape, and its needles offer multiple uses. Rich in vitamin C, the red fruit can be used to make tea, preserves, and syrup. Add flower petals to a salad or use them to infuse tea, honey, or oil with rose essence. From tinctures to tea, rose petals and rose hips (the fruit) are plentiful and easy to harvest. Wild rose grows in urban and wild areas, and it offers numerous edible options. It grows in damp subalpine and alpine regions. Or use full leaves to supplement salad greens for a fresh twist. Try chopping leaves into water and adding a little sugar to make a lemonade-like drink. They have a fresh acidic taste and are rich in vitamin C. The reddish leaves of mountain sorrel are edible raw. Eat them on the go, or try collecting for use in your morning oatmeal. Peak season ranges from mid-June to late August. It’s most common at lower elevations in wetter coastal forests along the Pacific Coast and is often found streamside. They are mildly sweet and make for easy picking along the trail. Similar in appearance to a raspberry, ripe salmonberries are yellow-orange in color. Peak huckleberry season begins in mid-August and runs into mid-September. They tend to grow at middle elevations, and the most sought-after variety is often called thinleaf or mountain huckleberry, with large, sweet, purple berries that grow singly on the plant. There are numerous huckleberry varieties throughout the Northwest. Similar in taste and appearance to blueberries, they are high in vitamin C and a good source of antioxidants. No Northwest edible list is complete without the glorious huckleberry. Here’s a shortlist of common Pacific Northwest edibles to start your foraging adventures: KEEN folks foraging for berries, such as huckleberries and blackberries, here in Oregon. Are you in a place where it is OK to harvest? Some parks and forest regions require a permit to forage in larger quantities, so be sure to check with the managing agency if you plan to go big. If you can’t be certain, it’s best to avoid suspect locations.ģ. Is the plant free from pesticides and pollutants? Think roadside locations and urban areas. Be sure to match all aspects of the plant from flower to leaf and soil type to location.Ģ. Have you correctly identified the plant? Huckleberries and dandelions are easy, but a field guide or phone app to wild edibles (the Picture This plant identifier app is one we've used) is important when trying to identify more uncommon edibles. Whether you are literally in your backyard or off in a remote setting, there are several important factors to consider before harvesting and consuming any wild plant.ġ. While it takes dedicated study and craft to feed yourself exclusively from the wild landscape, learning a few plants to spice up a dinner or make for trailside treasure hunting is easy. Our Pacific Northwest home is host to a mind-boggling number of wild edible and medicinal plants. But have you ever foraged for wild plants to supplement a dinner, make tea, or as a trailside snack?Ī small amount of wild plant knowledge goes a long way toward adding a little improvisation to camp food, trail snacks, and home-cooked meals. Here in Portland, Oregon – the land of locavores – a thriving garden is a badge of honor. There is great satisfaction in growing your own food.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |