Food for Free(Plants)

What to eat & what to not!

What you need to do

• You will see pictures of 10 plants

• In pairs I want you to decide: 1. What the plant is2. If it is edible or poisonous3. If it is edible how you would eat it

• The answers are at the end

Answers

Dandelion

• Edible

• Eat leaves in salad• Fry & then stew the

root

• Make coffee from the root

Stinging Nettle

• Young leaves are edible

• Can be cooked to make stinging nettle soup, pesto, puree or even haggis!

Bilberry

• Edible berries

• Grow low to ground

• Eat raw • Cook to make bilberry

pie or pudding• Add mint & make into

jam

Cowberry

• Berries edible but bitter

• Grow low to ground

• Add apple & make into jelly or jam

Lords & Ladies

• Berries are POISONOUS

• They irritate the skin & cause swelling in the mouth, throat & stomach if eaten, resulting in pain, stomach upset & can cause difficulty in breathing

Sweet Chestnut

• Edible

• Roast over a fire

• Boil & then puree and eat like potato

• Dry & grind into flour

Horse Chestnut

• POISONOUS

• These nuts will cause stomach upset in small doses and can cause paralysis or worse in large doses!

Puffball Mushroom

• Edible when young & flesh is pure white

• Fry in breadcrumbs• Hollow out & stuff

with mixture of puffball, mince & rice

Death Cap Mushroom

• POISONOUS

• Will cause liver failure & death WILL occur about 6 days after eating!!!

Horse Mushroom

• Edible

• If still dome shaped stuff with whole tomato & cook

• If flat grill like a steak• Or chop and use in

other dishes

Warning can be easily confused with the yellow stainer mushroom below – The yellow stainer is poisonous and will give you an upset stomach

Warnings

• As you have seen it isn’t always easy to know if a plant is edible or poisonous – especially when it comes to mushrooms

• Don’t eat wild foods unless you are absolutely sure they are edible (I am sure you can all safely identify & eat a blackberry!)

• If you want to eat wild mushrooms go mushroom picking with an expert (there are many courses around) to make sure you pick the right ones!