Sumac

[avoca]

Sumac was a popular kinnick kinnick ingredient with Amerindians.  Especially sought after in the fall after they turn red.  When smoked the leaves open up the bronchials and give a slight energy uptick.  Good for your lungs (as much as smoke can be).

Red berry clumps equals good sumac.  They are edible and covered with vitamin c.  If you rinse the clumps the C can just rinse off with the water.  But if you find them with no bugs, they make excellent lemonade (3 or 4 clumps soaked sun tea style) and if dried make a spice popular in the Middle East for adding some sour to your dish.  Smoke these leaves.

White berry clumps equals POISON.  These mainly grow in swampy areas.  AVOID

[Galaxy Admin]

I was heavy into wild edibles as a teen.(Not the ones the get you high lol) I made sumac tea hot while camping and it was pretty good for a night drink. I used to get curlys a.k.a. baby ferns that you boil and eat with butter. These are a delicacy. Another one is rock cress which grows on or near rocks. You can boil it and it tastes like spinach but with more texture. There is a swamp root called sweet flag that ppl in the colonial days use to make candy out of. You have to go into shallow swamps and pull up a clump of the roots and then clean them , peal them a bit and boil them , use the liquid boiled down with sugar until it cooks into a glaze and then you pour it into candy trays and let it harden. You have an odd but tasty treat. I got more, just ask. Its was fun for me as a country boy trying to eat off the land, hunt and fish and just enjoy my own backyard and surroundings with my Basset x Beagle named Babe at my side.