Objective

Students will use field guides to successfully identify 8-10 edible plants of North America and will follow a recipe to prepare a wildflower to eat.

Materials

• Peterson Field Guide to Wild Edible Plants
• Flags or small garden signs
• Nature journals
• Edible wild plant reference/recipe books

Procedure

1. Introduce the Peterson Field Guide to Edible Plants.  Discuss various plants that students are familiar with.  Determine which plants are located in your study area.  Practice looking up a few teacher-selected edible plants.
2. Locate several edible plants growing within your study area and mark them with flags or signs.
3. Arrange students into groups of 2-3.  Instruct students to use the field guides to identify the marked plants.  As they identify each plant, students should sketch and label the plants in their nature journals and include information about which part of the plant is edible and how it should be prepared.
4. Visit your local public library and have students search for recipes that use these plants in edible wild plant reference books or on the internet.
5. Choose one or more of these recipes to try.  Be sure that whatever you collect for the recipe grows in abundance so you won’t be affecting its population.  Also be sure to wash all wild plant material thoroughly to eliminate any pesticide or fertilizer residue.  See the example recipes included with this lesson.
6. Research the traditional diets of Native Americans in your area and create a meal that they may have eaten.

Recipes

Chop 2 handfuls of dandelion leaves.  Mix this with 1/4 cup chopped nuts...your choice.  Add juice of half lemon or lime.  Blend in three tablespoons of honey with one teaspoon of olive oil.  Mix ingredients well.  Dandelion flowers can also be used in tossed salads.

Cattail Pollen Muffins
Collecting Tips: Gather cattails in early summer when flower spikes are coated with yellow pollen.  Tap heads and pollen will fall out, bits of fiber also.  Use a sieve to separate the pollen from the fibers.

• 1 C. cake flour
• 1 C. pollen (from 10-16 heads)
• 3 t. baking powder
• 3/4 t. salt
• 1/4 C. sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 C. milk
• 2 T. melted butter

Combine flour, pollen, baking powder, salt, and sugar in large bowl.  Combine eggs, butter, and milk in small bowl.  Add to dry ingredients.  Beat for 15 strokes.  Fill greased muffin tins 3/4 full.  Bake 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees F.

Red Clover Blossom Fritters
Collecting Tips: Collect the full heads of red clover blossoms in late spring or early summer, when they are most abundant.  Dandelion flowers or elder blossoms may be used instead.

Ingredients:

• 1 C. flour
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1 t. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 C. milk
• 1 t. vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients and beat thoroughly with wire whisk.  Prepare and heat deep fryer.  Dip flower heads in batter, fry lightly.  Roll in powdered sugar, if desired.  Serve warm.

Peel roots and cut into thin strips.  Boil strips in water.  If bitter, use two changes of water.  Serve hot under a pat of butter and dollop of sour cream.  Put burdock, wild carrots and wild onions in chicken stock, cook, season and serve.