When I was on a hitch hiking trip through Utah and Arizona I was running low on grub and didn’t have the economic means to buy any so I was fishing at every opportunity and keeping my eyes peeled for any wild edibles.
In my foraging I collected a lot of plantain leaves and seed heads, lambs quarters, sheep sorrel, Dandelion flowers and leaves - I also harvested the "Crown" of the dandelion which is the part where the leave stems and the top of the root come together.
The crown is pretty tasty and I just cooked them up in 2 changes of water to remove the bitterness, then dowsed them in a bit of olive oil, salt, garlic powder and crushed chilies, mmmmm, tasty!
I always carry a spice kit as part of my plunder when on the road or on an extended scout in the wilds. My spice kit consists of;
1. salt
2. crushed chillies
3. 8 oz of olive oil
4. 8 oz of apple cider vinegar
5. garlic powder
you can spice up most things well enough to make them edible, shoot, a little salt on a fish cooked on the hot rocks of your fire is pretty darn good.
I was walking through the small town of Green River,Utah and saw some cattail plants which had pollen on them so I collected it and put it in a small zip lock bag for later use, i also collected a few stems where they meet the roots, this part is white and easy to chew kinda like a celery stalk.
Cattails are the supermarket market of the forest and every part is edible.
Later on I added the pollen to my granola.
Also, I was running low on coffee so I gathered some Mormons tea and stuck in my bag for a brew up until I could get some more coffee. The Mormons tea is tasty stuff and the taste, for some reason reminds me of weak root beer. You can make a decent tasting hot drink out of pine needles also, but I like the Mormons tea cold and put any left overs into my Nalgene bottle for consumption while on the road.
Other plants I managed to forage were Thistle, Barberry, and water cress just to name a few.I also managed to shoot a few Jack rabbits and cottontails with the .22 I had with me, and caught lots of fish . I would also look for cray fish or "craw daddies" as some people call them when i was foraging along streams.
All in all you can eat pretty good if you know what to look for and how to find it. Personally I am not against dumpster diving and have always been amazed at the useful and edible things that people throw away! there is a guy who lives in Utah in a cave near Moab and he lives good on the things people throw away, he simply goes to town and searches the dumpsters and forages as he walks to and from town.
Remember to Always keep your eyes open and look for anything edible and useful, it is a good practice to get into.
One example in New Mexico;
My last ride picked me up just outside of the Jicarilla Apache Reservation near the town of Jicarilla, new Mexico, the term Jicarilla comes from Mexican Spanish and means "Little Baskets". This guy was a self proclaimed pot grower and claimed he had plantations all over the mountains. He told me he was heading toward Taos and knew of a place near Valdez that was good for camping.
The Dude dropped me off in the mountains outside of Valdez, New Mexico, in the Hondo river valley, of the Beautiful Sangre De Cristo Mountains. It is a pretty, riparian area with lots of wild edibles to be had. Its only drawback is that it is near Taos, NM, which like Tombstone, Az, has become a major tourist trap, with over priced everything.
I shouldered my pack then headed off the road and into the woods, walking toward the river. I didn't have much food left in my pack, but my last ride gave me some beer, corn chips and donuts. It was late in the afternoon so I dropped my pack , took off my leather hiking boots and changed into my canvas high top sneakers. There were numerous large dandelion plants growing at this spot so I pulled up several and cut out the "crown" where the leaves meet the root. Earlier in the day I had collected some burdock root and curly dock while on the Jicarilla Apache reservation.
wading knee deep into the river, I went searching for crayfish or any type of wild plant edibles that I may find. I had already bagged 2 decent sized crayfish when I spied a bunch of water cress growing in a small stream feeding into the Hondo.
I drew my old Green River knife from its raw hide neck sheath and carefully cut several bunches of cress. This combined with the burdock root,dandelion crowns, and curly dock I had collected earlier would make the base for a decent stew. Placing the cress into my net bag along with my crayfish ,I waded back into the stream to look for more. After about 15 minutes more searching I ended up with a total of 5 Crayfish for my stew. It was a good haul.
Wading back down stream to where my pack was stashed, I Picked up my gear and looked about for a decent place to camp. I spotted a good looking area with some rocks behind and a small cosp of aspens to the front, I decided to pitch my tent there.
It took me about 10 minutes to set up my tent and tarp and to change out of my wet high top sneakers and back into my hiking boots. Grabbing my fishing line I headed back to the stream to try my luck , I was surprised to catch 2 decent sized trout, one right after the other.
A sprinkle of rain had began, so I cleaned my fish at the stream and headed back to my camp to gathered some fire wood and tinder. I wanted to get a fire going and cook my fish and wild veggies.
I chopped up the fish and veggies and threw that, along with the crayfish into my small blue enameled cooking pot. I added some salt,and let it cook until the fish fell apart. After the stew had cooked I added some crushed chillies, olive oil,and a dash of vinegar for flavoring. I had a few beat up corn tortillas in my pack so I heated those on the coals and made a canteen cup of coffee.
All in all it was a tasty meal, I rounded it off with a few handfulls of home made trail mix and raw oatmeal. Sitting there by my fire looking around, I noticed that the river bluffs reminded me of sleeping mountain lions, I listened to the sound of the aspen leaves as they danced on the wind, and in the gathering twilight I could see bats and nightjars swoop and dive at the insects along the river. It was a good way to spend a summer evening. You dont see Riparian animals too much in my neck of the Arizona Mountains.
It was refreshing to be there along the Hondo.I hung out for a few days along the river and the Bull of the woods area, it was beautiful there, and I did some hiking near Wheeler peak , which is the highest point in New Mexico.
