Acorns Part One; Processing

Acorns Part One;

Processing

    Acorns are the seeds of the oak tree and they can be found all around the world. During most of fall the ground will be littered with ripe acorns (don't eat the immature green ones) anywhere oaks are found. This makes them and abundant food source that with minimal work can be processed and stored to last you through the winter.

Black Oak Leaf

Red Oak Leaf

White Oak Leaf

Oak Tree

    Acorns contain tannic acid that must be removed before consumption. There are various species of oak each with different amounts of tannic acid. Your white oaks have the least amount of tannic acid, while your red and black oaks have the most. A good general rule to estimate the amount of tannins is by looking at how large the cap is in proportion to the rest of the acorn. The larger the cap, the more tannic acid the acorn will generally have. The most common way to removing the tannins is a process called leaching.
    Once you've collected your acorns, you'll need to remove any of the bad or infested acorns. The easiest way to do this is to remove the caps and put them in a container of water and remove any that float. You'll want to stir them around to make sure the healthy acorns aren't stacked on top of a few of the bad ones and let them float to the surface. The good acorns will stay at the bottom of the container. Once you have sorted out the bad acorns, agitate the acorns in a couple changes of water to remove any dirt or bugs that might be on the acorns. Once the acorns are clean you may want to save some of the whole acorns for later. Once dried and properly stored they can last for months in this form. The ones that you want to use at the time should be shelled and the acorn meat collected. They are now ready for the process of leaching out the tannins.

    Leaching can be done in one of two ways with acorns; cold leaching and hot leaching. Cold leaching is usually the preferred method because you won't cook the starches, so your acorn flour will not fall apart as easily and the cooked starches won't bind with the tannic acid that will leave a bitter taste or in severe cases will leave them unusable. Cold leaching however takes far longer. Alternatively hot leaching takes far less time though you will cook your starches, so it won't hold it's form well by itself and you won't be able to use the acorn starch as a binder or thickener.
    For cold leaching, put your shelled acorns in a container of water. Lightly shake the container several times a day and change the water everyday until the water comes out clear. This process can take several days and with red or black oak possibly several weeks. Once the water comes out clear the acorn meat is dried and is ready for use.
    For hot leaching you'll need to prepare 2 pots of boiling water. Once both pots are boiling add your acorn meat to one of them and wait for the water to a dark tea looking color. Once that happens drain the water out (this tannic acid tea can be used to 'tan' leather). Add the acorn meat to the 2nd pot of boiling water then fill the first pot with fresh water and set it to boil again. Repeat this process until the water stays clear. Always make sure the water is boiling and don't let the acorn meat cool down the entire process. Once the water stays clear the acorn meat is dried and is ready to use.
    Native Americans would put the acorn meat in a knit sack or basket and set it in stream with clean moving water until the water stays clear when inspected.

    Now that you have leached acorn meat there is a lot you can do with it. Enough to where I'll dedicate an entire article to the subject next time.

Purple Dead Nettle / Lamium Purpureum

Purple Dead Nettle

Lamium Purpureum

    Purple dead nettle is not actually a nettle, but rather a member of the mint family. The plant contains vitamin C, iron, fiber and other minerals and can be found growing in large colonies through much of the U.S. and Europe. It's considered and invasive weed in the U.S., so do your civic duty and eat up.

    Purple dead nettle is fairly easy to identify because of it's square stem (common among members of the mint family) and small purple to pink flowers that show up in early spring. The plant has opposing pairs of leaves alternating down the stem, usually stopping about half way down.
    By making sure there is a square stem and this leaf structure, it's almost impossible to misidentify making it a fairly safe plant for foraging. Though it is occasionally confused with Henbit for  some reason, that is actually it's cousin and is edible in the same manner.

    The leaves of the purple dead nettle are edible raw or cooked and has a taste along the lines of parley. I have seen people eat the stem and flowers as well with no repercussions, but as the rest has never been said to be edible, I have shied away from them. Something to keep in mind if things get really desperate I suppose, but just in case stick to the leaves.
    The plant was also used for some medical purposes. A poultice can be made from the leaves to staunch bleeding and the plant also works as a natural anti-histamine, so it's good for allergies and inflammation.

Dandelion / Taraxacum

Dandelion

Taraxacum

    The dandelion is originally from Eurasia, but has been brought with and cultivated in just about every area that humans have been to as a staple food and medicine. The rather bitter, even in it's best stages of growth the plant is nutritious, high in vitamins A, C and K and is a great source of calcium, potassium, iron and antioxidants.
    While all species of dandelion are edible, the best ones have wider leaves and a bright green color. Though the thin leafed plant with a dull green color (more prevalent in my experience) is still edible, though you may want to boil it in several changes of water to help with the bitterness. Dandelions are best collected in early spring, though you can still find young plants growing through out the year. Once the plant is older it will become far more bitter even to the point of being unpalatable.
    There are similar looking flowers called 'false dandelion', this unofficial term actually refers to several other plants with similar looking flowers, though that have multiple flowers on one plant, something you will not see on a dandelion, so they are fairly easy to avoid.

    The flower, leaves and root of the dandelion are edible, though you may want to remove the green skirt from below the flower. While not toxic, even on young plants it is very bitter. The root of the dandelion can be eaten raw, cooked or dried and crushed into a coffee (caffeine free) extender. The flowers can also be used to make a dandelion wine, something I'll have to try one of these days. The leaves can be eaten raw, though are usually better blanched or boiled especially as the plant matures and becomes more bitter.

    Dandelion has been used for a millennia as a medicine usually treating inflammation and stomach ailments, though new studies have suggested it may be good for many other things. If you're interested in the medicinal uses of dandelion, check out the webmd page here.

Stinging Nettle / Urtica Dioica

Stinging Nettles

Urtica Dioica

    I have heard of nettles referred to as the most nutritious plant in the world. While I'm skeptical of this claim, I have no doubt that this is way up there on the list. It's loaded with protein, vitamins A and C, iron, potassium, manganese and calcium.
    Stinging nettle is fairly abundant near any water source or wetlands that has plenty of sun. The plant consists of a single grooved stalk with opposing leaves alternating up to the top and grows in colonies connected by it's root structure.

    If you have any doubts about whether or not it's a stinging nettle, just touch it. That should make for a fairly positive ID. There is actually another look alike that will sting as well, but it is also a nettle and edible in the same way, though not nearly as nutritious. As I understand it there are no poisonous look alikes and definitely none that sting.
    The stings come from small hallow hairs that act like hypodermic needles and inject histamine, serotonin and other chemical compounds that trick the nervous system in feeling pain, though the histamines can cause inflammation, the actual damage to the body is minimal, though the sting can last days with some of the species.

    The plant is best when it's still under a foot tall, at that point all the leaves will be tender. Though even later in the year when the plant reaches it's full 5 - 7 feet, you still eat the younger leaves at the top without worrying about the leaves becoming tough and bitter.

    Cooking the leaves in just about any manner will remove the stinging from the plant. After hitting boiling water for a few seconds, a few seconds over a fire (both sides) or even soaking them in water for several hours will allow the plant to be handled or eaten without discomfort. The taste is something along the line of spinach, though that might just be because I usually boil them.
    Besides being boiled or steamed, the leaves can be singed and used in a salad or dried to be used as a nutritious tea or seasoning you can use to add vitamins and it's unique taste to any meal later on.
    The outer layer or 'bark' if you will is full of long fibers that makes strong cordage and has even been used to make fabric for thousands of years.

    Nettles have long been used for arthritis treatment and is supposedly good for people with allergies, making a tea out of dried stinging nettle supposedly helps with allergies by acting as a natural anti histamine. Though there have been many claims for the medicinal uses of nettle. If you're interest in them, check here.

Prickly Pear/Opuntia

Opuntia

Prickly Pear

    The prickly pear cactus or Opuntia is an abundant food source, especially in the American Southwest and Mexico. Though it's tolerance for cold means you can find it all the way up to the western parts of Canada. It also can be found in various forms throughout the rest of America (though not as abundant), and the Mediterranean.
    Prickly pear is named for the fruit that grows on the cactus, though normally the fruit is called 'tunas' and the pads of the cactus are called 'nopales' both are edible though take some processing to get rid of the thorns and sharp furs.

                                         Tunas/Fruit                                     Nopales/Pads

    The prickly pear cactus actually has fairly poor nutritional value, so it won't be your main staple food source, but it is full of fiber, some carbs, potassium, magnesium and even a bit of vitamins A and C. The fruits that you'll find in late summer to early winter are loaded with sugar, which can be hard to find from other sources.
    Fire is the suggested manner of getting rid of the thorns and glochids, both will burn off in a matter of seconds allowing you to handle the food for further preparation. Nopales are cooked until the pad is malleable and the inside is a bit firmer. I has a fairly bland taste that reminds you of a vegetable your mother made you eat as a kid, but it's not bad. Nopales are usually used with or as a replacement for peppers in various recipes and are actually frequently sold in grocery stores in a lot of regions. The skin is edible, but if you're cooking over a campfire it will probably be a bit burnt and you'll want to remove it.
    The fruit/tuna of the prickly pear is edible raw (once the glochids are removed) and can be used to make jellies, jams and wines. The seeds can be parched and ground into flour for later use. The juice will stain your teeth and fingers and was actually used as a dye in the past. Even the unripe green fruit can be cooked and has a texture and taste not unlike okra.
    As Nopales and tunas are frequently sold in super markets and are frequently used, you can find tons of recipes for both online. If you have prickly pear in your area, try them out. Find some good recipes, I think you'll be surprised by them.

Wild Mustard

Wild Mustard

    Mustards have been cultivated since before written history and selectively bred into many foods you know, but may not know are actually a type of mustard including; turnips, cabbage, collard greens, kale, cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage. With at least 6,000 years under it's belt as a domesticated plant, there are now over 4,000 different species in 6 of the 7.
    As far as I know there are no poisonous look-alikes and even the plants you might mistake them for are edible in the same manner, so the mustard plant is one of the first plants every survivalist should familiarize themselves with. The are mustard is high in calcium, potassium and vitamins C and A and make an excellent food source.

    The plant itself starts as a rosette, as the plant matures it will send up a single stalk that branches out into multiple stems. Later at the end of each stem it will have multiple flowers, each flower having 4 petals. The family is called cruciferous meaning 'cross bearing' which came from the distinct flowers.

    You will notice some variance between the flowers depending on what species you come across. Sometimes the flowers will be larger or have white to light purple, these are usually turnips (obviously the root is the best part). Other times the flowers will start further down the branch and look more like a brush, these are frequently called bottle brush mustards and are frequently found with the smaller version known as poor man's pepper grass (used usually for it's seeds as a spice and replacement for pepper).

    Wild mustard is edible at any stage of growth, but various parts will be better. In early spring the rosette at the base will be edible raw. After a while the rosette on many species will take on a bitter taste and you'll want to boil them in a change of water (on many versions of the plant the leaves will be furry, boiling it once will get rid of that texture that can be hard to get used to).
    The new leaves at the end of the branch will have the mustardy taste that you will recognize from the modern day mustard condiment (well minus the vinegar and other spices taste). As a general the leaves taste better before the plant flowers, though they are still edible afterwards, but you may want to use them as a pot herb. Older leaves may have to be boiled in a couple changes of water to get rid of the bitter taste (this will very on what species of mustard you find)
    The stems, once the leaves are removed are edible as well. Though the taste will very dramatically. Once you've collected your leaves, break off a tender piece of the stem and give it a taste test, on about a quarter of the plants I've encountered this will become an additional food source. Though frequently it will be unpalatable or too fibrous depending on the time of year. The flower stalk is also edible, though again depending on the species of plant it's taste will vary fairly dramatically.
    The root of all mustards are edible as well. While it can be cleaned, boiled and eaten as all, where the root really shines is when it's dried and smashed into a powder. It makes a good spice on it's own, but when mixed with a little bit of vinegar becomes what you know as horse radish these days.
    The seeds of the mustard plant are high in calcium, magnesium, omega 3 fatty acids, iron zinc and protein. They can pressed for mustard oil, dried and powdered to make a dry mustard or the dried powder can be mixed with vinegar to make the traditional mustard that you are already familiar with from your fridge.

Fun Fact: The original mustard condiment was made from 

dried mustard seeds and unripe grape juice

.
    Lepidium or poor man's pepper grass is mostly used as a spice, though it's tiny leaves and root is still edible in the same fashion if you're looking for a small snack.

    While there are actually about 175 different species of lepidium, they are usually broken down into the shape of their seeds;
Tooth shaped = Cow Cress
Heart Shaped = Shepherd's Purse
Round Shape = Penny Cress
    As you might have guessed by it's name, it's frequently used a replacement for pepper. Once the seeds come in a thin papery material will cover the seeds, this material is removed and the seeds are parched then once dry crushed into a pepper substitute.

Rose Hips

Rose Hips

    While most people know the petals of roses can be eaten (well minus the bitter white part towards the bottom), I've found that an incredible amount of people don't know about rose hips, which is really where the plant shines. The rose hip is the bulge behind the rose flower itself. Once the petals of the rose whither and fall off the rose hip matures into a seed pod which is the 'fruit' I'll be discussing in this article.

    While starting off as the aforementioned green bulge behind the rose, it will later ripen to a red (sometimes orangeish red) fruit that looks similar to a miniature apple, which I suppose makes since as the 2 are distant cousins. This usually happens in mid to late summer and while edible at this point, it's best after the first few nights where it hits freezing temperatures as that's when the fruit becomes more sweet.
    Rose hips will stay on the plant for some time, in some variations of rose and in some locations, you can find them all the way into winter still on the branch/vine and though by that point they will be partially dried and a bit wrinkly, somewhat like a raisin, they are still edible and an excellent food source.

    The taste will vary depending on what variety of rose it is and the time of year you gather it, but I find it to be somewhere between tomatoish and bruised appleish (closer to bruised apple after the first freeze). This may not sound like a great mix, but honestly it's not bad and when it's sweet half decent. Made as a tea or jam with sugar added, it's actually pretty good.

    Rose hips are amazingly high in vitamin C, but also high in beta carotene and has a good amount of vitamins A and E, not to mention sugars (more so after the first freeze), fiber and even some carbs. It's said that 3 or 4 rose hips have the same amount of vitamin C as an orange, which makes them an invaluable find for long term survival.

    Identifying rose hips is fairly easy as most are already familiar with rose bushes. Though it should be noted that wild rose is more like a vine, still the thorned branch mixed with the fairly unique looking hips makes these hard to misidentify. There are some berries that might be mistaken, but they are rounder, don't have the area that petals have fallen off (or sometimes still dried and hanging) and the taste is almost alway unpalatable and tastes nothing like rose hips, so when you find your first confirmed rose bush, take a little taste and crush a fruit to get used to the smell.

Notice the serrated leaves.

    When harvesting make sure the bulbs are not too squishy (you'll get used to the normal consistency after squeezing a couple).

    To process; cut off both ends (the segment that connected to the stem and the piece the used to connect to the flower), then cut the bulb in half. The inside will be full of seeds and tiny hairs, scrape these out well. The seeds can be kept for planting more rose plants later, but the hairs are a fine stiff rod that acts almost like fiberglass (though it will breakdown in a day or so) and causes irritation in your mouth and throat if swallowed. While not toxic, it isn't pleasant, so if you're eating them raw make sure to get all the hairs out.

Fun fact; The hairs surrounding rose seeds are 

main ingredient of itching powder.     

    The skin of the hip can be eaten raw or cooked with other things. During prefreeze times the tomatoish flavor stands out more and mixes well with lots of foods. It can also be dried and used as a tea or milled into a flour. Both of these will last you months, though do note that drying destroys much of the vitamin C and if you boil the dried rose hip you can destroy it all out right, so give the water a few seconds to cool after the water comes to a boil before adding you rose hip tea.

    Rose hips were also traditionally used as a medicine for stomach ailments and urinary track an kidney disorders. I always get antsy when I talk about medical stuff and plants, so if you're interested in the medical uses of rose hips, check out WebMD's evaluation.