wild edibles (Lincoln, North Platte, Gibbon: live in, dangerous, legal)

[Darrow]

Looking forward to learning more about NE. One thing I would like to ask is what wild edible plants grow throughout NE, and any laws against foraging?

[Gunluvver2]

Darrow,
When I was growing up on a farm/ranch we did a lot of foraging for Wild food. That was in Eastern Colorado but Western Nebraska and Kansas have a lot of the same varieties.
Chokecherries: Great for jams, jellies and syrup (when the cook didn't use enough Pectin).
Wild Plums: Great fresh off the thicket. Jams, jellies, Plum Butter, syrup and canned fruit.
Gooseberries: Jams, jellies, syrup.
Dewberries: I have been told these are actually Wild Raspberries. Jams, jellies and syrups.
Wild Strawberries: If the pickers don't eat all of them before they go into the bucket,jams,jellies,syrups and even better. . . topping on homemade ice cream.
******************
Wild Onions: Very strong flavor so use sparingly.
Poke: Requires special cooking otherwise it can cause stomach upset. Grandma knew how to cook it.
Skunk cabbage: Again Grandma worked miracles with it.
Wild Mushrooms: Morels, ****akis, Elephant Ears. Get a reliable FIELD GUIDE or a trusted picker to ID.
Cactus Apples: The little fruits on Prickly Pear Cactus are great fresh from the plant after skinning with a sharp knife. Makes great jams and jellies also.
Wild Grapes. Obvious uses plus great wines. Actually every fruit I mentioned previously can make great wine.
Wild Asparagus. The perfect time to locate this delicious spring time edible is during Pheasant season in the fall. Easily identified at that time. Make a map with the location and visit early the next Spring. Probably April to May.
I called them Indian Gourds but I don't know what they actually are. They grew on a vine and looked a lot like squash. When I would be hunting with my .22rifle on hot summer days and get thirsty slicing these gourds down the middle gave a sweet pulp that could be squeezed in your cheeks for the juice and then spit out the seeds. My seed spitting probably spread this gourd all over the County I lived in.
Black Walnuts: A lot of work and they are bitter if eaten raw but roasted they are great.

Acorns: Great for squirrels and deer but I understand they are not for Human consumption.
Wild Rhubarb: All over my Dads farm. Look for it on the South facing side of hills.

As far as I know no laws against foraging IF you have the landowners permission.

Good luck,
GL2

[Happygolucky]

Also remember that it is legal to pick corn from the fields. It's free to all Nebraska's visitors. Just get it early in the growing season, really tender. Nebraska Board of Tourism worked out a deal with farmers, kind of a way to boost the tourist dollars. Enjoy!

[Gunluvver2]

Jeez happy go lucky do you want to get some poor tourist horse whipped?
GL2

[Darrow]

thank you gunluvver2...you are very informative. i've heard of the morels, but have never had the pleasure. i'm the kind that would enjoy the hunt as much as eating them. i've never heard of poke or skunk cabbage and am so curious about those - i'm taking a trip to the library this week to read up. the cactus apples and wild gordes also interest me. you have really sparked my interest and i appreciate you posting.

[Gunluvver2]

Darrow,
Euell(sic?) Gibbons wrote several books about foraging in the Wild in the 1970's. One in particular that I really liked was titled STALKING THE WILD ASPARAGUS. He had several others about Mushrooms etc. I am not sure what geographical area his books covered but climates similar to Nebraskas would probably have similarities.

There is a publishing company out of Boulder, Colorado, Palladin Press, that has a lot of books about various survival topics. Ironically our armed forces have some of the best books about surviving off the land in print. The AIR FORCE in particular has survival manuals for every part of the World and all the different climate zones. Palladin probably has a few you could use.

Another source might be at Gun Shows. There are usually several booths with food foraging techniques literature at larger Gun Shows, Dallas/Ft.Worth is great for that.

Your local National Guard or Civil Defense officers might be able to help also.

GL2

[82corvette]

Don't forget about the roadapples!

[Darrow]

Originally Posted by 82corvette

Don't forget about the roadapples!

Ha ha, we have those here too!

[denimflyz]

I am interested in wild foraging. I live in Lincoln Co, North Platte NE to be exact.
Would anyone like to start a wild foraging group? I would love to have guidance. I will be seeing if I can find Gibbon's books at the library.
If anyone would be interested, please contact me at denimflyz@charter.net
Warm regards in wild food.
Denimflyz

[GrandpaLeo]

Originally Posted by Happygolucky

Also remember that it is legal to pick corn from the fields. It's free to all Nebraska's visitors. Just get it early in the growing season, really tender. Nebraska Board of Tourism worked out a deal with farmers, kind of a way to boost the tourist dollars. Enjoy!

That is not a thing to tell people as most of the corn grown in Nebraska is genetically altered and treated with various chemicals and will do harm to anyone that eats it so PLEASE DO NOT EAT FIELD CORN it can and will b e DANGEROUS TO YOUR HEALTH