Edible Yew berries

[Toddy]

I think in the more populous parts of the country that they are kept as churchyard and garden plants.
Round here they grow in most woodlands.
The oldest living thing in the UK is a yew tree in Fortingale churchyard. It's been there long before Christianity though

I'm very fond of the fruits, they are a seasonal treat I look forward to every year.
Just mind and spit out the seeds !

cheers,
Toddy

 

[mrcairney]

Yeah, ancient yews look great, you wouldn't miss one! I need to go on a hunt for paper birch bark on saturday, my secondary mission will be spot a feral yew.

 

[Chasing Rainbows]

I just squeeze out the seed which makes for slow eating, not sure it I would have the patience to do much else with them.

I do know that for an adult one seed wont be pleasant and deadly for a child which is why we got told it was poisonous.

I wonder if the toxin would transfer in cooking could you boil a batch up then sieve to make a jelly?

That's interesting. We need a laboratory to answer these questions for us! If processing could make yew safe to eat it would become quite a useful wild-food. I think a non-mechanical process to avoid scraping the seeds.

However....If I'm not wrong the berries are designed to go right through birds and come out the other end with exactly the same slimy, sticky characteristics. I really don't fancy making a terrible mess of myself, so I'd avoid eating more than a small amount, even if rendered safe.

 

[Toddy]

After many years of eating them I can happily report that no, they don't give the squits and when they're ripe I eat several ounces a day

*technically* we can eat the seeds so long as we don't crunch them or scrape them. They will go through the gut unharmed.

Definitely *NOT ADVISED* however.

I think that like most seeds of this kind they're intended to go through the gut and be deposited in rich manure
and the sweet fruit just tempts us to give them a chance to do so.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Chasing Rainbows]

I stand corrected

Maybe I'll very carefully try a few, just out of curiosity.

The yew tree seems to be saying it only wants birds as cusomers, I'm quite happy to respect it's wishes.

 

[Toddy]

Hmmm, not so sure of that.

Everything about it, apart from the fruits, (the aril) is poisonous.
Therefore I reckon it wants its seeds eaten

That we can, and choose to eat it, and scatter the seeds when we do so, is only to the good as far as the plant goes

Badgers eat them too, and come to no ill, so do foxes.
http://www.kew.org/news/badgers-feast-on-yew-berries.htm

I reckon humanity chooses the foods that it finds most pleasurable and finds ways to make them not only digestible but nutritious That these fruits appear, and last, through the bitter cold Winter, makes them a valuable resource.

Fergus Drennan has a recipe for a yewberry tart that looks very appealling

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Chasing Rainbows]

Haha. I stand corrected again.

 

[Chasing Rainbows]

I tried a couple today. My curiosity has been satisfied. They were incredibly sweet, it's like those little berries are filled with syrup.

That yewberry tart looks the bees knees. Sitting for hours with a tweezers is a big discouragement, though a few as topping for a desert seems like a nice idea.

 

[Chasing Rainbows]

It's a wee bit off topic, but does anyone know how long dead yew retains it's toxicity? My dog would chew any stick and if I have some around I'd like to know how catious to be.

 

[HillBill]

I think it is always toxic if ingested. But seasoned yew can be used for eating utensils so the toxins don't leach out in quantities to cause harm. A dog chewing a yew stick probably isn't a good idea though. I expect it would be worse if the Yew was fresh cut.

Best keep it away from the dog

 

[Iona]

As a young child I always taught my son that they were poisonous. As he got older however he heard me teaching others that you 'could' eat the flesh, but I'd take no responsibility for them screwing up and crunching the stone! His curiousity was piqued, and after a long conversation I allowed my (then 7 year old) son to try the squished flesh off my fingers after I'd gotten rid of the stone. He was satisfied, thought they were horrid, and hasn't mentioned them again since, (he's now 10). Done him no harm, and I wouldn't have given it to him if I thought in any way likely to.

 

[xylaria]

As a young child I always taught my son that they were poisonous. As he got older however he heard me teaching others that you 'could' eat the flesh, but I'd take no responsibility for them screwing up and crunching the stone! His curiousity was piqued, and after a long conversation I allowed my (then 7 year old) son to try the squished flesh off my fingers after I'd gotten rid of the stone. He was satisfied, thought they were horrid, and hasn't mentioned them again since, (he's now 10). Done him no harm, and I wouldn't have given it to him if I thought in any way likely to.

I did the same with mine, i waited until they were an age of some senisbility. Most berries they were taught before they were 5, but yew they were in the late half of primary. "Snotty" was the verdict, though I would like to try fergus drennens cheesecake recipe.

 

[xylaria]

It's a wee bit off topic, but does anyone know how long dead yew retains it's toxicity? My dog would chew any stick and if I have some around I'd like to know how catious to be.

Yew retains toxicity after drying. It can be used for eating untensils as the toxins arent very soluble in water, how ever it is worth noting robin wood who makes bowls for living does not use yew for food bowls he sells. Put it this way, if you ate ahot soup from a yew bowl there would be an infantisimil small of toxins, however if left say vinegrette dressing in the same bowl for week some toxins could of disolved, no one knows and there isnt much call for volunteers to find out. Yew kills dogs because when they chew sticks they swallow bits of wood.

 

[Chasing Rainbows]

Thanks very much. I just gave my garage a good clean and put the wee bit I had around up high.

 

[willpower]

I remember a few years ago a friend of mine ate quite a few berries- seeds and all. I'm guessing she didn't chew cos she survived fine but just goes to show people can hear one snippet of info e.g 'yew berries are edible' and then do some pretty silly things.

Now I come to think about it I haven't actuallys seen her for a few years, maybe she figured that if a slug can nibble on a death cap it must be ok for humans!

 

[Toddy]

The alternative is that we don't eat anything.
After all, potatoes are poisonous and apples and cherries contain cyanide :yikes:

It's that human thing again; we learn and we teach and we keep our information clear. Every post where we say it's edible we say *how* it's edible, and remind folks that other parts of the plant are incredibly toxic.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Chasing Rainbows]

The alternative is that we don't eat anything.
After all, potatoes are poisonous and apples and cherries contain cyanide :yikes:

This is very true. Most of the foods we eat contain toxins to some degree or other. It's just that livers and kidneys are pretty darn great pieces of kit that deal with these marvelously.