I think the comparison is more down to the common preparation method; dandelion root is more bitter, by all accounts. There are a number of recipes online that combine the two along with other root vegetables, although the dandelion roots I’ve dug up have been a bit pathetic and weren’t really worth the preparation time.
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Elderberries, shadberries, dandelion, wineberries, blackberries, sorrel, black walnuts, persimmons, roses, indian strawberries, fiddleheads, spicebush berries, garlic mustard - frankly it’d be easier to list what I don’t eat on the property (doghobble, dumbcane, jack-in-his-pulpit, foxglove, and lily-of-the-valley). We haven’t any chicory despite many attempts, and prionid root borers destroyed my ancient apple tree.
I’ve eaten cattails but don’t care for them, other than as a vehicle for butter. I’ve made marshmallows from actual marsh mallow and there was almost no resemblance to the modern commercial product.
Dandelion flowers grown in deep shade under firs are sweet, not bitter, at least in my soil. They are bitter when grown in full sun.
I’ve got what I think are ink-caps but I’m askeert to try them without expert identification. We get morels some years (not often enough!) which are inutterably delicious.
This spring I hope to eat a dozen pounds of star-of-bethlehem roots, because the damnable things are out of control. But apparently they are toxic if improperly prepared, so I wouldn’t normally eat them.
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Elderberries are good, but elderberry flowers soaked in the liquor of your choice is better.
Im thinking about stealing the rose hips from around the neighborhood and making Mead with them.
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Yum. You are so right about that. I tend to hate dandelions, but then learned to pick the shady edges and only the youngest, freshest flowers.
I hate morels. Morels are so overrated. I have tried many different ones from different places and they all suck. I’ll eat a chanterelle from anywhere --a garbage heap-- instead of a morel. Fuck morels.
You know what also is really good? Boiled stinging nettles. Boil the CRAP out of them. They are sweeter and more succulent than baby spinach with none of the irony grit that spinach has. Nettles are the bomb.
Also the bomb are peeled thistle stem. It’s like mild artichoke stem because… artichokes are thistles. Nothing to write home about, but still good.
Pine needle tea, esp from young needles. Very good source of vitamin C and tasty.
I have never had the star of bethlehem and would totally pop over to try some. Where in the world are you, Medievalist?
And the best of the best, finding a field of wild strawberry. Do not collect them. No. That is a sisyphean task. Merely graze. Get down on all fours and move from strawberry patch to strawberry patch, eating as you go. Pluck, mouth, pluck, mouth. Such a wonderful way to spend a spring day.
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Back up north I have nettles in jars… They are okay. They absolutely have flavor, and I swear tinctures made from them help reduce inflammation (probably from the stingers).
I may have to go thistle hunting. If you will indulge me… I love artichokes, and I love red wine. But the two of them are terrible together. I’ve never been able to figure out why I like both flavors so much, but can’t stand them together. It makes me curious if Thistle would be more tolerable to a pinot Noir than a choke, or less.
When I finally go seaweed hunting I’ll post pics. I might grab some mussels too, cause why not.
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YO dawg, it turns out rose hips may be beneficial for arthritis and gout (which I’ve got like a baller (am I saying that right?)). I think rosehip, kumquat Mead is in my future.
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I’m in New England, and have a couple friends who are VERY into wildcrafting.
I myself have done cattails, acorn flour, dandelion, the ubiquitous wild strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries, pine needle tea, and a bunch of other stuff many years ago- But I’m way out of practice and wouldn’t want to go foraging without an expert these days.
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It’s probably where the nettles are growing. The ones I ate came from a patch next to a stream, very tender and lovely.
I always find dock leaves growing by nettles, and they help with nettle stings.
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What’s updock?
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(also, @awjt) I’ve tried pine needle tea once or twice and found it… repulsive.
Tips for preparation, besides using young pine needles?
It seems like such a good idea, and I’d hate to just give up on it without a solid try.
Anyone ever do that lemonade-like drink from Sumac? Totally awesome.
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Don’t use too many? I found it takes not a lot of pine needles. You wouldn’t put two full tablespoons of black tea in a cup of tea, so same for the pine needles: use a measured dose. Aim for delicate.
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Any preference on species of pine?
I’ve used eastern hemlock, eastern white pine and ponderosa. Only the greenest new needles. And to be sure, I prefer sencha or genmaicha to any of these piney ones!
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Morels do totally suck! What was I saying before? Never mind that nonsense! They are horrible, people, don’t ever eat them. Just let them be, and tell me exactly where they are (just so I can avoid them, of course).
I’m in northern Delaware, mid-atlantic US coast, east of the Mason-Dixon line. Star-of-Bethlehem is a pestiferous weed here. I’m not going to feed them to anyone until I’ve thoroughly tested them on myself, because some folks claim they are highly poisonous. On the other hand, EatTheWeeds says "the cooked bulbs are sometime eaten. Raw bulbs have been implicated in animal poisonings. […] The flowers are traditionally eaten baked in bread. " So there’s that. If I don’t die of ornithogalum umbellatum poisoning this spring, I’ll see what I can do about sharing next time… 
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- Like @awjt said, go a little sparingly
- A touch of honey
- Literally everything tastes better over a campfire.
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Fair point, that last one. A piece of bark steeped in lukewarm water would taste good after a hard day’s walk on some of the hikes I’ve taken.
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I do, not a lot… but
Blackberry (not only the fruit, very young saplings are great. Super great because they are a plague in the developing garden),
Dandelion (the bud, the flower and the very young leaves)
Rose buts
Pine needles (young! pesto)
Nettle, oh yes, lots of them
Various green leaves for salad
Black currant (in booze)
More wild berries in booze
Sea buckthorn (syrup)
Probably more, but it is not the season to encounter and remember.
I do have a great recipe for dandelion bud in ‘brine’, kind of like capers.
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A traditional flavor ingredient in Middle-eastern-type spinach pies. I’ve used foraged sumac for this. Random link to show the type of spinach pie I mean.
Sumac is one of the ingredients in the doner kebab you get in Europe from Turkish street vendors.
Fantastic. I think it’s the leaves, though, and not the red buds?
