Nature Experienceship - Wild Edibles with Dr. Tom Smith

Did you know that you can grab a snack while walking through campus?  I’m not talking about from the snack machines.  Would you believe that BYU campus is full of edible plants?!

Who would have known that there are so many edible plants that we encounter every day? Last Saturday, Dr. Tom Smith opened our eyes to all of the wild edibles in the world around us! Getting up bright and early (at 8:00am) is never easy or desirable, but tasting some of Dr. Smith’s culinary creations (that he made using only wild plants) made it completely worth it. We sampled everything from elderberry syrup to cookies made out of homemade acorn flour! Everything was delicious!

We then set out on a walk around BYU’s campus to search for more wild edibles to collect. It was a cool crisp autumn morning; perfect for an educational stroll! The students in the group (myself included) were amazed to discover how many edible plants they regularly passed while walking to class everyday! Dr. Smith taught us how to make nutritious herbal teas out of pine needles, which flowers would spice up any party salad, and even which trees made the best drink flavorings! We were also given personal bags to collect all of the plants that we wanted! To wrap up the event, we all brought what we had collected back to the JFSB to prepare it. Of all the wild edibles we ate, my favorite had to be the acorn muffins that we cooked at the end! Mmmmmmmm!

Thank you so much, Dr. Smith!

Keep an eye out for our next Nature Experienceship!

You won’t want to miss it!

Cori, museum educator

Nature Experienceship - Wild Edibles with Tom Smith

Wild Edibles Nature Experienceship - October 19, 2013

The Wild Edibles Nature Experienceship with Tom Smith was an absolute flavorful blast. We ate so many plants and fruits on campus. The group who take advantage on this wonderful opportunity consisted of 38 brave souls. Each willing to eat whatever Mr. Smith said was edible. We also learned from Mr. Smith, "Just because something is edible does not mean it's palatable." To put it simply, it can still be yucky even though you can eat it. We ate leaves from pretty pansies to oregon grapes, and even yew berries. We learned that everything is toxic when it comes to the yew berry plant except the yew berry fruit itself. Just make sure you spit out the seed after enjoying the delicious and sticky tiny red fruit. After wandering on campus for a few hours discovering all of the cool vegetation we could safely consume, we returned to the kitchen in the Joseph Fielding Smith Building kitchen in the basement and prepared the many things we collected to eat. Along with some already prepared foods by Mrs. Smith, we made and devoured the incredible food we found on campus. It was a great time for all. Make sure you "Like" the Bean Museum Facebook page and frequently check the Bean Website for upcoming activities at the Museum. 

Michael, museum educator

Nature Experienceship - Wild Edibles with Tom Smith

“Think of it as a tuition rebate.” Dr. Smith told us, as we ate sweet yew berries straight off of the bushes outside the Jesse Knight Building on BYU campus. Students passing by stared as we plucked clover and munched on flower petals.  Last Saturday, Dr. Smith took us all over campus, showing us a dozen different varieties of edible plants that most people see every day, but would never think of eating. As part of the Wild Edibles Nature Experienceship we tasted plants like pansies, nasturtiums, wild sumac, Oregon grapes, yew berries (the flesh of the berry is not poisonous) and more. Some of the plants we tasted, like the wild sumac, were edible, but as Dr. Smith explained, not very tasty alone, so we learned how to turn them into tasty drinks and dishes.

After we’d collected all sorts of berries, leaves and flowers we made some of the tastiest things I have ever had. Acorn flour muffins, purslaine casserole and wild sumac lemonade were some of our favorites. By the end of the morning, we had learned a ton about wild plants that are not only edible, but really tasty, too! We were really lucky to have an enthusiastic expert on edible plants with us to show us things that we would normally never try. Thanks Dr. Smith!
Keep your eyes peeled for future wild edibles trips and join us Saturday, October 20th at 8 AM for a tour of aspen forests with Sam St. Clair!

Shanna, Museum Educator