Nature's Restaurant:
Fields, Forests & Wetlands Foods of Eastern North America
A Complete Wild Food Guide
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Table of Contents
Sections:
- General Information
- Edible Leaves & Greens
- Edible Roots & Tubers
- Edible Fruits & Berries
- Edible Flowers
- Edible Seeds & Grains
- Edible Nuts
- Maple Tree Uses as Foods
- Edible Mushrooms
- Not Suggested to Eat Leaves and Greens
- Not Suggested to Eat Roots & Tubers
- Not Suggested to Eat Fruits & Berries
- Poisonous Plants
- Poisonous Mushrooms
Important Notes when Identifying
Dangerous Plants to Avoid Touching:
- Poison Ivy
- Western Poison Ivy
- Poison Oak
- Poison Sumac
- Giant Hogweed
- Cow Parsnip
- Wild Parsnip
- Spotted Water Hemlock
- Cowbane or Northern Water Hemlock
- Bulb-bearing Water Hemlock
- White Baneberry (Doll's-eyes) & Red Baneberry
- A Special Threat to Pets and Farm Animals
Leaves & Greens
- Allium Leaves - Ramps, Wild Onion, Wild Garlic, Wild Leeks - Spring
- Amaranth - Summer
- Asparagus Spears - Spring
- Beech Tree Leaves - Spring
- Bittercress - Spring
- Cattail Shoots - Spring
- Chickweed - Spring
- Chicory Leaves - Spring & Summer
- Clover - Spring & Summer
- Dandelion Leaves - Spring & Summer
- Deadnettle - Spring & Early Summer
- Goldenrod Greens - Spring
- Grape Tendrils and Leaves - Spring & Early Summer
- Hawthorn Leaves - Spring
- Henbit - Spring & Early Summer
- Lamb's Quarters Leaves - Spring & Early Summer
- Lamium Genus - Spring & Early Summer
- Lettuceleaf Saxifrage
- Lettuce, Wild - Spring & Early Summer
- Mints - Spring & Summer
- Mustard Greens - Spring
- Nasturtium Leaves - Spring, Summer & Early Fall
- Plantain - Spring & Summer
- Purple Deadnettle - Spring & Early Summer
- Purslane - Spring & Summer
- Sheep's Sorrel - Spring, Summer & Early Fall
- Shepherd's Purse Leaves - Spring, Summer & Early Fall
- Spring Cress Leaves - Spring
- Stinging Nettle - Spring
- White Nettle - Spring & Early Summer
- Watercress - Spring & Early Summer
- Violet, Common Blue - Spring
- Wood Sorrel - Spring to Early Fall
Not Suggested to Eat Leaves and Greens:
- Bracken
- Cow Parsnip
- Dock (Curly or Yellow) Leaves
- Fiddle Heads
- Garlic Mustard
- Ground-ivy, Gill-over-the-ground or Creeping Charlie
- Japanese Knotweed
- Jewel Weed
- Penny-cress
- Pokeweed
- Solomon's Seal
- Trout Lily, Dog's Tooth or Fawnlily
- Winter Cress or Yellow Rocket
Poisonous - Included for Identification:
- Virginia Creeper
- Prickly Cucumber
- Canadian Moonseed
- Bittersweet Nightshade
- Buckthorn Berries
- European Dwarf Elder
- Destroying Angel Mushroom
- Galerina marginata Mushroom
Roots & Tubers
- Allium Bulbs - Ramps, Wild Onion, Wild Garlic, Wild Leeks - Spring
- Burdock Roots - Late Summer and Fall
- Cattail Rhizomes - Early Spring or Fall
- Chicory Roots - Early Spring or Fall
- Chufa Nuts - Fall
- Dandelion Roots - Early Spring or Fall
- Dog's Tooth Bulb - All Year
- Earthnut Pea - Fall
- Groundnut (Hopniss) - Late Fall
- Indian Cucumber Root - Spring
- Jerusalem Artichoke or Sunchoke - Fall
- Kudzu Root - Store Bought or Winter Harvest
- Lotus Root - Store Bought, Late Summer to Early Winter Harvest
- Shepherd's Purse - Spring to Fall
- Wapato - Fall
Not Suggested to Eat Roots and Tubers:
- Canada Wild Ginger
- Cow Parsnip Roots
- Jack-in-the-Pulpit
- Queen Anne's Lace
- Solomon's Seal
- Trout Lily Bulb
- Water Parsnip
- Wild Parsnip
Fruits and Berries
- Apples (Wild) - Late Summer & Fall
- Barberries - Late Summer & Fall
- Blackberry - Summer - Mainly August
- Black Raspberry - July
- Blueberries - Late Spring & Summer
- Canadian Bunchberry - Later Summer
- Cherries - Summer
- Cloudberry - July & August
- Crabapples - Later Summer
- Cranberry - Fall
- Creeping Snowberry or Moxie-Plum - Late Summer & Fall
- Currants - Summer
- Wild Black Currant
- European Blackcurrant
- Northern Black Currant
- Red Currant
- Swamp Black Currant
- Skunk Currant
- Dewberry - Late Spring & Early Summer
- Elderberry - Late July to Early September
- Gooseberry - June to September
- Canadian Gooseberry
- American Gooseberry
- Eastern Prickly Gooseberry
- Missouri Gooseberry or Missouri Currant
- Appalachian Gooseberry
- Grapes (Wild) - Late Summer & Fall
- Hawthorn Fruit (Hawberries) - Late Summer & Fall
- Huckleberry - Late August to Early September
- Juniper Berries - September to November
- Mayhaw - Late Summer & Fall
- Mulberries - White: Spring, Red: Summer
- Paw-Paw - Late August to Early September
- Plums - Summer
- Red Raspberry - Summer
- Rose Hips - Late Summer & Fall
- Rubus Genus: Blackberry, Black Raspberry, Cloudberry, Dewberry, Red Raspberry & Others - Late Spring to September
- Serviceberry Group - Late May & Early Summer
- Allegheny Serviceberry
- Downy Serviceberry
- Mountain Juneberry or Oblongfruit Serviceberry
- Canadian Serviceberry
- Inland Juneberry
- Nantucket Serviceberry
- Roundleaf Serviceberry
- Dwarf Serviceberry
- Strawberries (Wild & Woodland) - May to End of Summer
- Sumac -Staghorn & Smooth - Later Summer & Fall
- Viburnums: - Fall
- Highbush Cranberry
- Nannyberry
- Hobblebush
- Squashberry
- Possumhaw
- Northern Wild Raisin
- Blackhaw
- Rusty Blackhaw
- Wintergreen - Fall to Early Winter
- Yew Berries - Fall
Not Suggested to Eat Fruits and Berries
Poisonous - Included for Identification:
- Bittersweet Nightshade Fruit
- Buckthorn Berries
- European Dwarf Elderberry
- Canadian Moonseed Berries
- Virginia Creeper Berries
Flower Edibles
- Clover (Red) Flowers - Late Spring & Summer
- Dandelion Flowers - Spring & Summer
- Goldenrod Flowers - Late Summer to Early Fall
- Milkweed Flower Buds - June
- Nasturtium Flowers and Unripe Seed Pods - Summer & Early Fall
- Pumpkin, Squash & Zucchini Flowers - Summer
- Violet (Common Blue) Flowers - Spring
Seeds & Grains
- Amaranth (Green) Seed - Fall
- Bristly Foxtail - Fall
- Lamb's Quarters Seeds - Fall
- Maple (Silver) Keys - Spring
- Mustard Seeds - Summer
- Pumpkin/Squash Seeds - Fall
- Purslane - Summer & Fall
- Shepherd's Purse - Late Spring to Fall
- Rice (Wild, native species) - August & September
Nuts
- Acorns - Fall
- White Oak
- Bur Oak
- Swamp White Oak
- Chinquapin or Chinkapin Oak
- Chestnut Oak
- Red Oak, Black Oak & Pin Oak
- Beech Nuts - Late Summer to Fall
- Black Walnuts - Fall
- Butternuts - Fall
- Ginkgo Nuts - Late October & November
- Hazelnuts - Late July to September
- Hickory Nuts - October
Maple Trees
- Silver Maple, Sugar Maple, Red Maple & Manitoba Maple Sap - Early Spring
Mushrooms
- Chanterelle - Later Summer & Early Fall
- Common Mushroom - Summer & Fall
- Enokitake - Late Fall & Early Winter & Store Bought
- Field Mushroom - July to September
- Giant Puffball - Summer & Fall
- Hericium - Late Summer to Early Fall
- Honey Mushroom - Fall
- Horse Mushroom - Summer to Early Fall
- King Bolete - Summer to Early Fall
- Morel - Spring to Early Summer
- Oyster Mushroom - Summer & Fall
- Shaggy Mane - Summer
- Sulphur Shelf - Summer & Fall
Poisonous Mushrooms - Included for Identification
Bibliography & Acknowledgements
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