WHAT????...edible fuschia berries?????

[Nicos]

Am I the only person who didn't know about this??

I was just reading about them in the latest GYO mag...and been reading up a bit more about them.
here is a bit more...

Are Fuchsias Poisonous? | American Fuchsia Society Web Site

https://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A87769543

Wild Picnic: Fuschias

has anyone tried them?
( I'm always a bit wary about trying things like this for the first time...just need to be 100% sure!!!)

[Kier]

I read that too, although I think they will ripen a few at a time , so would have to save them in the freezer to get any amount, but I think you need to try them first!

[Nicos]

Yeh...I'm hoping someone else will volunteer to taste them first!!!!

[4390evans]

I used to eat them as a kid, my nana had a massive fushia in her garden and once told me they could be eaten, so among the woodlice and worms a few berries would be eaten too. I cant remember the taste mind you.

[veggiechicken]

I've been browsing on them for years - judge for yourself if there have been any side effects!
Haven't read your links.

[Jay22]

Read that too and no Nicos, I'm not volunteering to be Chief Taster!

[stevejohnson53]

And to go with your edible fuchsias

EDIBLE DAHLIAS!!

DeliDahlia® Hapet® Black Jack | Lubera® Novelties | Plants |

The worlds going mad !

Steve

[Nicos]

Ha!... Go on...I bet you're going to tell me you've never had a nibble either!

[veggiechicken]

My favourite edible flower is the daylily. eat the flowers, leaves and cook the tuberous roots. I've tried growing edible dahlias too but not been very successful.
There are lots of plants that have edible bits but you really need to be confident with your identification.
Its no good saying - I think that's a fuchsia and have a nibble!

[Nicos]

I'd love to forage more from wild plants...and even the garden !...but it's that lack of knowledge which always holds me back .
Better safe than sorry eh?

[Thelma Sanders]

There's a difference between edible and nice to eat.
I have tasted them, but wouldn't bother again unless food was short
Tried jam, but it got thrown away.
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...-jam_4501.html

[Nicos]

Hey!
Well remembered!

[chrisdb]

It varies a lot. I had a non-hardy standard trained fuchsia with very nice berries. They were like grapes with a hint of pepper. Sounds weird but I liked them. Unfortunately looking after tender fuchsias is too much of a pain for me.

I now have a hardy fuchsia growing in my garden as a bush, and the berries from that are barely edible. The pepper taste is much stronger, and turns into a persistent scratchiness at the back of my mouth that makes me think the fruit might be causing a mild allergic reaction.

[chrisdb]

My favourite edible flower is the daylily. eat the flowers, leaves and cook the tuberous roots. I've tried growing edible dahlias too but not been very successful.
There are lots of plants that have edible bits but you really need to be confident with your identification.
Its no good saying - I think that's a fuchsia and have a nibble!

There are also often crops in the same families as ornamental plants. Some example less common rootcrops in the same family as common ornamentals or garden plants:

Yacon is a cultivated not-too-distant relative of the dahlia grown in South America for its tubers. It's supposed to be sweet and crunchy. It gets compared to apples and waterchestnuts. Hopefully later this year I'll find out.

Mashua is closely related to Nasturtiums. The roots taste like a sour floury potato so for me not a gourmet vegetable, but they're definitely edible and widely grown in the Andes.

Chinese Artichoke is in the genus Stachys, which contains a number of British weeds, wild flowers and ornamentals.

Jerusalem Artichokes are related to sunflowers.

Oca is in the wood sorrel genus. This is another south american one.

[chrisdb]

Speaking of extreme wild foraging...

If you want to be really adventurous and take your life into your hands, the pink fleshy bit around yew seeds is supposedly edible. Note this is the only bit of the entire tree that is not deadly poisonous. The seeds are poisonous, the leaves are poisonous, and probably the brown woody bits are too.

Just to be clear: I'm not recommending you try eating this. I certainly wouldn't, since even if true I'd be worried about accidentally swallowing a bit of the seed at the same time. But some adventurous soul obviously thought it was a good idea.