My three favorite wild foods are, pine nuts, chicken of the woods mushrooms and redbud. I can hardly contain myself when the flowers start on the redbud. They are sweet and crispy, full of iron and absolutely beautiful.

Harvesting redbud flowers, Wild Crop farmers George and Penny Frazier in Dent County Missouri

Whenever, George and I complete a milestone, we run away and harvest. The organic inspection, is such a milestone. Every producer wants to be perfect and to show off their year’s worth of work. We are proud of our work and our facility. The inspection was over, and I was so ready to run off with George.

George Frazier harvesting redbud flowers for personal use

Redbud is like firewood and strawberries, there can’t be too much put up. I freeze the flowers, after eating them night and day for a week. This year we did not take orders, but in the future, we would be happy to wild harvest and overnight the fresh, wild flowers. A lot of our harvests are that way. We will custom wild harvest plants. We have a number of herbalists that have standing orders for particular herbs and wild foods, like yarrow flowers, passion flower, persimmon fruit, elderflowers. What a great service – wild flowers and foods and herbs, fresh to the door. Another resorce for wild food, The wildpantry.com Red Bud flowers are $5.00 per oz

Spring’s beloved start in the Ozarks, the redbud tree.

Here is to the beautiful red bud.

Redbud flowers are edible, with a slightly nutty flavor.  They can be added to pancakes or fritters or used as an attractive garnish on salads.  Or you can use them to make a unique pickle relish!  If you want to sample Redbud flowers, remember, as with the gathering of any wild edible, don’t take all that you find.  Leave plenty for the tree to produce seeds, for the insects to get nectar and pollen and for people to enjoy for their beauty.

When green and tender, the seed pods are also edible and can be cooked and served with butter just like peas.  As they mature, the pods become brown and papery.  They may persist on the branches until the following spring.   Considering the abundance of seeds produced, it is interesting that only a few birds are known to make them a regular part of their diet.