Get to know the edible landscape plants around you

Most cities have landscaping that includes edible and useful plants. Daylily tubers, pine needle tea, etcetera could stretch out your resources in a pinch.

I'm sure Blast and others will direct you to information sources (like his website).

Yeah, they may be heavily treated with pesticides, herbicides, and enjoy a nice coat of "smog" but in a survival emergency ....

How are the docks treating you?

I gotta tell ya, in the urban environment, if it gets to that point, I will likely be making more use of my glass breaking and lock picking skills rather than plant identification. YMMV.

Craig.

And after you and the other looters have cleaned out the food...?

With his mentality... people next? You never know... *shocking*

I know how you feel, even with the books, and little "guides" i have... it's still hard. I mean I can't even locate 50%+ of the items they say I should be able to find.

Hey, Todd, take a look at the Sacramento Tracker Yahoo Group. Plant ID and lots of other survival skill stuff near you. No fees or formalities.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The_Sacramento_Tracking_And_Wilderness_Traing_Group/

Really. Consider this scenario: Trapped in your office building for days with no electricity and no potential rescue anytime soon. Your co-workers are starving and the only food is inside a vending machine that won't operate because the electricity is out. What do you do?

I'll gladly pay the guy for the food and damages after everyone makes it out and I'll be happy to explain my actions to a judge. We're talking about saving lives, not a five-finger discount on a DVD player. Geez.

Craig.

Craig - Your original post makes it sound like you intend to break into someones home, garage, shed, and take their stuff.

I also don't see how you can be "trapped in your office" for days... if you can bust the vending machine to get "snacks" why not bust a window to get OUT of the building and walk home?

I don't think anyone has an issue with busting a vending machine open in your office if you are stuck there with no power for days on end...

But just saying you are going to pick locks and bust glass and take what you need can be taken a LOT of different ways

I think that we all here have the morals to use our "alternate" skills responsibly. Meaning that if a lock is between us and feeding people who are in need of food or finding shelter, we would find a way to circumnavigate it. I would like to think that the people on this forum would leave a note or something explaining it.

But that is just my opinon of those that I see post.

Works for me!
-Blast

I think I have to agree with Craig on this one. In an urban environment I just can't see a need for resorting to eating plants or shrubs.

In the case of a disaster where you'd have to find some form of nutrition (i.e., some form of multi-day event like Katrina), I'd suggest that vending machines, unmanned stores and even abandoned homes are perfectly acceptable sources of food. You may need to make reparations later, but I think surviving such a disaster comes first.

I think the big problem here is how to determine what is abandoned and what is not.

I know I'd be very upset if I went out to try to find my wife or a family member only to come home and find my place robbed of MY SUPPLIES because I had the foresight to have some extra food.

OR, even worse, what if you thought it was abandoned because you couldn't see anyone, or no one answered the door but I was out back getting some fruit or veggies from the garden... I walk back in my back door to find you rummaging through my cabinets.... that wouldn't end well.

Trust me, I know many people think they can just take what they need but that will get you in even more trouble than you are in.

Obviously if you are STARVING TO DEATH you are gonna do what you gotta do but that doesn't normally occur during a "Katrina" like event.. you get hungry, you may not eat for a few days but you are not going to go 3 weeks w/out food and starve to death.

Todd,

You're right of course, resorting to savaging in homes would be the highest risk and therefore an absolute last resort.

I guess a problem with discussing this is actually trying to picture a situation we'd find ourselves in where, in an urban environment, we'd actually have to forage for food to survive off of.

I'm trying to image a scenario where I'd actually resort to picking dandelions to survive. I'd assume that I'd have to be in a position to understand I'd be without help for more than you'd normally be prepared for (i.e., this is a highly unlikely scenario I've found myself in).

It would also have to be something that didn't occur while at home, but where I couldn't expect to be able to make it to any sort of friendly location within many days.

You're likely right that something like Katrina wouldn't fit this criteria; so were likely talking about something more catastrophic; maybe like that asteroid mini-series just on TV .

So maybe we should step back and first ask in what situation would we find ourselves where we would have to start grazing through the landscaping plants?

Denis - Well said!

Dandelion wine?

More relevant, maybe the question should be "what landscaping plants do we need to stay away from?" Oleander and Dieffenbachia come to mind.

If you work in a high-rise with vending machines, be sure to keep a ResQMe in your desk drawer.

Local easy-to-identify food around here: Cattails. You can't mistake them for anything else.

Cattail soup (pollen scraped off heads)
Cattail root shish-kabob
Roasted cattail roots
Cattail and squirrel stew
Cattail and pigeon quiche
Creamed cattail roots
Pitbull stuffed with cattail roots, pit-roasted

The recipes are endless, but bring a good supply of seasoning, they're pretty bland.

Lunchtime?
-Blast

Sago palms
Chinaberry tree
Pokeweed more than 6" tall
Virgina Creeper
Chinese Privet
Trumpet vine
Poinsettia
Butterfly weed (aka Mexican milkweed)
Mushrooms

-Blast

You are making me hungry!!!

MUSHROOMS?!?!?! Come awn, live a little haha

ResQMe won't do jack against high impact polycarbonate. Its made for automotive safety glass which is designed to break into tiny pieces upon moderate impact. Think kinetic energy, think fire extinguisher.

Craig.

A cattails, the library paste of the plant kingdom.
-Blast

A very, very bad situation if all you have is foraging for plants. Maybe the kind we try to prepare for here?

And, of course, in almost any lesser emergency situation wouldn't it be nice to stretch your supplies and add something nutritious and tasty?

I guess the question is are we looking at situations beyond those we should reasonably prepare for? Short of some sort of TEOTWAWKI scenario, I'm having a hard time thinking of a situation where we'd have to resort to foraging for food in the city. Unless of course that is what we're talking about and I just didn't get it?

Don't get me wrong, the knowledge doesn't hurt, but I just can't see how it applies to urban preparedness.

I had to scare the deer off, it was getting to know my edible landscape too well this morning and then again it came back tonight!

dweste is on.

One of the bigger things to consider is the economic situation. While it's bad enugh now here in the U.S., there are things that could lead it to taking a turn for the worse. IF we have a situation involving a devaluation of the dollar, or your local currency, food shortages are likely. Iceland had a currency collapse and shortages the last year. See: http://www.naturalnews.com/News_000360_Iceland_banking_crisis_food_supply.html

I think one of the scenarios that could exist is a series of compounded problems. If economic crisis precedes natural or other disasters, then relief provided to victims could be insufficient. If pandemic precedes natural disaster, then the same could occur. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

Also, crisis need not be everyone's. If you are having your own economic crisis, then foraging could stretch your supplies and savings.

Hoooo Boy ..... We could really open a can of worms here. I really hope that I'm not stepping on any toes in that I'm still quite new in here.

To quote from Mr. Ritter on the home page

"The focus of Equipped To Survive™ is survival preparedness, preparing to get through a short-term emergency to return to civilization, either via rescue or by normalization of the situation as the emergency conditions cease. Survivalists and survivalism anticipate that the emergency or emergency conditions are permanent, that there will be no civilization as we know it to return to and no help or rescue--you're on your own forevermore, or at least for an extended period. The recent fiasco regarding Y2K is a classic example of this sort of thinking on a large scale."


I honestly can't think of a situation where in an urban environment I would need to resort to grazing on dandelions and day lilies. It's an interesting mental exercise, and I think people enjoy learning these kinds of things, but it may fall outside the scope of the forum.

Having said that, and going back a re-reading some of the other postings before I hit submit .... I would also have to question the legality of foraging in an urban environment. That was brought up from the perpective of helping oneself to someone elses garden. If it's part of your own property, that's one thing. Someone elses ... that's quite another.

Again, please let me say that if I am stepping on toes, PLEASE forgive me. That is in no way shape or form my intent.

LW

These are valid concerns, especially about foraging on land that isn't yours. I've been veiwing the discussions in this thread mainly from the point of view of a personal economic disaster. Dan said it best with:


From that angle I think this is a perfectly good/safe discussion as long as people do not talk about illegally harvesting.

My suggestion is to wander one's area and see what is out there. Then find out to whom it belongs. Once you know that try to become friends with the person so that if the need arises you have a good shot at being allowed to "eat the weeds". Most apartment complexes have assorted landscaping plants. Talk to the manager about harvesting whatever nuts or berries that might be present. You might even be able to influence what's planted there if you are really smooth.

Public parks/nature preserves are a gray area. A number of them in my area encourage people to pick the dewberries and wild grapes though sometimes it can depend on who is in charge that day. Ask for permission and abide by their response.

Hope this clarifies stuff a little.
-Blast

I think foraging dumpsters behind supermarkets, or in front depending where they put their expired goods would yield a MUCH higher amount of calories not to mention a greater assortment of goodies!

Actually I would have to disagree with you there, most cities don't have edible and useful plants of any significance. And the towns and cities that do would be subject to seasonal variation. i.e. they would be only available during a 1-2 months during the year. Its tough enough finding edible food in the wilderness let alone a large tract of land covered in motorways, high rise buildings, high density housing and industrial sites. Many cities do not even have any large parkland areas and recreational areas offering wooded areas of any size large enough for even 1 person to find enough wild food to last even a few days even during those couple of favourable months of the year. Even good agricultural land using modern industrial farming methods is quite barren of wild edibles unless the famer has set aside land strips around the field specifically for wildlife i.e. hedgerows

If survival in the urban area required the aquisition of high energy nutrious food then searching out wild edibles would be way down on the activities list, whereas supermarket and domestic bin raking skills during the night would be much more productive in the urban survival setting. If food was in such short supply then hunting urban wild life such as pigeons, squirrels etc taken using an air gun or sling shot would be next on the activities list. At this point in time a serious effort would be needed to get out of dodge. Urban survival would most likely require 'Hobo' thinking rather than any 'Ray Mears wild foods' thinking.

I think the last 2 post make great points. If the survival scenario is personal as opposed to corporate (i.e., I'm SOL but everyone else is fine), then the urban survival skills required are those employed by the very poor and homeless today.

A bigger part of survival may include the change in mindset from absolute self reliance to asking for some help (friends & family, church programs, food banks, etc).

In assembling our urban survival strategies, my only small point is that edible plant foraging should not be forgotten.

If you are separated from other sources of food by conditions, bigger looters, etcetera, then it would be helpful to be able to survive anyway.

Even the inner bark of certain trees may be able to get you by until the next dumpster comes along.

If this idea is low on your priority list, then by all means work on the higher priority stuff first.

Very good point. I live near a 580+ acre park in Brooklyn that could provide an abundance of food. Plus, the city makes it easy to take advantage of this skill, to anyone who wants to take the time.

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Public%20Tour%20Stuff/Tour%20Announcements/Prospect.11.22.09.html

OK, let me throw a hypothetical at the Kmart shoppers.

If you were hungry and you saw an apple tree loaded with ripe apples, even windfall apples on the ground, would you eat some?
If you were facing a food shortage in your house would you fill your pockets with them and give some to your wife?
Would you get a shopping cart and load it up with them so you could feed your family and the neighbour too?
What about a landscaping planter that the city parks department had full of ornamental kale?

Are wild and wasteland plants seasonal?
Yes, you bet they are, and opportunistic too.

You are not going to find greens in the middle of a parking lot or in the middle of winter. If you open your eyes and go for walks you will start to see much more than you expect though.

As for the complaint about identifying them being hard, well get a good book on plants and take a senior citizen out for a stroll.

One last hint, most of the plants you will find interesting as food plants inside cities are cultivated plants or escapees from cultivation, and your worst competitors for them are squirrels, racoons and birds.

Hi Blast,

Thanks for the clarification. I was just getting visions of people coming home and finding their tomato plants stripped or of people shooting the geese that hang out at the local golf course.

Thanks,
LW

P.S. Sorry, wasn't trying to be the Sheriff ......well, maybe a Barney Fife kind of deputy.

[quote] P.S. Sorry, wasn't trying to be the Sheriff ......well, maybe a Barney Fife kind of deputy. /quote]


-Blast

The maclura pomifera is a deciduous tree. Its fruit, commonly referred to as "horse apples" here in Texas, is also poisonous. Growing up in Dallas County, where they are plentiful, I heard many times, on school play grounds, that they are poisonous.

Jeanette Isabelle

If it comes to that then you need to visit your local food pantry. Better yet, if you want more than the box of food they hand out each month per household, volunteer at the food pantry. There is almost no limit as to what volunteers are allowed to take for their household.

Jeanette Isabelle

Plus one on the volunteering Jeanette.
One of my aunts used to volunteer until she became fed up with how much food they were wasting out of laziness.
I can remember here with a van full of sacks of potatoes.
She had picked them up from a food shippers warehouse. The food bank personnel were unwilling to help her unload them or to re-bag them into smaller bags.
She had the same problem with other bulk goods and with fresh produce.

I would also recommend planting edible landscaping just because we can.
I have started to plant Nanking Cherries everywhere possible.

IMHO, the volunteering institute will extinct really quickly if TSHTF, labor for food and slavery will take it's place. Same fate upon dumpster divers. The food is not growing there by itself.

Is there any perspective for an at home hydroponics for urban survival?

Also I'm totally disagree with your mushrooms hatred. It's a very good source of nutrition, but requires some more practical knowledge and theory than dumpster diving. This book is all one may need to get started: http://www.amazon.com/Mushrooms-Demystified-David-Arora/dp/0898151694

I never ran into that problem at the food pantry. The one issue which pops up is my obsessive compulsiveness. I drive my fellow volunteers crazy with how I organize can goods.

Once organized I can pass by a stocked shelf and if there one item that is missing, I immediately know what that item is. Also, though this is not apart of my job description, I do inventory once everything is shelved. One time I saw that we had double the green beans, compared to everything else, so I made a recommendation that we double the amount of green beans we give out for a duration of time. As Joel would often say to me, "This is not rocket science."

Jeanette Isabelle

If the stuff does hit the fan, it is likely we would give out one can of soup per household rather than two. Drinks and snack foods may also be reduced to ensure that every household at may least get something. This particular food pantry was founded in 1993. Last week we set a new record: sixty-one households.

However, you bring up an interesting point. I'll be sure to discuss this with our team when I return Tuesday.

Jeanette Isabelle

I think you are right about the foodbanks and the dumpsters disappearing very fast.
I suspect the food (if it was entering the cities at all) would be diverted to refugee centers and relief organizations.

Mushrooms Demystified is a great text. I have a copy.
It is a bit to involved as a starter text though.
Mushrooming Without Fear by A. Schwab might be a better text to start with, even if some people might find it too simple.
It is still important to go mushroom picking with people who know what they are doing at first though.
Even if you identify correctly it really helps to be shown where to look for different mushrooms and how to find them.

Sometimes edibles in a city are handy. I have made a tea out of willow bark for a headache that my lady friend had. we were at a park in the middle of town. She didn't want to leave and I didn't want her to be in pain. She was surprised when it worked. Granted if the SHTF wild edibles would be a low priority in a major city, but if its TEOTWAWKI then it could be life saving. I would get out of the city quickly, but Reasons beyond my control could prevent that. I am thinking of the movie Legend. Then it could save your bacon.

What grows in a city can also grow outside a city. So knowing the wild, or introduced, edibles in your area is a good thing, assuming that you would like to survive any possibility.

Sounds nice for me to try but..
Direct quote from eHow.com (and I have read it from too many other sources to ever want to have a lady friend test it!)

:DO NOT consume this tea if you are pregnant or think you might be pregnant. It has been known to cause the death of an unborn child within 24 hours! (though no one is sure why as of yet--always consult your physician first.)

If anyone has further information on this or IS a physician it would be nice to hear thoughts on this.

Doctors are so afraid of a lawsuit...

Medicinal uses of plants are all part of the "get-to-know."

I did discuss this with my coworkers and if a crisis were to happen, the plan is to give out fewer items per household so that more households are able to get some food.

Jeanette Isabelle