Category Archives: Wild Edibles

Wild Edibles

Foraging for our Food

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The Northwest Coast is an incredibly rich environment. Between wild edibles and the bounty from the sea, I don’t think you can starve on this amazing coastline. You can get hungry but if you’re not picky, there will always be something to eat!

As we start paddling  around Vancouver Island, we will showcase some of the wild foods we find on the way. As a teaser, here are some of the wild plants we gathered on previous kayaking journeys on the BC coastline. There will be many more to come!!

Huckleberries are plentiful in the coastal forest. Big bushes of them are sometimes so heavy with juicy berries that they are drooping over a little and one plant could fill up a small pot! They come in red and blue. Blue huckleberries are also sometimes called blueberries. There is some debate on the difference between a blue huckleberry and a blueberry but what experts agree on is that they both look and taste the same!
Huckleberries are plentiful in the coastal forest. Big bushes of them are sometimes so heavy with juicy berries that they are drooping over a little and one plant could fill up a small pot! They come in red and blue. Blue huckleberries are also sometimes called blueberries. There is some debate on the difference between a blue huckleberry and a blueberry but what experts agree on is that they both look and taste the same!
Salmonberries are some of the early berries in the summer. They come in red and yellow and sweetness is not related to colour - both are delicious and sweet! This is the wild cousin of the modern domesticated raspberry
Salmonberries are some of the early berries in the summer. They come in red and yellow and sweetness is not related to colour – both are delicious and sweet! This is the wild cousin of the modern domesticated raspberry
Wild ginger can be found in shady, moist areas on the Northwest coast. Interestingly, though they have the same smell, wild ginger is not actually related to the tropical ginger root that we use in cooking! The leaves not the root is used when cooking with wild ginger.
Wild ginger can be found in shady, moist areas on the Northwest coast. Interestingly, though they have the same smell, wild ginger is not actually related to the tropical ginger root that we use in cooking! The leaves not the root is used when cooking with wild ginger.
Wild onions that we found on a little island in Desolation Sound. We used the green leaves like chives
Wild onions that we found on a little island in Desolation Sound. We used the green leaves like chives
Glasswort is a succulent salt-tolerating plant that we found in the intertidal area on some beaches. We found this plant pictured on a beach in the Discovery Islands. It is edible raw as a crunch bit in salads but they are really salty. We boiled it in fresh water and drained that water away before cooking with glasswort.
Glasswort is a succulent salt-tolerating plant that we found in the intertidal area on some beaches. We found this plant pictured on a beach in the Discovery Islands. It is edible raw as a crunch bit in salads but they are really salty. We boiled it in fresh water and drained that water away before cooking with glasswort.

Disclaimer

This page is just a teaser and not a replacement for a good guide to edible plants if you’re interested in wild edible foods. We carry two guides with us when we’re out foraging. If you don’t know what it is, don’t eat it because there are plants out there that are poisonous.

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