Basic Bush Tucker

[jalan]

Well, since joining this forum I’ve noticed that peeps like to buy/eat processed vegan foods… Doesn’t anyone know of the many superior, totally organic vegan greens that are available just outside your front door (metaphorically speaking, but mostly literal)??? Some are quite tasty, even raw, tho cooking and adding condiments improves the flavour…
It’s worthwhile to learn, as they’re FREE, unlike the high priced processed ‘lookalike’ vegan supermarket foods with meaty names… And foraging can be FUN…
What say you all???

 

[Emma JC]

foraging is cool and yet most of us don't have access to do so easily - and dandelions would be a good example yet many people with lawns likely have overspray from neighbour's pesticides and also regulations don't allow them to let the dandelions grow large enough to harvest

if/when I move back to a 'country' property then I will definitely forage and grow my own greens including dandelions and many other awesome easily grown foods - I have mentioned before that I watch Nature Lost Vault on youtube and they do amazing episodes on many of these foods

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[silva]

I follow Alexis Nikole Nelson, aka the Blackforager. She has a book coming out! https://www.instagram.com/blackforager/
I mostly catch her on FB.
Half my yard gets the neighbors overspray of weed killer. I hate it, and they also have already had lawn cleanup done with the blowers and mowers. It's still early April! .
I do have much fear of foraging, but have a library book on local plants waiting.

 

[jalan]

foraging is cool and yet most of us don't have access to do so easily - and dandelions would be a good example yet many people with lawns likely have overspray from neighbour's pesticides and also regulations don't allow them to let the dandelions grow large enough to harvest

if/when I move back to a 'country' property then I will definitely forage and grow my own greens including dandelions and many other awesome easily grown foods - I have mentioned before that I watch Nature Lost Vault on youtube and they do amazing episodes on many of these foods

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

I understand the poison factor and dog urine etc., but I live in a tourist spot and still find plenty of edible greens/fruit… Each to their own

 

[secondmayfly]

Well, since joining this forum I’ve noticed that peeps like to buy/eat processed vegan foods… Doesn’t anyone know of the many superior, totally organic vegan greens that are available just outside your front door (metaphorically speaking, but mostly literal)??? Some are quite tasty, even raw, tho cooking and adding condiments improves the flavour…
It’s worthwhile to learn, as they’re FREE, unlike the high priced processed ‘lookalike’ vegan supermarket foods with meaty names… And foraging can be FUN…
What say you all???

I love foraging but depending on where you are, your environment can be too contaminated to eat forage safely. When a soil is polluted by heavy metals, the plants growing on it will absorb those them. Also, like Emma said, spraying.

 

[KLS52]

My mom was a big forager...mostly dandelions and mushrooms. I can remember going for drives and her stopping the car on the side of the road to harvest dandelion greens.

In the summer we would spend weekends in upstate New York and she would harvest a ton of mushrooms from the wooded areas. I had fun growing up.

I don't do any of that now.

 

[Tom L.]

My mom was a big forager...mostly dandelions and mushrooms. I can remember going for drives and her stopping the car on the side of the road to harvest dandelion greens.

(your post only partially quoted) I don't think I have to worry about chemical spray blowing onto my property. But I don't eat anything growing right next to the road. People have to walk their dogs, and some of them let their cats roam around... People walking their dogs are supposed to pick up after their dogs- but what about the cats? And dogs also leave liquid waste. Eeewwww!

But I think mostly I'm concerned about lead in the soil, from the days before unleaded gasoline- especially from areas right next to the road. Maybe my whole yard was exposed to that over the years. Google time again...

ETA (with thanks to ScienceDirect.com): I'd be in a better situation if my yard was MUCH larger, as far as this issue goes. But growing edible things as far away from the road as I can does improve things significantly. I'll do some more looking around to see of some crops have less of a tendency to accumulate toxic metals :

Yes, soil near a road typically contains significantly more lead than soil farther away, often due to historic leaded gasoline emissions and ongoing accumulation from traffic. These higher concentrations are generally found within roughly 20-30 meters of the roadway and decrease with greater distance.

Key Findings on Roadside Soil Lead

• Distance Factor: Studies show that lead concentrations are highest near the road (within 1–4 meters) and decrease as distance increases.
• Highest Concentrations: Most significant contamination occurs within 33 meters (about 108 feet) of the road.

 

[KLS52]

(your post only partially quoted) I don't think I have to worry about chemical spray blowing onto my property. But I don't eat anything growing right next to the road. People have to walk their dogs, and some of them let their cats roam around... People walking their dogs are supposed to pick up after their dogs- but what about the cats? And dogs also leave liquid waste. Eeewwww!

I don't think they were thinking about that back in the 1950's/early 60's lol. The dandelions were washed and the mushrooms were boiled in a big pot with a quarter....supposedly as long as the quarter didn't turn black the mushrooms were safe to eat lol. My family had lots of crazy ideas!

 

[Tom L.]

@KLS52 I'm just glad none of your family became ill from eating mushrooms (or at least they didn't get fatally ill)...

I'm actually rather fond of dandelions: I like they way they look, and think they're good to eat... but they're on the bitter side, and I definitely get why some folks don't like them. Two of my other favorite wild edibles are also common invasives: Lamb's-quarters (which tastes to me like spinach) and garlic mustard (which definitely reminds me of mustard greens)- but I don't think they're nearly as attractive. Garlic mustard is listed in my state as one of the top noxious weeds.

 

[jalan]

I love foraging but depending on where you are, your environment can be too contaminated to eat forage safely. When a soil is polluted by heavy metals, the plants growing on it will absorb those them. Also, like Emma said, spraying.

I get that, also urine from dogs and some humans along walking tracks… HOWEVER, where do u think the ingredients for the PROCESSED stuff is from!!!

 

[secondmayfly]

I get that, also urine from dogs and some humans along walking tracks… HOWEVER, where do u think the ingredients for the PROCESSED stuff is from!!!

Less polluted farmland? I don't understand your point.

 

[jalan]

Well, since joining this forum I’ve noticed that peeps like to buy/eat processed vegan foods… Doesn’t anyone know of the many superior, totally organic vegan greens that are available just outside your front door (metaphorically speaking, but mostly literal)??? Some are quite tasty, even raw, tho cooking and adding condiments improves the flavour…
It’s worthwhile to learn, as they’re FREE, unlike the high priced processed ‘lookalike’ vegan supermarket foods with meaty names… And foraging can be FUN…
What say you all???

Less polluted farmland? I don't understand your point.

Good question… As people have said, poison and walking tracks etc. are an issue… Local councils spray all over the show; so obviously a person needs to be sensible when foraging…

And it also depends on where u live, as has also been mentioned…

The ‘POINT’ I was making, is that no one is sure where or in what way the processed vegan foods are grown, or sourced from…

For example, was poison used throughout the growing cycle, were various fertilisers used, including urea, a part of all animal urine’…etc. etc.

Even greens and tomatoes that are labeled ‘ORGANIC’ rarely tasted as good as those from my own garden… Call me a cynic, but I have a hard time believing anything ‘MARKETING’ people say these days…

 

[Tom L.]

@jalan As far as I know, foods marketed as "organic" are legally required to be produced in certain ways. But I honestly don't know how closely those required practices are followed. Urea is a source of nitrogen for crops, true- and I think plants only take it up from the soil. (I don't know for certain if they can absorb such things through their leaves... Google time again!) Even if it is sprayed onto a crop, I'm assuming it will wash off into the soil when it rains- so I won't personally worry about it... too much... unless I'm eating potatoes or carrots... Eewww.

I got the following from Google and the CK-12 Foundation, using the query: "can plants absorb nitrogen through their leaves": Yes, plants can absorb nitrogen through their leaves via foliar feeding, allowing them to take up nutrients directly from liquid fertilizer sprayed on their foliage. However, this is supplementary; plants cannot directly absorb atmospheric nitrogen gas (N₂) through their leaves and rely on roots to absorb dissolved nitrogen from the soil.

So, by the time we eat something, the fertilizer ingredients will long since have been broken down, and reformed into plant tissue: leaves, roots... whatever part of the plant we're eating. I love potatoes, and rinse/scrub them a bit with water before I cook them. Potatoes aren't safe to eat raw (except maybe in small amounts) for various reasons, and by the time we eat them, they've been sterilized by the heat of cooking.

 

[1956]

One thing to remember is that the produce we purchase needs to be washed - mostly because the people or machines harvesting it may not be clean…So in my view foraging for wild produce ( as long as it is in an area that is free from chemical spraying or vehicle exhaust ) is just the same…
Why would it be worse to wash off animal urine than the possible contaminates on shop bought items?

Personally I buy almost exclusively Organic produce - it’s better for my health, better for the environment and better for the animals… However, I do agree that Homegrown Organic produce definitely Does taste Better! I also find that locally grown organic produce grown by Caring and Enthusiastic growers tastes Much better than organic produce purchased from the Large supermarkets especially the discount ones like Aldi and Lidl…
Today I bought some organic greens from a local farm and he even goes the extra distance to use potato starch bags rather than plastic! I want to support Him because his values are like mine - at least for some things… I doubt that the Big chain supermarkets share Any of my Values, so I support them as little as possible!

 

[jalan]

@jalan As far as I know, foods marketed as "organic" are legally required to be produced in certain ways. But I honestly don't know how closely those required practices are followed. Urea is a source of nitrogen for crops, true- and I think plants only take it up from the soil. (I don't know for certain if they can absorb such things through their leaves... Google time again!) Even if it is sprayed onto a crop, I'm assuming it will wash off into the soil when it rains- so I won't personally worry about it... too much... unless I'm eating potatoes or carrots... Eewww.

I got the following from Google and the CK-12 Foundation, using the query: "can plants absorb nitrogen through their leaves": Yes, plants can absorb nitrogen through their leaves via foliar feeding, allowing them to take up nutrients directly from liquid fertilizer sprayed on their foliage. However, this is supplementary; plants cannot directly absorb atmospheric nitrogen gas (N₂) through their leaves and rely on roots to absorb dissolved nitrogen from the soil.

So, by the time we eat something, the fertilizer ingredients will long since have been broken down, and reformed into plant tissue: leaves, roots... whatever part of the plant we're eating. I love potatoes, and rinse/scrub them a bit with water before I cook them. Potatoes aren't safe to eat raw (except maybe in small amounts) for various reasons, and by the time we eat them, they've been sterilized by the heat of cooking.

Thx, great research

@jalan As far as I know, foods marketed as "organic" are legally required to be produced in certain ways. But I honestly don't know how closely those required practices are followed. Urea is a source of nitrogen for crops, true- and I think plants only take it up from the soil. (I don't know for certain if they can absorb such things through their leaves... Google time again!) Even if it is sprayed onto a crop, I'm assuming it will wash off into the soil when it rains- so I won't personally worry about it... too much... unless I'm eating potatoes or carrots... Eewww.

I got the following from Google and the CK-12 Foundation, using the query: "can plants absorb nitrogen through their leaves": Yes, plants can absorb nitrogen through their leaves via foliar feeding, allowing them to take up nutrients directly from liquid fertilizer sprayed on their foliage. However, this is supplementary; plants cannot directly absorb atmospheric nitrogen gas (N₂) through their leaves and rely on roots to absorb dissolved nitrogen from the soil.

So, by the time we eat something, the fertilizer ingredients will long since have been broken down, and reformed into plant tissue: leaves, roots... whatever part of the plant we're eating. I love potatoes, and rinse/scrub them a bit with water before I cook them. Potatoes aren't safe to eat raw (except maybe in small amounts) for various reasons, and by the time we eat them, they've been sterilized by the heat of cooking.

Thx, great research… I even thought poison sprays dissipate after a few days, though I may be wrong