People have been using wild plants for food since ancient times. Their unsightly leaves, stems and roots contain almost all the substances necessary for the human body. These are carbohydrates, organic acids, mineral salts, vitamins, etc. So what kind of plants can you eat?
What is edible
Before using wild plants for food, you need to familiarize yourself with the rules for their use. Almost all of their parts are suitable for eating - roots, tubers, bulbs, stems, shoots and leaves. Tubers must be boiled or fried before use. Bulbs and roots are a source of many nutrients and starch. Edible stems, leaves and shoots can be eaten both raw and boiled, however, with prolonged heat treatment, the vitamins contained in them will be destroyed.
Eating wild plants should not be overused, as large quantities of them can cause allergies or poisoning.
You need to collect wild plants in dry weather and preferably in the morning or evening - before dew appears. Green leaves and shoots should be carefully cut with a knife or scissors without damaging the root system. You can only collect those plants that you know well and that grow in favorable environmental conditions. The collected parts of plants must be cleaned of dust and insects, washed thoroughly and prepared on the same day.
What can you eat
From wild-growing field or forest vegetation, Siberian hogweed is suitable for food, the stems of which taste like fresh cucumbers, and the leaves - carrots. Can be eaten raw or cooked. Fresh, chopped, washed and scalded nettles are good for soup or vitamin supplements, as they contain a huge amount of vitamins C, B, K, as well as other trace elements.
Nettle can be an excellent hemostatic agent as first aid for bleeding.
Dimple, which summer residents consider an ineradicable weed, is not inferior to garden greens in its useful and taste properties. You can eat it in unlimited quantities. Another valuable weed is dandelion, the leaves of which contain vitamins C and B, as well as many minerals and salts.
Young tops of beets, carrots, radishes and turnips, which are rich in valuable nutrients, fiber and pectins, are no less useful. Wild sorrel is also considered a highly nutritious wild plant, the leaves of which contain ascorbic and oxalic acids, iron and proteins. From wild sorrel, excellent cabbage soup, decoctions for the treatment of indigestion and an effective hemostatic agent are obtained.
