Long before refined sugar filled supermarket shelves, resourceful pioneers and Native Americans relied on sugar and gums plants found in the wilderness to satisfy their need for sweetness and energy. These natural sources of sugar were more than treats, they were vital survival foods that provided quick calories during long journeys or harsh winters. From the towering sugar pine to the sweet-sapped maple and the fragrant sweet gum, the wild offered many ways to sweeten tea, preserve food, or simply sustain energy on the trail.
forage
Foraging For Wild Edibles All Year Round
As the first long hunters and early settlers explored and tamed this country, they fit the very definition of the term, “hunter-gatherer.” Absent were cultivated crops or convenient trading posts at which a person could obtain needed supplies. These early settlers killed and foraged for just about all the food they consumed.