Below you will find a brief list of plants, nuts, roots and seeds that can be used for survivial foods. Some, like acorns require special preperation. A recipe index will soon be included.
Disclaimer and a word to the wise:
DO NOT INGEST WILD FOODS, ESPECIALLY MUSHROOMS, WITHOUT POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION!!!
An error in identification can cause illness, allergic reactions or worse. Read your guides, cross reference, hike with a well known herbalist and remember, many plants have poisonous look alikes.
Identify by Latin name, leaf, stem, flowers , shape etc.
Take your guides with you, and not just your spiritual ones.
Self explanatory.
Wild Foods For Survival
Acorns Milkweed
Alfalfa Mint
Amaranth Muscadines
American Beech Passion Flower
American Elder Paw Paw
Arrowhead Peppergrass
Asparagus Persimmon
Blackberries Plantain
Black Birch Puffballs
Black Walnuts Quickweed
Bull Thistle Redbud
Burdock Red Mulberry
Butternut Rose Hips
Cattails Sassafras
Chestnuts Sheep Sorrel
Chickweed Shepherd's Purse
Chicory Spicebush
Cleavers Stinging Nettle
Coltsfoot Sugar Maple
Dandelion Trout Lily
Daylily Violets
Elecampane Wild Blueberries
Evening Primrose Wild Carrots
Ground Cherries Wild Ginger
Groundnuts Wild Onions
Hickory Nuts Wild Strawberries
Honewort Winter Cress
Jerusalem Artichoke Yellow Dock
Kudzu Yellow Nut Grass
Lamb's Quarters
Soups and Stews
Turtle Soup
Ingredients:
2 - 3 pounds turtle meat
oilive oil
2 pounds fresh vegetables
Roots are best, cut into thick pieces so they do not turn into mush while cooking.
Several large cloves of wild garlic, and onions.
Several slices of wild ginger may also be used if desired.
6 medium potatoes, diced
3/4 head of cabbage, sliced thin (optional)
3 quarts of any broth
sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Brown turtle meat in olive oil, along with garlic, wild ginger and onions.
sea salt and pepper, then slowly cook (stirring often) for about a half hour, covered. Pour chicken broth in large saucepan, with cover, and stir and add vegetables.
If using leafy greens or softer vegetables, add in when almost done cooking.
The heat of the broth will cook them nicely without overdoing them.
When cooking, slowly stir in turtle meat and allow it to simmer, covered, for an hour.
Stir in cabbage and allow pot to simmer, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is tender. Salt and pepper is added, to taste, throughout cooking. More chicken broth or water may be added as needed.
Add wild herbs as desired.
Wild Persimmon Pudding
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup persimmon pulp
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup light cream or evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
Grease a 9 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan and set it aside. Melt the butter in a saucepan and set it aside also. Sift the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon together into a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into the baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. The pudding will puff up while baking, then fall back as it cools. Cool the pudding in the pan on a rack. Serve cold, with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Makes 9 to 12 servings. May be doubled.
Wild Persimmon Pudding
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup persimmon pulp
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp melted margarine
1 cup dried currants
1/2 cup coarsely broken nutmeats (hickory if possible)
Grease a 7 x 11 x 1 1/2 inch cake pan with margarine. Have ready a larger, shallow pan filled with about 1 inch of hot water. Set both aside. Sift the flour, sugar, soda, salt, and spices together onto a sheet of waxed paper. In a large bowl, stir together the persimmon pulp, milk, vanilla, and margarine. Add the sifted ingredients and stir until well blended, then add the currants and nutmeats and stir again. Pour into the prepared pan, then place it into the pan of water. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and carefully take the cake pan out of the pan of water. Cool the pudding in the pan on a wire rack, then cut it into squares. Serve plain or with whipped cream. Makes 12 servings.
Wild Persimmon Bars
1 cup persimmon pulp
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 egg
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup dried currants (or 1/2 cup raisins)
1/2 cup coarsely broken nutmeats (hickory if possible)
Grease a 10 x 15 x 1 inch jelly-roll pan with margarine and set it aside. In a medium sized bowl, stir the soda into the persimmon pulp. Set this aside for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, sift the flour and spices together onto a sheet of waxed paper. Put the egg, sugar, salt and oil into a large bowl and beat them with an electric mixer until blended. Add the persimmon pulp and beat well, then add the sifted dry ingredients and beat only until well mixed. Stir in the vanilla, currants, and nutmeats. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out to the edges. Using a spatula dipped in water, lightly smooth the surface of the batter ot make it as even as possible. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and allow it to cool on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes, then frost the bars with glaze.
Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Stir the sugar and juice together and spread this over the sheet of uncut persimmon bars. When cool, but into 1 1/2 x 2 inch bars. Makes 50 bars. These are better the next day, after they have had time to mellow.
Persimmon Jam
Use very ripe persimmons, making sure the fruit is absolutely ripe, by which we mean extremely soft and barely held together by the skin, which should have become nearly transparent. For each 3 pounds of fruit you will need:
1 lb sugar
3/4 cup water
grated rind and juice of 1/2 lemon
Remove stems and crowns; remove seeds; leave skins on. Bring water and sugar to a boil; after a couple of minutes, add the persimmons and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring often. Then add the lemon, stir well, and boil until it has reached the right consistency. Pour into hot jars and seal when cool. (
Persimmon Jelly
3 1/2 to 4 pounds ripe persimmons
2 cups water
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 package powdered fruit pectin
1/2 cup honey
Wash persimmons and remove blossom end. Place in a 6 to 8 quart stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Add water. Bring mixture to a boil. Mash persimmons. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Press pulp through strainer to remove pits. Measure 3 cups pulp. Stir in lemon juice and pectin. Brink mixture to a boil. Stir in honey all at once. Let mixture return to a full rolling boil that can't be stirred down. Boil for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Do a jelly test, and when firm enough, ladle into hot, scalded half-pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace, and seal. Process for 5 minutes in a boiling water bath.