Backpacker
July/August 2017

 
Q. If I don’t have a field guide with me, how can I tell if a plant is safe to eat?

Plan A. Stick with what you know. Odds are, you’re familiar with yard plants—clover, dandelions, and chickweed—and other common edibles… 

About 95 percent of all other plants are at least partially edible, according to North Carolina foraging instructor and author Alan Muskat. Even so, don’t go munching willy-nilly without expert supervision unless you’re really starving…