Reddit reviews Wild Harvest: Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest
We found 2 Reddit comments about Wild Harvest: Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Hancock House Pub Ltd
I used to have a small book with almost that exact name...Wild Harvest: Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest.
Oo, I could rattle on for a while. Gimme a couple hours to get to a computer and I'll lay out a few though!
EDIT: Okay, found a computer. Here we go. I could go on about obscure things where you have to climb mountains to find things at the roots of certain trees or whatever, but I'll instead write about things your average Joe can find wherever they live.
First, pineapple weed. It's one of my favorites. It looks like this, and tends to grow in rocky areas (like the cracks in sidewalks) or in packed earth. If you mush those ball-like flowers between your fingers, it smells like pineapple! It can be used like a milder version of chamomile, where a tea made of it will help you sleep. It's also good for stomach upset.
Second, dandelion. I'm sure I don't have to tell you what they look like, haha! You can do a lot of things with it. For example, if you dig up the taproot, it can be roasted, ground up and used as a substitute for coffee. (It's best to mix this with chicory, as dandelion root has a sharper taste, and chicory is milder.) The heads can be washed and thrown into pancakes for a tasty and pretty camping breakfast. The greens are also very good lightly cooked, though it's better to get very young plants for this; older ones have to be boiled twice with the water thrown out in between to cut the bitterness. (You can also eat the young leaves in a salad.) The heads are a mild laxative, and also good for the urinary tract. (Tincture form is best for this.)
Third, the Scotch or Scottish thistle. The young plant's roots and leaves are edible, though the spines and "fur" must be removed before cooking them. The unopened flower buds are also tasty. Pull them open, remove the thistledown, and cook; they are small, but taste similar to artichoke hearts. Thistles aren't so useful to the layman as medicine, but they are pretty damn good to eat, if difficult to gather.
And lastly for this list, pine. The needles can be made into tea which is high in vitamin C - a handful of the needles steeped for five minutes or so will do it. (Not too long though, as the vitamins break down.) It's one of my favorite drinks around Christmas time. (Also note that Ponderosa, Norfolk Island and yew pines are poisonous, so don't use those! Make sure you can tell the difference before you go making teas.) The nuts from pine cones are also edible, and pretty damn good. The inner bark is edible too, and can be eaten raw or cooked. (Be careful not to take too much from a single tree, as this can kill it.) The resin of a pine tree is a good antiseptic for wounds, which is a good thing to know if you injure yourself while out in the woods. You can also use it as a firestarter. (Great for days where you just can't find enough dry wood.) And, if you take some sap, barely cover it with Everclear in a sealed jar, and wait about two months, you will have a good cough syrup. Seven or eight drop doses work best in my experience. (Make sure it's Everclear, and not a lower proof alcohol, since the sap won't dissolve in anything containing water.)
Bonus about pine: you can make pine vinegar by soaking the needles in apple cider vinegar for about six weeks. Make sure you wash the needles first, and use pasteurized vinegar - soak them in a sealed jar. It comes out tasting a lot like balsamic.
If you're interested in reading more on the subject, I highly recommend this book by Terry Domico. Great illustrations, great pictures, and great information in there!