I am a Guinea Pig
Testing on Myself
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** Disclaimer: I am NOT an expert, and using yourself as a guineapig is not recommended
I’m forever collecting wild plants and trying new ways to cook, eat and preserve them. Learning by trial and error, I’m by no means an expert - yet. I read and research tons before committing to ingesting new and foreign things. Some books and articles claim benefits of whichever plant or preservation method I’m considering, while others call it unsafe. I have to draw my own conclusions and try not to poison myself.
What that means is that I’m my own guinea pig.
Storage
Learning to trust my own canning has been a learning curve. My main rule is that if we’re water bath canning, the recipe needs to be acidic or sugary enough that bacteria won’t want to grow. Jams, pickles and sauces get water bathed before going on the shelf. Other things like meat get pressure canned.
I get a bit ‘conspiracy theorist’ about what we’re told is safe. Canning milk and creamy soups is supposedly a no-go. Yet we can buy it at the store. Doesn’t that seem a bit fishy? I’m going to try pressure-canning milk to see how well it lasts. If it works for raw meat, it should work for just about anything, really.
Curt and I are eating many canned things that we’ve made;
Huckleberries, no sugar added.
Rabbit, black bear, beef and pork.
Pickled peppers, Fireweed, Daisy Capers and the list goes on.
Poisoning Myself
The only time I poisoned myself was not from wild foraged foods. Though some of the things that I’ve tried didn’t sit right or were a mild shock to the system, the worst reaction I had was from quinoa. I don’t even like quinoa! I suppose I was trying to keep an open mind.
We were living in town, and I didn’t take the time to rinse the dry quinoa grains before cooking them. I had no idea how necessary that step was. An hour later I was stuck lying on the bed, my stomach in stitches. Had it not been the beginning of the pandemic, I would’ve gone to the hospital but I waited a bit longer and thankfully it dissipated.
Plant Identification
When it comes to potentially poisonous plants, I don’t mess around. There is an edible root in the area called cow parsnip, that has a deadly look alike. It and Water Hemlock are easily distinguishable by an expert. Though I’m 99% certain it’s cow parsnip, and one clear confirmation was when ranging cows came by and ate it - I simply don’t experiment with it at all. There are plenty of other interesting and valuable plants to experiment with.
Gradual Introduction
I like to start small. A leaf here, or a few in a salad. Then I level up as I get more comfortable. Even if the plant or mushroom in question is absolutely good and beneficial - it’s still something new. Like visiting a foreign country and eating with the locals, your gut can react to a sudden change in uncomfortable ways.
When it comes to showing other people wild edibles, I’m happy to be a Guinea Pig and share my experiences. I hope to inspire others to try new and weird things, with emphasis on exercising a level of caution you’re comfortable with.
Worth the Risk
Finding my own truths about food storage and wild foods is important in my goals for self-sufficiency. Before I moved into the woods, Curt and I pressure canned meat once. We over salted it, and were still afraid to eat it. Now, after learning from that experience we have 4 different kinds of meat on the shelf that we pressure canned using minimal to no salt.
Last summer I learned about sheep sorrel, which grows all around my yard. I put on my Guinea pig hat and gave it a try. It tastes like green apple! Such a pleasant little treat to munch on a hot day. I can’t say that everyone should experiment to the degree that I do. I’m happy to test things out, share my experiences and encourage others to give new things a nibble.
I loved this article as I know you are an experimental individual. I remember when you tried the berries hanging on my fence. How long was your mouth numb? The birds don’t even eat them.
As I said before, my Grandmother would be so proud of you. I must add she did once poison herself by eating unknown mushrooms. Guess she was checking them out. lol
They used to can everything in days past. It’s a great way of storing food.
A long time ago I came across a US Army survival book from the time of the Vietnam war. There was a section in it about foraging wild foods like plants and mushrooms in countries that are unfamiliar.
Their recommendation for the safest way of test a plant or mushroom was as follows:
First, if it doesn't sting or burn when you touch it, taste a little on your tongue. If it doesn't sting, burn, or is bitter, you can go to the next step.
If safe to do so, cook it in boiling water, and taste a very small portion of it. If after 12 hours there is no stomach pain, eat a bit more and continue to increase the doses.
I guess if you are in a survival setting, waiting several days of eating small bites at a time isn't very nutritious but safer than eating a bunch and dying of poison.
One issue I have always found, especially with mushroom books, is the really poisonous ones look very similar to the perfectly fine ones and I'm never willing to push that boundary.
One book I've found to be pretty good is "All that the rain promises and more" ...the cover is hilarious but the book is pretty good for identifying.