Wild Edible Plants: What to eat when you Forget your Snack?

Five favorite wild plants, according to 5-year-old

This early summer has been a time when our forest walks have been slooooow. Guilty is my 5-year-old, who stops for a snack. Without lying, I can say that she eats everything that is edible in our nearby forests.

I want to introduce five of the best florabites according to my 5-year-old. Finnish names for the plants are also included. Here we go!

1. Raspberry (vadelma)

Raspberries grow commonly in southern Finland and they’re quite easy for children to recognize. Spring green new leaves are the best. We like to eat them just like that. (It really tastes like raspberry!)

Leaves contain a lot of vitamin C, minerals and also volatile oils. Best way to use it is for tea. Just rip the leaves and pour hot water, then wait until flavors come off (at least 5 min), strain and enjoy!

2. Spruce tips (kuusenkerkkä)

Spruces make their new growth at early summer and that is the time of my five year old standing under the tree and snacking these green wonders. These you can harvest only if you have permission from the landowner - luckily we have our own spruces in our garden.

We have made cakes, jams and syrups from spruce tips. Spruce tips go well both sweet and savory dishes. We also freeze them and use them all year round with tea when someone has the flu. Spruce tips contain a huge load of vitamin C and antioxidants and flavonoids.

3. Wood sorrel (ketunleipä)

Wood sorrel grows in the forest and flowers from May to June with delicate white flowers. Leaves are slightly sweet and the mouthfeel is pleasant.

Later in the summer, the plant no longer bothers to grow open flowers but produces small closed flowers that pollinate themselves and look like buds.

4. Yarrow (siankärsämö)

This is the biggest divide in our family. Even I don’t like to eat yarrow on it’s own, but 5 year old really likes it and she adds it everywhere. The taste is quite bitter. Yarrow has white or pinkish flowers. In medieval herb gardens, it was essential and has been regarded as a good herb for wound healing.

Yarrow is rich in calcium, potassium, iron and manganese. It can be used chopped in salads and warm dishes. Something I haven’t yet tried but I’m going to: herb butter. I guess there it goes well with garlic.

5. Nettle (nokkonen)

Nettle grows commonly throughout Finland, but it is most abundant in the south of the country. The whole plant is usable, but we like to eat the leafy parts, stirring them in a pan with butter. Nettle also makes a nice addition to thin pancake batter.

Harvesting spot should be far from compost and fields, because nettle absorbs nitrates and chemicals from soil. It is recommended to blanch to reduce nitrates but I don’t always do that. Sunny days before harvest reduces nitrate levels also, or so I have been told.

Bonus tip from 5 year old: SOIL

The real magic is underground. Dig in!🍃🕳️🐇