LIfesong Wilderness Adventures

Wilderness Survival Training Adult and Teen Oregon

  • Survival Skills Training
    • First Circle Camp
    • Advanced Survival Training
    • THE EDGE
    • Winter Outdoor Survival Training
    • Student Testimonials
  • Oregon Survival School
    • Survival Skills Weekend
    • Government
    • Getting to Camp
  • Teen Camps
    • Teen 14 Day – Wilderness Adventure OR. – 14-17
    • Father Son Survival Camp
  • Contact Us
    • Registration Policies
    • FAQ
  • About
    • More Services – Gear, Rentals, etc.
      • Business Information
      • Recommended Links
  • Calendar
    • Media & Press
  • BLOG
    • The Philosophy
    • Outdoor Survival School
    • Teen Adventure Camps
    • Plants
    • Survival Gear
    • Tracking

Sep 04 2014

Benefits of Wild Edibles

Benefits of wild edibles. Red elderberry flowers.

Foraging for wild food is an ancient practice. Our forefathers knew this practice to be a direct physical connection to the Earth. A connection that brings a person to the deepest appreciation and understanding of the natural world.

by Bethany Staffieri

Benefits of Wild Edibles

Today's modern lifestyle interrupts this foraging tradition and is nutritionally one of the missing links in today's food system.  Many folks do not even know what living food is.

Food purchased in boxes, bottles, jars, and cans is not alive.  With our fast-paced lives many people neglect the simple basic nutrition that living food provides.

Edible and nutritious wild plants

Consider for a moment the benefits one derives from a common plant like Stinging Nettle. This useful wild edible belonging to the genus Urtica (the name derived from the Latin, uro, to burn.)

The stinging hairs of this plant contain formic acid, while the leaves and stems contain an array of vitamins and minerals. All which make this plant a valuable food medicinally and nutritionally.

Wild Plants are our green herb allies, and they offer numerous benefits by eating them.

Wild plants are genetically stronger and more potent than commercially raised greens or herbs. Eating local wild plants means the plant fights off the same organisms as your body does. Making the wild plant more beneficial to your immune system.

Foraging means you are walking and harvesting. And yep, that's right, you get exercise and vitamin D, all in a relaxed natural setting.

Wild plants can help treat a large variety of health conditions.

While I was in Texas with Mark Wienert, director of Lifesong Wilderness Adventures, we found an abundance of spring greens just emerging this past March during Wilderness Survival Training in Texas.

As this camp was an introduction to survival skills, the participants were interested in how to forage and eat off the land.

While foraging we found stinging nettle and had tea.  Then we also used the plant stem to relieve sore aching muscles by gently tapping the affected area. One brave man, Chris Watters allowed me to treat his shoulders for soreness and later reported relief from the stinging nettle treatment.

Foraging for Wild Edible Plants

One point I'd like to make is to not forage along the roadside where you will see many of the most common food and medicine plants.  Exhaust fumes and toxic wastes are consumed by these plants on roads. Rule of thumb, forage ten feet away from any roadside.

Also take note of the water runoff, where is it coming from, Chemical plant run off, cattle field, unclean wastewater?  Don't pick in these areas as the plants will have the same chemicals or toxins in them as the land and water.

Once you take the time to look around and get familiar with your area you will find that clean, pristine picking spot, of healthy food and medicine plants.

Gardener of the wild

Now remember you will want to come back each year to this great picking area. So, take care not to pick it all, allow each plant to have enough of its parts left to re seed itself. I usually take 1/3 of the plant or several leaves from each plant in a cluster. Then, there will be enough for others and myself for years to come.

Also get a good field guide, Peterson's makes some excellent ones and please learn the poisonous plants first. There are fewer of them and correct ID is part of a good foraging practice. If you're not sure of the plant, don't pick it and don't eat it until you correctly identify it.

Time to get out there and enjoy spring and fall and enjoy the benefits of wild edibles!

To Your Health!

Bethany Staffieri -Certified Herbalist.

  • Edible and Useful Wild Coastal Plants - Oregon
  • Chickweed Power
  • Calming herb tea
  • Summertime Berries
  • Foraging for edible fungi in Oregon

Written by Mark J. Wienert · Categorized: Plants

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Join Our Community

Social Media Links

  • FACEBOOK
  • INSTAGRAM
  • YOUTUBE
  • LINKEDIN
  • PINTEREST

Recent Posts

  • How to Collect Stinging Nettle Stalks
  • Getting Back to Nature in Texas
  • Best Survival Knife
  • Debris Hut Survival
  • Fire Craft for Teenagers
  • Predators Fang
  • Giardia “One Gnarly Dude”
  • Wilderness Teen Camp is a Wonderful Eye-Opening Experience
  • Wild Plants Coastal Oregon
  • I Slid Off The Road

Categories

  • Outdoor Survival School (17)
  • Plants (9)
  • Survival Gear (7)
  • Teen Adventure Camps (6)
  • The Philosophy (3)
  • Tracking (10)

Lifesong Wilderness Adventures

The Standard in Wilderness Survival Training

Privacy Policy · Media & Press

Contact Us

PO Box 149
Blue River, OR 97413
530-859-0539
Monday-Friday: 9 AM – 5 PM PST

Sitemap

Sign up for our Newsletter

Copyright © 1994-2023 · Lifesong Wilderness Adventures · All rights reserved.

====== OX DEBUG ======
hooking into plugin wp_rocket
Settings
	 ox_unused_css_compact true
	 ox_amphtml_disable false
	 ox_unused_css_page_home true
	 ox_unused_css_page_blog true
	 ox_unused_css_page_page true
	 ox_unused_css_page_author false
	 ox_unused_css_page_category false
	 ox_unused_css_page_product_category false
	 ox_unused_css_page_custom_posttype false
	 ox_jquery_migrate_disable true


post_type post_type::post
page blog
page_id url::/2014/09/benefits-of-wild-edibles/


Stylesheets
	 [altitude-pro-theme]
		 https://lifesongadventures.com/wp-content/themes/altitude-pro/style.css
	 [classic-theme-styles]
		 
	 [global-styles]
		 
	 [siteorigin-panels-front]
		 https://lifesongadventures.com/wp-content/plugins/siteorigin-panels/css/front-flex.min.css
	 [sow-button-base]
		 https://lifesongadventures.com/wp-content/plugins/so-widgets-bundle/widgets/button/css/style.css
	 [sow-button-flat-b2632b80507a]
		 https://lifesongadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/siteorigin-widgets/sow-button-flat-b2632b80507a.css
	 [altitude-google-fonts]
		 //fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Ek+Mukta:200,800
	 [dashicons]
		 /wp-includes/css/dashicons.min.css
	 [teccc-nofile-stylesheet]
		 


Scripts
	[rocket_lazyload_css]
	
	[altitude-global]
	https://lifesongadventures.com/wp-content/themes/altitude-pro/js/global.js
	[gforms_recaptcha_recaptcha]
	https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api.js?render=6LfDaA8eAAAAAIiy-vz8Z9Oxtxq7UqSW2fBi7dY0
	[legend_superpowers]
	https://lifesongadventures.com/wp-content/plugins/the-events-calendar-category-colors/src/resources/legend-superpowers.js


buffer start...
preloading jquery https://lifesongadventures.com/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.min.js?ver=3.7.1
removing jquery-migrate https://lifesongadventures.com/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery-migrate.min.js?ver=3.4.1
action ox_dom
link nodes
	https://lifesongadventures.com/wp-content/themes/altitude-pro/style.css?ver=1.0.5
	https://lifesongadventures.com/wp-content/plugins/siteorigin-panels/css/front-flex.min.css?ver=2.28.0
	https://lifesongadventures.com/wp-content/plugins/so-widgets-bundle/widgets/button/css/style.css?ver=1.56.0
	https://lifesongadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/siteorigin-widgets/sow-button-flat-b2632b80507a.css?ver=6.4.1
	//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Ek+Mukta%3A200%2C800&ver=1.0.5
	https://lifesongadventures.com/wp-includes/css/dashicons.min.css?ver=6.4.1
	https://lifesongadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/so-css/so-css-genesis.css?ver=1701283102
master_file NO_MASTER_NODE
used_css NOT_DETERMIN
can_do_unused true
ERROR: NO USED CSS
Preloading Files
preloading https://www.lifesongadventures.com/wp-content/themes/altitude-pro/fonts/mukta-extra-light.woff2
	 https://www.lifesongadventures.com/wp-content/themes/altitude-pro/fonts/mukta-extra-light.woff2
preloading https://www.lifesongadventures.com/wp-content/themes/altitude-pro/fonts/mukta-extra-bold.woff2
	 https://www.lifesongadventures.com/wp-content/themes/altitude-pro/fonts/mukta-extra-bold.woff2
preloading https://www.lifesongadventures.com/wp-includes/fonts/dashicons.woff?99ac726223c749443b642ce33df8b800
	 https://www.lifesongadventures.com/wp-includes/fonts/dashicons.woff?99ac726223c749443b642ce33df8b800
preloading https://lifesongadventures.com/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.min.js?ver=3.7.1
	 https://lifesongadventures.com/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.min.js?ver=3.7.1