I think the kind of list you were initially hoping for was something like:
Pawpaw, persimmon, red mulberry, wild plum (at least 4 species I have heard of), blueberry/huckleberry (many species), strawberry, elderberry, cranberry, honeyberry (there is a native one in the Erie area, I believe it’s endangered), box huckleberry, cranberry viburnum (V. trilobum is the old notation, now it’s supposedly opulus), Viburnum cassinoides (Northern Wild Raisin), crabapple, Passiflora incarnata (maypop), Apios americana (groundnut), and wild grapes.
If you are looking for more obscure things, pokeweed, milkweed, Aralia spinosa shoots (Devil’s walking stick), all sumac except poison sumac, Ostrich fern, Mayapple, and a bunch of other things can be eaten once cooked or processed in some way.
Some of these were mentioned above but I wanted to get it in one post.
Edit- American Linden has edible leaves, Red Buds have edible flowers. Also currants and gooseberries.
it’s very deeply mulched and runs along the house by the roof runoff. it only gets an hour or so of direct sun in summer, it’s the shade side of the house.
I’ve got another fern growing in there that is fine, but every time I plant in an ostrich it doesn’t come back in spring. they do grow in this region, i love fiddleheads and some friends forage here for them every year.
I always let staghorn sumac grow…for the bees, I haven’t harvested the berries for spice.
Black mustard, upland cress, watercress, dandelions are just a few of my wild ‘crops’.
I don’t think mulch alone will be enough for ostrich ferns. They need a lot of moisture. I’m trying them out in a spot that seems to have a minor underground spring keeping the area most year round. They’re doing all right there, but will probably be a couple more years before they’re big enough to harvest.
they grow en masse in spring flood zones along rivers and streams here. they love heavy dense river silt which holds its moisture better than any other soil. only fiddleheads and nettle like to grow in it. i have mine planted under some spruce near a area that holds water in the spring. mulch with compost heavy then woodchips.
Pawpaws grow in silt splendidly…but you may be too cold for them in Maine.
I do know they do OK in southern Ontario but the lakes probably have something
to do with it moderating the temperatures.
I’m growing a great number of the aforementioned plants, as well as possumhaw (Viburnum nudum), eastern prickly pear (Opuntia humifusa), Mexican marigold (Tagetes lucida), and even citradia (Citrus trifoliata × auranticum; bred in FL), though the latter is not hardy enough for 6b.
Don’t forget about the mint family (Lamiaceae), either, which has a lot of great edible options, including some (like the OP American beautyberry: I think I have *hundreds*) that love humid clay soils. I’ve got giant hyssop (Agastache spp), common self-heal (Prunella vulgaris), and a few species of mountainmint (Pycnanthemum), too.
Besides all that, numerous wild plants I have around are edible to varying degrees. I’ll just provide a few highlights (not sure the zone limits on everything without checking). For trees and such, that includes “black” tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica; really more a gold tupelo!), northern spicebush (Lindera benzoin), southern bayberry (Myrica cerifera), American beech (Fagus grandifolia), and one of our most important species (now raising numerous new seedlings), red juniper (Juniperus virginiana).
For perennials, some of the better wild picks I have here are Carolina rose (Rosa carolina), goldenrods (Solidago spp), creeping cucumber (Melothria pendula; very tasty—I think the warnings are spurious), partridgeberry (Mitchella repens), and the greenbriers (Smilax spp).
And for annuals, the non-poisonous ones tend to be more animal feed than human food, but I’ve got everything from American fireweed (Erechtites hieraciifolius; non-bitter green with a *slight* hint of celery) to yellow cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus).
thats a new one for me. all we have here are the wild bur cucumbers- Echinocystis lobata.
funny hearing people’s tribulations with ostrich fern. its basically a weed here. plenty of moist roadsides. like most ferns it spreads pretty well. id thought the water thing likely more about stress tolerance than an actual need for tons of water. how much can a plant of any kind really use? they may not be able to tolerate dry soil though I spose.
tons more. depends how much you care to extend the meaning of the word “food”. These all fit squarely im my definition. Theres oddball stuff amongst the oddball stuff, like lupine seeds. Apparently theyre a popular snack in Turkey. Here they are considered poisonous. Maybe too many lectins? Ive never harvested them, but apparently they have potential as food.
Many plant species from east asia grow well in eastern US due to climate analogue. Some grow so well as to receive classification of “noxious weed”. For example, Ipomoea aquatica.
As far as tasty native weeds go, I like our local population of Claytonia perfoliata (“Miner’s lettuce”), which tastes a lot like very tender spinach. I’ve tasted it in other areas where it has a much stronger oxalic acid flavor, but whether it’s soil or genetic, the ones here are much more mild. They sprout here around now (start of rainy season) and grow slowly all winter until spring when they get larger and flower.
