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Everything is Food - Edible Plants Trees by Stephen Watts

Trees

Yew, Taxus baccata

Wild Mushrooms

Every part of this tree is poisonous except for the flesh around the berries. It is common all over in parks, gardens, woods and especially graveyards. The seed within the fruit is poisonous but provided you don’t chew it there is no harm in swallowing it. It will pass through you undigested. I suck the flesh off then spit out the seed. It tastes like jelly and ice cream combined!

Oak, Quercus spp..

The young bright green leaves can be eaten as a medicine or left in water for a day to make a tasty drink. I gave some oak infused water to a friend who was so impressed by the flavour and refreshing feel. He said it tasted like mild pear juice and could be sold for vast quantities of money…just oak leaves in water!

In autumn gather acorns. A few can be eaten raw or cooked. If you grind them and rinse out the tannins (the bitter flavour) they can be eaten in larger quantities though I haven’t tried this. There are some oaks which have much lower tannins and can be eaten in quantity without needing to rinse them out – so if you find any of these trees please let me know.

Elder, Sambucus nigra

I eat the young leaves in spring, the flowers in summer and the berries in autumn. The flowers infuse water beautifully. This is probably the most popular use of the plant. The leaves are insect repellent – just grab some and rub them on your skin! The birds love this tree and will eat the fruit if you don’t. You can eat them raw or with porridge etc or add them to jams or make juices or wine.

Beech, Fagus spp...

Eat the young leaves in spring and add them to salads. The nuts are tiny but edible

Hawthorn, Crataegus

The young leaves in spring are valuable food and the berries are a good heart tonic.

Free food and wild foods are self-sufficiency topics covered in our book, Low Cost Living.

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Lime, Tiliaceae family

Lime leaves are the best tree leaf to eat since you can eat it in quantity. The taste is mild.

Pick while young. There are lots of lime trees in Sheffield to pick from but avoid those growing on main roads (use your own judgement as to the quality of the food you pick

Sweet chestnut, Castanea sativa

There are loads of these in woods but since they are shaded by other trees they don’t crop that well. See if you can find one in the sun. I found two really good trees in the botanical gardens.

Chestnuts can be eaten raw (my usual choice) but most people cook them. If you pick lots then they will store well if they are undamaged and dry. When they are dry soaking them is worth while.

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