Survival Food Series #7 : Eat the Weed(s), Flowers and Roots! What You Can Eat From Your Own Backyard!

Yuca and Yucca # 7

Another two for one Post! Both of these plants have edible portions. But you must not get them mixed up! One of them has a root that is used to make soap, (Yucca) while the other has a root eaten cooked, (Yuca) . The one pictured above is Yucca or Adam's Needle.

My husband and I were interested in foraging both the wild spaces, as well as, our own yard and neighborhood. We live in the country and are homesteaders as well, so we have open space in which to search and hunt for various edibles.We have been hunting and researching for probably 5 years give or take. Our premise is you can never store enough food, but if you can recognize it all around you when others do not, in a crisis, you will have a skill to trade and have food for your family to boot!

Yuca pictured on the plate, is native to South America aka cassava, manioc, and tapioca. This is an edible we decided to plant in our own yard but unfortunately we did not plant it in full sun and after a couple of years it has finally died from neglect. ( We should have transplanted it ) I only realized it was dead today when I went out to take a picture and only saw sticks. However, I persevered and was rewarded with a single root buried under the sand, albeit it was a bit mushy but viola! I have one to show you! Paired with avocado and targeted for my son’s late lunch. Make sure you cook it as it can be toxic if eaten raw.

Yuca is a plant we will repurchase and plant in the proper location because it is super yummy! Its taste is even better than most potato varieties in my opinion. I have an organic co-op so I have tried many types of potatoes.
Nutrition is high as with most tubers, corms and rhizomes. In particular, the the Yuca is high in Vitamin C and Manganese and can be a staple to fill you up if need be. It can be cooked either by thoroughly frying in oil as you see here, used to make chips or frenchfries, boiled to make mashed yuca with butter or in a stew.

Nutrition data available here:
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2389/2

Above is the little beauty I dug up(Yuca)!

While the Yuca is available year round the Yucca aka Adam’s Needle only has one edible portion and that is the flowers and the attached artichoke type stem. These delicious parts are available mostly in the spring. We still chose to plant several in our yard as part of them is edible. The flowers are often served in restaurants batter fried, however they are safe to eat raw in limited numbers.

My Yucca was not blooming so here is an additional picture from Britannica.

More on this edible here: http://articles.latimes.com/2013/apr/30/news/la-lh-giant-yucca-gigantea-elephantipes-20130429

Images unless otherwise noted are original from @joearnold.

Data sources:
https://www.britannica.com/plant/Poales#ref993586

Other articles in this series if you would like to catch up!

https://steemit.com/food/@joearnold/survival-food-series-eat-the-weed-s-flowers-and-roots-what-you-can-eat-from-your-own-backyard #1

https://steemit.com/survivalist/@joearnold/survival-food-series-2-eat-the-weed-s-flowers-and-roots-what-you-can-eat-from-your-own-backyard

https://steemit.com/survivalist/@joearnold/survival-food-series-3-eat-the-weed-s-flowers-and-roots-what-you-can-eat-from-your-own-backyard

https://steemit.com/food/@joearnold/survival-food-series-4-eat-the-weed-s-flowers-and-roots-what-you-can-eat-from-your-own-backyard

Disclaimer: As with all edibles, you want to collect away from roadsides that might be covered in heavy metals or other contaminates. This is not intended to be medical or expert advice. Readers of this article and harvesters of all plants takes full responsibility for use of any plant and should use appropriate precautions in identification of any plant before ingesting.

Love and Peace,
Melissa