Looking at Ripe Solanum Nigrum Berries--unlocking the food...

Observing the most abundant Solanum nigrum--Black Nightshade--berries growing wild in my grounds. All plump and juicy. For descriptions and technical pictures, of these plants, refer to "Wild Food in Australia" by AB and JW Cribb. Another very good bush tucker book is "Wild Herbs of Australia and New Zealand" by Tim Low.

Always seek expert guidance when foraging for wild foods. Dont take my word for a plants edibility but, instead, check out several reliable sources of information (like books and websites). Also ask botanical and wild food experts for their guidance.

PS

Just found this good website with more information about Solanum nigrum--including pictures:

http://www.weeds.org.au/cgi-bin/weedident.cgi?tpl=plant.tpl&state=&s=...

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Tags:

• delicious
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• Ishmael
• Daniel Quinn
• Permaculture
• wild food
• foraging
• Bush Tucker
• berries
• berry
• edible
• Solanum nigrum
• Solanum nodiflorum
• Solanum americanum
• Black Nightshade
• Australia
• Aborigines
• landscaping
• Wild Food in Australia
• AB and JW Cribb
• Tim Low

[peacewalker7]

Do these contain glycoalkaloids?

[zuditaka]

@peacewalker7

Hi!

I am not a toxicologist or expert botanist.

Please check out Green Deane's EatTheWeeds YouTube pages, here, for more detailed information about edible nightshades.

Please be careful as, of course, you have the Deadly Nightshade growing in your country, and we don't want to make any mistakes or get poisoned! ♥

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[DrBombay911]

I have some of these that are growing in my raised bed. Apparently one of the seeds was mixed in with some tomato seeds I bought. I tried them, and they tasted like a sweet cherry tomato. I might try to make jam with some of it.

[zuditaka]

@DrBombay911 Well, do your homework, first, by looking it up in wild food books for your country. (You have DEADLY nightshade, in the USA, so be very careful!) Check out Green Deane's YouTube videos on foraging techniques for wild food--called "eattheweeds". He is in the States, and knows your foraging and wild food environment better than I do. He has done some great videos on edible nightshades, and is much more expert at botany and plant toxicoilogy than I am. Happy hunting and jam-making!!!

[99truckstop]

i tried one the other day it wasn't bitter but wasn't especially sweet either ....i used to think they were poisonous

[zuditaka]

@99truckstop I am glad you are still ALIVE !!!!! Like wild tomatoes, or anything else, some are gonna be tasty, more flavoursome, and some aren't. And soil, climate and water etc are going to make a difference to the end result, too. Watering certainly helps to plump them up! As for being thought poisonous--well, we should always be very careful with this family. And we don't have Deadly Nightshade in Australia, thank goodness. I used to be nervous, when I first tried em in Paddo, years ago. ♫

[CountToBen]

@peacewalker7 According to one of my edible plant books no....They have been widely consumed for hundreds of years with no problem

[YourDarkAccomplice]

@99truckstop - I used to play with these as a child and was always tempted to eat it. Little did I know this plant was what I've come to learn was "Nightshade." O.o

I think if adults have one or two, they won't be poisoned. Three is another case. But that may be for "Deadly Nightshade" ... not black nightshade, which is the case here.

[zuditaka]

@99truckstop Hmm! That's interesting. Tim Lowe's book says the Sydney ones are inclined to be bitter. But I remember picking them in the back streets of Paddington, and they seemed sweet enough to me. I should try eating them, again. They look so tasty, and plump here. ♥

[99truckstop]

apparently the two species have cross pollinated so much even the experts can't tell the difference between the introduced species and the native .