Thistles

[MaryN]

You know, this thread really got me thinking. It was Metroyeti saying that he regretted not remembering information about plants that his Gran had given him. There must be so many of you who have memories of the "old ways" that could be so useful. Just in this posting, Luci has made a point about thistle seeds; Highlander mentioned his Dad telling him about eating leaves called "bread and butter", and in yet another post Scythe and MB were enthusing about pine needle tea.

Perhaps it would be possible for anyone who does have any memories about eating "wild food" to give us details. We all know about blackberries and crab apples, but are there any weeds or trees that make good eating or even usage for something. I vaguely remember somewhere reading that ground acorns were used as a substitute (!) for coffee.

Any food for free has got to be worth the knowledge, surely.