Forget about being well fed in sub freezing temps. Not going to happen.

Cultures that have endured such conditions have prepared for it during warmer, greener months.

In really cold weather your priorities are shelther, warmth and rescue or getting to greener and warmer pastures. Sure, one can fish through the ice, but only on a really good day is this worth the energy expenditure.

Sure, one can shoot a large game animal, but don't count on them standing in line waiting to be shot just so you don't go to bed hungry.

Have your stash ready or expend your energy moving on.

No pun intended, but that is the cold, harsh reality from a Wisconsinite currently living in single digit temps. It is simply unsurvivable without a stash of preparedness.

i'm with #5 on this--winter in the woods without food is like summer in the desert without water..

Maybe a Wisconsin winter is not survivable without a pre-prepared stash and / or a lot of luck, so let's move the theoretical discussion to - Northern California.

The Sierra Nevada mountains get plenty of snow and single digit temperatures, but the foothills are slightly more welcoming and the valleys better yet. There are also coast and interior mountain ranges that are several thousand feet high. Rain, fog, and night temperatures in the 30's and 40's are common. Mixed hardwood and pine forest with extensive scrub and brush are typical. Seasonal creeks will probably be flowing into permanent creeks and rivers, with riparian oaks, willows, poplars, etc.

So, what survival strategies for food foraging come to mind?

For those looking for a good foraging book, I highly reccomend 'The Forager's Harvest', by Samuel Thayer. Unlike most edible plant books, this book only covers a few plants(about 30). However it discusses each one in great detail, including how to identify, harvest, process, and prepare the plants for eating.

I have a Petersons' guide and though it covers many more plants, it provides very little useful information. I do not find it very helpful in identifying plants, and it is even less helpful about how to prepare them(usually giving a sentence or less on how to use the plants). Every plant is different, many of them need to be harvested and prepared in a very particular way, and simply saying "use as potherb" is not sufficient.

Also, this is a little off-topic, but for anyone interested in foraging for edible mushrooms, buy 'All the Rain Promises and More', by David Arora. I've looked at many mushroom books and this is the most useable(and entertaining) one I've seen, and one of the best field guides I have among any subject. The book is written for the Western US but many if not most of the mushrooms are common throughout the country, so it is useful there as well.

Almost all of the above seem to approach the idea as if stranded in the woods. Some of the things mentioned are found in residential areas, but not all. I can find a lot of small game and some deer in my suburban backyard. The same is true for some edible wild plants. But I also know where specific ornamental plants are located. For example, I could easily find a number of places where daylilies are planted, and most of the plant, includin the tubers, is edible, IIRC. So one might be able to forage by raiding a flower bed.

a good source for winter food would be to check out some Native American lore..the Algonguin's of Canada got that name from the Mohawks--it means bark eaters..which i assume they had to resort to in winter as a last ditch meal...maybe the Mohawks lived a bit farther south and had a better sort of food in winter--

I wonder if Blast' wild edible blog allows seasonal sorting? I'll go look and then edit this post to report.

Yes, his site has seasonal categories and also a link to an Ohio seasonal guide.

http://houstonwildedibles.blogspot.com/

I've been wanting to add a "what's available right now" section updated monthly, but it would only really be appropriate for the Houston area and maybe east along the Gulf Coast. Not to mention it'd take time.

-Blast

Hey cool, this is my 2000th post!

Greetings,

Having this thread in mind while at a large chain Book Store tonight, I checked on a "survival book" that I had seen in another store, that, as I recall, had a section on edible plants.

This store had none of these books left in stock but the clerk brought me to a section on "observing wildlife". She was going to show me a laminated pocket guide on edible wild plants. They were out of those also BUT, I am now the proud owner of the Medicinal Plants pocket field guide.

he Guide is a fold out, laminated sheet that compresses to fit into a pocket. Each entry has a detailed color drawing of each plant, a description of the plant, the habitat, and an entry of what the plant is used for and how it should be used.

I am impressed with the fold out pocket guide that it will now go into my Personal Support Kit. I will be checking back with book stores as I will be looking for the book I was originally looking for AND I want to find the copy of the Edible Plants Pocket Field Guide that the clerk was helping me to look for tonight.

Do you have that ISBN Wildman?