Root "vegetable" plants

[betsy]

We were having a discussion last night at supper, I know you can eat cat tails and burdock root as a replacement for root vegetables, are there any other that grow in the wilds?

 

[Benny]

Wait, what? You can eat cat tails? Yuck! How in the world would you prepare cat tails? I know you mean the plant - not actual cat's tails, but still......

 

[kodiak]

are there any other that grow in the wilds?

Too many to name in a forum post.

The books "Foragers Harvest" and "Nature's Garden" by Samuel Thayer would be a good primer for you.

Jerusalem artichoke is a common wild root vegetable that you might want to check out. It sometimes even shows up in gourmet grocery stores.

Try some google searches for for "edible tubers" and "edible rhizomes".

 

[betsy]

Thanks for that suggestion, both look like really good purchases. I want to try to introduce something wild to our diets this year at least monthly, this should help.

 

[Sophia]

I don't know that I would just eat anything wild unless it were for survival purposes. But, then, of course, if I did I would save some money by just going out and "picking" my own. I am just afraid that I would pick up something poisonous.

 

[Michael]

I don't know that I would just eat anything wild unless it were for survival purposes. But, then, of course, if I did I would save some money by just going out and "picking" my own. I am just afraid that I would pick up something poisonous.

Guide books usually have photographs of the plants to help you identify which ones are which. The good ones also have lookalikes for them and how to avoid those. You can even get illustrated field guides so you don't have to lug a whole book with you.

My older brother has been doing this with mushrooms, and mushrooms are a lot more dangerous than most plants.

 

[Judy Ann]

Root medicine has always been big in the South between Charleston and Savannah. There have been many books published on this topic. You may want to check it out.