Chickweed (Stellaria media)
What’s going on guys? Today I want to write an article on my top 10 early spring wild edibles. I tried to choose plants that are very common and prolific throughout North America, especially easy to find in my native region of Oklahoma in the southern United States. Just please make sure you are 100% positive that you’ve correctly identified these plants before eating, but that’s what I write this article for and I hope it helps you in your wild edible adventures.
Chickweed (Stellaria media)
Number one is gonna be chickweed, and it’s one of my favorite wild edible plants for how easy it is to find and its mild flavor that goes well with anything. The entire plant is edible and it’s super nutritious, packed with vitamins and minerals such as calcium, iron, niacin, selenium, thiamine, and the antioxidant vitamin C and beta-carotene. It’s one of nature’s top superfoods for purifying the blood and lymphatic system. It has skin-soothing properties when applied topically and is excellent for rashes, itchiness, and most skin disorders. Chickweed’s tiny leaves are somewhat succulent with an oval shape and pointed tip, and they are approximately 1/2 to 1 inch long. Its white petal flowers look like tiny stars and bloom for many months. It’s a low-growing annual that’ll get about 3 to 12 inches tall and forms large mats of foliage that can quickly take over an area. You’ll mostly see this edible in meadows, fields, disturbed areas, and gardens, and it’s best to harvest and eat chickweed fresh. The succulent, earthy taste is a delicious addition to any salad or it can be used as a garnish or in a smoothie.
Wild Onion / Garlic (Allium vineale)
Number two is going to be wild onions and garlic, and I’m gonna group them together because they’re in the same allium family and have very similar flavors and medicinal properties. Almost anyone can identify these green, leafless, slender stalks clumped together in their yard as a pesky weed, but they’re another amazing wild edible and highly nutritious superfood. They are considered an energetically hot food, particularly in their raw, uncooked form, and have been used throughout the ages for their antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as their ability to increase blood circulation and enhance immune response. They’re believed to have a protective influence against various diseases, particularly those involving the cardiovascular system. They’re a good source of vitamin C, B6, and various other minerals and contain flavonoids, phenols, antioxidants, and sulfides known for their antithrombotic activity, which potentially helps reduce the formation of blood clots. Their sulfur content is beneficial to liver detoxification and also known to increase the absorption of lycopene from foods found in tomatoes and carrots. They can be eaten raw or cooked, and of course, great chopped thinly into salads or lightly sauteed to caramelize their natural sugars and release their flavors.
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
Number three is dandelions, and probably one of the most famous and prevalent wild edibles known worldwide for their easily identifiable yellow flower tops and white puffy seed balls that blow away in the wind when they go to seed. Often considered by gardeners and landowners to be an annoying invasive weed, but to the typical herbalist and forager, dandelions are viewed as a highly nutritious wild food and medicinal herb. The entire plant is edible, and green leaves, stems, and roots contain bitter elements and a milky latex of phenolic compounds shown to have antioxidant properties and anti-inflammatory effects. It may be potentially helpful in regulating type-2 diabetes, providing an energetically cooling effect on the body, and helping conditions such as cirrhosis, jaundice, eczema, acne, and goiter. It is a rich source of chlorophyll and is very purifying to the lymph nodes, bloodstream, and liver in eliminating toxins from the body. It contains micronutrients such as vitamin K and beta-carotene, as well as high amounts of lutein, zeaxanthin, lecithin, omega fatty acids, vitamin C, B complex vitamins, calcium, iron, potassium, manganese, and magnesium. To use, harvest the youngest green leaves that will be less bitter than the older, larger ones. You can eat these raw in a salad or lightly steamed or sauteed to make them a little bit tastier. The flower tops can be tossed in batter and fried to make a delicious crispy snack, and the root can be dried and ground to make a coffee-like drink.
Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule)
Number four is henbit, and this is another great wild edible that’s very common in early spring and easy to identify by its small flowers and unique lobed leaves that grow directly off the stem. This is another one found in almost any suburban yard and grows in large mats of foliage that turn pretty purple when they form flower petals and is an important early season source of nectar and pollen for honeybees. It’s highly nutritious, high in iron, vitamin C, chlorophyll, polyphenols, antioxidants, and fiber, and is known to be useful in healing wounds. A poultice made of henbit can treat external bleeding, burns, bruises, stings, and wounds and is an anti-rheumatic and relieves chronic pain and discomfort in joints and connective tissue. It also has anti-inflammatory properties and is a diaphoretic, which means it induces sweating and reduces fever, and a tea made from the leaves is a gentle laxative that can treat diarrhea. Henbit can be consumed fresh or cooked; the stems, flowers, and leaves are edible, and although this is in the mint family, it actually tastes more like raw kale. It’s a great all-around wild food that you’ll have no trouble finding.
White Clover (Trifolium repens)
Number five is clover, a very common wild perennial that comes from the nitrogen-fixing bean family and produces unique dense pink blossoms that form a rounded appearance from a distance. They’re easy to identify once you become familiar with it, and you’ll see this everywhere when you learn to recognize it. The mature leaves look like shamrock or three-leaf clover with a light green crescent appearing midway from the center, and they grow in large patches low to the ground. The blossom and leaves have been harvested throughout human history for their nutritious properties and cleansing qualities. In Western herbalism, red clover is viewed as a nutritive tonic, skin healer, and blood purifier by positively altering the condition of the bloodstream and is often used in liver detoxification and skin-clearing formulas as a supportive herb. The blossoms naturally contain phenolic compounds such as isoflavonoids like daidzein, genistein, formononetin, and biochanin A, these are phytoestrogens that can mimic estrogen hormones depending on the amount consumed. Dietary phytoestrogens should largely be avoided by those with estrogen-sensitive skin disorders, and red clover tea is commonly recommended for women going through menopause because of its ability to increase estrogen and was observed to have a positive effect on alleviating hot flashes in menopausal women. The parts traditionally gathered are the blossoms with leaves attached, and clover is ready to harvest when the flowers are dense and in full bloom. Use fresh clover blossoms and leaves for making tea and herbal infusions, or the small leaves sparingly in a salad or cooked in a dish.
Plantain (Plantago major)
Number six is broadleaf plantain, a perennial plant that grows in many locations from spring to autumn in almost every urban environment. It has green, oval-shaped leaves that grow in a circular rosette. These leaves have thick stems that meet at the base of the plant and long, pointed white flower spikes on tall, slender, leafless stalks that sprout upward from the center of the plant. A poultice of the leaves can be applied to wounds, steams, and sores in order to facilitate healing and prevent infection. The active chemical constituents are allantoin, an antimicrobial agent, aloe vera, which stimulates cellular growth and tissue regeneration, and aucubin, which reduces pain and discomfort. Plantain has astringent properties, and a tea made from the leaves can be ingested to treat diarrhea and soothe raw internal membranes. It contains many bioactive compounds like aucubin, kasulin, flavonoids, and scientific studies have shown the plantain extract has a wide range of biological effects including wound healing activity, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibiotic, immunomodulating properties. It is also a very nutritious leaf vegetable that is high in calcium and vitamin A, C, and K. 100 grams of plantain cane contains approximately the same amount of vitamin A as a large carrot. The entire plant is edible, and the young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. Many people blanch the leaves in boiling water before using them in a salad to make them more tender, and once blanched, plantain can be frozen and used later in a sauté, soup, or stew. Seeds can be eaten raw or cooked or ground into a meal and mixed with flour for a bread substitute, and the dried leaves make a healthy medicinal tea.
Wood Sorrel (Oxalis stricta)
Number seven is wood sorrel or oxalis, a prolific plant that has an acidic, lemony flavor and goes great as an addition to complement your other wild greens. But you don’t want to eat too much of this at once because it’s high in oxalic acid, which can inhibit mineral absorption, but it goes great in small quantities to give your food a powerful tangy punch and is one of nature’s tastiest seasonings. The most notable identifying feature is its three heart-shaped leaves, and because it has three leaves on each stem, it’s often confused with clover, but clover has oval-shaped leaves, and sorrel has little heart-shaped ones. Each leaf has a center crease, and at night, the leaves fold inward. Wood sorrel is high in vitamin C and A and has been consumed by humans around the world for millennia. The Native American Kiowa people chewed wood sorrel to alleviate thirst on long trips. The Padawan cooked it with sugar to make a dessert dish. The Algonquian considered it an aphrodisiac. The Cherokee ate wood sorrel to alleviate mouth sores and sore throat, and the Iroquois ate wood sorrel to help with cramps, fever, and nausea. To harvest, collect the young leaves and flower tops and try to keep consumption to about one handful a day to not ingest too much oxalic acid. Use them in salads or dessert dishes or you can cook them with your other greens or brew them in a tea or herbal infusion for a single lemony taste.
Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
Number eight is garlic mustard, a common flavorful biennial that can be found in wooded areas, open fields, and roadsides and does best in slightly shady conditions. As its name implies, it has a mild, garlic-like flavor and goes great to add more complexity to your wild salads. Its distinguishing features are its broad, heart-shaped leaves with coarse, rounded teeth that have a garlicky odor and petite, button-like clusters of white flowers that each have four small white petals. Garlic mustard is one of the oldest spices used in Europe and has been used for almost 3,000 years by herbalists. Its traditional medicinal purposes include being used as a disinfectant and diuretic and was sometimes used to treat wounds. It was recommended as a flavoring for salt fish and can also be made into a sauce for eating with roast lamb or salad. Early European settlers brought the herb to the new world uses a garlic-like flavoring. The flowers, leaves, roots, and seeds are all edible, but once the weather gets hot, the leaves become more bitter. Flowers can be chopped and tossed into salads, and the roots can be collected in early spring and again in late fall when no flower stalks are present. Garlic mustard root tastes very spicy, somewhat like horseradish, and in the late fall, the seeds can be collected and eaten as well. This is another great herb to add to your wild edible repertoire and a delicious seasoning.
Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta)
Number nine is bittercress, an annual and surprisingly delicious edible that has adapted to partially shaded moist soils. It grows in small, compact basal rosettes with tiny lobed leaves. Its flower stalks grow above the rosette and are topped with clusters of tiny, cross-shaped white flowers. Unlike its name would imply, its flavor is mild and peppery and not bitter. The tender leaves go great in salads and garnishes and have tons of vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, beta-carotene, antioxidants, and sulfur-containing compounds called glucosinolates. They boost immunity and help cancer prevention, remove carcinogens from the body, and reduce vision problems, including cataracts. Bittercress is a tasty substitute for lettuce or spinach and adds another culinary element to whatever dish you add it to with its unique peppery flavor. Whether served raw or cooked, it’s definitely a great addition to your diet, and once you begin to recognize this wild edible, you’ll see it everywhere, probably somewhere in your yard right now.
Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea)
Finally, number ten is ground ivy, also known as gill-on-the-ground or creeping Charlie, which is an aromatic creeping perennial evergreen of the mint family. It grows close to the ground and forms a mat-like ground cover of thick foliage. The long stems have nodes where the leaves grow, and these nodes will form roots when they come in contact with the soil. The fan-shaped leaves tend to be shiny green and have scalloped edges, and it produces small purple flowers. This plant overwinters well and maintains its color even under the snow. The plant’s aromatic leaves have played an important role in culinary history, and the pungent aroma is reminiscent of sage, thyme, and mint. It was also widely used by the Saxons in brewing ale as a flavoring, clarification, and preservative, and later by the English before the introduction of hops into brewing, which changed the ale into beer. Traditional European herbalists used the plant to treat inflammation of the eyes as well as a diuretic, astringent, tonic, and gentle stimulant. It has also been known to be useful in kidney diseases, indigestion, and bronchitis. The fan-shaped, scalloped leaves, square stems, and small violet-colored flowers are all edible raw and can be picked any time of the year. The plant has an overall mild, minty, peppery flavor and can be eaten in salads, stews, or brewed as a medicinal tea.
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this article. Don’t be afraid to get out there and start foraging for these delicious wild edibles.
