Nature’s Grocery Store

 

All of these wild foods can be found in relative abundance in the Kickapoo bioregion (southwestern Wisconsin::

 

   Early Spring                                                Late Spring

Maple sap & syrup                                                                     Bracken Fern (fiddleheads)

Watercress                                                                              Wild Asparagus

Burdock Root                                                                            Lambsquarter

Nettles                                                                                      Dandelion (flowers & buds)

Wild Leeks                                                                                Wild Onions

Chickweed                                                                                 Morels, Shaggy Manes, Oyster

Dandelion (roots and leaves)                                                      Milkweed (tender shoots)

Yellow Dock                                                                               Cattail (tender shoots)

Wintercress (leaves)                                                                 Wintercress (flower buds)

Violets (leaves)                                                                          Violets (leaves & flowers)

Spring Beauty (bulbs)                                                                 Plantain (tender leaves)

 

                                                   

   Summer                                                    Fall

Wild Amaranth                                                                         Hickory Nuts

Cattail (pollen and flowering head)                                           Wild Apples

Day Lily                                                                                   Black Walnuts

Milkweed (flower buds & tender seedpods)                             Wild Plums

Mayapples                                                                                Sumac Berries

Wild Strawberry                                                                      Chicken-of-the-Woods

Thistle                                                                                     Oyster Mushrooms

Purslane                                                                                    Puffballs

Sorrel                                                                                      Wild Grapes

Elderberry (flower & berries)                                                  Acorns

Blackberries                                                                             Black Cherries

Black & Red Raspberries                                                          Arrowhead root

Chokecherries                                                                          American Lotus Root

Mulberries                                                                                Cattail Roots

                                                                                                 Chicory Root (roasted)

 

 

Many of the seasons overlap quite a bit, and some of the plants are available throughout  (for example:  Dandelion leaves and Chickweed greens).   There are numerous other plants that can be made into interesting teas, as well as many more edible greens that can be used as pot herbs or added to salads.  All of the above plants are fairly easy to identify and grow in relative abundance.  None are protected or endangered.

 

 

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