What do you forage for in your area?

gardneto76

I know most of us are supposed to be staying home, unless getting some much needed exercise. When you can what do you plan to forage for in your area? How far do you normally travel to forage things?

I forage around my yard the most, but I have been reading a book about plants I can forage for in my range. Now when we go anywhere include on off-road rides, I find myself staring down at the sides of the roads looking for any plants I might recognize. We do lots of off-reading out on desert trails so I have found many different kinds of prickly pear that I was able to convince hubby to stop and let me pick some. After tasting the lemonade I made with it, he will stop for all kinds of foraging ventures. We have also found yucca fruit, which roasted tastes like cooked apples. I have not ventured into making flour with those seeds but heard you can.

judsoncarroll4

Here, mostly poke, dock, sheep sorrel and plantain... occasionally I spot some wild lettuce or shepherd's purse.... prickly pear and Indian fig cactus... hickory nuts, juniper berries/cones and persimmons.. oh, and definitely wild grapes - they are very good here. Back home, add 100+ to that list!

Torey

We have a wide variety of wild berries in my surrounding area; raspberries, strawberries, high-bush & low-bush blueberries, huckleberries, thimbleberries, saskatoons, chokecherries, Oregon grapes, gooseberries, soapberries, juniper berries and rose hips. Lots of wild greens, edible flowers, wild onions and a few mushrooms (we have many kinds but I'm not very brave). I harvest different parts of the cattail plant. I pickle the hearts and harvest the pollen for flour. I live on a shallow lake so they are abundant.

I also forage for a lot of medicinal plants.

I am so fortunate to live in such an abundant area.

gardneto76

@judsoncarroll4 I am pretty sure I have Shepard’s Purse all over my yard but mover seem to catch it before it goes to seed. What do you do with it? Eat it like most greens?

@torey I am so jealous of all the wild berries! We had them all over back home and would walk out to pick them in the woods & at least once a year we would get enough to make a pie. I currently have a gooseberry plant growing in a pot. I have never had them and excited to try it for the first time. What do cattails taste like? They grew across the street growing up, but we didn’t know they were edible then.

Torey

@gardneto76 The cattails have a mild cucumber like flavour. Nice raw or pickled. The pollen/flour is nice added to pancakes and muffins. You can substitute up to half the flour with pollen. Adds a lovely golden colour.The immature heads can be roasted and eaten as well as the roots, although the roots take quite a bit of preparation. I find them to be too small to make it worthwhile.

If your shepherd's purse goes to seed, it can be saved for medicine or the seeds used as a peppery spice.

vickeym

I could forage on my own property for several things, if it wasn't buried under several feet of snow still. There is also a lot of wooded areas I have access to. Even during our current crisis. Everyone in my neighborhood has at least 10 acres and several are willing to let me forage on theirs as well as my own. We still have over 4 feet of snow and they are predicting more tonight. Waiting for our Spring to show up so I can forage. We have wild high bush cranberry, lamb's quarter, plantain, pineapple weed, yarrow, bolete muchrooms, and I'm sure many other wild goodies I have not discovered or identified yet.

Plus, I have planted comfrey, hyssop, black currents, yellow raspberry, chives and Haskap berries.

Jens the Beekeeper

Around here wild garlic, black raspberry, elderberry, Linden flower.

There is a course for foraging around the area but currently not possible.

judsoncarroll4

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/857157#Comment_857157

I never seem to spot it until it is too late, then I go back in the spring for greens. Kudzu is another good wild edible around here.

burekcrew86

In our area, there are quite a few mushroom species including morel, chicken in the woods, turkey tail, etc. Wild berries are also pretty easy to find including, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries. I harvest from my yard dandelion and plantain, and make dandelion salve every year. I make sure to leave a bunch of dandelions for the bees and other pollinators as that is their first food source in our area.

Linda Bittle

Dandelions are coming up here in western Idaho. Morels should be up soon, but I don't have much luck finding them here. Violet leaves are up, and I'm waiting on the flowers to make some violet simple syrup. That's so good in a cup of tea, or drizzled over strawberries or oatmeal!

https://www.feastingathome.com/violette-syrup/

Torey

@Mary Linda Bittle Thanks for posting this recipe. Looks amazing! Can't wait to try it. I have a friend who loves anything violet so this will be an adventure for us.

blevinandwomba

Occasionally dandelions and other wild greens, but mostly just black raspberries, wineberries, and mulberries.

@gardneto76 I have a gooseberry bush too, "Poorman" variety. I don't care for them fresh out of hand, but they are WONDERFUL baked into pies and things- kind of like rhubard but more depth of flavor. I also like them frozen; if you've ever eaten frozen grapes, they are similar, but with a much fresher, tarter flavor.

Karin

Mostly I only forage in our garden, as the local council insists on spraying poison on the roadsides and parks!! In spite of many members of the public complaining grrrr, so I don't feel safe foraging around the neighbourhood :(

gardneto76

@blevinandwomba ohhhh I love rhubarb and that is one of the things I cannot seem to be a to grow here! We also love frozen grapes as a summertime treat. Sounds like a win-win to me.

chimboodle04

We have been foraging for ramps lately - found a great clump on my husbands grandfathers farm and dug up a small portion to replant at our house for the future :) We will also go out for Morels (not quite up yet...) and dandelions (starting to appear in abundance - never want to get them too early so that the bees have something to eat!).

Torey

I picked Cottonwood buds two days ago. It is very warm during the days right now so it might be a short season. Haven't found anything else yet.

SuperC

here, we have milkweed, dandelion, wild raspberries, young fern, and we make salads. I have been hesitant to pick the elder berries to make syrup or a tincture yet. The milkweed pods are delicious. We’ve made raspberry jam and jelly. Fern is good in salad.

gardneto76

@teachercaryn what do you do with the milkweed pods? There were all over back home, no where near me now and I learn you can use them. 🤣

EarlKelly

Was out on a mission today. Foraging for elderberries. Haven’t seen any in a while, so figured it was a nice day and would see if I could find any. After hiking a few miles up and down these hills finally found a bunch of bushes just starting to bud out. Got me some nice cutting to take home and start. It was nice to be out in the sun and enjoying the nice weather. Nice to be out of corona prison for a while. Stay safe.

SuperC

@gardneto76 pick the pods as they are a beautiful green. Bring them home, remove the stems. In a pot of shallow water, place the pods into the water. Steam for ten to twenty minutes and the6 are ready to eat. Do not pick them after they have flowered as the young tender pods are better.

Obiora E

@gardneto76 Every year for me is different. Thus far I have been foraging for Wild Violet, Purple Deadnettle, Queen Anne's Lace (started today),Pokeweed (harvested some today), Henbit, White Yarrow, Dandelion, Yellow Dock, Burdock, Woolly Mullein (realized this year that it's edible, had harvested the past 2 or 3 years to dry and use for tea). Soon it will be wild black raspberries, blackberries, hopefully Red Mulberries, Crabapples, Sumacs, and more.

Megan Venturella

Blackberries everywhere in summer. Loquats, olives, cleavers, chickweed. Miners lettuce. There’s some watercress too. There may be more but that’s what I know how to use.

JodieDownUnder

I basically just forage on plants I know and have planted on our property. Dandelion, chickweed, passion flower, linden tree leaves plus tulsi, gotu kola, lemon balm, skullcap and feverfew from the vegetable garden. As I gain more confidence and experience, I will venture further afield. I've just joined up with Learning Herbs/Herbmentor to kickstart this process.

Torey

@jodienancarrow Learning Herbs is a great site. Good luck with your herbal journey! Have you done the TGN's herb courses?

VickiP

Poke, wild greens, wild onions and garlic, Maypop (Passion Flower) walnuts, hickory nuts, hazel nuts, Elder berries, mushrooms. We do have wild plums, persimmons and ast. berries. Of course not all things are available all the tie, but we can harvest quite a bit in the spring and in the fall. Summer it is mostly just the berries and in the winter we do have some useful trees, but not much food wise.

JodieDownUnder

@torey yes, I've done the home herb medicine with Doc Jones. Made the comfrey and calendula cream, which I use a lot. Found him super funny and smart!

gardneto76

I have also been eying some berries on my neighbors tree, waiting for them to be ripe to pick them. I forget the specifics but I believe it is a juniper Or cypress variety that Is used in landscape.

csinclair461

I asked a friend for local blackberry patch. We ferment the leaves and make tea. My friend had some in her backyard, and got some for us. Not directly foraging. But I am on the lookout for areas that look forageable, and then wotk on getting permission to forage there.

Torey

@gardneto76 Be careful with your identification as not all cypress trees are edible. Junipers are also powerful diuretics and should be used in small amounts. Juniper is not recommended for use by anyone with chronic or advanced kidney disease or during pregnancy.

SherryA

I forage almost exclusively in my yard. Where I live, foraging is prohibited almost everywhere since anything wild is either a park or in a ditch on somebody's property. The things I find wild in my yard are dandelion, cleavers, poke, bee balm, wild strawberries, wild lettuce, violets, red clover, cottonwood buds. Probably more that I can't remember. There are also many herbs that I've planted that now come up every year - mint, lemon balm, catnip, yarrow, chamomile, hyssop, elderberry, coneflower, mullein. It's a wonderful yard!

gardneto76

@torey yes! I posted the tree and berries on a foraging group to have it confirmed to be an edible variety! Now I just need to find someone close enough to verify when they are ready this fall.