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Search 1,000+ Wild Edibles
wow !! I love the recorded segment on the website titled “decapitated grass”….if you can think of anymore ideas like that, i would be sooo delighted. but dont do it for me, do it for any other reason.
I just wanted to tell you that I have been using your videos quite a bit to help me study the plants I come accross. I sometimes go search out videos on something I already have in mind. I also have been known to sit and watch one right after another…its funny because you have so many, I only wish that i would have systematically went down from top to bottom…anyways, there willl be planty of time to go back and do that while I wait for a visit down to florida to see my grandmother. Itll be then I take a class and maybe meet you one day. Thankyou for everything, keep up the good fight.
Bryan Sigmund, west deptford, NJ
Holy Cow Bryan,
I did not know I had a cousin in NJ. Ia m a native plant lover too!
I keep reading that there are no toxic members of the mustard family, but I do know of one. Princes Plume grows in southern Utah, and accumulates toxic quantities of selenium
Well… it’s not the plant per se but where it grows. Plant it in other soil and it does not accumulate selenium.
Here are a question and a story to share.
QUESTION: I read your column about eating bidens alba leaves. Do you think I can add the flowers to salads, too?
STORY: We live at the boundary of Sarasota & Charlotte counties, enjoying nature walks supported by organizations in both counties. Denny Girard and Al Squires lead many of these walks, and are loved by all of us. They know I like foraging. Repeatedly they mentioned that people grill fish atop a bed of ‘dog fennel’. I make fish loaf with canned mackerel or salmon, using a lot of dill. “Hey”, I thought to myself, “Why not use the dog fennel?” I mixed up a 2 lb. loaf, with plenty of dog fennel. Before baking, I decided to confirm the wisdom of consuming the dog fennel. An internet search led me to “Eat the Weeds”. Wow, a fabulous resource that I immensely appreciate. I’ve shared the link to the web site countless times. It was sad to discard the entire fish loaf, but I was grateful for learning about the pyrrolizidines. Since sharing the information with our hiking group, dog fennel is pointed out to me EVERY time we pass it on our hikes…which is often.
Thank you again.
The blossoms are edible.
Mitch, Ryan here from South Venice. I would love to connect with your group for the nature walks!
I wonder if anybody has tried to do anything with buckthorn (Rhamnus Cathartica) seeds. The plant produces copious drupes with these three little seeds in each one. And it is definitely a very common weed. As I understand it the fruit is poisonous, but birds eat them late in the season and you would think those little seeds might be packed with protein and not have the toxins. Or maybe there’s some way to detox them and make buckthorn butter.
Please help me with edibles / plant life – bipolar & need bost uplifting & calming plants !!
Thanks Mark
Thanks for writing. I am a forager, not an herbalist. That is beyond my expertise.
Greetings green Dean I have an severe issue of being addicted to your videos ha, besides that I have a few questions…do you do private classes..and what’s a good indicator of an area where kudzo grows? We live in St Petersburg FL and been trying to find it for quite awhile now
Yes, I do private classes. There’s a lot of effort to get rid of Kudzu. I haven’t seen it in Pinellas County yet. It is in several places in Orange and Seminole Counties. On the other hand it would be hard to find now because it can die back in winter.
My gosh, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to find kudzu, it’s everywhere in my yard here in SC! It doesn’t die back completely in winter & is still easy to find here. I collected a bunch of the berries a month or so ago & tossed in with chickens – they loved them. Only did it once, as I wasn’t sure if they were OK to feed them.
Just wanted to thank you for all the time you put into your website and YouTube channel. Thanks to you, I’m now obsessed with finding edible plants and finding out how they taste. I’m sure this has been asked, but, any plans to do more YouTube videos?
Yes… been waiting for a free day that is not cold or rainy.
Do you know if the seeds of sweet clover are edible in quantity? Sweet clover grows abundantly where I live, and after the blossoms die, the plants are covered by large quantities of seeds that are easily harvested. This would be a great source of wild food if they are edible in quantity
I would think they could be dangerous.
Regarding Pawpaws, domesticated variety or not. The literature says the flies that pollinate Pawpaw are attracted to nasty smelling stuff. In Illinois, the red flowered Pawpaw has little smell. I cut off a large branch of a maple near my Pawpaws, noticed black flies on the sweet sap and had the idea to spray my trees with maple water. Much higher yield on the Pawpaws (enough to feed the raccoons and me.)
I have a plant that I have seen growing wild. I remember it growing around my grandmothers house but I have no idea what it is. I can’t copy a picture or I would. Is there someplace I can send to find out what it is??
You can send it to GreenDeane@gmail.com
I have a large sycamore tree in my front yard. There has been an abundance of seed pods in the yard this year. Is it possidble for these seed pods to germinate because my yard is covered with an unidentifiable weed(?) or small growth. It is all through my lawn. Is there some way I can get rid of these things with out harming my lawn or than hand weeding?
Just wondering if there is any use at all for spice-bush. Lots of sack like pods but everything I read says they are useless except for the bark or something.
I have a comment about pawpaws also. If you want more yield, spray the trees with sugar water, or better maple syrup water. The flies flock to the flowers then. Dead fish don’t do anything.
After brewing fresh chaya leaves,(Texas) I drank some it all day and made very sleepy. Can you tell me of side effects if any?
I didn’t find that word pirogue in a Random House, Webster dictionary.
Re: pirogue
https://www.britannica.com/technology/pirogue
Also: a boat-shaped sandwich with a filling.
These green, long, pointy half gourd/ half cucumber long plants appeared all over our south west texas ranch land after a flood. Its not a wild cucumber I know for sure. It has a white milky juice that cones out from it when cut. There are seeds in the middle.
Am returning from a long trip up the east coast and through Canada below the St. Lawrence. Have been foraging berries ( wild strawberries, black/blue/rasp/wine berries, currants, etc), mushrooms (boletes, chanterelles, puffballs) and fruits. A wonderful time. I am arriving home in the next 2 weeks and am wondering when you will com again to Ocala, FL. I hope to participate and, if he is home from sea, my son would also probably attend.
Thank you Green Deane for entertaining us on your fantastically fun foraging expedition at GeorgeLaStrange preserve on March 3rd.
We had a humorously funny and interesting look at edible weeds and plants.
It was truly a gorgeous day. I look forward to going on another one of your foraging expeditions.
Thank you… the class made it fun.
Great site. Been a fan for several year and sharing with my 9 year old now.
Dead Nettle – are just the leaves edible or stems, leaves, and flowers? Young shoots only or mature plants as well?
Thank you. Always learning.
You won’t find anyone with as much knowledge and energy as Green Deane. He even knows the Latin terms for the plants and weeds. He is simply incredible. You won’t ever be disappointed.
Just wanted to thank you for the incredible resource here! Just found this site and learned you can eat Osage Orange seeds, am excited to try it and many other “weeds” you’ve illuminated here!
Hi, i came across what i think is a Kalanchoe Pinnata growing wild in a national reserve in West Palm Beach, FL. is this commonly found in South Central Florida? thanks!
I just got into foraging…with gusto!! I live next to a 27,000 acre WMA in Arkansas and have been taking hiking trips to identify plants. I haven’t harvested anything yet because I want to learn as much as I can about the plants around me first, but I can’t wait to start harvesting! I love learning about foraging and I love your videos and your website. You’re so informative, knowledgeable and you’re easy to listen to. I was just wondering if you would do a video on the Common Vetch, if you have a chance, I know you’re busy.
Thanks,
Jill
Deane, have you (or anyone else) heard of a common plant that was so toxic, just touching the flowers could kill ya? I read something like this some time back… or maybe it was like getting poked with a branch or thorn. Anyway, something like this. It was really poisonous!
Cheers!
I think Giant Hog Weed is one such plant. Heracleum mantegazzianum.
Hmmm…. a mean bugger, but I would hardly put phototoxicity on par with death.
Zinc seems to be the major treatment for the Wuhan virus. What wild edible in Florida or two seems to have the most zinc. Tks
Dandelions, Red Clover, Chamomile, and Chickweed. (You wont’ find Chamomile in the wild in Florida.)
Have 2 vines growing that look very similar in 2 different areas. The leaves look like your picture for wild yams but the stems are not square. They have like a little trench on the top of the stem.The veins have a tint of red [beet color] on the top of the leaves only. The on in the shady area has a woody vine that wraps tight horizontally or vertically. More singly spaced leaves. Its dark now while researching your sight so later i could provide more info. Its in an area i intentionally plant medicinal herbs that like shade. This is its second year coming up. Its also by a bird feeder so possible that it was planted by a bird visitor. I may have planted a purchased wild yam plant but would have hoped that it would NOT have been the one that we DO NOT want. Any ideas or questions for me.
Several sites show a different plant than what you show for Desmodium incanum. Which one is correct. I have what this website shows https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmodium_incanum. I don’t like to see dependencies between my trusted sites. Then I don’t know what to go with.
As far as I know I do not have a picture of D. incanum on my website. The article I have shows D. trifloum.
Hello, Green Deane!
You’ve been a great inspiration for years, sir. I’ve been writing and researching the ethnobotany of unusual plants for only three. Mine is not a foraging website, but any pointers (especially on the research and cadence) would be greatly appreciated. A quick once-over would mean a great deal.
This message is truly not meant as spam. I’d understand if you’d prefer to delete it, and (fingers crossed) emailed a few notes.
Either way, thanks for your great work.
With Large Regard,
Kevin
I am revisiting my articles and all their petty typos… writing is the art of rewriting… and letting it sit for a while. A little every day gets it done.
My husband and I have been studying your YouTube channel for almost three years. We love the way you teach. Thanks for imparting your wisdom! Our eyes have been opened. We see food/nutrition every where now.
Hi there! I’ve been following your work since I was a kid, and now as an adult, I still go back and re-watch and re-read your stuff all the time. I wanted to forage so much growing up, and now I get to very often, and I was inspired by you, so I just wanted to say thank you! I got the idea to finally post on this forum when I mentioned to my wife that I have followed your work since I was a kid and you were referenced in an article about Meadow Garlic that we found on our walk this morning.
Long story short, you inspired a kid, probably many besides myself, and I just wanted to say thank you.
Thank you for your kind words.
Hello. I notice you don’t devote any comments to Lonicera periclymenum in your post, which is common honeysuckle in Ireland and England. I’ve read the flowers of this plant are edible but the fruit is toxic. I’m wondering your thoughts.
I read the article on wood oats. We have something like 10 acres of wood oats on our land. For years I have been experimenting with ways to make them edible: first husking and winnowing, then have tried boiling, popping, baking, grinding in a seed grinder, and more. I have never gotten anything other than a hard, rubbery seed or seed pieces that aren’t very tasty. In boiling them, the water id dyed a deep red, which, although I believe most all grass seeds are safe to eat, it concerns me. I did have it tested and it had 16% protein and decent amount of fats. Can you help me out here; it would be a wonderful edible source if I can get to the bottom of this. Many thanks, Bob Liebert
There are no toxic native American grasses. Have you tried cooking them like popcorn? In hot oil?
When are the foraging walks at florida state college in jacksonville?
I have a walk this Saturday –Feb 26, 2022, in Atlantic Beach, at Tidal View Preserve,
Where can one buy non GMO organic katuk seeds?
The English grammar is horendouse in this article. People will only take your site seriously if it’s grammatically correct.
…horrendous in this article….
At Circle B Bar Ranch near Lakeland, FLorida there is a tree-like plant that is near the shore of Lake Hancock. The trees are now dead/desiccating. Pods are dehiscing. Within the pods is a continuous papery husk that encloses 2 seeds. Seeds are flattened about the size of blackeyed peas.
How can I submit a picture?
You can send pictures to me at GreenDeane@gmail.com.
Hi Deane. Have you purchased anything from Foraged? the website is http://www.foraged.market
It’s such a wonderful idea and the site is lovely. i was curious what your experience has been with Foraged.
Thank you
Never heard of them. Selling foraged items in Florida is illegal to any entity wiht a business license for consumption. I can, for example, sell wild mushrooms to individuals but not to restaurants though I can in a dozen other states.
Hi! On your website it states that fumaria isn’t non-edible. But everything I have read shows it has All kinds of medicinal uses and can be made into a tea. Did you say non-edible because it can’t be eaten as salad? Please clarify for me. I have a bunch growing in my yard now and would like to use it
When I say it is non-edible I mean as a food since that is my perspective. If it has medicinal uses that is outside my pay grade. I am not an herbalist.
PFAF.org has it listed as being useful medicinally as a tea but comes with a warning that prolonged use can be hypnotic. I have a ton of it too and have made tea with the dried herb. I use a regular tea ball cage worth and find it to be mildly sedative. It also states that it can be used as a curdling agent like rennet but I haven’t tried that yet.
I find passionflower and wild lettuce to be a bit more sedative. I am 56 and weigh roughly 145 pounds for reference. Always test any new substance with a very small amount and work your way up. Even if something is “edible” you could be allergic to it.