Edible Wild Food (Thistles) - Wild Food School #2

A foraging video from http://www.WildFoodSchool.co.uk on preparing thistles as human food. Many thistle species provide the forager with food, and it doesn't have to be survival food either. This brief video provides an insight into the choice and preparation of one type of edible thistle.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• edible wild food
• foraging weeds
• eating weeds
• outdoor survival
• wilderness
• mors kochanski
• bushcraft
• unusual cuisine

[Douglas12982]

Are you able to eat the root of a thistle? Are there any poisonous species of thistle that I would have to worry about eating? (roots or leaves)? Please let me know. By the way: great video.

[wildfoodschool]

There may well be members of the thistle family outside northern temperate zones which are poisonous, but I am not familiar with them. As for roots... the roots of the spear and field thistle are edible but not very exciting, while I have tackled the root of the Cotton Thistle [Onopordon acanthium] with no ill effect although it isn't generally listed in any of the foraging books. The stems of the marsh thistle are the best.

[AdamHintz]

How do you prepare bull thistle flower heads?

[wildfoodschool]

That's an Americanism I believe, and is what we call the Spear thistle. If that's the case then there's not a great deal to do with them on the edible side except to cook the fresh heads on embers and then dig out the receptacle at the bottom of the flowerhead.

[micers]

Boil the leaves it will make the leaves edible.

[SonattaMorales]

thank you for the excellent video!

[dougie336]

can you eat prickly sow thistles? if so which parts. great vid thanks :)

[AdamHintz]

Thanks!

[feralkevin]

Great video!