---

WRENTHAM -- The taste of an apple plucked from a tree in an old Wrentham farmstead mostly brought back memories of young girls snatching fresh slices as their mothers put together pies and of fall apple picking with children.

It's those types of memories that Amy Nelson hopes will help people to reconnect to the land, whetting their appetites for the wild.

Nelson, a local self-taught naturalist who works as an environmental educator and in various state forests and parks in southeastern Massachusetts as a park interpreter with the Department of Conservation and Recreation, had asked for people's associations while they sampled the apple she had picked for them at the start of a recent forum before the Sohoanno Garden Club on the benefits of wild edibles found locally in forests, fields and even backyards.

Her mission, as president of the Massachusetts Environmental Education Society as well as in her other roles, "is to connect people with nature to inspire them to become stewards of the land," she said. That can begin at home, where some edibles, like dandelions and Poor Man's Pepper, common backyard weeds, can be transformed to nutritious foods.

Introducing children to the concept of identifying wild edibles will also help them to establish a bond with nature, she said. It will show them that not everything comes from a grocery store and might also introduce them to foods they have never tried before or could not try because they aren't available at stores. Nelson advised that anyone interested in learning more about food that grows in the wild - how to identify them and their uses - pick up field guides on medicinal plants and on locally found edibles, as well as a general field guide on ferns and shrubs and such. A cookbook could also be helpful. Nelson also encouraged people just starting out to go foraging with an expert. Many state parks and forests offer such walks. And go slow. "Don't gorge on a new food, and watch for contaminants," she cautioned. Don't pull off to the side of Interstate 495, for example, to pick berries or plants for consumption, because they could be contaminated with road salt or pesticides.

And stay away from wild mushrooms unless you go with an expert, said Nelson, who is also a garden club member. The consequences of picking the wrong sort could be serious.

With those provisos, she encouraged folks to take a bite on the wild side.

Familiar non-wild edibles include violets, which can be added to greens for a nutritious mix. Nelson said violets have up to 20,000 IU of Vitamin A and 264 mg of Vitamin C per 100 mg. By comparison, oranges have 50 mg of Vitamin C per 100 gm.

Did you know you can make flower fritters from daylilies? The tubors are edible raw or cooked. "You can also eat its flowers raw, but they taste better cooked," Nelson recommended.

Everything is edible on a dandelion with the exception of the stem between the base and the flower, she said. The roots can be boiled as a vegetable and the leaves can be tossed in a salad.

Go for great grapes now. They're in season. One identifying characteristic is that if you open up the fruit and there's just one seed, it's not a grape. Grapes have a number of seeds and they're rich in natural sugars. And they can be found locally, including Wrentham, Foxboro and Wrentham. (The large grapes in the photograph are ones Nelson picked in Wrentham.)

While 'tis not the season, sassafras in the spring is ripe for picking. Nelson said its leaves make for easy identification: There's a 'ghost'-shaped leave, along with a typical oval shaped one and a ones shaped like a mitten. They can grow pretty tall, like an oak, she said. The roots can be used in a tea or to make sassafras soda. In the spring, as well, the fresh leaves can be added to casseroles and soups.

Nelson notes that when making tea with wild edibles, don't boil them. Boil the water, then let it sit and steep the roots for two to three hours.

A jolt from juniper. The berries and twigs are edible. The seeds, roasted, can be used as a wild coffee substitute. Use dried and crushed berries as seasoning for meat. Gather young twigs to make tea. As with any of these, she said, people should consume just small portions at a time to ensure they don't have adverse reactions. Poor Man's Pepper. Often considered a weed growing along field or lawn edges, it can be harvested and made into a wild mustard.

It's the green pods which are very spicy that gives it that peppery taste, Nelson said. Grind the green pods with vinegar, miso, garlic, tumeric and salt in a blender for the mustard, or it can be spread over a salad.

Wait 'til spring to try out cattails. The shoots are fresh then. They can be sliced and put in a salad. The pollen is also an exceptional source of starch, Nelson said. While the cattail is green and immature, it can be cooked and eaten like corn on the cob.

For a fresh minty taste, chew on black birch leaves. It tastes like wintergreen. Steep twigs for wintergreen tea. Do not boil, it removes the minty taste.

Its fall and a good time for hunting staghorn - Staghorn sumac. Use the seeds/berries for sumac tea. "Tastes like lemonade," Nelson said. For every cup of water use one 'stag,' the frond of the plant. Blueberries can be added to sweeten or sugar or honey.

Jewelweeds or 'Touch Me Nots' can be found alongside rivers or ponds. They have orange-red flowers. In the spring, when the green seed pod is ripe, they spring open upon touch, thus "touch me not," Nelson said. Only the young plants are edible and are good as cooked greens, she said. The seeds can be used in trail mix. "They have a walnut flavor."

Baked cones. White pine cones can be baked. Find the compact green, sticky, sappy cones in the early summer. Put in the oven on a metal baking sheet and they will open and the seeds will be dropped. The green pine needles can be used for a tea and since it's high in Vitamin C can be used as a cold cold elixor, Nelson suggested.

Wild for sarsaparilla. Grows on the forest floor, no taller than a foot high with a root beer-type smell. Use the roots to make a tea. Smells "woodsy" until cooked.

Winterberry, a.k.a checkerberry or teaberry. A ground cover with edible red berries that taste best after the first frost. The leaves have a strong wintergreen flavor. Easy to identify in the winter because it stays green and the berries stay on. Leaves are about the size of an adult thumb print, Nelson said. Break open the thick waxy leaf and it will smell heavily of wintergreen.

Indian cucumber. The starchy root is easily identified and gathered because they are just below the ground's surface. "Tastes like raw potatoes to me," Nelson said. Stands of it grow only in Eastern forests.

Can't kill it, eat it. Japanese Knotweed is an invasive that quickly takes over in gardens and yards. "So one thing we can do to control it is eat it," Nelson said. "You can eat the shoots in the spring like asparagus. Cook it, steam it."

Strip the leaves off the shoots, slice and steam. Flavor with butter and salt.

Sheep sorrel, or sweet grass can be in your grass. Another backyard weed, Sheep Sorrel is also called lemon grass and grows in clumps. The leaves have arrow-like shapes and frequently have reddish stems. "Try it in a salad," but remember, only try a little, especially the first time, Nelson said.