What would you eat if you got lost in the woods?

Do you ever play the game: What would you eat if you got lost in the woods?

This afternoon I needed to do something to make myself feel better, normal, grounded. It was time for some therapeutic foraging in the form of my favorite game: What would you eat if you got lost in the woods?

I only planned to be gone for an hour, but one path led to another and I was quickly seduced by nature’s bounty. I didn’t photograph the many edible plants that weren’t in season (silverberries, oaks, elderberries, sumac, bramble berries, linden flowers, serviceberries, knotweed, grapes, black cherries, dock, bracken fern, and cattails). Very soon, I felt like my self again.

Here’s what’s on the menu, in order of appearance:

Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora)

Lamb’s quarters (Chenopodium album)

Dame’s rocket (Hesperis matronalis)

Oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)

Pennsylvania bay (Myrica pensylvanica)

Sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina)

Melilot (Melilotus albus)

Poke (Phytolacca americana)

Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

Spruce tips (Picea species)

That’s what I’d eat if I got lost in the woods. And I feel better just knowing it’s out there!