I always understood it was poisonous, so although it is pretty, always steer clear of it. I suppose I need to put signs up soon warning people not to eat anything from the wood unless they know it is safe, as some pretty berries are coming along nicely like wild arum and probably bryony.
sgt.colon
Joined: 27 Jul 2009 Posts: 7380 Location: Just south of north.
There is a deadly nightshade just around the corner from us. It is a lovely plant and obviously very tricksie.
it is not as toxic as quite a few uk species, the Oenanthes and aconites spring to mind and there are a few others that are proper nasty including quite a lot of "pretty in the garden" stuff
the looks nice, tastes ok, bad alkaloids etc are the dangeroos ones especially for kids or the unwary but bold
hemlock root smells delicious and looks rather like a big parsnip once trimmed , i cleared 3 acres of that and "harvested" several tons for disposal, when burning it the roasted ones smell like they would make a fine soup
iirc one of the oenanths is the best and last parsley several folk have eaten
etc
plants are fairly safe with a basic knowledge of id and characteristics, shrooms are far more difficult
lowri
Joined: 18 Oct 2006 Posts: 1322 Location: ceredigion
That's why I always err of the side of caution. As far as I am concerned the nightshade family are poisonous (I am not into taking trips), and I would only eat berries I know are safe. That does include quite a range including haws and rose hips, although I always process the rose hips and use the juice rather than the hips as they contain irritating hairs. Husband isn't too keen on the idea of eating wild greens, but we do sometimes use wild garlic and I know that cooked stinging nettles, a small amount of wood sorrel and ground elder which we have in our garden are edible. The smell rather puts me off the ground elder, but the taste is all right. I am told young hawthorn leaves are good, but never really felt the urge to eat them.
the right bits of taters, tomatoes or aubergines are ok for most folk
some have no right bits unless your name is livia or don juan
imho it is the umbellifers that are the most dodgy of the plant groups, delightful does not = safe, ugly does not = bad using "normal"criteria such as smell, taste or eyeball
plenty of lookalikes, details can be a matter of life and death
i recon there are only ten out of 70 or so wild ones i am certain enough to eat at the stage when they are best to eat(flower id is useless if they need munching as spring greens, ditto the seeds are the good bit
i do know most of the nasty ones, a few of the those are well nasty in the "he had a sprinkle of parsley on his fish" sense
LD50 in the teaspoonful of fresh for a 75 kg adult range has no margin of error for a lesson in being careful
there are many bits of forage where mistakes are very unlikely and unlikely to be bad if they happen
if you learn the basics and stick to "easy" things all should be well
angelica is a good example of the detail needed for umbellifers
if it smells yummy, looks a bit umbellifer ish and it has its feet in water you have 5 rounds in a seven chamber revolver afaik in the uk:lol:
i know them enough and just would never consider it no matter how hungry i was
spinal critters, yummy and easy to id for "issues", some plants less so
The invertebrates are a bit of a mixed bag as well, some are fine raw, some need prep, some are bad alive or dead
some need careful choice as to where they are collected
5 and a bit decades later i still know very little but i could eat most places and often eat well
sgt.colon
Joined: 27 Jul 2009 Posts: 7380 Location: Just south of north.
my forage in a short time on a beach you do not know is fun,"crunchy" was one comment, after doing it for a few weeks my comment to me the first time i was back in babylon was "somebody needs to change my cat litter"
high caingorm in winter is "challenging"
urban is surprisingly easy, suburban and semi industrial AG can be pretty easy, industrial ag is tricky and specialized landscapes need specialized knowledge
coastal with a bit of veg and fresh water inland is perfect, 20 mins a day will sort food
As you say, Dpack, there are some of the potato family that are safe, although I have heard that if someone tried to introduce potatoes now they would be banned, and there have been some cases of breeders trying a variety that has been bred for certain properties ending up with bad stomach upsets. I don't touch the umbellifers either, although we have what I am pretty sure is wild angelica in the wood and hogweed in the garden.
There are certain times of year in the UK where foraging would be pretty lean, and I certainly am very careful, sticking to the few things I am very sure about.
It did, but of course there were far fewer people and a lot less built on. People did tend to wander round looking for food too, and in spite of us being theoretically more mobile, I don't think most of us really 'know' habitats other than the ones we live in well enough to exploit them for food. There is of course also the problem of pollution; the shellfish round here are generally deemed unsafe without treatment.
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