As a teenager, I learned about edible wild plants through Euell Gibbons\u2019 books and trips to the nearby woods. My family and I enjoyed many fruits, nuts, greens and even mushrooms that I prepared for them. This was where my interest in plants started and continues to this day.<\/p>\n
As your children grow older and understand not to put everything into their mouths, it might be a good time to show them which plants are not only attractive to birds, but can be eaten by humans as well.<\/p>\n
I suggest reading the books by Euell Gibbons and Julia Morton. Never put anything into your mouth until you are sure of what it is. Always start with just a little.<\/p>\n
Many parents are terrified when their child puts a berry into its mouth. The following is a starter list of native plant berries that your kids and the local birds will like and that I have eaten for many years. Make sure that you wash the fruit first and that sprays aren\u2019t being used on them.<\/p>\n
Cocoplum is used as a hedge and has sweet white or purple fruit. The nut inside has an almond-like flavor. Purple seagrape berries make great jelly and are hard to stop eating fresh off the tree.<\/p>\n
Native mulberry, wild blackberries, wild grapes, persimmon, pond apple, simpson stopper, and native strangler fig fruits are fun to eat as they ripen in the yard.<\/p>\n
The olive sized fruit of the satinleaf tree tastes like sweet prunes and will leave a wad of chicle in your mouth. This is the same gum once found in Chiclets chewing gum.<\/p>\n
Other less tasty yet edible berries include beautyberry, wild coffee, marlberry, wild cherry, black ironwood; and white, redberry, and spanish, stoppers.<\/p>\n
Even the one-inch fruits of the native saw palmetto are edible when black and juicy in September through November, yet have a funky flavor like sweet balsamic vinegar. I personally find them delicious.<\/p>\n
Now you can make your yard into a haven for birds and a safe place for your kids to try new natural treats. Don\u2019t forget some sweetened elderberry juice during the summer and persimmon nut bread at thanksgiving.<\/p>\n
Again, try one berry the first day, then increase until you are confident it won’t give you a sour stomach.\u00a0 And don’t eat too many as even too many grapes will cause a stomach ache.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Edible Native Plants Wildlife Food That\u2019s Safe For Humans As a teenager, I learned about edible wild plants through Euell Gibbons\u2019 books and trips to the nearby woods. My family and I enjoyed many fruits, nuts, greens and even mushrooms that I prepared for them. This was where my interest in plants started and continues […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[772],"tags":[801,802,803],"class_list":["post-4252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-welcoming-wildlife","tag-ediible-native-plants-of-florida","tag-florida-native-plants","tag-florida-native-plants-you-can-eat"],"yoast_head":"\n