Forageable plants to add sugar to a survival diet

RustBeltCowgirl

8 plants that can be used to add sugar to your diet. Some that I have heard of, some that are new.

https://www.bioprepper.com/2021/07/08/8-sugar-plants-you-should-use-in-the-wilderness/

Torey

I didn't know about a few of these plants. In my defence, none of them grow in my area. But I did know about conifer pitches and of course, sugar maple.

Birch is another tree that can be tapped for its sap and boiled down into a syrup very similar to sugar maple. Big leaf maple also is being used although it can be hard to find commercially.

Douglas Fir produces a crystalline, sugar-like substance on its needles in rare years. I have never been lucky enough to find it. Apparently, it was highly prized by First Nations in my area.

LaurieLovesLearning

Very interesting. We could use the Manitoba maple and the birch, but nothing else mentioned grows anywhere near here.

I found the fir sticks interesting. I'd like to try one.

vickeym

I was looking around to see if the sugar maple might grow here and found this site. Some interesting trees here for syrup making.

https://www.wbur.org/earthwhile/2021/05/21/maple-syrup-industry-climate-change

JennyT Upstate South Carolina

Very interesting article. Thanks for sharing, @RustBeltCowgirl.

I'll need to do some investigating of my own and see if any of these are on my property. There's still so much we haven't had the chance to uncover yet.😊

Torey

@vickeym Do you have many birch syrup producers in your area? We have one here in my area. I made syrup one year but what a lot of sap is needed to boil down to make such a tiny bit of syrup!

I don't know if beech trees will grow here or in Alaska.

karenjanicki

This is interesting. I never considered sugar in a survival diet but it would likely offer a nice pick me up. Thank you for sharing this.

vickeym

torey Yes, about 2 miles down the road. Their birch caramels are incredible. It does take a lot of sap. About double what it takes for maple I think. I used to know. I think it is 100 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup.

I did find a couple sites that said sugar maples would grow in my zone. Of course there were also sites that said they wouldn't. Might have to find a few and try it.

Torey

@vickeym Our producers makes caramels, too. They are very good! Good luck with your search for maple trees.

Torey

I just came across info on another plant, Chinese Blackberry (Rubus suavissimus), which apparently has sweet leaves like stevia.  It owes its sweetness to a compound identified as rubusoside, which is similar to the steviol glycosides in stevia. I am having difficulty finding much information on it. Sources say it is not winter hardy but it may just die back to the ground.

There seems to be a hybrid cultivar that has been registered as Sweetleaf® Raspberry but the company hasn't been growing it long enough to have established good growing info for it, although they are saying it has survived -16C in their nursery. They don't know if it will produce fruit or not.

It looks strangely like a broad cannabis leaf on a vine.

I will report back when I know more. It could be a good choice for more northern gardeners if it will survive the winters.

vickeym

Great ideas. Will look into them as well.

Tried growing sugar beets once and followed directions we found to make sugar from them. Worst tasting stuff you can imagine. lol

The stevia tasted much better.