Don't starve When TEOTWAWKI Comes ; Learn wild foods in YOUR area

The top one is Physalis peruviana The bottom pic is Physalis angustifolia

Now the world has been here a long time and it's not going to end, but your experience in this world as you have known it to be could change or end. This could be a relatively short term thing or long term thing, who knows. This post concerns the importance of learning about wild foods in your area, the places that you go. I am not going to teach you about specific wild foods. Why? Because it will not do you any good. Why because wild foods are, in many cases, very specific to the area that you are in. Now some generalizations can be made. Most people know that all mammals, most fish (especially fresh water), all birds and reptiles are edible no matter where they occur. This can not be said about most plants. Most are not edible but some are and they are a lot easier to catch than birds. The edible plants in your area are specific to your area or region in many cases. Let me give you an example. Many people know that wild ground cherries (Physalis) are edible. The wild cherry that grows on the gulf coast (Physalis angustifolia ) only grows in a very small area around the Gulf of Mexico. They are common close to the coast but 10 miles inland you probably will not find them and they look totally different than any other species of ground cherry. So if I, living on the gulf coast learned about a commonly found Physalis such as Physalis peruviana , the cape gooseberry, it would not do me any good and if I taught some one that is not on the gulf coast about our Physalis. it would not do them any good. Now the fruits do look similar but that is not something that you want to rely on when it comes to plants you need to know what you are looking and not be guessing.

So what to do? Well you learn, the best way to do that is to get some literature that covers plants in your area and some advice on how to prepare it. The late great Euell Gibbons (September 14, 1911 – December 29, 1975) was one of the world leading experts on wild foods and although sadly he is no longer with us his books can still be found and are a wealth of information. Although he only had a 6th grade education he was very smart and a very well known celebrity in his day. I highly recommend his books, they not only focus on identification but also preparation of the foods that he found. Other sources of information are available. The Foxfire series has a lot of good information but is focused on the Smokey Mountains so you are not going to find Physalis Angustifolia in those either.

I do plan on showing some of the wild foods that we gather in this area so stay tuned. Surviving is fun.