The Scout's Guide to Wild Edibles. Mike Krebill

       Mike’s Mayapple Marmalade

       Mulberry Taffy

       Puffball Pieces

       Shagbark Snickerdoodles

       ShagBARK Syrup

       Sumac Lemonade – Two Ways

       Wild Food Trail Bites

       Wild Grape Popsicles at Home

      Keokuk 7th graders crack & taste hickory nuts.

       GLOSSARY

       PROCESSING TIPS

       RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LEARNING MORE

       PHOTO CREDITS

       INDEX

       ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

       ABOUT THE AUTHOR

       INTRODUCTION

      I imagine some of you may be wondering about the title of this book and whether the book will be of interest to more than only Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and their respective leaders. The quick answer to that question is yes. The Scout’s Guide is for everyone, from kids to adults to youth group leaders, teachers and parents. Whether you are just a beginner when it comes to edible wild plants and mushrooms, or a seasoned veteran who is looking for new insights and processing tips, the information in these pages will be useful to you.

      This is a field guide small enough to deserve the name. It should be easy to carry with you on your outdoor adventures. True, a bigger book might contain more wild edibles. However, I find myself agreeing with wild foods legend Euell Gibbons. In his famous 1962 book, Stalking the Wild Asparagus, he wrote “There are many wild plants reported in the literature to be edible that I don’t like at all.”

      With that in mind, I have selected 33 of the better-tasting edible wild plants and 7 of my favorite mushrooms, most of them widely distributed in the U.S. and in Canada’s lower provinces. To make the foraging experience even more memorable, I have included 10 engaging activities for individuals or groups and 17 mouthwatering, prize-winning recipes that are kid tested and kid approved.

      A fairy ring of Chlorophyllum molybdites mushrooms, the mushrooms that are responsible for more poisonings in the U.S. than all of the Amanitas together.

      Identifying

      Accurate identification is paramount. Dr. Peter Gail, a lifelong forager whose Ph.D. is in Plant Ecology, strongly believes that there is a best way to do this: it is to have the plant pointed out to you in the habitat where it grows. Ideally, the person who points it out to you should be a knowledgeable forager with a botany background and years of experience with edible wild plants. This foraging instructor should not only know what the plant is, but should be able to point out how to distinguish it from plants that look similar.

      For more than a decade, Dr. Gail strived to develop a directory of foraging instructors across the U.S. His ambitious goal was to find enough people so that there would be someone within 50 miles of anyone wanting help. Eventually, Dr. Gail agreed to pass the task on to Sunny Savage. She worked on it for several years and then found that Deane Jordan (aka “Green Deane”) was willing to post the list on his website. To learn if there is an instructor near you, go to http://www.eattheweeds.com and click on “Foraging Instructors.”

      Harvesting

      To have a good experience with edible wild plants and wild mushrooms, it helps to know more than just their identity. You must also know what part of the plant or mushroom is edible. For example, the ripe fruit of a mayapple is a treat and makes a magnificent marmalade, but the rest of the plant is poisonous. While the cap of the scotch bonnet mushroom is delicious cooked, the stem is too fibrous to eat.

      Timing the harvest is also critical: Siberian elm samaras (small, flat “wings” with a seed inside) are delicious when the winged portion is green – handfuls of them can be stripped off the tree and eaten on the spot. They are moist and nutty. When the winged portion turns brown, however, they become dry and papery. The length of time they are at their peak is only one week. You can find out when that occurs by making frequent observations beginning before the tree leafs out in the spring.

      Preparing

      Knowing how to prepare your wild plant helps you get the most from your experience. Acorns offer an excellent example: Most acorns have an abundant supply of tannin that must be leached out to render the acorn meal useful for breads and not unpleasantly bitter. After all, the best part of a successful forage is the enjoyment of eating what you have found!

      The Scout’s Guide is packed with insights and recommendations gleaned from a lifetime of foraging and my 50-plus years as a wild food educator. May you find this book to be exactly what I intended it to be: a useful field guide to the great adventure of foraging.

       Mike Krebill

       Plants

      In this section, you will find my chosen 33 edible wild plants, their characteristics and uses. Information will be under the following headings:

       Range

       Habitat

       Positive ID checklist

       The edible parts of the plant and how to prepare them

       A caution note when there’s an important observation to share, or a warning about a similar-looking but toxic plant

       When to harvest each plant and how to do so sustainably

       How to preserve your harvest

      Most of the plants found in this guide are widely distributed in the U.S. and in Canada’s lower provinces. For convenience in looking up information, they are alphabetized by their common name.

Amaranth, Green