Wild Edibles--Wood Sorrel

Have you ever seen these little plants growing all over the place, perhaps in your yard, or the park? It is the Wood Sorrel plant, and you can eat them! I love being able to harvest food right from my lawn! I have had neighbours come over and ask what in the world I was doing in my yard with a bowl and scissors. I just embrace being the weird one!

Wood Sorrel leaves fold up in bright sunlight.

My kids and I love to munch on these and they call them "sour candy plants" or the "heart plant". The Wood Sorrel plant tastes like sour candies (or a tart lemony flavor), and the leaves look like 3 little hearts. They have little yellow flowers and tiny banana shaped seed pods.

Often people confuse them with white or purple Clover, as the leaves are both three leaflets together, although Wood Sorrel's flowers are very different than the flowers from the Clover plant. Both the entire plant of Wood Sorrel and Clover are edible, but Clover leaves just taste pretty much like grass.

Clover on left, Wood Sorrel on right.

It doesn’t take long to gather a bowl-full!

Wood Sorrel contains oxalic acid (also interestingly found in spinach and broccoli) and that is what gives Wood Sorrel its sour taste. I have read that consuming oxalic acid in large quantities could inhibit the absorption of Calcium, so eat moderately. Wood Sorrel is rich in Vitamin C, as is many other wild edibles!

We love to introduce people to this tasty, tangy plant that seems to grow everywhere! I have been experimenting with making Wood Sorrel into jelly and syrup, and while it works, the jelly or syrup tastes mainly sweet, and it doesn't have that unique sour tangy taste. So for now, this wonderful little edible weed will be eaten just fresh as a snack or in salads!

I did make some Wood Sorrel Jelly, but it wasn’t anything special.

How about you? What is your favorite wild edible plant that you love to munch on? Or have you found a great way to enjoy Wood Sorrel? I would love to hear about it!