# Anybody but me do this?



## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

At various times of the year I like to walk around the neighborhood and find out what's growing/living out there I can eat if I have to.this year I find:

Dandelions 
Polk
Wild lettuce
wild turnips
Lamb's quarter
Young pines [for a nice dose of vitamin C]
wild pears
figs
and pitiful few acorns

For meat there's:
Turkey
Canadian goose
squirrel
Mud turtle
possum[where's the wild sweet taters when you need them?!]
raccoon
and probably coyote again soon.

Not much of a diet but enough to keep one alive.:flower:


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

I dont make specific forays around the area looking, but I try to keep a mental list of where everything is. In this area, my mental list goes back to childhood so I have a pretty good idea of where a good portion of the edibles are.

The only problem with a lot of them now a days is that the new land owners dont much tolerate trespassers.

There is quite a bit of food out there if you only know where to look, not enough to sustain a foraging population but enough to supplement a storage diet.


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

True. let alone one raised on Cheetos and dew.but they'll die off fast!


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## FatTire (Mar 20, 2012)

Yes, and I can add in lots of citrus, some apples, cherries and apricots, blackberries, plums, deer, dogs and cats, all within a 3 mile radius


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## FatTire (Mar 20, 2012)

Oh plus fish and two abandoned olive orchards


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## SlobberToofTigger (Dec 27, 2011)

I regularly walk around looking for food. Not sure why really as I am not hungry most of the time any more (when I was a teenager I was starving 10 minutes after a meal.. Grin). Probably habit more than anything else. I found an excellent patch of ripe blackberries growing up through the landscaping last week at a mall. When I saw the manager later I asked him about it and he said they had been having a hard time killing them... As you can imagine I ate them!


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## FatTire (Mar 20, 2012)

do you also look at places in terms of defensible space, with good exits? i do this when planning routes to bug out locations, and just whenever im going somewhere new. i look for high ground, concealment, paths to double back...


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

FatTire said:


> Yes, and I can add in lots of citrus, some apples, cherries and apricots, blackberries, plums, deer, dogs and cats, all within a 3 mile radius


Their seems to be quite a bit more grazing in your neck of the woods, that fruit and "stuff" sounds pretty good. Here the mainstay of foraging would likely drop fairly quickly down to things like Acorns and Mesquite Beans(not that theres anything wrong with that). We do have a major river about a mile(Brazos) from here that is full of native fish, clams and crawdads but that would likely be pretty crowded with foragers rather quickly.

Seasonally, we have quite a few wild fruits and nuts and its likely that most would not have the knowledge to exploit them(good for me). We have a lot of peanuts that have gone wild(from the farmers) and I know not many could recognize those. Deer and other "critters" would likely go fairly quickly...especially that big black lab with the bright red collar that keeps digging in my garden. I have no problem eating Rover or Kitty, most likely have eaten them a few times before.

There's quite a lot of food out on the country side for those who have scoped them out and know where to look. Will make a good addition to the pantry if/when necessary.


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## SlobberToofTigger (Dec 27, 2011)

Davarm said:


> ... Here the mainstay of foraging would likely drop fairly quickly down to things like Acorns and Mesquite Beans(not that theres anything wrong with that). We do have a major river about a mile(Brazos) from here that is full of native fish, clams and crawdads but that would likely be pretty crowded with foragers rather quickly....


Your area also has a lot of pecan trees which are an excellent source of proteins and fats.


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## pixieduster (Mar 28, 2012)

SlobberToofTigger said:


> Your area also has a lot of pecan trees which are an excellent source of proteins and fats.


Pecan pie! We have so many that the kids collect them off the ground and sell for 1.00 pound in the shell. Sounds worth it to me. We have a mix of Woods and Bayous. Have to get a book to see what all is edible but there is lots.


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## Homegrowngirl (Apr 19, 2011)

We have an array of wildlife just in the back yard, deer, wild turkey, grouse, the occasional moose, elk, and bear. A creek just beyond the back fence, and a river not a quarter mile away. We have hazelnuts growing all around the property, huckleberries, fiddlehead ferns, wild mushrooms and strawberries and cattails.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

SlobberToofTigger said:


> Your area also has a lot of pecan trees which are an excellent source of proteins and fats.


Yeeeaa, got a lot of pecan trees here(State Tree), within just a few miles to the east and north their are half dozen large orchards. Several of them are full of old verities nuts and the owners are letting them go to lumber, no one gathers the nuts anymore. Crying shame.

Just across the street is an orchard(30 acres) in that category but I have known the owner all my life 50+ years and we get all the nuts we can carry off. The only catch is that we cant drive through the orchard so we really have to "Carry" them off. They are pretty good and fairly large but are a bear to crack.


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## SlobberToofTigger (Dec 27, 2011)

Davarm said:


> Yeeeaa, got a lot of pecan trees here(State Tree), within just a few miles to the east and north their are half dozen large orchards. Several of them are full of old verities nuts and the owners are letting them go to lumber, no one gathers the nuts anymore. Crying shame.
> 
> Just across the street is an orchard(30 acres) in that category but I have known the owner all my life 50+ years and we get all the nuts we can carry off. The only catch is that we cant drive through the orchard so we really have to "Carry" them off. They are pretty good and fairly large but are a bear to crack.


I am beyond jealous! I have another 10 to 15 years before I get any pecans from my trees. So in the meantime I have been planting hazelnuts so I can get nuts in just a few years. Grin.


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

Lots of wild pecans here but they taste like @$$.


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## ms_a2gwus (Feb 27, 2012)

Gee, everyone has nice stuff to pick from. I mostly see junipers in my area... maybe I better learn how to make gin (for trading, of course!)...:dunno:


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## SlobberToofTigger (Dec 27, 2011)

Magus said:


> Lots of wild pecans here but they taste like @$$.


You might consider putting some fertilizer around a few of them that has Zinc in it. If it improves the nut meat flavor you have another good source of food.


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

good idea but they're not on my property.


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