Locavore to the Max: How to Forage for Low-Impact, Recession-Proof Food

By Matthew Stein, Chelsea Green Publishing. Posted April 7, 2009.

Watercress. "Along with dandelions and lamb's quarters, watercress is one of the most nutritious of foods" (Brill 1994, 256). Watercress is another Eurasian-introduced, cultivated green-turned-weed that has spread across America. It is usually found in clear running water, such as springs and small creeks. Wild watercress looks like the store-bought variety and is excellent in salads, sandwiches, and cooked like spinach. Collect young growth nearly all year, but it is best in the spring and autumn. Each sprig of leaves grows alternating off the main stalk and contains paired leaves with a single central leaf at the tip. It flowers in clusters of small, white, four-petaled flowers about one-fifth of an inch across and produces slender, capsuleshaped, ¾-inch-long seeds. The look of the watercress in my local spring varies considerably with the season. In early spring, the leaves sprout with dense, closely spaced, fleshy leaves that lay on the surface of the water. In early summer, shoots rise up out of the water, bearing thin, widely spaced leaves and flowers that look more like the illustration. It is very delicious with a slight peppery taste.

Wild onion. Wild onions are found throughout the United States, except in the hot and dry areas. They are found on the plains, hills, and mountains, usually in open areas, and all have the characteristic onion or garlic smell. Its bulb is usually reddish-purple, and the plant has tall slender stalks with a typical allium cluster of flowers. Avoid all onion look-alikes that do not have a strong onion smell when the leaves are crushed, because they may be poisonous.

Poisonous Plants to Avoid

Some poisonous plants to look out for are listed below. A few of these plants are also listed as medicinal herbs, but they are poisonous when eaten in quantity. Both Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide by Elias and Dykeman and Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains by Harrington contain illustrated guides to some of the common poisonous wild plants.

Common Poisonous Plants
American false hellebore Anemone (wind flower) Angel's trumpet (Datura)
Arrowgrass Azalea Baneberry (pretty white or red berries)
Bleeding heart Bloodroot Bouncing bet
Black locust Butterflyweed Castor oil plant
Celadine poppy Christmas rose Chokecherry
Cocklebur Columbine Corn cockle
Crocus Daffodil Daphne
Deadly nightshade Death camas Desert rose
Dieffenbachia Dutchman's pipe European bittersweet
Foxglove (Digitalis) Frangipani (Plumeria) Horse chestnut
Horsetail Horse nettle Hyacinth
Iris Jack in the pulpit Jimsonweed
Jessamine Larkspur (annual delphinium) Laurel
Leafy spurge Lily, flame Lily, glory
Lily of the valley Lobelia Lupine
Marvel of Peru (Mirabilis) Marsh marigold Mayapple (except fruit)
Mistletoe Monkshood Morning glory
Mountain laurel Narcissus Oleander
Poinsettia Poison hemlock Poison ivy
Poison milkweed Poison oak Pokeweed
Poppy, horned Poppy, Iceland Poppy (Somniferum)
Privet Purple cockle Rhododendron
Rhubarb (leaves) Rosary pea Skunk cabbage
Snowdrops Solomon's seal Star of Bethlehem
St. Johnswort Tobacco Water hemlock
Wild black cherry Wisteria Yew

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Matthew Stein is the author of When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency, from Chelsea Green.

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