As fall approaches, many plants are putting the finishing touches on their crop of seeds. The animals take advantage of this bounty to fatten up for the winter. While most of us don’t think of it in these terms, the seeds of fall do usually contain lots of fats/oils that can help sustain you in tough times. Remember to positively identify a plant before you eat it. Search out local resources to help you with the ID process (Agricultural office, veterinarians specializing in farm animals who will know a lot of the weeds, college with plant classes, or others with a solid knowledge of plant ID).
Hackberry – Celtis occidentalis
This native tree can be easily identified by its bark which often looks like someone took oatmeal and threw it on a smooth surface resulting in bumps and ridges appearing at random.
There can be variations on the amount of oatmeal. Some trees (especially lower on the trunk) can be full of tall ridges covering the surface, while others will only have a few bumps here and there. The ridges, especially, can seem corklike if broken off. Higher up the trunk the bumps usually thin out to scattered blobs. The Sugarberry (Celtis laevigata) a close southern relative, is so similar that I’m treating both as the same for this article. The alternate leaves are oval with a pointed end with finely serrated margins (think sawblade with small teeth). The Hackberry can grow up to 50 feet and is found most everywhere east of the Rockies, although I most commonly find it near water. The fruit is the delicious and nutritious edible. brownish purple when ripe, ripening in September and hanging onto the tree into winter.
The fruit occurs singly, one per stem, and one stem per leaf node. A thin layer of flesh surrounds a thin shelled seed. The flesh is sweet and the seed is somewhat nutty in flavor combining into a date-like taste. Cracking the seed with your teeth will be easy or hard depending on the tree and its environment (as well as your teeth). You can also pound them into a paste which will be just as delicious and easier on your teeth. The only downside to this fruit is that it’s often high on the tree making it hard to get, but the flavor makes it worth a fair amount of effort in my opinion.
Black Walnut – Juglans nigra
This tree, which can grow to 100 feet, is highly prized for its wood as well as the nuts it produces. The bark is made up of ridges with deep valleys which can sometimes make an X pattern. The leaves are long, alternate, pinnately compound, which means a lot of alternate leaflets on a long stem.
When the leaves fall, they leave large leaf scars which have 3 bundle scars inside, creating a “monkey face”.
The nuts are enclosed in a green husk which turns black with age, this husk is not divided like hickory nut husks but is continuously solid all the way around. The husk contains iodine, tannins, and juglone, the brown pigment which stains your hands. The nuts are best harvested after they have fallen to the ground (and before mowing). When harvesting walnuts, wear gloves to keep your hands from getting stained or irritated by the juice.
The nutshell is round with little ridges making it look like a blackish brown brain. My grandpa used to drill a hole in a board, then take a hammer and pound the walnuts through the hole to remove the husk. Or you can step on them to remove the husk, just be careful not to twist your ankles. After a few weeks of allowing the nuts to dry, take a hammer and pound the nut to break the shell and then separate the nut pieces from the shell. This may seem like a lot of work, and you would be right! However, it’s worth it to get a delicious nut high in protein, fats, and many minerals. Lastly, the husk and leaves can be used medicinally!
About Me:
John Miller loves the outdoors and enjoys learning about all the things the Creator has made. He enjoys hunting, fishing, backpacking, and finding new moths. While looking into prepping in 2008, he realized that developing skills such as knowing wild edibles and bushcraft skills were more important than storing food. Ever since then he has been learning and slowly working on the skills of these two disciplines. He currently lives in Cleveland, TN with his wife Rachel and six children.
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