Read "Trees with Edible Leaves"

[ysabetwordsmith]

You can get a free download of the ebook Trees with Edible Leaves. This is a great addition if you're into food forests or other permaculture. Beech and mulberry are among the hardy ones.  Beech is good for caterpillars, and mulberry fruit attracts birds.

Also, remember "edible" is a flexible term. I've seen people complain that tree leaves are "technically edible, but why would you want to." This usually means they don't know what they're doing. You'd think the same thing about grape leaves if you tried to eat one right off the vine. But if you've had dolmades -- pickled grape leaves stuffed with rice and lamb -- then you know better. So if you want to eat tree leaves, look for recipes.

Comments

[dewladen]

thanks for sharing this ebook! looks useful!

You're welcome!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm happy I could help. It's proving quite popular.

[jadelennox]

when it comes to "edible" I am always amazed that people figured out how to eat olives.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

Well, the oil part is obvious; if you step on an olive, oil comes out, and oil is valuable. Figuring out how to make the fruit edible is harder, but once you're fiddling around with it trying to get the oil, people are likely to start experimenting.

I'm more bemused by people eating things that are toxic without an elaborate preparation process. Some like acorns are only a little bothersome and rinsing away the tannins isn't all that complicated. But then there are cycads, which not only require lengthy treatment, it has been discovered in multiple unrelated populations around the world.