I made it through my great wilderness oddesey unscathed. While I did not have any confrontations with grizzly bears or mountain lions, I did get charged by the much feared pica. Turns out his charge was a bluff so no physical harm came to me, however emotionally I was rattled. I could not get this fearsome creature's attack out of my head and for the remainder of the trip I was on red level Pica alert.

My time spent in the wilds got me thinking about what it would take to survive out there without one of those big boxes of wine and a cooler full of tortellini, cheese, and buffalo sausage. So one of the first things I did when I got back was purchase a book about edible wild plants. I was shocked at how many edible plants we grow right here at Rushton Farms! So for the rest of the season I will not be bringing a lunch to work. I'll be foraging for my lunch out in the container blocks.

Before I list some of the plants that I'll be dining on, I want to tell you that not all of the parts of all of the plants on the following list are edible. So if you eat the wrong thing and get sick, don't come crying to me, I'm by no means an expert on the subject. (I just bought the book two days ago)

Daylilies (unopend flower buds are yummy)
Serviceberry (amelanchier)
Elderberry (sambucus)
Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago)
Bunchberry (cornus canadensis)
Sweetgum (the dried sap makes good chewing gum)
Dandelion (we don't grow these on purpose, but there's a few out there)
Bayberry (myrica)
Crabapples (these are a little tough to eat all by themselves)
Oak (acorns)
Sumac (rhus)
Highbush Cranberry (viburnum trilobum)
Roses (rosa)
Spice bush (lindera)
Ostrich fern (fiddle heads)
Redbud (cercis, you can eat the young seed pods)
Hackberry (sugary pulp is delicious)

It's good to know that if things get really bad, I've got a virtual grocery store of edible plants right outside my office door.

Happy foraging

--Frank