Foraging for Wild Food?

[EdithKeeler]

Anyone do it?

Now that spring is almost upon us, I've been thinking about how my grandmother used to gather wild greens in the spring. Dandelion, poke salad, morels, etc. I'm the first one to pull of the road to pick wild blackberries if I see them; my xDBF laughed at me when a couple of years ago I came home with empty McD's coffee cups and a Wendy's cup (that I had rolling around in my car) full of blackberries. But I've never really foraged for other stuff. When I was a kid, I'd go out with an elderly neighbor--she gathered morels, elderberries, and some rhubarb and asparagus that had gone wild at an old homesite out in the woods.

I've been reading up on what's available here in TN--did you know we have truffles here? I'm going to have to teach my dogs to sniff them out! I figure I'm out in the woods and fields with my dogs every weekend that maybe I can make the time count.

Just curious if anyone else does, or has done, this.

[rube]

I have picked wild raspberry's last year and made 2.5 jars of jam. Also made a meal of chestnuts I gathered in the woods (bushes)

Would love to learn an do more of these things one day (when RE)

[EMJ]

2 good wild foraging resources:

http://www.eattheweeds.com/
http://arcadianabe.blogspot.com

[henrik]

Around here, mushrooms are all the rage (mostly these and these, I don't know the English names:)) when in season. I've been along with friends sometimes, but mostly for the social occasion.

[LonerMatt]

I do it when it's possible. I think that you've got to consider a few things:
- Time
- Quantity
- The food itself

Berries are very costly here, but grow wild all over the place. In the space of an hour it's easy to get 2 weeks worth of berries, easily, if not more. That's good value - tasty, fresh, saves money, not a lot of time.

However, something like Nettle (which can make pesto, soup, etc with) is very time consuming - picking is easy, but then it has to be prepared. It's also less safe, as many people spray these with toxins that don't always wash off. For me, to make something with thistle (don't love it, it's OK) isn't really worth the time it takes to locate the plant (smaller than huge berry bushes) and prepare it.

Fennel is usually wild in abundance, so that's an option.

[lilacorchid]

I would not forage under large power lines as they can be regularly sprayed to keep things from growing underneath them.

[7Wannabe5]

Sometimes. Mostly for the same reason that I can't stop myself from picking up a penny on the sidewalk once I see it. For instance,there are half a dozen productive unharvested apple trees that I regularly encounter on my usual rounds.

OTOH, one day last summer I realized that I was weeding a dandelion out of a garden space where I was growing arugula and my first thought was "Hmm...this is rather counter-productive" but my second thought was "Eh, I prefer arugula." And I am just too damn lazy to do anything about the black walnuts on my husband's rental property.

A very informative and well-written book on the topic that I recently read is "Backyard Foraging:65 Familiar Plants You Didn't Know You Could Eat" by Ellen Zachos. I think most people on this forum would enjoy it because she makes recommendations such as processing the bitterness out of acorns by hanging them in a mesh bag in your toilet tank so that they get rinsed every time you flush.

[before45]

I highly recommend purslane--google it and check that you aren't mixing it up with a similar-looking weed (if the stem has white sap don't eat it). It's highly nutritious, actually tastes good (which IMHO most wild greens don't), can be eaten raw or cooked, and it grows everywhere, likely in your and your friends' lawns. Of course, be careful about herbicides, etc. I also eat common daylily flowers, but they don't agree with me in bulk.

[Riggerjack]

is it foraging if it's on your own land? i'll go for wild huckleberries and salmon berries, we have elderberry, but i've never tried em. road blackberries are too dusty, get em out of an abandoned field or orchard! nothin better. we have wild chantrelles, lions mane and half a dozen other mushrooms in the PNW, but i don't like mushrooms.

[BennKar]

Foraging on my own property? Yeah, there is a wild black mulberry tree leaning over into my yard, and for the past two years I have collected the berries and made jam. Last year it made about 4 gallons. I use it with breakfast every day, and yet I have had to give some away - I just don't use it enough. I don't normally have time to make a fancy breakfast, so I had been buying various cereal over the years. Now its almond milk, whole grain bread, organic peanut butter, and this jam - its better for me and saves me good money.