This is my hobby

Disclaimer


Information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only.

Viewers are advised to research other sources comparing it with information provided in these Videos and pictures.

Such foraging information can be used to find edible plants.

I, Ken Wooldridge makes no warranties, expressed or implied, regarding the accuracy of the material provided in these videos and pictures.

I assume no legal or other liability, or responsibility for any loss or injuries that may result from the use of information contained these videos and pictures.


Foraging in the Wild
In God’s creative genius He made provision for man in nature!

Genesis 1:11-12, 29
“And God said, behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.”

Psalm 104:14
“God … causeth the grass to grow for the cattle and herb for the service of man.”

Allow me to introduce myself -

My name is Ken Wooldridge

I was born in Botswana in Africa.

At a young age in Africa, the outdoors became appealing to me.

I have always had a love for Nature and Wild Life.

I have been living in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee for over twenty years.

I have been privileged to befriend Cherokee Indians and Foraging Experts.

This has enabled me to learn and enjoy many benefits of foraging wild plants.

I have also written a valuable book about this and how to live in difficult times

Wild edible plants can be used in making -
Vegetables, berries, mushrooms, nuts, and wild Mushrooms can be used to prepare many different dishes.

This may help to save yourself and your loved ones in a time of need.

Five basic foraging rules:
  1. Never forage or eat anything you cannot positively identify as safe
  2. Never pick endangered plant species
  3. Always protect plants and nature
  4. Only pick as much as you need and never take all the plants where you forage
    (This will give them time to recover and multiply.
    By doing that, you will be able to return back and forage again next season)
  5. At all times be careful of poisonous plants, snakes and insects.
    (A helpful website is - http://www.wilderness-survival.net/snake/1/)
  6. Only forage in unrestricted areas or obtain permission from a landowner to forage.

Many of these herbs, plants, shrubs and trees may be found growing where you are, or in surrounding areas. It is possible you will find some growing in other areas.

Pictures of Plants are always updated and new ones are added from time to time.
Foraging Videos

Aloe Vera

Blue Violet

Broad Leaf Plantain

Chickweed

Chicory

Curled Dock

Goldenrod

Henbit

Honey Locust

Jerusalen Artichoke

Kudzu

Mullein

Narrow Leaf Plantain

Oyster Mushroom

Prickly Pear

Queens Anne's Lace

Red Clover

Sea Oats

Shagbark Hickory

Shitake Mushrooms

Stinging Nettle

Sumac

Sweet Gum Tree

Watercress

Wild Mustard

Wild Onions

Wild Strawberries

Williow Tree

Foraging In Florida
Wild Edibleplants / Mushrooms / Seafood

In Addition To Foraging
You Will Need To -
  • Create A Foraging Menu For Meals.
  • Locate A Source For Meats.
    • Fish
    • Seafood
    • Rabbits
    • Ducks
    • Boar
    • Squirrel
    • Frogs
    • Alligator
  • Locae A Source For Dairy.
    • Milk
    • Eggs - Hens / Ducks / Geese
  • Locate A Source For Water
    • Bottled / Tabs / Purified / Bleached

Aloe Vera
  • Habitat: They require well-drained, sandy potting soil and bright, sunny conditions
  • Height: short-stemmed plant growing 24–39in tall
  • Leaves: thick and fleshy, green to grey-green
  • Use: Juice of the leaves are healthy for the digestive system Used as a skin treatment and has healing properties There are 75 ingredients contained in the Aloe leaf These ingredients have a variety of medical benefits

Amaranth - Amaranthus
  • Habitat: roadsides, vacant lots and fields
  • Height: 3 to 6ft
  • Leaves: can be green or red, depending on the variety
  • Time: spring to summer for the leaves and summer or fall for seeds
  • Use: tender young leaves in salads or cooked like spinach. Leaves dried and crushed to a fine powder may be used in soups, gravy and jelly.
  • Cooking time: Simmer amaranth in water for 12-15 minutes
  • Seed: eaten raw or ground into flour
  • Nutritional value: This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Niacin, Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc, Copper and Manganese.

American Hog Peanut
  • Habitat: Climbs by coiling stems - in moist woods, meadows.
  • Height: 2 to 8 feet tall.
  • Leaves: Oval with pointed tips up to 4 inches.
  • Flower: Pea like 2 inch flowers growing into sea pods.
  • Time: Harvested in Fall when plump.
  • Use: Bottom pod seeds cooked like lentils.
  • Nutritional value: Manganese, magnesium, phosphorus and iron.

American Plum
  • Habitat: Forms thickets in many areas.
  • Height: Up to 26 feet.
  • Leaves: Green 4 inches, double toothed edges.
  • Flower: Fragrant white 5 flower 1 inch clusters.
  • Time: August through September
  • Use: Red, Round 1 inch sweet tart fruit / Jellies and pies.
  • Nutritional value: Beta carotene, Vitamin A, potassium.

Arrowhead tubers - Sagittarialatifolia
  • Habitat: shallow water or wet soil at the edge of streams, ponds and marshes
  • Height: 1-4 feet
  • Leaves: have an arrow shape and veins from the center
  • Flowers: are white
  • Time: Blooms June through October
  • Use: Tubers are cooked like potatoes or sliced and used in a stir fry
  • Nutritional value: Source of starch

Autumn olive berries - Elaegnus umbellate
  • Habitat: found on bushes along roads and streams
  • Height: a large shrub or small tree
  • Leaves: silver green leaves
  • Flower: fragrant, ivory-yellow flowers
  • Fruit: resembles a small cranberry
  • Time: fall
  • Use: used like tomatoes or for jam and jelly
  • Nutritional value: vitamins A, C, E, flavonoids, essential fatty acids and lycopene

Bamboo
  • Habitat: very selective areas
  • Height: up to 20 ft
  • Time: most of the year
  • Use: Young shoots may be used in soups and with stews. Centers may be sliced in Chinese stir fry dishes.
  • Nutritional value: is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Riboflavin and Zinc, Vitamin B6, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.

Basswood Tree
  • Habitat: Moist forests
  • Height: Huge
  • Leaves: Dark green - up to 10 inches - toothed edges.
  • Flower: Cream, Yellow - June to August.
  • Time: Early Spring through Summer
  • Use: Young leaves / Seed Pods / Flowers in salads.
  • Nutritional value:

Beach Orach
  • Habitat: Sandy beaches.
  • Height: erect or sprawling up to 18 inches.
  • Leaves: Alternate, oblong and slender.
  • Flower: Greenish yellow.
  • Time: All year.
  • Use: Boil leaves for 10 minutes as a potherb.
  • Nutritional value: Vitamin C, K, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, iron, carotenes, protein, anthocyanins, zinc, selenium, trytophan, fiber.

Bear Corn - Conopholis Americana
  • Habitat: Found on the roots of woody plants, especially oaks and beech trees
  • Height: It is cone-shaped and 4 to 8 inches
  • Flowers: It has close yellow/cream flowers all around the stem with a swollen base, facing down. They becomes brown throughout the summer and shriveled and black in winter
  • Time: Found above ground in spring
  • Use: may be prepared and eaten as corn on the cob

Beauty Berries
  • Habitat: In woodland areas and thickets.
  • Height: Up to 6 feet.
  • Leaves: Green serrated, lance shaped with pointed tips.
  • Flower: White or pink bunches.
  • Time: Fall / Winter
  • Use: Eat in small amounts when purple / have a musty flavor.
  • Nutritional value: Small amounts of Vitamins and carbohydrates.

Blue violet - Viola odorata
  • Habitat: on lawns, woods, meadows, waste areas and along rivers
  • Height: 3-8 inches tall
  • Leaves: heart-shaped leaves up to 3 inches long
  • Flowers: blue-purple up to 1 inch
  • Time: spring through summer
  • Use: flowers and young leaves can be added to salads - has a slight bland taste
  • Nutritional value: contains antioxidants

Brahmi
  • Habitat: Near ocean.
  • Height: Creeping and up to 6 inches high.
  • Leaves: Succulent up to 3 green leaves in a cluster.
  • Flower: Small white flower with 5 petals.
  • Time: All year.
  • Use: In salads.
  • Nutritional value: Sodium, Carbohydrates, proteins, fiber.

Broadleaf Plantain
  • Habitat: Roadsides, vacan lots and fields.
  • Height: oval leaf grows close to the ground.
  • Leaves: narrow or oval leaves.
  • Flower: prencil shaped flower stalks
  • Time: Spring to Fall - Use the tender leaves before it flowers.
  • Use: With salads, greens or fried rice.
  • Cooking Time: Boil and strain twice to improve the flavour.
  • Nutritional value: High in dietary fiber, potassium and Vitamins A, C, B6

Bugleweed Roots
  • Habitat: Moist places.
  • Height: Up to 3 feet tall.
  • Leaves: green, 3 inches, sharply toothed.
  • Flower: small, white, tubular, minty smell.
  • Time: Summer through Fall.
  • Use: Roots cooked, baked, roasted like potatoes

Bulrush
  • Habitat: Freshwater marshes
  • Height: Up to 8 feet
  • Leaves: Wrap around the stalk.
  • Flower: A 6 inch dense spikelet cluster.
  • Time: Shoots in early Spring / Rhizomes in Fall.
  • Use: Cook shoots / Rhizomes / Seeeds ground for flour.
  • Nutritional value: Vitamin B6, C, K, Calcium, Magnesium, Manganese, Phospehorus, Potassium.

Burdock - Arctiumlappa
  • Habitat: roadsides, vacant lots and fields
  • Height: 2-9 feet tall
  • Leaves: large elephant like leaves that are white and fuzzy underneath
  • Time: spring to late fall
  • Use: roots are like potatoes
  • Cooking time: scrub / scour and simmer for 20 minutes like potatoes
  • Nutritional value: contains valuable minerals such as iron, manganese, magnesium and small amounts of zinc, calcium, selenium, and phosphorus.

Cactus
  • Habitat: sunny fields or on mountain sides
  • Height: up to 8ft
  • Leaves: are like pads available all year - younger pads are tastier
  • Use: peeled pads can be eaten raw, pickled, fried or made into jerky
  • Nutritional value: Contains vitamins A, B6, C, calcium, magnesium, sodium, niacin, iron, folate, phosphorus and zinc. (Be careful of the tiny thorns)

Camelia Senensis Tree
  • Habitat: Rich, moist soil.
  • Height: Tree up to 40 feet high.
  • Leaves: Light green / up to 5 inches long.
  • Flower: White 5 petal
  • Time: Evergreen.
  • Use: Leavs for tea.
  • Nutritional value: Proteins, fat.

Cattail - Typhalatifolia
  • Habitat: wet soil at the edges of streams, ponds and marshes
  • Height: up to 8ft and the tops look like the tail of a cat that turn brown in summer
  • Leaves: Long stalks
  • Time: Spring though summer
  • Use: roots ground to flour or used as sauce or a gravy thickener. The heart of the stalk is used like asparagus
  • Nutritional value: a source of starch

Chamomile
  • Habitat: It is a low growing garden plant
  • Height: about 12 inches high
  • Leaves: They are divided into fine thread-like segments with a feathery appearance
  • Flower: A daisy like flower with white florets and a yellow centre
  • Time: July through September
  • Use: Flower heads are ground and used for a tea for stomach problems, colds, muscleaches, anxiety and insomnia
  • Nutritional value: contains carbohydrates, calcium, magnesium, potassium, fluoride, folate and vitamin A.

Cheese Weed Mallow
  • Habitat: Disturbed sites and lawns.
  • Height: Up to 2 feet
  • Leaves: Rouund/Palm shaped, 4 inch alternate
  • Flower: small white/pink flower clusters at base of leaf stalks.
  • Time: Throughout the year.
  • Use: Salads.
  • Nutritional value: Vitamin E, C, Magnesium, Iron, Copper.

Chicasaw Plum
  • Habitat: Dry open hammocks.
  • Height: Up to 20 feet.
  • Leaves: Green pointed, tooth leafed.
  • Flower: Fragrant white flowers.
  • Time: Early Summer.
  • Use: Cherry-like red tart fruit for jellies.
  • Nutritional value: Vitamin A / C.

ChicoryCichoriumintybus
  • Habitat: roadsides, vacant lots and fields
  • Height: up to 4 ft tall
  • Flowers: dark sky blue color
  • Time: spring through fall
  • Use: taproot roasted and ground for coffee
  • Nutritional value: is low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. A good source of Thiamin, Niacin, Zinc, Vitamins A, B6, C, E, K, Riboflavin, Folate, Pantothenic Acid, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper and Manganese

Chickweed - Stellaria media
  • Habitat: lawns and in open, sunny areas, as well as partially shaded areas
  • Height: forms mats and stalks are about 8 inches long
  • Leaves: tiny, pointed, oval, un-toothed leaves
  • Flower color: white flowers about 1/8 inch with 5 petals
  • Time: all year
  • Use: cook like spinach
  • Cooking time: 5 minutes
  • Nutritional value: Rich in iron, potassium, vitamins A, B, C, D and minerals

Chufa
  • Habitat: Moist site.
  • Height: Up to 24 inches high.
  • Leaves: Flat V shaped.
  • Flower: 1 inch spikelets like a bottle brush.
  • Time: Late Fall / Early Winter.
  • Use: Vegetable / Soups / Stews
  • Nutritional value: Vitamin C, E, Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Potasium, Iron.

Citron Melon
  • Habitat: Woods and disturbed sites.
  • Height: Vine sprawl over grouund or climb trees.
  • Leaves: Light green.
  • Flower: Yellow five petalled flowers
  • Time: Summer
  • Use: Cooking for jam / pickles
  • Nutritional value: Vitamin A.

Clams
  • Habitat: On beaches and river bank areas.
  • Beaches: Water squirts will come out showing where they are. Dig up to 6 inches to find them. Rivers in the mud.
  • Nutritional value: Fat, proteins, carbohydrates.

Coco Plum
  • Habitat: Wooded areas.
  • Height: Up to 20 feet.
  • Leaves: Green oval.
  • Flower: Small, shiny greenish, elliptical.
  • Time: Summer / Fall.
  • Use: Purple fruit for jellies.
  • Nutritional value: Carbohydrates, calcium, Vitamin C.

Common Reed
  • Habitat: Wet soil or shallow water
  • Height: Up to 15 feet.
  • Leaves: Bright green rolled in shoot.
  • Flower: Long bushy spikes / purple to golden
  • Time: Shoots (Early Spring) / Roots (Summer).
  • Use: Young shoots in salad or cooked, sweet roots like potato.

Coneflower
  • Habitat: Sunny grasslands.
  • Height: Up to 3 feet.
  • Leaves: Pale green lance shaped up to 6 inches.
  • Flower: Pinkish petals around a reddish 1 1/2 inch cone.
  • Time: Spring / Summer.
  • Use: Leaves and stem for tea.

Crab Apple
  • Habitat: Wooded areas.
  • Height: Up to 25 feet.
  • Leaves: Green 2 inch lance shaped tipped.
  • Flower: Pink, fragrant, 8 inch clusters.
  • Time: Late Summer / Fall.
  • Use: Jams / Jellies.
  • Nutritional value: Carbohydrates, Vitamin C, Potassium.

Crabs
  • Habitat: Oceans / Rivers.
  • Catch from an ocean pier or river banks at night. Shine a light over the water. Crabs will surface. Scoop up with a net.
  • Nutritional value: Protein, lipid fat, ash.

Cuca Melon
  • Habitat: In sandy, clay, rich well drained soils.
  • Height: climbing vine.
  • Leaves: Green 3 pointed leaves.
  • Flower: Small yellow 5 petal flowers.
  • Time: July to September.
  • Use: Like cucumber
  • Nutritional value: Good source of potassium.

Curled dock - RumexCrispus
  • Habitat: roadsides, vacant lots and fields
  • Height: 1 to 5ft
  • Leaves: wavy long, lance-shaped, hairless leaves
  • Flower: green flowers that become clusters of hard, reddish fruit
  • Time: Spring and summer
  • Use: nutritious, lemon flavored young leaves, raw or cooked in early spring
  • Cooking time: simmer for 5 minutes
  • Nutritional value: leaves are rich in vitamins A, C and minerals especially iron. WARNING - they contain chrysophanic acid that can irritate or numb your tongue

Dandelion - Taraxacum officinalis
  • Habitat: lawns, roadsides, vacant lots, and fields
  • Height: 2” to 18” tall
  • Leaves: long, lance-shaped toothed leaves
  • Flower color: yellow flowers are 1 to 2 inches wide
  • Time: spring to fall
  • Use: salads and stir fries (including flowers) – roots roasted and ground for coffee
  • Nutritional value: contains vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C, D, E, Boron, Calcium, Chromium, Copper, Cobalt, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Molybdenum, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium, Selenium, Silicon and Zinc.

Daylily - Hemerocallisfulva
  • Habitat: gardens or fields
  • Height: up to 4ft high
  • Flower color: orange or yellow petals
  • Time: Use shoots in spring, flower buds and flowers from spring to summer
  • Use: raw shoots and flowers used in salads, sautéed, stir-fried or simmered in soup. Unopened buds can be cooked like string beans
  • Nutritional value: contains Calcium, Phosphorus, Iron, Sodium, Potassium, Vitamins A, C, Thiamin, Riboflavin and Niacin

Dead Nettle
  • Habitat: Meadows and Fields.
  • Height: Up to 18 inches tall.
  • Leaves: Finely haired, kidney shaped, 2 inch opposites.
  • Flower: Pink, Purple - 1 inch
  • Time: Spring / Summer
  • Use: Salads / Cooked as Greens
  • Nutritional value: Vitamin C, A, and K, Iron, Fiber, Bioflavonoids

Dewberry
  • Habitat: Slender trailing shrub with prickles.
  • Leaves: Dark green, 2 inch long with serrated edges.
  • Flower: 1 inch white 5 petals
  • Time: April / May or Fall.
  • Use: Red to inky black / sweet / raw, cooked, dried.
  • Nutritional value: Vitamins A, C, sodium.

Elderberry - Sambucuscanadensis
  • Habitat: on roadsides, in moist woods, in marshes and along riverbanks
  • Height: up to 13ft
  • Leaves: oval leaflets with pointed tips
  • Flowers: white, flat rounded clusters of lacy flowers 6 inches across
  • Time: late spring and summer
  • Fruit: juicy purple berries replace the flowers, ripening from mid-summer to fall
  • Use: sauté the flowers or make fritters, mixing them with pancake batter The ripe purple berries can be used in muffins, cakes and breads
  • Nutritional value: high in vitamins A, C, B6, iron and is a powerful antioxidant that is high in fiber.

Evening Primrose - Oenotherabiennsis
  • Habitat: fields, sunny woods, waste ground and road sides
  • Height: 4 to 5 ft
  • Leaves: Alternate lemon scented hairy lance-like leaves, 3 to 6 inches long
  • Flower: 2½ inches in diameter, bright yellow and has four cross shaped petals
  • Time: June to September
  • Use: leaves cooked as greens, the flowers added to salads and the roots boiled like beets or turnips
  • Nutritional value: the seed is rich in linoleic acid which is good for optimal health

False Solomon Seal Roots
  • Habitat: Moist shady forests or thickets.
  • Height: Unbranched stems up to 3 feet.
  • Leaves: Alternate 6 inch bright green.
  • Flower: Creamy white star shaped.
  • Time: Spring / Summer
  • Use: Young Shoots (Asparagus) / Roots like potatoes.

Giant Reed
  • Habitat: Freshwater marshes.
  • Height: Up to 12 Ft tall / 1 1/2 Inches thick.
  • Leaves: Grey/green alternaing on either side.
  • Flower:
  • Time: Young shoots - early Spring / Roots anytime.
  • Use: Young shoots - with veggies / Roots ground for flour.
  • Nutritional value:

Goldenrod - Solidagolancifolia
  • Habitat: roadsides, vacant lots and fields
  • Height: up to 5 feet
  • Leaves: have serrated leaf margins
  • Flowers: have small yellow flowers clustered in panicles, forming a lance like shape
  • Time: they bloom in late summer and fall
  • Use: tea made from the leaves and flowers is used for sore throat, fever, colds and a cough
  • Value: used as a diuretic

Goose Berry
  • Habitat: Fields and woodlands.
  • Height: Sprawling up to 5 feet.
  • Leaves: 5 inch greyish green, 3 lobed, toothed, hairy with thorns.
  • Flower: 5 petals, 1/2 inch, light green to purplish.
  • Time: June through September
  • Use: Red, purplish black / raw / jams / pies / sauces.
  • Nutritional value: Calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, proteins, carbohydrates.

Green briar - Smilax rotundifolia
  • Habitat: shady forests
  • Height: tender vines under ½ inch wide on shrubs and trees up to 30 ft
  • Leaves: the leaves are heart-shaped
  • Flower: the green flowers are difficult to see
  • Time: all year
  • Use: vines and tendrils are steamed like a vegetable Tubers are sliced, pounded and boiled to release starch used as a thickener
  • Nutritional value: contains nitrogen

Ground Cherries – PhysalisPhiladelphica
    (Husk Tomatoes) eat only when ripe
  • Habitat: fields, sunny woods, bordering streams, waste ground and road sides
  • Height: 1 to 3 ft high
  • Fruit: yellowish sticky berry in a husk and ripens off the plant
  • Flower: flowers are yellow with dark centers
  • Time: blossoms in late spring and bears fruit in fall
  • Use: Has a unique tomato, pineapple like taste and used for gravy, jelly or jam
  • Nutritional value: A good source of Vitamin A, C and B3 (Niacin)

Hackberry
  • Habitat: Moist, bottom land places.
  • Height: Up to 40 feet.
  • Leaves: 3 inch, dark green, alternate, sharply edged.
  • Flower: Greenish yellow.
  • Time: Fall / Winter
  • Use: Fruit 1/2 inch dark red / raw / jams.
  • Nutritional value: Proteins, phosphoric acid, ash, oil, fiber, mineral lime.

Haw Apple
  • Habitat: In woodlands, moist sandy soil
  • Height: Up to 30 feet.
  • Leaves: Dark green serrated leaves up to 2 inches
  • Flower: White blossoms in Spring.
  • Time: Fall / Red ruit, 1 to 3 inch cluster, flattened globes.
  • Use: Slightly sour / for pie fillings and jellies.

Henbit - Lamiumamplexicaule
  • Habitat: on lawns, roadsides, vacant lots and in fields
  • Height: up to 6 inches
  • Leaves: small leaves
  • Flower: purple flowers
  • Time: early spring, fall and winter
  • Use: in salads or greens

Honey locust tree (seed pods) - Gleditsiatriacanthos
  • Habitat: trees found in moist soil, river valleys and other places
  • Height: up to 60ft tall trees, often very old
  • Seed pods: long brown curved pods with a sweet date-like pulp inside
  • Time: Fall
  • Use: Seed pods may be dried and ground into sweet flour The paste in the pods may be scraped off and used like dates
  • Nutritional value: contains proteins and carbohydrates

Indian cucumber - Medeolavirginiana
  • Habitat: grows in open woods and forests
  • Height: 1 to 2 feet tall
  • Leaves: 6 smooth leaves in a star like shape with a second level of 3 more on top
  • Flower: yellow, small flower, hanging down
  • Time: Blooms in late summer or early fall
  • Use: tubers (roots) are edible raw and taste like cucumbers

Jerusalem artichokes - Helianthus tuberosus
  • Habitat: roadsides, vacant lots and fields
  • Height: up to 10 feet tall
  • Leaves: ovate leaves 5 to 10 inches long
  • Flower: flower has 10 to 20 bright yellow petals
  • Time: blossoms in late summer and early fall Pick tubers two weeks after flowers fade
  • Use: tubers grated raw into salads or used as potatoes
  • Nutritional value: are high in iron, and contain potassium, fiber, niacin, thiamine, phosphorus and copper.

Kudzu
  • Habitat: It is a climbing, coiling, and trailing vine along roadsides
  • Height: it covers vast low areas, shrubs and high trees
  • Leaves: consist of 3 leaflets arranged alternately along the stem
  • Flower: Pink colored
  • Time: has leaf foliage and flowers throughout spring and summer
  • Use: flowers are used to make pink lemonade and the roots as a starch Leaves can be deep fried like potato chips
  • Nutritional value: high-protein food similar to alfalfa

Lady Head Fiddlehead
  • Habitat: In mild areas or a sheltered spot.
  • Height: Up to 3 Feet tall.
  • Leaves: Yellow green fern up to 36 inches.
  • Fiddle heads: Remove the brown scales.
  • Time: Early Spring. (Mark the plant in Summer / Fall.)
  • Use: Young unfurle fiddle heads sauteed in butter.
  • Nutritional value: Protein, Copper, Niacin, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A

Lambs quarters - Chenopodium album
  • Habitat: lawns, roadsides, vacant lots and fields
  • Height: 1 to 4ft
  • Leaves: dark green diamond shaped
  • Flower: the small green flowers come in dense spikes at the top
  • Time: spring to fall
  • Use: in salads, or steamed 5 to 10 minutes like spinach In summertime flower heads can be used in casseroles and breads
  • Nutritional value: source of beta-carotene, calcium, potassium, and iron

Lemon Bacopa
  • Habitat: In water shorelines - Mostly 3 feet out of water.
  • Leaves: 1 inch fleshy, succulent.
  • Flower: Bright blue flowers.
  • Time: Year round.
  • Use: In salads.
  • Nutritional value: Protein, carbohydrates, sugar, fiber, fat.

Lettuce - Saxifraga Montana
  • Habitat: between rocks or in marshes, moist meadows and brooks
  • Height: up to 24 inches tall
  • Leaves: a green 1ft rosette of leaves close to ground – like a deer’s tongue
  • Flower: clusters of white blossoms at the top
  • Time: spring through summer
  • Use: leaves picked before flowering, used in salads, greens, soups or with eggs and bacon when dried, the leaves have a vanilla fragrance

Magnolia - Magnolia virginiana
  • Habitat: these are deciduous, evergreen trees grown in garden settings
  • Height: up to 40 feet high
  • Leaves: large glossy leaves
  • Flower: drooping cup shaped flowers that are white or pink
  • Time: Springtime after the leaves emerge
  • Use: Fragrant smelling flowers with petals that may be used in salads
  • Nutritional value: the white blossoms are said to be antispasmodic and a tonic

Meadowsweet - Filipendulaulmaria
  • Habitat: grows in damp meadows
  • Height: 3 to 7ft tall
  • Leaves: leaflets are up to 3 inches long with three to five lobes
  • Flower: has creamy-white flower clusters close together, having a sweet smell
  • Time: June to September
  • Use: flowers can be added to stewed fruit and jams, giving them an almond flavor
  • Nutritional value: includes flavonoids such as flavonol glycosides rutin, hyperin, spiraeoside as well as mucilage, carbohydrates, ascorbic acid, sugars and minerals.

Mesquite Tree
  • Habitat: Woods and arid areas.
  • Height: Tall reddish brown bark tree with 1 inch thorns.
  • Leaves: Feathery alternate 6 inch leaves.
  • Flower: Cylindrical yellow drooping flowers.
  • Time: Summer / Fall.
  • Use: Seed pods cooked like green beans / dried and ground into sweet flour.

Milkweed
  • Habitat: Fields or ditches.
  • Height: Up to 5 Feet.
  • Leaves: Lance shaped opposites up to 10 inches with reddish veins.
  • Flower: Light pink purle becoming seed pods.
  • Time: Spring / Summer
  • Use: Unopened flower pods (broccoli) / Young shoots (Asparagus)

Mulberry
  • Habitat: Wooded areas.
  • Height: Up to 50 feet.
  • Leaves: Green, alternate, toothed with pointed tips.
  • Flower: Whitish green flowers.
  • Time: May to July
  • Use: Purple black, 1 inch berries / raw / salads / in deserts.
  • Nutritional value: Carbohydrates, fat, proteins, fiber.

Mullein - Verbascum Thapsus
  • Habitat: along roadsides and fields
  • Height: has a single stem up to 7 ft tall
  • Leaves: silvery leaves up to 19 inches long and 5 inches wide
  • Flower: a pinnacle of many 5-petalled bright yellow flowers at the top
  • Time: flowering June to August
  • Use: Leaves used as an antihistamine for colds, coughs and related problems
  • Value: a tea made from the leaves coats and soothes mucus membranes in both the respiratory and digestive tracts. Its slimy consistency when in contact with water coatsand helps to treat existing ulcers in the stomach and intestines. It also relieves irritation caused by coughing spasms.

Mussels
  • Habitat: Oceans and rivers. On slippery rocks and sand.
  • Size: Up to 3 inches
  • Use shoes to protect your feet from sharp barnacles on rocks. Use gloves to twist them off and place in a bucket.
  • Nutritional value: Vitamin C, fat, protein, carbohydrates.

Mustard (field) - Cleome viscose
  • Habitat: old pastures, gardens, lawns and the roadside
  • Height: up to 2ft
  • Leaves: lobed
  • Flower: four yellow petals in the form of a cross
  • Time: springtime
  • Use: young leaves in salads, leaves cooked as a potherb and seeds used as a spice
  • Nutritional value: contains proteins, carbohydrates and fiber.

Narrow Leaf Plantain - Plantagolanceolata
  • Habitat: found in lawns and along roads
  • Height: 4 to 16 inches tall
  • Leaves: leaves are lance-shaped, about 5 inches long
  • Flower: flowers are small and inconspicuous
  • Time: Spring to Fall
  • Use: young tender leaves are edible raw and used in salads Seeds are edible raw or roasted. Leaves relieve pain from wounds and treat sores

Oysters
  • Habitat: Oceans and Rivers. Shallow and deep waters.
  • They can be gathered by using a basket rake in the sand.
  • Nutritional value: Protein, carbs, fat, zinc, Vitamin B12, copper, selenium.

Partridge Berry
  • Habitat: Dry and moist forests / ravines, swamp edges.
  • Height: On ground trailing vine.
  • Leaves: 2 inch round opposites with white veins.
  • Flower: 1/2 inch whitish green funnel flowers with 4 petals.
  • Time: Summer / Winter.
  • Use: Small red berry - raw / james / pies.
  • Nutritional value: Carbohydrates, fats, proteins.

Paw Paw Tree
  • Habitat: Woodlands
  • Height: Up to 20 feet
  • Leaves: Dark green, alternate up to 10 inches.
  • Flower: Purple/red flowers.
  • Time: 6 inch oblong green to brown / summer
  • Use: Like custard/banana fruit - deserts / in bread.
  • Nutritional value: Vitamin C, Magnesium, iron, copper, maganese, potassium, amino acids, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, phospho, zinc.rus

Peppergrass
  • Habitat: Wide Range
  • Height: Up to 20 inches tall.
  • Leaves: Alternate basil roseete toothed leaves, lance shaped.
  • Flower: 4 petal white flowers.
  • Time: Spring and Summer
  • Use: Seeds used as pepper substitute.
  • Nutritional value: Vitamin C.

Persimmon
  • Habitat: Uploand and wooded sites.
  • Height: Up to 40 feet.
  • Leaves: Dark green elliptic, 5 inches.
  • Flower: Small yellow green with 4 petals.
  • Time: September to December.
  • Use: Round 2 inch bright orange sweet fruit / can be dried.
  • Nutritional value: Vitamin C.

Pine Tree Needles
  • Habitat: Wooded areas.
  • Height: Up to 40 feet.
  • Leaves: Green needles
  • Time: Spring / Fall
  • Use: Green needles for tea / seeds from cones for salads.
  • Nutritional value: Vitamin C.

Plantain - Plantago major
  • Habitat: roadsides, vacant lots and fields
  • Height: oval leaf grows close to the ground
  • Leaves: narrow or oval leaves
  • Flower: pencil-shaped flower stalks
  • Time: spring to fall – use the tender leaves before it flowers
  • Use: with salads, greens or fried rice
  • Cooking time: Boil and strain twice to improve the flavor
  • Nutritional value: High in dietary fiber, potassium and Vitamins A, C and B6.

Poke - Phytolaccadecandra
  • Habitat: roadsides, vacant lots and fields
  • Height: 4 to 8ft tall
  • Leaves: smooth-edged, green leaves 8 to 10 inches long
  • Time: spring
  • Use: eat only the young stems and leaves in the spring, less than 8 inches tall
  • Cooking time: boil and rinse at least three times. May be scrambled with eggs

Prickly Pear - Opuntia
  • Height: 1 to 18 feet tall
  • Leaves: The plant is comprised of wide, flat, thick pads that are covered in spines and segmented stems
  • Flower: large orange or yellow flowers
  • Fruit: It bears an edible fruit that is covered with a thorny skin The skin has to be carefully removed for the fruit
  • Time: Fruits ripen during late summer to fall
  • Use: The prickly pear juice is used in jellies and candies. Prickly pear cactus contains fiber and pectin, which can lower blood glucose by decreasing the absorption of sugar in the stomach and intestine Researchers think that it might also decrease cholesterol levels, and kill viruses in the body.

Purslane - Portulacaoleracea
  • Habitat: sprawling on lawns and in meadows
  • leaves: paddle-shaped, succulent, stalk-less, up to 2 inches long, creeping up to 10 inches
  • Flower: tiny flowers with five yellow petals
  • Time: mid-summer to fall
  • Use: leaves and stems, raw in salads. Steamed or added to soups or stews
  • Nutritional value: is very low in calories and fats; but is rich in dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Queen Anne’s lace - Daucuscarota
  • Habitat: lawns, roadsides, vacant lots and fields
  • Height: 2 to 4ft tall
  • Leaves: leaves have a smell similar to carrots and the leaf stalks are fuzzy
  • Flower: umbrella like, with many tiny white flowers that looks like lace
  • Time: early spring to fall
  • Use: use the roots like a carrot in soups, stews, cakes and cookies
  • Nutritional value: High in vitamin A, beta carotene and minerals. Warning - Hemlock is a poisonous look alike. Its green stem is usually spotted or streaked with red or purple on the lower half of the stem. When crushed, the leaves and root emit an unpleasant smell

Ramps (wild leek) - Allium tricoccum
  • Habitat: in moist, open woodlands
  • Height: 6 inches to 2ft tall
  • Leaves: oval, smooth-edged, stalked leaves, 4 to12 inches long and 2 inches wide
  • Flower: small, umbrella-like 6 petal white-cream color flowers
  • Time: spring through summer
  • Use: the leaves or bulbs are used raw or cooked like garlic. (5 to 10 minutes)
  • Nutritional value: contain Vitamins A, C, chromium and selenium,

Red Clover - Trifoliumpratense
  • Habitat: in meadows and on lawns
  • Height: about 12 inches
  • Leaves: Has a 3 leaf grouping
  • Flower color: red (do not use white flower clover)
  • Time: spring
  • Use: flowers make a good herb tea or used raw with the young leaves in salads
  • Nutritional value: it contains calcium, chromium, magnesium, niacin, phosphorus, potassium, thiamine, vitamin A, B-complex, C, zinc, iron, selenium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, tin and sodium.

Reed grass - PhragmitesCommunis
  • Habitat: wetlands, meadows and marshes
  • Height: 2 to 5ft tall
  • Leaves: deep green shiny foliage
  • Flower: feathery flowers in June
  • Time: spring through winter
  • Use: roots may be cut, boiled and leached for starch
  • Nutritional value: It has protein and energy value.

Saltwort
  • Habitat: Dense colonies on beaches and tidal banks
  • Height: Low growing up to 3ft tall.
  • Leaves: Bright green, small, swollen, fleshy an narrowly club shaped.
  • Flower: Small white flowers
  • Time: Spring to Fall
  • Use: In salids or ptherb / roots as a sweetener
  • Nutritional value: Rich in Vitamin A, Calcium, and Potasium.

Sarsaparilla Vine
  • Habitat: Wooded and dry, shady areas
  • Height: Vine uo to 4 feet / on ground or climbing.
  • Leaves: Evergreen pointed.
  • Flower: Yellow.
  • Time: Fruits in Winter.
  • Use: Red egg shaped fruit in clusters (for birds) / Roots - Root beer.
  • Nutritional value: Caluminum, chromium, iron, magnesium, selenium, calcium, zinc.

Sassafras - Sassafras albidum
  • Habitat: found on edges of forests or in thickets
  • Height: smaller and larger trees
  • Leaves: 3 oval, hand shaped leaves 3 to 5 inches long that smell like root beer
  • Flowers: tiny, yellow, 5 petal flowers
  • Time: leaves in spring through summer – leafless twigs in winter
  • Use: leaves or twigs make a delicious tea

Saw Palmeto Heart
  • Habitat: Wet and dry habbitats.
  • Height: Tall.
  • Leaves: Daggers like 3 feet.
  • Flower: White long 1 foot hanging clusters
  • Time: All year round.
  • Use: Palm heart at tip of trunk / cook until golden brown.
  • Nutritional value: Carbohydrates, Fat, Proteins.

Seablite
  • Habitat: On the beach in sand and next to rocks.
  • Height: Low growing
  • Leaves: Fleshy tiny, round and pointed.
  • Flower: Yellow green flowers.
  • Time: July to October
  • Use: Eat raw or boil twice to remove salt.
  • Nutritional value: Proteins, fat, carbohydrates, fiber.

Sea Oats - Uniolapaniculata
  • Habitat: found on sand dunes at the ocean
  • Height: up to 6 feet tall
  • Use: The panicles are made up of many flat spikelets containing seed that is like oats. The panicles turn from green to straw colored in late summer as the plant matures.

Seminole Pumpkin
  • Habitat: Woods or Disturbed sites.
  • Height: Up to 7 inches wide / Green, yellow, orange, variegated.
  • Leaves: Dark green alternate 10 inch leaves.
  • Flower: Yellow, 4 inch long and wide.
  • Time: Summer and Fall.
  • Use: Cooked, Steamed or baked.
  • Nutritional value: Proteins, Carbohydrates, Dietary Fiber, Calcium, Magnesium.

Shagbark Hickory - Carya ovata
  • Habitat: Tree is found along roadsides and has a shaggy bark, which peels in long, wide, thick strips from the trunk and branches
  • Height: up to 80 feet tall
  • Leaves: leaves of shagbarks form pretty, oval-shaped crowns in the spring and summer
  • Use: Produces tasty nuts in late summer to fall

Sheep sorrel - Rumexacetosella
  • Habitat: is found in fields, grasslands, woodlands, floodplains or marshes
  • Height: about 16 to 18 inches tall
  • Leaves: have green arrowhead shaped leaves
  • Flower: yellow-green flowers
  • Time: flowers March through September
  • Use: a lemon flavour used in garnishes or salads and as a curdling agent for cheese
  • Nutritional value: Is high in vitamins A, B, C, D, K and E. It also has calcium, iron, silicon, magnesium, suphur, zinc, manganese, iodine, beta carotene, copper and is rich in potassium oxalate. It also has great medicinal value.

Shepherds Purse - Capsella bursa-pastoris
  • Habitat: sprawling on lawns, in meadows, roadsides, vacant lots and fields
  • Height: flower stalk grows up to 2½ft tall with wedge shaped fruit pods
  • Leaves: a rosette of bottom leaves up to 9 inches across like a dandelion
  • Flower: tiny, white, 4-petaled flowers on a stalk
  • Time: spring through fall
  • Use: raw in salads, simmered in soups, stews and sauces Sauté, steam or cook for about 10 minutes
  • Nutritional value: contains compounds like alkaloids, histamine, flavonoids, thiamine, organic acids, phenols, volatile oils and salts and vitamins. Shepherd’s purse hasanaleptic properties and can regulate blood pressure.

Shrimp
  • Time: July through December.
  • White shrimp can be caught during the dat and night. Use a light to attract them through a hole into a catch basket. In the basket put a piece of fish to lure them.
  • Nutritional value: Protein, iron, phosphorus, potassium, zinc.

Sochan - Rudbeckialaciniata
  • Habitat: along trails, roadways, in wet meadows and alongside streams
  • Height: up to 5ft
  • Leaves: alternating hairy leaves
  • Flower: yellow clusters of flowers in late summer
  • Time: spring to summer
  • Use: tender spring leaves for greens and the young stems like celery
  • Nutritional value: eaten as a healthy vegetable.

Solomon seal - Polygonatummultiflorum
  • Habitat: in moist and rocky woods and thickets
  • Height: up to 2ft
  • Leaves: light green broad ovate leaves
  • Flower color: light yellow green clusters of drooping flowers
  • Time: flowers in spring
  • Use: roots are boiled and eaten like asparagus after 3 changes of water
  • Nutritional value: it has saponins, flavonoids and vitamin A

Sorrel - Oxalis acetosella
  • Habitat: on lawns, in meadows, roadsides, vacant lots and fields
  • Height: up to 8 inches tall
  • Leaves: shaped like hearts
  • Flower: small five-petal yellow flowers
  • Time: early spring to late fall
  • Use: in salads, in soups, stews or a tea
  • Nutritional value: is rich in Vitamin C, niacin, riboflavin and thiamin.

Spatterdock Water Lily
  • Habitat: Shallow ponds and marshes.
  • Height: Above the water.
  • Leaves: Floating green leaves.
  • Flower: Yellow round, cup like.
  • Time: Fall and Winter.
  • Use: End of rhizome / boil, roast, soup.

Spice bush - Lindera benzoin
  • Habitat: damp shaded woods, low mountain slopes, thickets and streams
  • Height: up to 20 ft tall releasing a lemon-spicy fragrance
  • Leaves: bright green, alternate, toothless, elliptical leaves 2 to 6 inches long
  • Fruit: ripe berries, finely chopped, are used as a seasoning that tastes like allspice
  • Time: spring to fall
  • Use: berries sliced with apples, walnuts, orange rind, simmered for 15 minutes andused in pies. Leaves or twigs used to make a tea
  • Nutritional value: Young branches may be steeped to make a tonic.

Stevia - Stevia rebaudiana
  • Habitat: found in moist sandy soils, often near the edge of marshes or streams
  • Height: a perennial shrub that grows up to 40 inches tall
  • Leaves: tongue shaped and slightly serrated up to 1 inch long
  • Flower: small white flowers
  • Time: from mid-summer to late fall
  • Use: used as a sweetener or sugar substitute
  • Nutritional value: has many health benefiting plant-derived phyto-chemical compounds that help control blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure.

Stinging nettle - Urticadioica (Do not handle with bare hands as they have invisible stinging hairs)
  • Habitat: disturbed soil, moist woodlands, thickets, along rivers or on partially shaded trails
  • Height: 2 to 4ft tall
  • Leaves: leaves are opposite each other, pointed, dark green, about 2 inches long with a heart-shaped base
  • Time: spring through fall
  • Use: cook for 30 minutes for a soup or as greens
  • Nutritional value: contains lots of proteins, large amounts of chlorophyll, vitamin A, several B’s, C, D and an abundance of minerals including calcium, iron, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, silicon and sulphur.

Sumac - Rhustrilobata
  • Habitat: in meadows, roadsides, vacant lots and fields
  • Height: a shrub or small tree
  • Leaves: large leaves, divided into 11 to 23 leaflets
  • Fruit: hangs in bunches and are red, short and hairy
  • Time: fruits summer to fall
  • Use: ripe berries soaked in boiling water for about 2 minutes, filtered and sweetened as lemonade

Sweet birch tree - Betulalenta
  • Habitat: fields and forests
  • Height: tree growing up to 60ft
  • Leaves: dark shiny green, 2 to 4 inches long and have a wintergreen smell
  • Flowers: green male catkins that are near the end of the twig
  • Time: spring through fall
  • Use: Boil and simmer the bark, leaves and twigs as a sweet, aromatic tea
  • Nutritional value: serves as a sugar substitute

Sweet gum tree - Liquidambar styraciflua
  • Habitat: commonly found in swamps and near ponds and streams
  • Height: up to 100ft tall
  • Leaves: five-pointed star-shaped, dark green glossy leaves up to 6 inches long
  • Flower: greenish flowers
  • Time: flowers March through May
  • Use: Pioneers peeled the bark, scraping the resin solids to use as chewing gum

Sword Fern
  • Habitat: In shade or moisture areas, near palm trees.
  • Height: 3 Feet
  • Leaves: 2 Feet long green, narrow fronds
  • Time: Year round.
  • Use: Round 1/2 inch balls on roots / clean / liquid snack.

Thistle
  • Habitat: Many habitats / easily visible.
  • Height: Up to 5 feet
  • Leaves: Green, oblong with spiny edges
  • Flower: Purple / 4 inches
  • Time: June through August
  • Use: Flower head cooked well till soft - like artichoke
  • Nutritional value: Calcium, copper, iron, magnesium.

Watercress - Nasturtium officinale
  • Habitat: in country streams and fresh running water from 2 to 6 inches deep
  • Height: creeping rootstock, 1 to 2 feet in length with its leaves above the water
  • Leaves: smooth, fleshy, dark green, with 1 to 4 pairs of small, round leaves
  • Time: best gathered in spring through summer before it flowers
  • Use: in salads, soups and casseroles
  • Nutritional value: is low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. It has Proteins, Folate, Pantothenic Acid and Copper. Is a great source of Vitamin A, B6, C, E (Alpha Tocopherol), Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Manganese.

Water Lily Roots
  • Habitat: In lake, pond, river
  • Leaves: Smooth, glossy, green up to 12 inches.
  • Flower: Yellow, floating, 6 inches in diameter.
  • Time: Spring / Summer / Fall.
  • Use: Flower buds cooked in summer / rhizomes in spring like potatoes.
  • Nutritional value: Carbohydrates, fats, proteins, calcium, niacin, magnesium.

Wild Asparagus
  • Habitat: Grows in fields.
  • Height: Spear-like like regular asparagus.
  • Leaves: Green fern like leaves.
  • Time: Spring / Summer
  • Use: Raw or Cooked
  • Nutritional value: Sodium, Carbohydrates, Fiber, Sugars, Proteins, Vitamin K.

Wild garlic - Allium vineale
  • Habitat: grows in deciduous woodlands, moist or sandy soils
  • Height: up to 24 inches tall
  • Leaves: round, hollow, arising from a bulb, up to 24 inches long and 3 inches wide
  • Flowers: small greenish white flowers at the top of the flowering stem
  • Time: flowers in spring
  • Use: small egg-shaped bulbs used as garlic
  • Nutritional value: when pure it yields strong smelling oil, essence of garlic, composedof diallylsulphide (C3H5)2S.

Wild Grapes
  • Habitat: Woodlands, thickets.
  • Height: Long climbing vine.
  • Leaves: Green with sharp serrated edges.
  • Time: August / September.
  • Use: Green leaf tendril - Salad / fruit / juice / wine.
  • Nutritional value: Proteins, carbohydrates, Vitamin C and K.

Wild lettuceLactucaserriola
  • Habitat: a common widespread weed
  • Height: up to 5 ft tall
  • Leaves: bluish green leaves are deeply lobed with pokey prickles along the edges
  • Flowers: are yellow in color
  • Time: Flower in summer
  • Use: leaves used in salads and cooked as greens Plant may also be used as a mild opiate for pain
  • Nutritional value: a good source of vitamin A and potassium and several vitamins and nutrients.

Wild Mint
  • Habitat: Along streams and in partial shade.
  • Height: Up to 2 feet.
  • Leaves: In pairs / green up to 3 inches / serrated edges.
  • Flower: Pink to purple, tiny bell shaped.
  • Time: Anytime.
  • Use: Tea / Salads.
  • Nutritional value: Carbohydrates, Vitamin A, C, Folate, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium.

Wild onions - A.validum
  • Habitat: on lawns, roadsides, vacant lots and fields
  • Height: up to 2 ft tall
  • Leaves: Leaves are narrow and long, arising from a small underground bulb
  • Flower: white or pink appearing in late summer
  • Time: Spring and Fall
  • Use: the same way as regular onions
  • Nutritional value: Contains proteins, carbohydrates, calcium, magnesium, zink, manganese, phosphorous. Also has choline, chromium, niacin, riboflavin, folate, carotene and vitamins A, B6 and C

Wild Oranges
  • Habitat: Disturbed sites / old grooves.
  • Height: 15 Feet
  • Leaves: Dark evergreen leaves with thorns.
  • Flower: White 5 petals.
  • Time: Winter / Spring.
  • Use: Marmalade.
  • Nutritional value: Vitamin C.

Wild Radish
  • Habitat: Disturbed sites / Flatwoods
  • Height: Up to 4 feet / with wider than Angula leaves
  • Leaves: Hairy stem with up to 9 inch hasal, deeply lobed leaves
  • Flower: White, Pale yellow.
  • Time: Spring
  • Use: Used in salads
  • Nutritional value: Vitamin B, Zinc, Phosphorus and Vitamin C.

Wild strawberry
  • Habitat: grows in forests, fields, lawns, forest edges, roadsides and along streams
  • Height: up to 1ft tall
  • Leaves: pale green trifoliate leaves that emerge directly from the centre
  • Flowers: have 5 white petals
  • Fruit: similar but smaller than regular strawberries
  • Time: Spring and Fall
  • Use: may be used in cereal, pancakes, fruit salad, sauces or deserts
  • Nutritional value: is low in sodium, saturated Fat and cholesterol. It is a very good source of Vitamin C.

Willow Tree - Salix alba 'Vitellina-Tristis'
  • Height: small and large trees
  • Leaves: leaves are typically elongated on the branches hanging down
  • Time: Spring through summer
  • Use: The substance under the bark is like aspirin used for pain

Wood Sorrel
  • Habitat: Moist forest soils carpeting an area / clover like leaves.
  • Height: 2-8 inches tall
  • Leaves: 3 heart-shaped like clover leaves
  • Flower: May to July - White 5 petals.
  • Time: Green all year
  • Use: Salads / Tea
  • Nutritional value: Fat, Carbohydrates, proteins, Vitamin C, Magnesium.

Yarrow - AchilleaMillefolium
  • Habitat: in meadows, roadsides, vacant lots and fields
  • Height: 2 to 5ft
  • Leaves: green feathery, fern-like
  • Flower: white flattened flower clusters up to 6 inches wide
  • Time: blooming occurs June through September
  • Use: flowers boiled and simmered to make a tea
  • Nutritional value: contains fiber and proteins

Yellow Sweet Clover Shoots
  • Habitat: Woods and grasslands.
  • Height: Up to 5 feet.
  • Leaves: Green, 3 part, oblong, 1 inch, fine toothed.
  • Flower: Yellow, 5 inch on drooping spikes.
  • Time: May to October.
  • Use: Young shoots as asparagus / young seedpods cooked.
  • Nutritional value: Carbohydrates, sugar, protein.

Yellow wood sorrel - Oxalis stricta
  • Habitat: on lawns, in meadows, roadsides, vacant lots and fields
  • Height: up to 12 inches tall
  • Leaves: light green alternate trifoliate leaves about ¾ inch across when fully open
  • Flower: yellow flowers about ½ inch in diameter
  • Time: Spring through Fall
  • Use: added to salads, soups, with fish or brewed to make a kind of lemonade
  • Nutritional value: contains vitamin C

Yucca - Yucca Filamentosa
  • Habitat: dry areas
  • Height: up to 6 feet tall
  • Leaves: long dagger-like leaves
  • Flower: white flowers that are tulip-like, waxy, and drooping
  • Time: late spring
  • Use: flower petals raw in salads, fried or batter dipped
  • Nutritional value: contains vitamin C, calcium and carbohydrates.


Wild Mushrooms

Disclaimer
Be sure to visit a mushroom club in your area, where you can learn everything you need to know about fungi. You should not eat any mushroom unless you can identify it and are absolutely certain that it is not poisonous. Reading and using information on this website will constitute your acceptance of this disclaimer.
Bolete
  • Habitat: Grows on the ground under oak and hardwood tree.
  • Height: Up to 5 inches tall.
  • Cap: Up to 5 inches wide / brown, pink, olive.
  • Time: Summer to Fall
  • Use: Salads / Omlets / Stews
  • Nutritional value: Nutrients, Natural Antioxidants, Minerals and Vitamins.

Chanterelle - Cantharelluscibarius
  • Habitat: grows on the ground under oak and conifer trees
  • Size: up to 5 inches wide and has a fruity fragrance
  • Color: bright orange or yellow
  • Time: summer through fall
  • Use: in salads, omelet’s and stews
  • Description: vase-shaped, funnel-like mushrooms
  • Nutritional value: contains carbohydrates

Dryad saddle - Polyporussquamosus
  • Habitat: grows on living and dead hardwoods
  • Size: 3 to 10 inches across and smells like watermelon
  • Time: spring through fall (best to forage in May)
  • Use: use when young in jambalaya, batter fried or in pasta primavera
  • Description: kidney-shaped, overlapping brown caps that have darker scales on top

Hen of the woods - Grifolafrondosa
  • Habitat: grows at the base of oak trees or on stumps
  • Size: can grow up to 60 lbs
  • Time: fall
  • Use: cook and serve as a vegetable with cream sauce
  • Description: it overlaps in a form of a bouquet

Horse - Agaricusarvensis
  • Habitat: grows on lawns, pastures and in open areas
  • Size: Thick, white firm flesh cap, 3 to 10 inches wide with fine scales
  • Time: in the late summer
  • Use: add to soups, stews and salads
  • Description: White and turning a slight tan as they mature, with a brown scale patch on the top center. Only use the younger horse mushrooms that have a cogwheel pattern on the broken veil
  • Nutritional value: a good source of vitamins B, D, Potassium, Phosphorus and Selenium. Warning - Do not confuse with the poisonous Agaricusxanthodermis, which is similarin appearance. This poisonous mushroom has a stem that bruises yellow at the base when cut or bruised

Meadow - Agaricuscampestris
  • Habitat: grows on lawns, pastures and in open areas
  • Size: 2 to 4 inches wide
  • Time: in late summer
  • Use: add to soups stews and salads
  • Description: Like the white button mushroom, a pale white or light brown color
  • Nutritional value: a good source of vitamins B, Potassium, Phosphorus and Selenium. Warning - Do not confuse with the poisonous Agaricusxanthodermis, which is similar in appearance. This poisonous mushroom has a stem that bruises yellow at the base when cut or bruised

Morel - Morchella
  • Habitat: in woods and on trails in small patches
  • Size: 2 to 10 inches tall
  • Time: in spring and comes up after forest fires
  • Use: sauté and use in soups, casseroles or stews
  • Description: looks honeycombed and the cap is the length of the stalk
  • Nutritional value: - contains proteins and carbohydrates.
    Warning: don’t eat morels raw and cook them for at least 15 minutes

Oyster - Pleurotusostreatus
  • Habitat: oyster-shaped caps that are layered, growing on dead deciduous wood
  • Size: caps 2 to 6 inches wide
  • Time: all year, especially spring and fall
  • Use: cook the tender parts up to 18 minutes and use in seafood or salads
  • Description: grows in shelf-like clusters and looks, smells, and tastes like oysters
  • Nutritional value: Contains protein, Vitamins B2, B2, B3, carbohydrates, phosphorous, calcium and iron

Prince - Agaricusaugustus
  • Habitat: is found in deciduous, coniferous woods and in gardens or by roadsides
  • Size: white to tan caps up to 8 inches wide, with brownish flat scales
  • Time: in the Fall
  • Use: grill, bake or add to soups and salads
  • Description: The flesh is thick, firm and white with a strong almond smell like anise
  • Nutritional value: low in calories, cholesterol-free, fat-free, low in sodium content with vitamins B, D, potassium and selenium
Puff ball (giant) - Calvatiagigantea
  • Habitat: grows on the ground or on dead wood
  • Size: small to a football size
  • Time: spring through fall
  • Use: sautéed, simmered in soups, cooked up to 12 minutes with grains or baked in a casserole
  • Description: puffballs are round, white, soft inside and like cream cheese or tofu

Scaber stalk (red capped) - Leccinumaurantiacum
  • Habitat: grows under birch trees
  • Size: 1 to 4 inches
  • Time: summer through fall
  • Use: stuffed, broiled with seasonings or used in gravy
  • Description: sometimes sunken in the center with white flesh. When bruised becomes slightly brown
  • Nutritional value: contain proteins, vitamins B1, B2, C, D, magnesium, iron and calcium

Shitake - Lentinula edodes
  • Size: cap is up to 4 inches wide
  • Use: grill, bake or add to soups and salads
  • Description: cultivated or available in stores
  • Nutritional value: - Contains protein, Vitamins A, B2, B2, B6, B12, C, D2, E, K, niacin, carbohydrates, phosphorous, calcium, potassium and iron

Wine cap - Auriculariapolytricha
  • Habitat: grows on the ground under oak and conifer trees
  • Size: cap is 2 to 6 inches wide
  • Time: summer through fall
  • Use: grill, bake or add to soups. Cooks in 15 to 20 minutes
  • Description: wine color cap and bell-shaped
  • Nutritional value: - contains proteins and carbohydrates