A journal of all the wild edible plants I have eaten/consumed (or at least tasted) and my thoughts, opinions, and experiences with them.
The information presented here is merely for personal documentation purposes and should not be construed as educational or instructional. Please refer to more appropriate sources for information on plant edibility if you want to eat wild plants. I can recommend Plants for a Future and Sam Thayer's 2023 book for such purposes.
I live in northeast Alabama, so all of these plants are from that region.
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The needles/leaves of this tree are strong and do not possess a pleasant flavor in my opinion. Also, they are very pokey. Ouch. The ripe cones are juicy, sweet, and have a mild, interesting flavor.... Más
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I have tried every part of this plant. The leaves and vines are fodder, even when young. The flower buds but especially the flowers are delicious and have a sugar snap pea-like flavor. The young be... Más
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I have only eaten the fresh, opened flowers. I have avoided other parts of the plant because I've read they are not safe for consumption. The fresh flowers are super sweet, and they taste almost li... Más
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The fresh flowers are mildly sweet and pleasant. I like to snack on them from time to time. The leaves have a mild snap pea flavor but are rather fibrous. As a kid, I used to lightly fry the flower... Más
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Some people write this cherry off as unpalatable, but this is because the fruit of this tree is highly variable. Some trees produce rather sweet cherries, while some produce sour or bitter cherries... Más
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I tasted a leaf that was growing in the spring. It was very, **very** bitter. Practically inedible. The seeds may be a different story. I haven't eaten them, but they do smell similar to common sun... Más
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Very often confused for staghorn sumac, this plant is famed for its ability to produce a drink. That drink, sometimes dubbed "sumacade", is good, but the real value in this plant in my opinion is t... Más
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A fantastic nut, much better than the common walnut (Juglans regia) that they sell in stores. Some people may find the flavor off-putting, but I find mature and properly aged black walnuts to be a ... Más
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The bark has been used in the past to brew root beer, and I plan to try this myself in the future. The leaves make a tea that is highly reminiscent of plantain (Plantago spp.) in flavor. The flower... Más
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The leaves of this plant taste and smell like sweet peppermint, and they make an excellent tea when steeped. One of the best native teas in my opinion. However, the plant can begin to taste and sme... Más
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As far as I'm aware, I have only encountered this plant in the wild once, and I am now growing it in my yard from cuttings. The smell is lemony or citrusy and more or less bitter. I am still workin... Más
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I have eaten the raw leaves. They possess a somewhat unique, carroty/cilantro taste, and I think they would make a good seasoning. I have also read they are one of the best wild plants for making s... Más
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Chewed on the culm to see if it was similar to sugarcane. At the stage I tried it, it did indeed taste like a mild sugarcane, and it even had a small burst of juiciness that raw sugarcane has. I tr... Más
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The flowers smell faintly of sweet vanilla; I have not tried to do this yet, but I am curious if it would be possible to extract a vanilla-like flavoring from them. The raw leaves remind me somewha... Más
