by Carissa Leventis-Cox

Two weeks ago, I went on a Holistic Moms Network nature walk with Matthew Kip, of the Community Gardens at University of South Carolina, to learn about wild edibles.  It was fascinating watching Matt point out all the edible weeds around us.  I couldn’t believe there was so much food along our local river walk.  An abundance of food FREE for anyone to eat! Yet, we were the only ones enjoying them.

I have to admit that as I took my turn in trying a little bit of this and a little bit of that, I felt sort of like a wild animal, all at once one with nature. It was an amazing experience to watch the children especially foraging for their own wild edibles, pointing to various green weeds and asking, “Mama, can I have some?  Can I eat that?” and picking some more for later.

I was very happy to be able to share this wild (yet most natural) experience with my son.

Here are our favorite tastes from the walk:

Chickweed: great as a salad green, tastes very mild. We made a green smoothie with a whole bunch when we got home. Yum.

Wood Sorrel (looks like a 3 leaf clover): sour, tastes a little like lemon peel. I found some in my garden and ate it off the ground!

Bullbrier: the best taste of the day! I never tasted anything like this. Absolutely delicious! Wish I grabbed a bunch before heading home. It would have made a great raw salad.

Resources
Eat The Weeds – a great web resource, he also posts youtube videos on various wild edibles: chickweed, wood sorrel and bullbrier 1 and 2.

A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs: Of Eastern and Central North America (Peterson Field Guide) – a field guide

NPR’s Foraging the Weeds for Wild, Healthy Greens – I love that the Holistic Moms Network is so up to date with what is going on in other places!  Thanks Toni for the link!

The Forager’s Harvest – a guidebook