10 foods to wildcraft in the boreal forest
Wildcrafting is a great hobby. It allows you to connect with nature and feel the sun and wind on your face. As you are moving about you are actively engaged in looking around you because you are trying to find specific plants, and as an additional bonus, you get something to eat when you are back at camp or home.
1. Lowbush Cranberry
These make a delicious meat sauce.
2. Labrador tea
Whole leaves work well, ground leave work better
3. Mint
Look in swampy area in the spring. Make sure you taste before picking. Some mints smell good, but taste like nothing.
4. Chaga
Anti-cancer mushroom that grows on birch. I have not found any yet, but a friend found some on her land.
5. Dock
The leaves are a good antidote for stinging nettle abrasions. The seeds are good roasted. Recently my daughter bought Japanese gobo, which I found out is a dock plant.
6. Puffball mushrooms
They are good fried in butter. I ate these with trepidation as I am a little afraid of mushrooms.
7. Gooseberries
When you find one that is not bitter, remember the location. Most are bitter.
8. Raspberries
Berries are good. The leaves make a good tea whether they are green or yellow.
9. Black spruce shoots
These are the best of the spruce. The best time for harvest is when they are 6" long and light green.
10. Birch sap
You can collect this in early spring. It is good to drink cold or as a base for tea.
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