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Tag Archives: wild edibles

Best Fall Wild Edibles: Roots

Root coffee

During the fall and into the winter months, some of the best edibles are available. After the edibles of summer are gone, the roots of several plants can be utilized. Dandelion Root Dandelions (Taraxacum) grow from a long taproot. A first-year plant will have a root similar to that of a parsnip, bearing a light color and its flesh almost uniform when cross sectioned. An older plant’s root surface, however, is rougher and darkens to a brown color. These roots …

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Time to Visit Mulberry Lane

Maybe it’s just the kid in me, but I love to pick and eat mulberries. Growing up on the rural western edge of Gretna, NE, my buddies and I would always bug the area farmers for permission to pick and eat ripe mulberries in their woods and along their fence rows this time of year. It marked the start of summer for us. Ah, those were the days … Fast-forward to present-day. Our mulberry trees, at least in the Omaha-metro area, have just started dropping their …

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Early Season Morels

It is the time of year when folklore and science start to collide. But, about what?  I’ll tell you what. Morel mushrooms! The two aspects of nature begin to clash bout the emergence of the prized, delectable morel mushroom. So, let the coffee shop conversations and the biological banter move forward! Morel mushroom in Elkhorn River bottom woodlands in Sarpy County, NE. Photo by Greg Wagner/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. These are just some of nature’s triggers that prompt longtime gatherers of the succulent …

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Husker Bananas

Pickin’ Up Pawpaws in Nebraska Ever tried a paw paw? It is “delish!” The pawpaw or common pawpaw is an oblong-shaped fruit, yellow-green to brown in color, averaging the size of a standard supermarket potato. It produces the largest edible fruit indigenous to North America and is the hardiest member of the custard-apple family. And, guess what? In Nebraska, the highly aromatic, sweet-smelling fruits ripen right about now in late September or early October. Like bananas, they have a narrow …

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It’s Corndog Season!

corndogMODCrop

I am not a big fan of hot dogs, but I kind of have a hankering for corndogs.  Everyone knows the best corndogs are the freshly-dipped, deep-fat-fried ones at the fair.  If you have yourself a fair corndog and a big, freshly-squeezed, cherry lime-aide, well, life don’t get no better than that! Just recently my buddy Ron taught me something about corndogs that I never knew!  Apparently, they grow along the edges of Nebraska waterbodies.  Here is his explanation: Mother Nature …

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Nebraska’s Hidden Fruit: The Sand Cherry

I’m all about wild edibles, especially wild fruits, and they are a prominent feature of Nebraska in the summertime. One of the not-so-common wild fruits to harvest in early summer is actually one of my favorites – the sand cherry. And, some are ripe! The western sand cherry, Prunus besseyi, is a native plant. It is a low shrub and a member of the rose family, Rosaceae. This plant was first identified and given a Latin name by botanist Charles Edwin Bessey (1845-1915). …

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Visit Mulberry Lane

Gosh, I love to pick and eat mulberries. C’mon, who doesn’t, right? I guess it’s the Nebraska kid in me (and many of us) who like to do that! Growing up on the western edge of Gretna, NE, my buddies and I would hike the nearby woods and seek out those mulberry trees with their ripe, sweet, dark purple fruit from mid June to early July. I fondly recall the days of having purple feet, hands, lips and tongue. What a blast it was (and still is) to take …

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Plum Wild, Good and Ready!

We’re deep into our Nebraska summer and that means one thing regarding wild edibles — tasty, ripe plums! Have you checked your rural wild plum thickets yet? You should. The deep hues of purples, red and yellows are now apparent on the wild plum trees growing on my buddy’s farm in eastern Nebraska long the Elkhorn River. Look closely. You’ll know when the wild plums are ready for harvest because their flesh will be firm, but somewhat soft when pinched and they’ll almost drop from the thicket with the barest touch or …

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Last Call for Morels

After a morel mushroom hunting adventure with a buddy along the Elkhorn River this weekend, I am issuing a final call for harvesting morel mushrooms, at least in the river bottom woodlands here in eastern Nebraska. Head to your woods for morels as soon as you can! They’re there, most likely in good numbers due to the heavy rain event we had this past Sunday. We did find fresh morels. However, some were dry and had brown tops to them. Fungi/mushroom expert Mark Davis, Writer/Photojournalist for the …

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Rain Dance, Smell of the Morel

I did a rain dance outside in the front yard of my home in the Metcalfe Park Neighborhood of Omaha, NE earlier this morning. Like the outfit (my jammies)? My poor neighbor, Brian, had to witness the rain dance while backing out of his driveway to go to work, sorry about that, Brian. Hey, precipitation is falling, woo-hoo! As a nature lover, how could one not think about the benefit of this moisture to the soil and, of course, for morel mushrooms in the woods! …

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