Free big ‘ol book Friday!

Linda Mendelssohn says:

The 1st time I ate pansy flowers they were used as decoration on a plate of food - I had never thought them being edible, just pretty!

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 6:42 am.

Connie Beck says:

Books looks great….my 75 students in my organic gardening class will enjoy hearing about some of the obscure ones if I win it.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 6:50 am.

Lynn S says:

Poke!  I recall my mother sending me out into the woods in early spring with a paring knife and a peck basket to collect this “country asparagus”.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 6:51 am.

Jane Touhey says:

nettles: made soup, put in cheese souffle, also good in omlettes
nasursiums: ate as a child because I thought they were magic fairy hats
hibiscus: sucked the nectar out, yum!
dandelion roots; dried, roasted, ground up to make really terrible coffee
Eugenia berries: because they were there
rose petals:
lavender leaves: great in small amounts with rosemary and thyme for adding to ratatouile.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 6:51 am.

Norma y. says:

Borrage…ick!

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 6:52 am.

Tina Precht says:

My late husband spent a lot of time seaching and planting rare fruit trees. One is a rose apple. It tastes like taking a sip out of a perfume bottle. Yuck!

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 6:52 am.

kelli price says:

Part of a caterpillar that hitched a ride into the house on some broccoli. Not my favorite flavor!

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 7:17 am.

Ellen B. says:

Grapes with tiny ants on them growing in a hedgerow in N. Ca.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 7:21 am.

Susan Fortune says:

Poha.  Rapid & prolific bush. Wonderful ‘berries.’ Good in sweet & savory dishes. South American native.

Finger Lime.  “Fruit caviar.”  Thorny Australian.

Dragon fruit.  Don’t judge them by the ones in the supermarket; the new varieties are good & beautiful.  South American native cactus, but looks like a stout vine.

Prickly Pear cactus.  Not too weird unless you tell someone from Kansas. The pads—nopales—are wonderful in omlets & salads, and the fruit—tunas—out of hand, juiced, or made into wine.  Then YOU can get juiced in order to try:
    [({durian})].....keep it contained! 
Gag & get it out of the house.  Toss it into the neighbor’s yard. My dogs thought it was rotting meat.  So did I.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 7:25 am.

Marian says:

Pansy flowers in Sacramento CA.  Growing up on a farm, we ate many things I don’t think I want to know.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 7:26 am.

Cheri says:

Hibiscus, dandelions, and borage

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 7:31 am.

Linda says:

When I took sixth graders to outdoor science school, we tasted pine needles, used by the Indians for a tea. They were very lemony.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 7:40 am.

MARY says:

I ate a flower from a yucca plant and it was very
very good and pretty!

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 8:28 am.

Lynn says:

I can’t think of any (edible) plant I don’t like…. maybe it might come to me at 3:00 am in the morning, but as of now, nothing comes to mind.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 8:31 am.

Susan Bulgers says:

I made sausage stuffed squash flowers.  Just OK taste.  Recently in Naples we had pizza with squash flowers.  I did not care for the taste and texture.

Prickly pear candy and jam is very good.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 9:10 am.

Maryann says:

pineapple sage

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 9:42 am.

Leslie says:

Purslane.  I use to pull it up when weeding in my yard until I saw it being sold at the farmers market.  Taste? Not bad.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 10:22 am.

Sharon says:

I used to comb the orange groves in Tustin when I was a kid.  After climbing trees to pick slightly green oranges I would forage the ground for lemon grass.  Kids are goofy

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 11:11 am.

Cindy says:

Munching on the sour stems of oxalis.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 11:22 am.

Sharon M. says:

Stir fried Dandelions and Hibiscus tea.  Beware, they don’t agree with everyone!

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 11:40 am.

Lee Ann Bailey says:

I heard fern crosiers were delicious.  I’ve got a property full of ferns, so I scaled ‘em and served ‘em with melted butter as if they were asparagus.  WORST. VEG. EVER.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 12:10 pm.

Jill Patterson says:

I’ve eaten Yucca flowers and wild mushrooms while backpacking (I was with someone who knew his mushrooms!). 

I looked for lukuma when I was in Peru and could only find lukuma ice cream.  But the vendor in the market tempted me to try a different fruit that I’ve never seen in this country. It looks like a small grapefruit and was called something like granadillo. You peel off a bit of the rind and suck out the juice. It’s very mild and given to babies as one of their first foods.

And just had rambutan, a relative of the lychee.  Very pretty on the outside—red rind with lots of soft red spines.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 12:25 pm.

Ingrid says:

I know kumquats aren’t unusual—I keep trying to develop a taste for them but they are so sour!  They make a great marmalade though.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 12:47 pm.

gail teresa says:

Baked or cooked marijuana was always an interesting deviation in culinary experiments in my youth.  I have used nasturtiums in salads and in jello easter eggs.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 12:54 pm.

Jean says:

The petals of the pineapple guava are very sweet. Birds love them too.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 1:00 pm.

Janet C. says:

I don’t go for strange foods, but I’d have to say I did eat a Pansy.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 2:13 pm.

Carol Redhead says:

I’ve sampled plants from vacant lots (remember vacant lots?)in Santa Barbara, and later from my own garden here in Orange County- the pith from inside some weed stalks, sour grass, borage, nasturtiums, pansies and violas, and the latest is bitter melon that I am growing - it really is bitter!

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 3:06 pm.

Jeannette D-W says:

I have 7 fruit trees, 3 raised beds for vegetables, and at least 5 pots with herbs and I could really use this book.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 3:42 pm.

Astrid says:

The tender shoots of cattails emerging in the spring really do look like asparagus and are excellent cooked any way you cook asparagus.  ; later the tips are flavored something like corn/artichokes.  Steamed with butter, you suck the veggie part off the stick.  In the fall, you can dig up the roots and use them like potatoes. 

I’ve also eaten violets and I LOVE miner’s lettuce.

Astrid

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 3:53 pm.

Jeanne Rubin says:

Miner’s Lettuce (quite nice) and acorns (unimaginably nasty).

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 6:10 pm.

Ron, the Plant Man says:

Once I ate the fruit from a Monstera deliciosa….hey the name means ‘Delicious Monster’ so I tried it.  It smelled and tasted a lot like Pineapple.  Then after I ate it I went and looked it up to see if it was poisonous!  Did the same thing with Loquats and Carolina Cherries the first time I ever saw them and liked them also.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 10:21 pm.

Jennifer says:

Sourgrass

Posted on October 15, 2011 at 6:17 am.

Garden Goddess says:

Have you ever tried an Austrailian Finger Lime?  Most citrus fruits have a similar texture inside—NOT the Finger Lime…  It has little balls the size of caviar, with a citrus sour bite to them.  Really interesting and a great way to sprinkle a tart seasoning on an appetizer…  It’s fun to try new things!  One thing I wouldn’t try again, though is an Asian Bitter Melon—YIKES!  Aptly named though.

Posted on October 15, 2011 at 3:42 pm.

Christine W. says:

I ate a succulent looking weed that my pet turtle used to eat.  it was okay.

Posted on October 16, 2011 at 5:33 pm.