Eat-able Plants in Switzerland

Since ancient times, humans have had to find a way to feed themselves. They couldn't go to McDonald's or order a from Papa Johns'. Instead, they used other methods before they learned how to sow the seed's and make the plants grow. The only way to get their own food was by hunting or foraging . The Alps are made up of very different weather in areas very close together. This makes the environment very diverse, letting us find different kinds of plant's, some of them are edible or give fruits. We show you next some of the edible plants or alpine fruits that you can eat.

Alpine strawberry's (Jerry's favorites)

You can find them on the ground, little plants of about 15 cms long, each one give an average of 6 or 7 strawberries. These fruits are eaten by the marmot's because of their sweet taste, it's a treat for it.


Pine needles

This tree is very common in Switzerland, it can be found along the whole country. A difference between this tree and others is that it doesn't have leaves, instead it has needles. At the end of these needles you can find other ones that have a lighter green colour, which ones you can eat or boil for tea. The needles have a citrus flavor, which indicate that it contains some percentage of vitamin C.


Wood sorrel

Theses little plant's grow on the ground, and usually you can find lots of them all together, similar to the shamrocks but with some difference's, the wood sorrel have a citrus taste, you can eat them directly from the ground or you can put them inside boiling water to prepare tea. Just be careful not to mix them up with the Clover plant leaves, these ones have white stripes and can give you diarrhea.

By Jerry Venegas (MX)
Summer 2015