RE: EATING GREENBRIAR FOR THE FIRST TIME
Congratulations on becoming a Greenbrier forager, @papa-pepper! I eat them whenever I have a chance, visiting my parents in Arkansas. Yours looked in great shape -- and snapping them off like that is a great way to make sure they are tender. A quick 2-minute blanch in boiling water will make them more appealing to some people. And even if somebody doesn't like the taste of a wild food just all by itself, the plants can still make a great contribution to a pot of mixed greens.
And keep your eyes on those greenbrier patches in the autumn, too. The Hedgehog mushrooms in the Ozarks seem to have a relationship with them. Hedgehog mushrooms are great and hard to mistake for anything else in your area. If you can't get rid of all your Greenbrier, you can at least get some satisfaction and nutrition! Happy foraging!
Thank you @haphazard-hstead for resteeming this post because I would have missed it in time to vote! Also thank you for adding your additional tidbits of knowledge, those are always delicious.
Thank you @papa-pepper for sharing your greenbriar experience. Last week, @jschindler and I were cleaning up the vines an ivy around the tank out back (there are no grazing animals here :(). Over the weekend we discovered a website that showcases the plethora of wild food growing in our area, and we discovered the greenbriar we were hacking down was edible - what!? And now by the saving grace of HH, we find this post by you. Firsthand application of the new knowledge, what more could we ask for? All that's left now is to get that vine eaten.
Take care ☺