Poultrygeist
Lunatic Member
Locust beer is tasty and my mother who never touched alcohol would drink it.
wild edible plants thread
- Thread starter gogofast
- Start date
onepixel
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Wow... I've never seen or heard of this too.This time of year reminds me of the locust beer we used to make. Locust trees produce these long pods which taste pretty good on their own after they ripen and turn black. But when crushed with sugar and water added and left to ferment can produce some good tasting cider. We had a large crock that was once a butter churn and dad would cover it and let the concoction stand for a few weeks and the results was a nice sparking beverage. Some folks make it with honey and I've even heard of cornbread being added to the mixture.
Poultrygeist
Lunatic Member
Probably few of you have eaten a paw paw but you might recall the song from childhood, "Way Down Yonder in The Paw Paw Patch".
They grow wild and generally aren't cultivated for sale in stores as they lose their flavor when refrigerated. They have a delicious mango-banana taste. You know
they're ripe when they fall to the ground usually this time of year. The only place I've seen them was on my grandfather's farm located in the foothills of S.C. but I
understand they grow in other southern states.
They grow wild and generally aren't cultivated for sale in stores as they lose their flavor when refrigerated. They have a delicious mango-banana taste. You know
they're ripe when they fall to the ground usually this time of year. The only place I've seen them was on my grandfather's farm located in the foothills of S.C. but I
understand they grow in other southern states.
gogofast
Addicted Member
That surely looks like a type of Reishi mushroom. Lingzhi's grow on hardwoods like oak. I usually slice and dry them. Boil a handful of dried reishi in about 1/2 gallon water. Drink with or without honey. Great immune booster.
The second one looks like some sort of jack mushroom past its prime. There are many edible boletes and jacks, but I usually stay away from the jacks since even edible ones usually give me stomach trouble.
gogofast
Addicted Member
Probably few of you have eaten a paw paw but you might recall the song from childhood, "Way Down Yonder in The Paw Paw Patch".
They grow wild and generally aren't cultivated for sale in stores as they lose their flavor when refrigerated. They have a delicious mango-banana taste. You know
they're ripe when they fall to the ground usually this time of year. The only place I've seen them was on my grandfather's farm located in the foothills of S.C. but I
understand they grow in other southern states.
Thanks for posting that. Another fruit I've never heard before. That looks kinda like Cherimoya which I really like but too expensive - usually $18/pound around here.
gogofast
Addicted Member
Yeah, those look like typical Ganoderma curtisii. Some experts consider them as different species from the Lingzhi reishi, but pretty much the same thing.
I'm not sure if you have consumed these kinds of medicinal mushrooms before, but they are to be consumed with a little caution. Almost all of them can give you side effects of headache, indigestion, or upset stomach if taken too much. Also, the taste can be very bitter depending on your palate or taste buds. Sometimes I boil dried licorice or jujube with the mushroom, and it gives that natural sweetness. The goal is to take a small yet effective amount for a set period of time to help your body build a strong immune system.
I usually start drinking these as tea from October for 2-3 months. Keeps me pretty much cold free over the winter.
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Poultrygeist
Lunatic Member
As a kid my mother would send me out in the woods to dig sassafras root. Makes some nice tea and it's the original flavor source for root beer.
Poultrygeist
Lunatic Member
Growing up we had a large persimmon tree in the yard. I don't think they're cultivated but I could be wrong. Straight from the tree a persimmon can be very bitter so it's best to wait till they drop and wrinkle. We had an old hound dog that loved them so much we called him "simmon seed". He's lay under that tree and wait patiently till one fell to the ground and scarf it up. Once in awhile he'd get one that wasn't ripe and we'd laugh watching his mouth pucker.
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gogofast
Addicted Member
sassafras and wild persimmon trees are both hard to find up here in the northwest - I'm not sure if they even exist in the wild. I remember eating those persimmons when I was a kid. We even harvested not so ripe ones, skinned them, and then air dried. They become sweet and lose tannin.
toxcrusadr
Omelette au Fromage
Shoot we have a lot of locusts around here. Both black (the ones with sweet smelling flowers and light colored bark and very short spines), and honey (black bark with wicked long spines). One of them makes brown pods, the other lighter ones. I don't remember them being that purple-black. Also have no idea why the black locust doesn't have black bark but the honey locust has black bark and doesn't smell sweet. 
toxcrusadr
Omelette au Fromage
As for the persimmons, they aren't bitter but extremely sour when unripe, at least here in MO. I wait till they are very soft and easily picked. They make a fantastic white wine when blended with grape juice. I used to make mead, with persimmons and honey, till I discovered they go even better with Chardonnay.
Poultrygeist
Lunatic Member
"Literature commonly refers to unripe persimmons as "bitter" or "sour". ... Persimmons are full of tannins. When you eat an unripe astringent persimmon(American or Asian) the mouth immediately draws up. Sometimes you'll get a hint of sweetness (if it is near-ripe) but the mouth-feel is immediate."
toxcrusadr
Omelette au Fromage
Basically takes the finish right off your teeth!
gogofast
Addicted Member
About this time of the year, we get those Fuyu kind at Costco.
Have you tried Trader Joe's dried and sliced California Persimmons? They're pretty good.
