Wild Edible Guide for Northeast U.S.

[JK]

I live in northern Maine. Any suggestions on a guide or guides to wild edibles?

I understand that a field guide for identifying and an additional guide on wild edibles is typically used.

Thanks!

Jim Aroostook County, ME

[Dwayne]

Contact your county extension office. Most states offer that service along with recipes.

Dwayne

[simy1]

I have the Peterson and the Elias {sp?) field guides. The Elias is good and the Peterson is excellent. Some advice:

1) these are general field guides. do not use them to pick mushrooms

2) you can always pick a number of edibles, but one problem is abundance and flavor. For example I used to pick spring salads from my

2 acres, before realizing that it takes a long time. That is one reason I became more of a gardener.

3) salads are best mixed. Wild edibles have a lot more bite than domesticated ones. A typical spring salad may have young dandelion and/or chicory as its base (they are bitter, and probably abundant at your site), violet and plantain as the mild greens, wood sorrel and sheep sorrel as the tart greens, and wild grape young shoots for the tannic bite. If you can get to watercress, pile it on, it is a great edible, hot tasting, but make sure the water is not contaminated by cows. A salad of, say, sheep sorrel or chicory alone will not be good.

4) cattail and blueberries are probably the two best bets by abundance in your region. They are both excellent tasting. You may be able to find rampion (wild leeks) around there.

[JK]

Thanks for the suggestions.

In this day and age I'm almost surprised that a state or county office would provide info. on wild edibles due to liability reasons.

Thanks for the tip on the 2 field guides.

Jim Maine