vja4Him
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Location: California

California Winter Wild Edibles ....

I'm putting together a list of California winter wild edibles to order. I'd like to get my order in very soon, so I can hopefully start planting these winter wild edibles by early January. I'm in Growing Zone #8, very close (about three miles) to Growing Zone #14.

This is what I have so far:
1) pepper grass
2) chia
3) dandelion
4) Indian turnip
5) wintercress
6) garlic mustard
7) plantain
8) daisy

Please help me add to this list! Thank!

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soil
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the only thing thats coming to my mind right now because its booming here and I'm harvesting it like crazy is chickweed. eaten fresh or dried for tea later.

oh yea miners lettuce as well

watercress

I got at least 20 wild eatables growing right now on my property ill have to go out and refresh my memory.

vja4Him
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Location: California

soil wrote:the only thing thats coming to my mind right now because its booming here and I'm harvesting it like crazy is chickweed. eaten fresh or dried for tea later.

oh yea miners lettuce as well

watercress

I got at least 20 wild eatables growing right now on my property ill have to go out and refresh my memory.
Thank you! I added miner's lettuce. I actually already had chickweed on my list. Forgot to list it. I'm not sure if watercress would grow in our yard. I thought it needed to be planted by a water source?

Please let me know what other wild edibles you have growing. Which growing zone are you in?

I'm hoping to place my order by this weekend.

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I'm not familiar with the Sunset Zones, but I would consider mushrooms if I lived in an area conducive to growing them. So far, I haven't been successful -- I think the long drought we have in the summer would preclude them, though I may try Chicken of the Woods and Turkey Tail as a possibly more drought tolerant species....

vja4Him
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Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 2:34 pm
Location: California

I found the botanical names for these winter edibles:

1) Chia (Salvia columbariae)
2) Chickweed (Stellaria media)
3) Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
4) English Daisy (Bellis perennis)
5) Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
6) Indian turnip/Jack in the Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)
7) Miner’s Lettuce/Winter Purslane (Claytonia perfoliata)
8) Peppergrass (Descurainia pinnata, lepidium fremontii)
9) Plantain (Plantago major)
10) Shepherd’s Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)
11) Wintercress (Barbarea vulgaris)
Last edited by vja4Him on Mon Dec 13, 2010 5:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

vja4Him
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Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 2:34 pm
Location: California

applestar wrote:I'm not familiar with the Sunset Zones, but I would consider mushrooms if I lived in an area conducive to growing them. So far, I haven't been successful -- I think the long drought we have in the summer would preclude them, though I may try Chicken of the Woods and Turkey Tail as a possibly more drought tolerant species....
I'm really paranoid with mushrooms! I actually don't like mushrooms very much anyways, except Chanterelle, fried in butter, which I used to pick when I lived in Washington state.

[img]https://www.examiner.com/images/blog/EXID22346/images/chanterelle.jpg[/img]

I accidentally ate several very tiny poisonous mushrooms, and thought I was going to die! The stomach pain was like nothing I've ever experienced before!!!

The Helpful Gardener
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Shrooming is a seperate topic I do not feel qualified to speak to in depth; get some qualified local help before you start there...

Watching a documentary on Arizona winemaking (Maynard Keenan from Tool starred, so not as dry as it might sound), I noticed lambsquarters growing next to the vines in one shot; might this extend to your area? He was in northern AZ...

HG
Last edited by The Helpful Gardener on Sun Jan 09, 2011 4:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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soil
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I don't see purslane or lambsquarters on your list either, I absolutely LOVE purslane. cant wait until summer when it grows free with no water, no care at all when everything else in the garden is hating 100+ days the purslane loves it and grows faster.



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