Black Nightshade Berries: A Misunderstood Wild Edible
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- Опубліковано 27 тра 2024
- The name black nightshade (Solanum americanum, S. nigrum and S. ptychanthum) often elicits fear due to its assumed toxicity. However, like tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers, this plant is actually an edible member of the nightshade family! Learn how to identify and eat it in this video.
*Important note: Like with any new food, it is best to try a little bit first and wait 24 hours to see how your body reacts. Proceed with extra caution, or avoid completely, if you have allergies or sensitivities to other nightshades. Beware of deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), which looks somewhat similar and is poisonous. Bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) is also poisonous, but should be very easy to tell apart from black nightshade.
Timestamps:
1:02 - What is black nightshade?
4:30 - How to identify black nightshade
6:26 - How to differentiate from deadly nightshade
9:27 - How to differentiate from bittersweet nightshade
10:14 - How to eat black nightshade
13:43 - Conclusion
Sam Thayer's article on black nightshade: www.foragersharvest.com/uploa.... For an updated account, see the black nightshade chapter in his book "Nature's Garden."
The topic of this video was chosen by my Patreon supporters. Big thanks to my patrons! Please consider joining us at / fourseasonforaging . It's an easy way to help me keep producing the informative content that you enjoy.
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Thanks for watching!
Growing up in the 1960's and 70's, on the edge of a very small town, surrounded by cow pastures, and forest, most of the old timers were petrified of us eating any small berry that wasn't a blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, or wild strawberry. But a few old timers knew where the sassafras trees grew, where "Indian tobacco" grew, and they grew current bushes in their yards, and harvested the dandelions - roots and all. I LOVED walking around with a strand of fresh hay, or alfalfa between my teeth, and "experiment" by nibbling small amounts of various eaves, seeds, or berries. I don't know what made us dig up the roots of a small herbaceous plant we found in the undergrowth of the woods, but the town's public library helped us identify it as American ginseng. We thought we "struck it rich," until we could find nobody that would buy it from us.
I know that every once in a while, for shock value, I'd eat 1 or two berries of bittersweet nightshade, and, because I wasn't sure, only 2 or 3 of the deep purple berries of black nightshade (one of those old timers told me that some types of nightshade could be eaten when fully ripe, and no longe showed any geen, but never clarified the comment once he realized that he was probably going to get blamed if I ended up sick or dead). Alas, I know that I've seen black nightshade in the backyard, but on the slight chance that my young grandkids are like me, I can't admit that I have, or will eat any small backyard berries. Besides, my wife made it very clear when the kids were little, that, except for blackberries and raspberries, if I ever let them partake in eating a wild berries or mushrooms, they WOULD be the cause of my demise.
That reminds me of an old man who was widowed 4 times. I asked him what his 1st wife died from, and he said "wild mushroom poisoning." I asked him what his 2nd and 3rd died from, and the answer was the same for each: "wild mushroom poisoning." I told him that was most unfortunate, and I hoped that he learned to help them identify the edible from poisonous mushrooms, then asked, "so if you don't mind me asking, what did your 4th wife die of?" He said "shotgun wound." I said "Oh man, you've had the worst luck with wives, but I have to ask, how did she get shot?" He said "she wouldn't eat the damn mushrooms!"
Kek...
😂😂😂😂😂
😂 oh that was a great read...she wouldn't eat the mushrooms 🤣
Haha that joke at the end was great.
Thanks! I have these in my backyard and my old neighbor years ago told me they were poisonous. Very surprising that they are actually not. I don't plan on foraging them but I feel a lot better about them growing in my yard.
Good to hear! :)
The Berries are poisonous, but only if eaten green. But then green tomatos are also poisonous, too.
@@JoseMolina-ij3xx If green tomatos are poisonous then what about fried green tomatoes? Does the cooking cancel the poison compounds? They sure are delicious and I've never known a family member to be negatively affected by eating some.
@@TheWBWoman 😀
It's extremely nutritious. That's a staple in my life town. We call it Njama njama and eat it every single day. Harvest, wash well and chop some onions,1 or 2 tomatoes, cook like you would spinach. It's very delicious.
Thanks for the identification comparisons between other nightshades. I have eaten them since a little girl after my grandfather taught me how to safely eat them. I learnt in recent years that they are actually excellent for treatment conditions like Dengue Fever, having used it that way for myself i took onky 4 or 5 berries and the symtoms of Dengue fever were gone within 2 hours. I learnt this from a medicine man in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. Thanks again
Very interesting - thanks for the info! :)
calling BS on that.
Thank you I found this in my backyard. I'm in Victoria Australia
Ah- we’ve always been so confused about this plant (because of the mixed messages we got) my family always ate this in a soup growing up- we were then told it was poisonous- which was very confusing! Turns out others were just misinformed!
Yes, lots of contradictory information about this plant! Glad I was able to clear that up for you.
Agreed I just googled it 1 answer said yes and the next answer said no
Super informative, thank you! So many people hear the word black nightshade and immediately think it's poisonous. The link to that pdf was fabulous, really provided a lot of sources that dispels the myth.
I'm going to let them grow now and enjoy :)
It's true - a lot of people have been taught to fear them! Glad to hear you're going to let them grow. :)
I have used them as a replacement for tomato in a nightshade, basil, mozzarella, vinegar and oil salad ... man oh man was it tasty ! 👍
Never thought of using them as a sweet berry but I will try it out ! Thank you !
Oooh putting them in a caprese-type salad sounds really tasty! I bet they're good with balsamic vinegar.
The valley girl halting accent...
Hmm very interesting. Any advice about making a sauce?
That sounds so good! They smell like salsa to me when i pick them. I'm hoping to make a sweet jam out of them, and maybe a tart relish, with the ones i pick this year.
I have 4 bushes growing in my garden about 6ft tall. I’m in South Florida and even with the drought we’re having right now they are striving with no issues. Great video ✅👩🌾
We had a massive heat wave where I live in northern Cali, and they grow like weeds out here (I live in a forest). The stalks grew during summer, but it wasn't until Autumn when the weather cooled that they all bloomed and the berries grew and ripened. I'm really surprised how hardy they are.
I had one today for the first time (just 1 berry). It tasted like a blueberry tomato! Loved it!
I love that flavor description!
I thought the same thing! I tried it because I knew even if it was poisonous, I’d be fine even with just one, and I’m glad to find out I can keep eating them.
In California they grow into like ten foot tall plants, even if they are growing out of a crack in the concrete on my porch. But it's the same plant and your video is more accurate than many other videos about it. I am pretty sure the 3 species names you mentioned are actually all the same plant and tiny differences in flower color and size got them named differently.
same in texas. even the sidewalk crack ones can get very tall
@@jypsyjewels2854 Haha! I had one grow out of the crack in the concrete in a covered porch. Despite nobody watering it and no light it grew into something the size of a shrub. There are many cultivated varieties of this plant that was eaten by humans before we were Homo sapiens and many wild versions, I would love some seeds of the one in Texas because it's probably a bit different than the ones in California but you should research the history of this plant.
I’d be curious to know what the health benefits of black nightshade berries would be.
I so appreciate this article because I just ate one ripe berry about an hour ago and there are so many articles that say they’re deadly poisonous. It looks like I get to live another day. .😊
Thank you! I brought one home this year and as you said it is huge. Even among avid Forager’s and herbalists here in the Pacific Northwest everyone is scared to death of anything nightshade. I myself even would experiment with just chewing a little bit and then spitting it out because of all the terrible things I had heard. I’m excited this year to make a jam from us hundreds of berries.Thank you for helping to spread the truth about this amazing plant
It's wonderful herb. Great source of iron.
I Love these little plants they are amazing. I live in Phoenix AZ and had a storm blow over a tree in back yard a few years ago and all these plants started popping up I thought they were weeds, but then I noticed the birds were going crazy for these plants and then noticed they were eating the berries. Lots of purple bird droppings everywhere and thought if they could eat them there must be something good about them. After researching I found out that I had the Black Nightshade growing everywhere were the dirt was exposed I didn't even water them just thriving on their own. I've since had landscape done and now they are popping up in random places in the rocks. I've tried transplanting the nicer ones to see how they do in garden soil which they seem pretty happy to be in also, it's fall now and not so hot but now have more flowers showing so it will be interesting to see if they grow berries when it's cooler. The berries to me taste like a cross between Tomatillos, blue berries and cherry tomatoes. I haven't' had the nerve to eat the leaves yet...lol I love your idea of putting them on yogurt.
I like your description of the berries! It's always hard for me to describe tastes
tender ends are best if you're into bitter greens. they taste better when boil. many Asians drink the stock like water. I prefer that to green tea honestly. it has a better taste, for a better lack of words.
Thank you, great info . I did a Google photo search as I have some in my garden. I thought it was the deadly nightshade until I saw your video. Now I know the difference. Thank you x😊
Glad it was helpful!
We call that 'managu' in Kikuyu. We mix with amaranth leaves,spinach and any othered preferred greens to use as 'ugali 'stew. So delicious.
Beautifully done 😍
This is SO informative! I had it pop up at my apartment and I'm thrilled to try it!
Thank you for this video! My husband and I were given a plant by a friend, they had bought a couple huckleberry plants when they went on vacation last year and they gave us one. For an entire year we thought it was a huckleberry until yesterday I did some investigating and realized that our plant didn't match any type of huckleberry. Come to find out, it's actually a Black Nightshade! I was extremely nervous when I figured it out, but thank you for clearing up that it's not deadly like it's look-alike.
I really appreciate that you made this video. I have black nightshade growing wild in the forest I live in. Ironically, when I tried to grow it 20 years ago, I could not get it to take, but here it grows like a weed lol. It's very cool to see the little berries grow. Picking the berries, when some squish, they actually smell like salsa to me! I was able to pick a pint of them, and hopefully this year I'll be able to pick a couple more pints and make some jam.
I hate that the narrative is to always associate "toxic" with "deadly," because that is far from the actual case. So many "toxic" things are actually extremely beneficial health-wise as long as we don't take too much. And even things like water and oxygen - two things which we humans need lest we die - are extremely toxic on a deadly scale if we have too much or two little. Everything in moderation is fine, and even Belladonna aka Deadly Nightshade is perfectly fine for pain and muscle relaxation as long you take it only in small quantities. Most hospitals even use belladonna for pain/muscle relaxation, and it's sold OTC counter in holistic/herbal remedy sections in health food stores.
The plant itself is so pretty. The berries are so pretty when they're black and shiny, and the flowers when there are ripe berries also on the plant make it so lovely to look at.
One of these popped up in the middle of my garden this summer. Planted by birds obviously. The berries are delicious!
Kudos for making such a compensative and responsible video!!!
Thank you!
Thanks for the video. I found the comparisons were most helpful. I have a green thumb for growing plants that I did not plant; so far not so much luck with things I actually planted. 😢 I’ll let the plant continue to grow and see if the berries turn back in color so I can try them.
Awesome video! I always pick the black nightshade berries when they just fall off the stalk into my hand and never before as a precaution.
I noticed wildlife doesn't touch them until they fall i swear!
Kickass video,
knowledge is power so thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it! :)
Pretty informative. Subscribed! These are growing in my yard, zone 9a. It's early-mis spring, and I've already got black berries. So I'll probably try some, be back to report on flavor, and let most go to birds/reseeding.
Very informative. I've been curious since seeing it in our garden before. It came back again this year. Not sure if I'll use it but I think they're pretty to look at.
Thank you so much for clarifying the difference between black and deadly nightshade. I have several varieties of nightshade, because I love them. I knew one was edible, but now I know which one I can eat!
This is cool. Thanks for the info! This plant 🌱 just randomly started to grow in my garden. And I like to research before I rip it out. Following friend!! I just got a wild foraging in Michigan book and a botany book. I’m loving this.
Thanks for the info, neighbor. i have this growing in my backyard in Bloomington.
Very cool!
This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank You.
Glad to hear it! ☺️
@@fourseasonforaging I ate one from my garden, and in general, my rule is if it tastes good it's safe. I knew it was a variety of nightshade, and decided to verify before eating more. That's how I found your video. I'm a subscriber now. 😎
Wow. Thank you for your video. I just found these growing and didnt know what they were. Google made them out to be poisonous. You really cleared that up for me and ecplained the differences. Thank you.
Thank you for your detailed discussion on this. We have a volunteer pop-up along with our ground cherries. Was wondering if I needed to cull it or not. Now we'll let it do its thing :)
Hurray! 😄
Very interesting and informative, I must try and find some for my two hectare wild garden
Thanks for this video! I had a mystery volunteer plant in my back yard here in the San Diego area. My iphone identified it and looked for a video. Thanks!
Yay, glad I could help!
Thank you, these are growing in my backyard in Sanford, FL
Wow! I love that you are in Minnesota too!
We have these ALL OVER our farm, especially in the pasture. Guess I can stop pulling it now!
Yeah, as long as the animals don't mind it! Not sure if it's toxic for any livestock or not.
Thank you very much for this video!! I had a big bush of these pop up alongside my zinnias and I was wondering what they were. I just tried a couple and they aren't bad. They really do taste like a sweet tomato! I was planning on pulling the plant but now I'm going to let it stay.
Thanks! I have this growing in my garden!
Wonderful!
I snacked on these berries all the time when I was a kid in Taiwan living in the country side. I was surprised to find them growing in my yard now at Dallas TX.
Hi! You just dissipated my seething anger upon finding out a store had sold me black nightshade seeds instead of jalapeño seeds. I was thinking I now had to yank a bunch of poisonous plants from my garden, with no reward to eat!
I shall keep them, now, and enjoy my bounty, in a few months. Thank you!
I want to note that I would have never thought I’d be buying mislabeled seeds from a big name store so watch out, everyone!
Thankfully, I was able to grab some sprouted pepper plants so I’ll still have some of those, later, as well. 😬🪴
Oh wow that's wild that they sold you the wrong thing! At least it's a tasty thing though, haha
I have been eating this vegetable from my childhood. But never have eaten the berry good to know more about the berry.thanks for the good info
It's extremely growing in Sri Lanka. We eat fresh leaves and ripped Berry ❤.
Thank you so much for your clear explanation. I enjoy my nightshade berry on my backyard. 👍🙏
Wonderful!
Thanks for the info. I have these in my garden and everything I read on it keeps saying not to eat it because its poisonous. But this cideo sure cleared a lot of misunderstanding
Yay, happy to hear the video was helpful!
Oh, oh, oh!! I wish I’d seen this a week ago! For some reason I’ve had black nightshade coming up everywhere this year. I left most of it to come up because I like wild flowers of any kind coming into the garden. But about a week ago I decided it had got a bit ridiculous and I pulled loads of it up. If only I’d known I’d have let it have its head and enjoyed the results.
I’ve still got quite a few plants so I’ll see what I can forage while still leaving some for the birds
THANK YOU
Awesome info I have a Freind who has some growing in her garden
Damn Gurl..This was Perfect. NOW I know The Berries I ve been eating won't kill me😂
Thank you so much spend hour confusing between them but explain it as well
Glad I could help! :)
Just found this plant in my yard next to one of my grape vines. Glad you were able to dispel a lot of the "fear" around the plant...especially the berry. So my question is; has anyone ever used the ripe berry to make a mead, wine, or liqueur?
Not that I know of, but probably somewhere!
Just got done having a caprese salad and added the berries instead of tomatoes, WOW WOW WOW!!! So delicous, unreal. I drizzled olive oil & balsamic vinegar. So so good. The balsamic really enhances the flavor of the berries.
Yum!! I can't wait for my local berries to ripen!
Highly informative video. I knew the leaves were edible when cooked. Ripe berries being edible is new info to me. Thank you so much for this educational video. May God bless for sharing your God given knowledge.
Thank you! I actually tasted them before researching. They had a sweet flavor, I thought they must be ok. My little grandsons wanted some, so I said let’s find out what they are first.
Plant ID app.... “highly poisonous “ 😮whoops.
Then I found your channel😅
Thanks so much!! I plan on reading the article you linked. Your info was very helpful thanks a bunch
You are so welcome!
Well, this video I found just a little bit too late, already pulled the huge plant from my garden. I guess because it was growing in great soil with my peppers, it was near 5 or 6 feet tall, yet based on the other descriptions, it might have been the edible one. The correct size, flower , green then black, and the (I forgot what you called it) part that attaches to the berry was small.
Wow, five or six feet?? That's huge!! I have never seen one that big, even when growing in nice garden soil. Maybe it's a local variety that gets that large? Here is more ID info about the ones that grow near me: www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/black-nightshade
I had some pop up in my Shiso plant pot. Looking forward to trying it once ripe
Awesome! Let me know what you think!
Thank you so much this was very informative! Birds keep bringing all kinds of goodies to the backyard 😂
Thank you birds! :D
We call it leunca. It is very nice when eat it with warm rice and anchovy.
I posted a pick of black night on my FB page and the response was primarily negative even after posting articles lol. I definitely have these black night shade growing in my yard and would love to keep them going.
I ate both the leaves and black ripe berries, they are good to eat! Thanks!
Cool, thanks for the feedback!
This year they came up all over my yard so I was interested to find out if they were ok. Thank you.
Thanks for the info.. now I know what I had growing was the bittersweet nightshade on the side of my house
One of these popped up in my little garden plot this year and I left it thinking it was just an odd tomato plant. I felt proud to be able t identify it as a nightshade and now I'm quite happy to know it's edible. I don't imagine I'll be intentionally growing them in the future but seeing as they're pest magnets they might actually make good sacrificial plants to give insects something to much on besides my more desirable plants.
Ooh, it would probably be really good in a sweet salsa like a mango salsa or in a salad.
Just ate some after i definitely identified it in my garden. I've been watching it all summer. I do like the taste. It's like mini black tomatoes but sweeter or like blueberries 🎉😊
Yes, I love the flavor - so unique!
I have eaten them for many years and enjoy them. I have never collected enough to make a salsa, but I have added them whole to tacos and found them really good used that way.
Thanks for sharing! I'll have to give that a try :)
In India leaves are cooked and eaten. How ever I was not sure if the one I have in yard was same . This video was so helpful in deciding . Thanks
You're welcome, glad it was helpful! :)
I have a big one in my yard. Gonna pop it in my salad!🏵️
I love it in a salad!
I saw birds eating this and am thankful for this video! Mine do taste sweet!
That’s great, glad to hear it! :)
Thank you for the information, I just found some blackberries in a pot and when I looked it up it said it was poisonous so I pulled them out and throw him away because I didn’t know information you gave.
Glad I could help! :)
Wow.. the amount of times I pulled these thinking they were deadly 😅😅
I was panicking thinking my cockerel Max was going to die, luckily it’s just black nightshade instead of deadly. Thank you for this informative video. I was freaking out!
Oh no little buddy! Glad he ate something nontoxic!
Thanks for the video, had a black nightshade pop up in my flower garden out of nowhere... Now I will let it live, it's not a bad looking plant either 😀
Do you remove the green star with stem on the end of the berries?
Grest video! I was under thr impression the potatoes i planted recently grew extremely quickly, until my guest pointed out they were weeds. After using a plant identifying app, I discovered they were blacknight shade, and assuming they were poisonous, I pulled them out. Then I used google and discovered they were edible, so I took them out of the rubbish and I'm planning to plant them back 😂😂😂
i love this plant (S. nigrum) ! in Indonesia especially West Java, its a common plant to eat the green fruit fresh or cooked/boiled/deep-fried as a side dish. When i googled this plant in my language, it shown all of the benefit for eating this but when googled in english, it said that this fruit is dangerous and toxic. Im so confused right now hahaha!
most people in my country still eat this kind of plant (S. nigrum) and you can almost buy it everywhere
It is sad how the government and "health care" establishment has brainwashed Americans into becoming consumers of processed food with preservatives and dyes that actually cause us to develop different diseases, profiting off our illnesses; while in turn they spread lies and disinformation about natural food and medicinal plants, just to bombard us with synthetic man-made pharmaceutical crap that gives you five different side effects.
Hey thank you so much for this, My grandmother always had these bushes, she called them sullenberries.
I have picked some when they are green because there was fear of frost and they do ripen much like a green tomato. Would they still have that toxin in them once they are ripe and if they have been picked green and ripened indoors?
I believe that as long as they're completely ripe they are fine to eat (ie dark purple all the way around.) As far as I know, there's no difference between ripening on the plant vs indoors. However, I can't find any data to confirm this, so you might want to eat a small amount at first to see how your body reacts.
This article from Kansas State University talks a bit more about the chemistry of ripening tomatoes: www.johnson.k-state.edu/lawn-garden/agent-articles/vegetables/harvest-ripen-tomatoes.html. It sounds like once they turn half green and half pinkish, there is no more transfer between the plant and the fruit. Black nightshade is related to tomatoes, so perhaps it behaves similarly.
Hiii i know this is older but i just found some in my backyard and was scared of it i knew it was nightshade immediately. I had to remove it because my dogs eat anything 🤦🏼♀️ I’m so glad i found it.
I found these growing among my pepper plants. I picked a jar of them but I think I should go through it and kick any with any amount of green in them. I thought the berries were cute so that's why I let them grow. Would love to save the seeds to grow as ornamentals on my porch.
Go for it!
Thanks ✅️ 😊
You’re welcome 😊
I have a few of these on my property but one found its way into so old rich soil in a giant stone pot that was here when we moved in.. I had been taking the rich soil as needed until something sprouted when I had taken 1/3 or more of the soil.. and in that soil it's massive compared to the ones occurring in ground soil .... It's absolutely loaded with berries.. I was thinking of making jam
Yum, I haven't tried jam with them, but it sounds delicious!
Thank you for your excellent comparison between the black nightshade berries and the belladona kind. I was so afraid of getting near these plants that started growing all of a sudden in my back yard.
Yes, they tend to grow prolifically! Glad to hear that the video helped. :)
I have a lot of this growing In my yard I’m so happy it’s edible
Hello! I was wondering if there is a way to eat the green fruits safely? We just picked a bunch of them but almost all the fruits are green.
Not that I know of - you have to wait for them to fully ripen
I eat the leaves of this every summer. I steam it add tomatoes like salad or added to my chicken dish or to my mungbean soup..yum of vitamins. Just eat yesterday and pick more from my friend farm today.
Do the young plants have spines on them??? I was picking a bunch of similar plants out of my yard and pricked myself and it made my finger go numb for hours!
Oh no! Black nightshade does not have spines. Maybe it was horse nettle? www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/horse-nettle
I found them today on my roof and I wanted to know about it I've heard solanum are poisonous but thanks for clearing my confusion
I’m here visiting and my great grandma‘s house and I found a nice shade in her backyard I don’t know if I should eat them or not. Do you have to cook then and eat them
Watch the video first to make sure you have the right thing, as there are some look alikes! I also talk about how to eat it. 🙃
We planted a bunch of tomatoe seeds we bought from the store and now they are about 4/4.5 feet tall now and my plant identifier app says they are all European black night shade (which is really annoying) we have a bunch of them. It's basically taken over my entire garden. I'm not sure why the tomatoes seeds turned into black night shade and now idk what to do...if i should pull out by the root and trash them or allow them to grow. They are filled with little white flowers. I've never heard of black nightshade before
Plant apps are wrong a lot of time - I would double check that ID against another resource
I usually let these grow in my garden, as the pests like to attack them before they attack my vegetables..
I love that! I do notice that their leaves are often riddled with bug holes
So just found like 6 plants in my back yard all producing berries. Anyone know how I can safely preserve the berries to eat later. Can I freeze and cook later into a jam or preserve or do I need to eat right away?
I realized now I have bittersweet nightshade vine growing in my front bushes. Do I have to wear gloves to remove it?
I don't know of any instances of contact dermatitis with bittersweet nightshade
I'm just here trying to figure out if these are the same as "chechecaliche" (they look the same and both are edible) and if so, how you spell chechecaliche.
hie, I'm in Australia , and they do have them here as well,,, because I use to be in natural foods hunter or bush tucker as some calls it here , , I came across these plants with berries ,I always do my research first before I eat anything new , and was told that I should wait until the berries are black ,,green or red are still considered as poisonous , and I was told that in the old days they use to make jams out of these in the countries , so i figured , if it was safe for them then , then they should be safe today , in any case I was told to make sure that I know what I'm picking because I use to go bush tucker plants hunting ,, anyway ,, thanks for that ,,
I have a feeling this is what 'they' used to give us purple cherokee and other black/purple/dark tomato varieties.
Those plans are widely grow in my backyard. Hover, I was told that berries would be toxicity. So that I always remove them when I see them.
Yup, that’s a common misconception!
I have 2 types in my backyard. Those that l bought from the agrochem have black berries while indigenous ones that l ate since childhood have sprouted on their own and have orange colour.
Good
Hey - question. How much is a safe amount to eat? Is it safe to eat a couple cups worth, or should we only eat in moderation? If you know a safe limit ,please let me know! Thank you so much.
Good question! As far as I know, they are safe to eat in reasonable quantities as long as you're not allergic or anything. I would start with a small amount and work your way up. Sometimes people get really into certain wild foods and eat massively huge quantities, which I don't really recommend doing with any food, wild or cultivated. Just include it as part of your regular diverse diet. :)
@@fourseasonforaging Thanks!
Can the ripe berries be eaten in large amounts?
Are they harmful for kids (5 year old) ?
Good questions! As with most things, the answer is "it depends." Try starting with a small amount, wait 24 hours, and slowly increase the amount to see how your body (or another person's body) reacts.
Are a couple datura seeds edible too? And perhaps a small weak tea from datura leafs be beneficial as it's still part of the Nightshade family? Tobacco is really poisonous but alot of people smoke it today still?
I can’t tell if you’re actually asking a question or just trying to make some kind of point, but no, you should absolutely not eat datura
@@fourseasonforaging I've eaten the seeds and leaves of datura and once poured the brew of leaves into my hair this was 8 months ago do you think I'm okay?
Unfortunately I have no way of knowing the answer to that question. Datura is highly poisonous, and while it has some medicinal benefits, it should only be administered by people with proper knowledge and training
@@fourseasonforaging I have asthma so I heard smoking the leaves would help a ton as part of the poison path to medicine. No ill side effects apart from depersonalization
@@bobaseed4423 have you tried Mullien? You can smoke it, make a tea with it, eat the flowers, make a tincture, make cough syrup and from what I've heard you can take the dried leaves crumble them in a paper bag and inhale to stop an asthma attack immediately. I recommend trying this completely safe plant as to trying poison medicine. Poison medicine should only be used after all safe medicines have failed.
Kia ora from NZ 🇳🇿
We call this wild green Poroporo - the most important thing is to make sure your Poroporo leaves are clean not dirty.
We don't prep Poroporo as a jam or mix it with lemon or sugar NO Poroporo is not a jam source food/kai.
The leave(s) are the main nutrition healing.
There are qualities to this humble green... food/kai.
Many generations have grown up eating Poroporo I'm 61 now... its like cabbage to us.
Mauri ora
Bittersweet nightshade is misunderstood in the way black nightshade is. Years ago I found a research paper indicating there were no documented reports of death or even significant illness from eating red, ripe berries, only from immature, green ones. I've eaten them multiple times without instance. The thing is I'm not sure why anyone would want to eat them other than curiosity because to me they taste like skunked tomatoes. When you think about it the name 'bittersweet' is a description of their flavor from people who lived to tell the tale.
I mean, I wouldn't call bittersweet nightshade nontoxic. It's true that many "toxic" berries are more unpalatable than dangerous, and it's further true that the unripe bittersweet nightshade berries are more poisonous than the ripened ones. However, people do experience gastric upset upon eating them, especially children, and there has been at least one documented case of the death of a child (see here: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3555592/). Fully ripe black nightshade berries, on the other hand, are truly nontoxic.
@@fourseasonforaging Right, one death from unripe berries. Analogous to not eating green potatoes. Unfortunately it looks like the frosts are going to come before my black nightshades ripen this year. Hope you got to nibble a few.
Do they have green seeds in them? I ate one (i know dumb out of curiosity) but it tasted sweet and i opened another it had green seeds in it
I'm not sure what color the seeds are! I'll have to check once they ripen around here
@@fourseasonforaging looking at them today, they don't have the five little leaves on them, it just looks connected to a vine. I pulled it off the stem and it has clearish liquid when you squeeze it and the seed comes out of the hole it was connected to, the other berries around it are red and green.
@@shao_kahn730 Was it this one (bittersweet nightshade)? minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/bittersweet-nightshade. If so, it's poisonous, so don't eat any more of it!!