ze gatherer
DISCLAIMER: Never, ever, ever consume any plant that you are not 100% sure you have identified. Do not take the advice of random people on the internet when it involves consuming something that could kill you or make you sick. Always do your research and cross reference every identification using multiple sources.
Disclaimer #2: Keep in mind, I am not an all an expert in foraging or plant identification. I am what I would consider to be a seasoned beginner. I have a couple years of regular foraging under my belt but I still feel like an infant in the grand scheme. I am writing this to be an inspiration to those who are starting from scratch like I did. I’m writing this to be able to show you that you can start foraging, but that you ought to be cautious and take plenty of things into consideration before you jump into it blindly. Also understand that this essay is not a greenlight for you to go picking through random plants that you find; it is more so an encouragement for those who are interested in the subject but unsure of where to start. Make sure that you are doing much more research - through articles, books, forums, videos etc. before you begin eating random plants.
When you first start out foraging, it seems very daunting. You really won’t know what you’re looking for and everything will seem foreign and inedible. However, like everything in life, it becomes notably easier once you switch over into the right mindset. A simple switch that happens before you even know it.
A single, easily-identifiable wild edible such as a blackberry is the perfect starting point; something that you know you will never get wrong, but will have piqued your curiosity enough to start looking at plants differently.
As a beginner, it can seem like a lot is at stake - your life. It can feel as though one wrong bite and you die. I know this because I have been there at the very beginning; wishing to eat but unsure of what to eat. But truthfully, it’s not really as daunting as it seems. It only takes a tiny bit of research using various resources, and the answers become very clear. From there, the possibilities are endless (if only because the amount of edible plant species are nearly endless). This is also where your common sense is at its most useful, but also gets tested - if you don’t know for sure what it is, simply don’t eat it. If you do know for sure what it is………. enjoy :)
Once you adopt the mind of a forager, be observant and use your senses! What plants are immediately around you in your everyday life? What are the smells, tastes, feelings, and aesthetic intricacies of the plants you come across? That doesn’t mean to go touching or tasting every plant you see, it simply means become as familiar as you can with each plant that you see, and each plant that you have identified. This makes it seamless for you to understand what you are working with; how to treat it, how to harvest it, how to use it, and how to preserve it for future use.
Be aware of the location you are foraging from, be wary of potential cross contamination from other plants or man-made chemical; plants soak up water, so if the water is lousy with chemicals, the plants will eat those chemicals, therefore you will eat those chemicals. It can be tricky, but this is usually not one of the biggest worries. Just make sure that you’re not foraging from construction sites or the parking lot of a waste repurposing facility
Here is a list of things to be aware of, but should not deter you:
Cross contamination from other plants or man-made factors
Location; are you on private property? Are you in a place that is safe to harvest? Observe your surroundings carefully.
Local animal life, ensuring that you are not taking too much from animals that need it more than you, as well as making sure you are protected from potential predators in your area while foraging.
Triple checking all your finds and cross-referencing multiple sources (try an identification app, then double check in a foraging book, then triple check on google images)
Making sure you are eating the proper parts of a plant (like with cherry laurels, the only edible part is the flesh of the fruit while every other part of the plant - including the pit - can be toxic)
Understand that foraging does not at all have to be a large, planned out task. Many regions in the US have edibles growing on city streets! I often times find myself wandering in my city, or in a park, or a small trail, and I’ll look to the curb or a patch of plants and find blackberries, salal, rosemary, sage, mint, wild carrot, rose hips or any number of random other plants that can be eaten or utilized. You need only to be of the right mind, and free food will begin to appear everywhere before your eyes! Sometimes even falling right into your lap.
Something to keep in mind: Do not overharvest. The goal of foraging is not to take as much as you can from the environment without giving back. While the natural world is full of nutrients that want to offer themselves to you, foraging should be considered a reciprocal, symbiotic relationship. While harvesting a plant, consider taking some seeds, then dispersing those seeds in another palatable spot of land. This will continue the cycle, and you will be furthering not only the plant’s life, but the life of the animals that consume those plants as well. When you find a berry bush, never pick it clean. Leave plenty for the birds and deer, especially if it is a rarer berry that is found in an area unpopulated by humans. Always whisper thanks to a plant that you harvest from.
Getting Started:
3rd Disclaimer: Again, do not ever consume a plant that you are less than 100% sure you’ve identified. Many plants have poisonous look-a-likes and very similar plants in their categories and genus. I highly recommend starting with a couple very easy-to-identify plants and sticking with those to start, so that you can step into the mindset of a forager without diving in over your head.
To start, do some research on your region. You can start by simply Googling common wild edible plants in your area, there will be plenty of lists and articles.
I highly recommend choosing 1-2 plants that are common to your area and studying the properties of them; study what kind of soil and which areas they thrive in. Be sure to study the leaves, the chutes, the flowers, the fruits, the roots. Study the size and height of the plant, study the shape of the plant. Is it a tree, a bush or shrub?
Once you are confident that you could identify that plant if you saw it in the wild, keep it in your back pocket. At this point, you now have an excuse to go for regular walks and hikes, all while keeping your eye out for your preferred plant.
You really do not need any special equipment when you’re first starting out. At most, a pair of gardening gloves and a long-sleeve shirt is all you need, and you can begin identifying and harvesting some edible berries and flowers. Once you move on to roots and chutes, a trowel or weeder will be helpful, but you should not feel the need to spend money on any tools when you’re just beginning.
When you’re just starting out, I would also highly recommend downloading a plant identification app (such as PictureThis). They are not always 100% accurate so make sure that you’re cross referencing with other sources like books and Google searches, but they will allow you to take pictures of plants and have them identified for you! It’s a fantastic shortcut for beginners, and will help you on the road to being an expert plant identifier. I have discovered edible plants that I had never heard of just by snapping a picture of an interesting looking plant and doing a little further research on it based on the stepping stone of the identification app.
Easy Beginner Plants:
Berries - the easiest plants to identify simply because they are pretty obvious. Most edible berries do not have poisonous cousins, and they are also the easiest to spot from a distance. Still, be cautious and make sure you are certain of your identification before touching or consuming any berries. Most red, circular berries are not edible for humans.
Dandelions - although they have some lookalikes, dandelions are very common in the entire US and easy to identify. Roast the roots for tea, cook the greens and flowers in olive oil with a splash of vinegar, salt, and pepper.
Acorns - also very common in the US and easy to identify, just be sure to use fresh ones that have not begun to rot. Learn how to process them properly before consumption.
Herbs such as rosemary and sage grow fairly commonly on city streets and are easy to identify by smell.
Rosehips - easy to identify and easy to process. Fantastic for jams and teas.
If you are going to go down the path of mushroom foraging, chicken of the woods and morel mushrooms are the easiest to identify.
Crabapples - while there are many, many different kinds of crabapples, it is very easy to find edible and delicious (if slightly sour) crabapples all over; in cities and forests alike. It is still best to use your regular identification processes on crabapples even if they seem to obviously be crabapples.
Remember that easy to identify edible plants vary by region, so do some research based on your location to find common wild edibles.
Good Practices and Helpful Tips:
Urban foraging is a good way to start, if only because it is unlikely that cities will plant highly-poisonous plants on public land or city streets. Don’t count on that every time so still do your research, but when you’re first starting, you might find that you have an easier time finding non-poisonous, edible plants within city limits rather than deep in the woods.
Don’t just look for edible plants, try identifying as many plants as you possibly can. It will help in putting faces to the name, understanding different genuses and just overall making you a better forager.
Instead of studying and familiarizing yourself with edible plants, it might be best to familiarize yourself with inedible and poisonous plants first and foremost.
Avoid mushrooms, especially when you’re just starting out. They can be incredibly tricky to identify and also can be a matter of life and death or extreme illness. Many mushrooms have poisonous near-identical twins, and I highly advise that only experts attempt mushroom foraging.
Start by exploring your immediate area; your neighborhood, nearby parks, etc. and familiarize yourself with the plants in the area. This is a great basis for beginning foraging and makes it much easier to expand into less familiar territories.
It is best to wear long sleeve shirts and long pants when foraging in the woods. This will help prevent you coming in contact with thorns or other plants that can cause harm, such as poison oak or ivy.
Be sure not to destroy natural environments while finding foragable plants - stick with the patches and locations that are easily accessible by foot.
Basic Helpful Tools:
Not entirely necessary to be able to harvest edible plants, but you might find a good use for each of these, especially the deeper you get into foraging.
Gloves
Scissors
Pocket knife
Trowel or weeder
Container of some kind, preferably a wicker basket but honestly you can just use a grocery bag or whatever.
More Resources and Book Recommendations:
Recommended North American foraging books for beginners based on region:
Northwest: Pacific Northwest Foraging: 120 Wild and Flavorful Edibles from Alaska Blueberries to Wild Hazelnuts
California: California Foraging: 120 Wild and Flavorful Edibles from Evergreen Huckleberries to Wild Ginger
Southwest: Southwest Foraging: 117 Wild and Flavor Edibles from Barrel Cactus to Wild Oregano
Mountain States: Mountain States Foraging: 115 Wild and Flavorful Edibles from Alpine Sorrel to Wild Hops
Midwest: Midwest Foraging: 115 Wild and Flavorful Edibles from Burdock to Wild Peach
Northeast: Northeast Foraging: 120 Wild and Flavorful Edibles from Beach Plums to Wineberries
Southeast: Southeast Foraging: 120 Wild and Flavorful Edibles from Angelica to Wild Plums
How To Get Started Foraging (Youtube)
The lovely people over in r/foraging are incredibly kind and helpful as well!
Next stop on the Silk Road… Navigating Antebellum America
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