Please do not ingest any wild plant unless you are perfectly certain of its identity and know common look-alikes. We also advise that you forage wild foods with an experienced person
Past and Present Foraging
The eastern woodlands are a place rich in plant diversity, and its plants have provided food and medicine to those who have lived here for a very long time. The woodlands and fields once supplied the Native Americans with food to supplement wild game and agriculture. Eastern Woodland Native Americans were known to have planted maize, squash, and beans, and relied on wild game meat as a main source of protein, however they also included many wild growing foods into their diets (“Diet” n.d.; “RiverRoots: Susquehannock Culture” 2020).
Many of the foods that The Iroquois and Susquehannocks ate are still present today, however their uses may have been forgotten in our modern age of supermarkets and reliance on large scale farming.
Growing up with them, being in the woods, you would always scavenge around and eat some of them
Jack Sparks
Sparks Farm, with its woodlands, fields, and fencerows creates a great and diverse area for foraging wild foods. Some of these edible plants give nuts, some give berries, and some other food products such as tea, and salads.
Nuts
The Eastern woodlands are home to many trees that yield useful nuts, many of which can be found on Sparks Farm Property. Shagbark hickory trees are common on the property and produce a nut that can be harvested in the fall. These have a great taste for those willing to crack the hull and dig out the meat (Peterson 1977). However, a look alike called the bitternut hickory also resides on the property, who yields a nut that has a very bitter taste and is not good to eat (Brockman 1968). While not native to the Eastern Woodlands and more to southern USA, the pecan also produces a great tasting nut (Brockman 1968). Several pecan trees that are cold tolerant were planted near the memorial garden, per Jack Sparks’ request.
While once very prevalent throughout the Eastern woodlands, the Chestnut produces a nut that is very flavorful. The American chestnut has disappeared for the Eastern United States due to chestnut blight, however Chinese chestnuts are present, as well as American x Chinese chestnuts are planted on the Sparks farm property. Nuts can be eaten raw, as well as roasted (Peterson 1977; Brockman 1968). If you want more information on American x Chinese Chestnut hybrids, please visit the American Chestnut Foundation Website at https://acf.org/.
Black Walnuts are very common at Sparks farm, with groves of them present across the fields. This tree produces a tasty nut that is harvested in autumn and must be dried and cracked similar to a hickory nut (Burns and Honkala 1990). American Beech also produces a good tasting triangular nut that is smaller, but similar to a hickory nut. With their smooth bark, they are easy to identify, however their nuts may be harder to find (Burns and Honkala 1990).
“We collected nuts all the time, there is still the black walnuts, there were all kinds of them here, and the hickory nuts, there are still lots of them around”
Jack Sparks
To a lesser extent, oaks are used for food. While high in tannins, causing a bitter taste, the nuts can be boiled with water exchanges to make the nut taste tolerable. While not often eaten by humans anymore, they can be dried and ground to make flour. You can find Oaks all throughout the woodlands and edges of fields on Sparks Farm. There are many types of oaks that grow on the property, however those belonging to the white oak family such as white oak, and chestnut oak taste better than those in the red oak family such as red oak, black oak, and pin oak. This is due to less tannins present in the white oak acorns (Peterson 1977; Brockman 1968).
Fruits
Summer and early fall in the Central Pennsylvania is full of brightly colored, sweet tasting treats. In the early summer months, the fencerows and field edges are full of great tasting black raspberries and blackberries, both of which can be found at Sparks farm. In the woodlands, wild blueberries can be found, often having a sweeter taste than those bought at the store. Throughout the property, in the forest as well as planted in the open, resides service berry trees. These fruits are similar to a blueberry, and if you are faster than the birds, they can be picked and eaten in early summertime (Peterson 1977). During later summertime, wild grapes can be found in the forest, who yield great tasting purple grapes (Peterson 1977). Even during the winter, berries such as teaberries can be found on in the ground cover.
With some searching, wild strawberries may be able to be found, which produce sweeter berries than those from the supermarket. In the forest, black cherries can also be found, which yield a small sweet cherry. The scaly bark making this an easy tree to identify. In addition, hawthorns and crabapples are present, yielding fruits that are often sour raw, but can be made into an excellent jelly (Peterson 1977).
“We would use a lot of that stuff, wild strawberries, the raspberries, blackberries”
Jack Sparks
In surrounding areas, Pawpaw trees can be found, bearing fruits similar to a papaya, and tasting like a banana. These fruits are a great find, and often grow in groves in low lying areas (Brockman 1968). Along with pawpaw, the persimmon tree bears a fleshy fruit that is often used in baking and jams but can be eaten raw as well (Peterson 1977). Multiple persimmons have been planted near the house at Sparks farm, with fruits being harvested.
While not native to the eastern woodlands, the domestic apple, domestic pears, and peaches were a great part of the Sparks Farm history. Fruits similar to those you buy in the produce store, were grown on small farms across the country. Different fruits were planted for different uses (eating raw, apple butter, canning, pies, juices, etc). Jack Sparks recalled there being many types of fruits that were grown around the property, and some of those trees can still be seen.
There was all kinds of that here, and that was part of the existence. You didn’t have to go anyplace if you wanted an apple, or a pear, or a peach, or a plum
Jack Sparks
Other Foods
Some herbaceous plants that grow in the area can be eaten, and often would have been by those who lived here before us. With a little bit of looking, dandelions can be found all over the yard of Sparks Farm. These common yard plants can be eaten year-round, with leaves, roots, and flowers often harvested and prepared (Peterson 1977). With some more searching, wild parsnips, wild carrots, cattails, sorrels, and clovers can also be found on the property. Mushrooms such as turkey tail, and chicken of the woods can be found in the woodlands as well as other edible mushrooms that may spring up in soil or logs. (Please note that these are easy to confuse with potentially poisonous look-alikes, so be very careful in collection and eating of these plants).
“Spring of the year, we always had a lot of dandelions, and they were always cooked up with a hot bacon dressing”
Jack Sparks
Non-Native Plants
It is unfortunate that there are so many plants that are present that should not be in the eastern woodlands, however, there are several that have some benefits for those foraging food. Some of these edible invasive include wineberry berries, mile-a-minute weed leaves and fruits, autumn olive fruits, Japanese barberry fruits, Japanese knot weed shoots, multiflora rose hips, garlic mustard, and Japanese honeysuckle flowers. Some of these invasive species give us some great tasting fruits and foods that grow in great numbers and great densities, making foraging easy.
Happy Foraging
Enjoy the fields and woodlands around you, not only for what they can give you to eat, but also for what they can teach you. The more you get to know them, the more you may start to take responsibility for them
“My spiritual connection to the ground was always, what you take from it, you have to give back to it”
Caroline Sparks
Bibliography
Brockman, C. Frank. 1968. Trees of North America. New York, New York: Golden Press.
Burns, Russel M., and Barbara H. Honkala. 1990. Silvics of North America: Volume 2. Hardwoods.
“Diet.” n.d. Iroquois. Accessed September 3, 2022. http://iroquoisgroup24.weebly.com/food.html.
Peterson, Lee. 1977. A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America. Lee Peterson.
“RiverRoots: Susquehannock Culture.” 2020. Susquehanna NHA (blog). May 12, 2020. https://www.susquehannaheritage.org/susquehannock-culture/.
