SPRINGTIME WILD EDIBLES

TAKE THE MYSTERY OUT OF WILD FOODS BEFORE IT'S A MATTER OF SURVIVAL

- REUBEN BOLIEU

Wild edibles are all around us, especially in the springtime. You could barely walk a few feet from your front door without tripping over some. Perhaps it can be overwhelming at first, but foraging is highly addictive and fun. Here are some suggestions on a few wild edibles to help you to get started:

YUCCA

Growing up in the Southwest, it was hard to ignore the inviting bright whitish-yellow flowers at the tops of yucca plant stalks. What most people don't realize is how tasty these little gems are. The flowers themselves must be picked at precisely the right time for optimal flavor.

Taste is very subjective, but I feel the petals taste like a starchy potato, while the green inside tastes like a pistachio nut. They can be harvested in late spring and early summer. Eating straight off the stalks, roasting, or sauteing them works equally well. Just about all of the yucca plant can be used as food (stems, leaf bases, flowers, emerging stalks). The fruit of most types of yucca are edible as well.

Flower stalks need to be removed from the plant well before they bloom, or they become fibrous and tasteless.

During a survival class, the instructor shows how easy yucca blooms are to identify at their optimum time of the year. Green stalk and very bright, vibrant flowers are sure signs of freshness. These are easy to see standing tall over the desert brush in the distance.

When newly emerged, they can be eaten raw while still tender and resembling large asparagus stalks.

CORDAGE TOO

Locating a yucca not only gets you a snack, but the tough leaves (as a fiber source) have also been used for weaving, mats, and cordage. Additionally, the leaves can be pounded into soap. Archeological sites have yielded traps, snares, and baskets made from yucca components.