I have leased a large acreage loaded with poke, hickory trees, persimmons and wild onions. Anyone have any recipes, especially for persimmons, and any suggestions on freezing or other methods of storage for all the above?

-- Shauna Rowan (shamelesscowgirl2001@yahoo.com), October 18, 2001

Answers

Response to Need recipes for wild food

I know you will need a very large freezer to put them Hickory trees in. LLLOOOOLLLLL!!!!!!!! I just couldn't resist,Shauna.

Have a good day

-- TomK(mich) (tjk@cac.net), October 18, 2001.

"Gather Ye Wild Things: A Forager's Year" by Susan Tyler Hitchcock is such an awesome book about foraging and has lots of recipes!! But I think her take on foraging is that you eat what is in season as it becomes available. I believe you can make preserves out of your persimmons. Poke is usually only eaten in the spring when the greens are still young and they have to be boiled with fresh water twice to remove the toxins. The Peterson's Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants will give you all the basic info you need.

-- Bren (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), October 18, 2001.

When you say wild onions do you mean ramps? If so, there's some town in West Virginia that has a "Ramp Feed" festival every year. Perhaps the Chamber of Commerce could give you more info on that and there must be some ramp recipes floating around somewhere.

-- gita (gschmitz@directcon.net), October 18, 2001.

As for the Hickory... the nuts are a bugger to crack. The shells are so hard and the meat inside so sparse, the it is not worth the effort to 'harvest'. I have eaten a great cake made with the meat from the nut. Taste almost like walnuts, only a stronger flavor. Takes a small amount to make, but is worth the effort. We have wild onion on our place, and we eat it the same as scallions. As for harvesting, well, I guess you could cut up and place in the freezer for future use, but with them being so plentiful, why not gather as needed.

-- Bear (Barelyknow@aol.com), October 18, 2001.

Euell Gibbons' book "Stalking the Wild Asparagus" has a chapter on each plant you've mentioned, including recipes.

-- Sarah K. (ladynuala@hotmail.com), October 18, 2001.

I have all the books mentioned in the other answers. However . the one I use the most, and bought each of my four grown children is"by Steve Brill & Evelyn Dean-Identifying and Harvesting

Edible and Medicinal Plants. My advice is to find a mentor. you will learn faster & better.

-- Elizabeth Quintana (rockshelter@webtv.com), October 18, 2001.