Wild Idaho Edibles

Have you been drawn to the trails to revel in the wildflowers? Or magnetized by the energy of last week’s “strawberry” full moon? And did the solstice mesmerize you to marvel at the colorful evening sky?

I have been rearranging my schedule to get outside more and enjoy the magic of spring, witness the river’s powerful flow, soak up the rain. Vegetable gardens may have been stressed by last week’s frost, but nature’s vegetables are abundant. Yes, wild vegetables!

Out Quigley Canyon, my daughter and I had counted over twenty species of wildflowers growing near the pump track before finding a fuchsia bloom that looked like an allium. Sure enough, when we pulled it from the earth, there was a tiny egg-shaped bulb and the aroma of onion! A little research indicated it was not Asae’s onion – an endangered Idaho species – but an aspen or twincrest onion, which elk and other animals also snack on.

Later, hiking Croy Canyon, I found salsify growing next to the same wild onions. Salsify’s yellow flower atop a robust stalk may not be as aromatic as lupine or as delicate as a buttercup, but its long, hairy roots are edible. This plant is considered an invasive weed (oh! how many I pulled from the hillside behind my old house!). Salsify roots are akin to parsnips, though some say they taste like oysters; hence, it’s often called the oyster-plant.

Onions and roots – the makings of a delish dinner? Morels would obviously pair well with them, and I looked for other plants we could eat. Berries and currants wouldn’t be ripe for weeks, maybe months. Death camas was obviously out of the question. Hmm. I’d already eaten the dandelion greens from my un-sprayed yard; they’d be a lovely accompaniment to onions, salsify, and morels. Miner’s lettuce would have been a tasty side dish, too, but I’ve not seen it growing in the Wood River Valley.

Not knowing nearly enough about edible native plants in my home state, I turned to Google. Clearly I’m not the only one maintaining my garden beds by weeding other edibles: chickweed, common mallow and lambsquarters. I also learned that some flower petals are edible – of course they are! Dandelion flowers are supposedly delicious sauteed in butter, and the petals of columbine (my favorite wildflower), wild violets, and wild roses are edible, too. I could sprinkle those – or wild rose fruit (rose hips) over a dandelion-greens and lambsquarters salad.

For the entrée, wild-caught fish (or game from last autumn’s hunt) seasoned with field mint and wild ginger root. All right! With protein addressed and an abundance of leafy greens and root starches, what to drink?

I have brewed tea from yarrow and mullein leaves mixed with the lichen usnea – a combination that helps with immunity and colds – but do you know fireweed leaves make an excellent tea high in vitamin C; steeped wild ginger root can be a fever reducer; and roasted salsify roots can make a coffee substitute?

If you’re as excited as I am to start consuming plants from your yard or foraged from a trail, please first verify their identity. Many mushrooms, leaves, and roots are poisonous or deadly. Or, simply enjoy the knowledge that Mother Nature provides so much more than broccoli and spinach.