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It's springtime on the eastern slope of the Cascade Mountains so the Arrow leaf Balsamroot is in full bloom. I have read that it is edible and was one of the staples in the diet of the local native American tribes, so yesterday I went and gathered some roots and leaves.
I only used the knife in my BOB to do the digging, since I won't be carrying a shovel in my pack. I was only able to dig down about a foot. The taproot on the plant can get up to 2 meters long according to one of the reference books. I gathered 3 pieces of root & a double handful of the leaves & flowers.
Since there was a pond close by I also gathered 10 stalks of new growth cattail (typha family).
This morning I cooked them both.
The balsamroot leaves and flowers had a very pleasant taste, somewhat like a strong mustard green. The bigger parts of the of the leaf veins didn't cook down very well, too chewy, but I liked the taste & texture of the smaller parts.
All of my reading said that historically the root was baked and then ground/pounded into flour. My experience this morning is that the root has a very rough bark-like outer part, and a is stringy, & fibrous. I tried to boil it (note to self, don't forget cooking experiment on stove while using wifes favorite saucepan & allow to boil dry) after 45 minutes it was still too stringy to eat.
So my conclusion is that the tender small leaves would be a valuable easily gathered survival food, the root is going to take some more experimenting.
The young tender shoots of the cattail can be eaten raw. What I do is only eat the parts that don't show big fibers. Usually the white inner part. The wife said it tasted better than celery. I always think of bamboo shoots, or water chestnuts, it's a bit bland, but OK.
I did cook some of the larger (greener) parts of the cattail and it made it less chewy but didn't do anything for the taste.
I then combined the balsamroot & cattail and boiled them together, and was presently surprised with the results. They would make a good addition to a stew to help fill-out a meger base.
***A note of caution, don't eat a lot of a new plant until you know how it may affect you.***
I only used the knife in my BOB to do the digging, since I won't be carrying a shovel in my pack. I was only able to dig down about a foot. The taproot on the plant can get up to 2 meters long according to one of the reference books. I gathered 3 pieces of root & a double handful of the leaves & flowers.
Since there was a pond close by I also gathered 10 stalks of new growth cattail (typha family).
This morning I cooked them both.
The balsamroot leaves and flowers had a very pleasant taste, somewhat like a strong mustard green. The bigger parts of the of the leaf veins didn't cook down very well, too chewy, but I liked the taste & texture of the smaller parts.
All of my reading said that historically the root was baked and then ground/pounded into flour. My experience this morning is that the root has a very rough bark-like outer part, and a is stringy, & fibrous. I tried to boil it (note to self, don't forget cooking experiment on stove while using wifes favorite saucepan & allow to boil dry) after 45 minutes it was still too stringy to eat.
So my conclusion is that the tender small leaves would be a valuable easily gathered survival food, the root is going to take some more experimenting.
The young tender shoots of the cattail can be eaten raw. What I do is only eat the parts that don't show big fibers. Usually the white inner part. The wife said it tasted better than celery. I always think of bamboo shoots, or water chestnuts, it's a bit bland, but OK.
I did cook some of the larger (greener) parts of the cattail and it made it less chewy but didn't do anything for the taste.
I then combined the balsamroot & cattail and boiled them together, and was presently surprised with the results. They would make a good addition to a stew to help fill-out a meger base.
***A note of caution, don't eat a lot of a new plant until you know how it may affect you.***
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