Plants That Grow In Open Areas & Woodland

 I often see May Apples which is still a cash crop in parts of Europe in shady and damp areas like hillside seeps and woodlands. May apples can be found in Ontario to the Maritime provinces & in the Eastern part of the United States to as far as Kansas to Texas. 

Only the ripened yellow fruit of the May apple is edible. (around August time) and is used in fruit smoothies, cakes, ice cream and in jellies.The seeds must be removed!. The fruit is tasty but you MUST be sure it is ripe before ingesting it! If it is green or even greenish-yellow do not eat! 

The royalty of plants in the edible garden catagory, Jerusalem produces huge amounts of sunshine yellow flowers as well as providing a staple carbohydrate that is delicious and easy to prepare.  You can eat them raw as crudite' or cooked. They can be mashed, roasted or sautéed. They can be dried and ground into flour. 

Native Americans have been cultivating  them for centuries and traded them to Europeans in the 1600s. They are native to the Central United States and Canada.  The “artichoke” part of the name comes from French explorer, Samuel Champlain. He was looking to establish a  colony and brought  back to France on his return. 

Jewel weed was eaten and utilized by the Mohawk, Abernaki, Cherokee and Chippewa. The colorful  flowers are edible and make a really great additions to summer  salads, but the real fun is the mini pea like seed pods which explode with the slightest touch..kids love it and its a great way to introduce foraging to kids.

In the spring you can eat the young shoots. Boil them for 10-20 minutes (changing the water at least twice) before eating them. This removes the high amounts of calcium oxalates that the leaves have.-if you dont follow the boil twice with fresh water rule the result is usually 4 hours being sick as a dog, be advised!

The wild Orange Day Lily, also known as Ditch Lily because you find it in ditches. Daylilies were first brought to North America by European immigrants in the 17th century. The immigrants brought the roots of the daylilies with them as they moved westward across North America. By the 1800s, daylilies had naturalized.

Cooked or baked Lily bulbs are crunchy, sweet, and starchy in texture. The tubers need to be harvested  (leave some on the plant ) before flower stalks appear. Strong growing and plentiful in nature.

This wonderful plant has edible leaves and roots, the latter having a wonderful flavor of cloves. Make a rich scented syrup by simmering the cleaned roots in 2:1 sugar : water solution for 30 minutes, cooling,  then leaving to infuse for a few weeks in kilners before straining. Use it to sweeten desserts & cocktails. 

Removed from the syrup, Dehydrate the roots and finely grind. (you’ll need a good coffee grinder and/or a hefty pestle) to make a sweet clove powder for sprinkling on desserts or on cocktail glasses. The root is best harvested in the spring, since at this time it is most fragrant. *Dried roots also repel moths.

Burdock is not native to North America. It is believed to have been introduced by European settlers who

brought it with them for its medicinal and culinary uses. The root has a crunchy texture and a slightly sweet, earthy flavor and known as Gobo in asian markets. 

Introduced by Thomas Jefferson in the mid 1800's, Orach has 3 eye catching colors and a Chard flavor, which grows well in cold & heat.  

It's nickname "Saltbush" is because it can grow in alkaline or saline soil. It retains the minerals from the soil in its leaves, giving it a saltier taste than most greens. 

Orach is high in fiber, heart healthy potassium, immune boosting Magnesium, anti inflammatories & a calcium powerhouse.  A single 100-gram serving of orach yields 200% of your calcium requirements per day. That doesn't just lead to strong teeth and bones; calcium is also essential for heart, muscle and nerve function.

Asparagus shows up on cultivation records in England about 1538 and was brought to the Colonies in 1655. Thomas Jefferson grew it in his famous gardens which were created in 1774 onwards. It escaped & grows abundantly If you're wild foraging in full sun & brackish soil near water but not so close it gets flooded. MAP