Wildcrafting (aka Foraging) in Your Neighborhood
By Katy Reany
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Harvesting wild food is the oldest and most basic subsistence activity of humankind, but today we live in a world where these skills are almost lost. Foraging is the missing link in modern ‘civilized’ cultures – it is this direct physical connection, in the form of sustenance, that brings us to our deepest appreciation and understanding of the natural world. With so many of us looking to re-connect with nature during our quaren-time, why not look at ways to fill our bellies and our souls!
Walking out into the forests or fields and coming back with an armload of food can be a truly rewarding experience. Every new plant you learn to identify and use, helps you to become more empowered to care for yourself and your family. You also become less dependent on—and less vulnerable to—big, corporate entities. However, with this expanding freedom also comes the responsibility of ensuring your own safety. There are poisonous plants out there. Some look just like good plants. Some of them are good or bad depending on the quantity. You should always be aware of the environment where the plants are growing.
What I want to do is to help you maximize your rewards while minimizing your risks. With that in mind I want to share some of the rules for safe wildcrafting. The more experienced you become, the more you’ll see exceptions to the rules and know when to ignore them. But I advise the novice to follow them all, because nobody wants to become a cautionary tale.
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Go Slowly: The No. 1 rule with any new plant is to go slowly. You can have allergies and intolerances to wild plants, just like you can to conventional foods. The first couple of times you sample a plant, use a small portion. Also, you should only try one new plant at a time. This way, if you have a reaction, you’ll know which plant caused it.
Educate yourself: Look for a local expert! They will often know little tips and tricks that the books and websites won’t mention, and they will have specific knowledge about how the plants look and behave in your area. If you can’t find an expert in your area, books and websites are an acceptable way to learn wildcrafting. However, they can’t warn you if you’re about to make a mistake. Use caution and consult multiple sources to minimize your risks.
Know Your Environment: Physical hazards include thorns, holes, ledges, wild animals, & moving vehicles. Just keep your eyes open and don’t stick your hands and feet anywhere you won’t be able to see them. Chemical hazards can be a bit trickier to detect. Don’t wildcraft from locations that get sprayed with herbicides or pesticides. (If you don’t know, ask. You don’t want to eat that stuff!) Avoid foraging beside busy roads. When it rains, the ditches are irrigated by vehicle-waste runoff. Many municipalities will also spray herbicides along the sides of rural roads. Apparently, this saves money compared to mowing.
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You should also avoid areas around trash storage, treated wood, and industrial waste. Respect private property. Don’t go foraging around someone’s house after dark. Getting mistaken for a burglar and shot would just ruin your evening. And why were you foraging in the dark, anyway?
Lastly … you know what poison ivy and poison oak look like, right? If it has shiny leaves of three, LET IT BE!
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If a Plant Doesn’t Match, Don’t Use It: Sometimes you’ll come across a plant that looks ALMOST right, but something doesn’t quite fit. You may have found a subspecies or variation. Then again, it might be a dangerous look-alike. It’s best just to leave that one alone until you can get a firmer identification. IF IN DOUBT, LEAVE IT OUT!
Avoid Plants With White Sap: Keep in mind that this piece of advice has exceptions. Some plants, like dandelions, are perfectly safe. Others might be safe once they’ve been correctly prepared. But as a general rule, if a plant has white sap, leave it alone.
Avoid Plants With White Berries: This rule has almost no exceptions. Plants with white berries are plants that do not mess around. Don’t even touch them.
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Be Humble With Umbels: If you see a plant with umbels, you’d better be 110% sure of what it is before you harvest and use it. Elderberry, yarrow, and carrots all form umbels, and they’re great. Poison hemlock has umbels, too, and can be deadly! Unfortunately, a lot of these plants will look very similar. When you’re ready for the umbels, double-check their characteristics every single time.
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No matter how smart you are or how much experience you have, anyone can poison themselves if they get cocky or careless. Do yourself a favor and be humble with the umbels.
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Be 115% Sure About Mushrooms: Mushrooms take the term “poisonous” as a personal challenge. Some of them, like the death cap mushroom, reportedly taste good. To make things worse, mushroom look-alikes can be very tricky to tell apart. On the flipside, mushrooms are delicious and a lot of fun. Mushrooms, like morels and puffballs are reasonably safe for beginners to gather. Exercise due caution, research their appearance and look-alikes, and go out with an experienced guide until you get the feel for it.
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If It Looks Like an Onion AND Smells Like an Onion, It’s an Onion: This rule works for garlic too, but the plant you find has to both look and smell oniony or garlicy. There are some dangerous look-alikes, but none of them are also “smell-alikes.”
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All Mustards Are Edible: You can find mustards (Brassicaceae family) all over the world, and they’re all edible. This is wonderful! Yet how does someone know what mustard looks like? The surest way to identify them is by the bloom. All mustard family plants have 4 petals and 6 stamens2) (4 tall and 2 short).
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If It Looks Like a Mint AND Smells Like a Mint, It’s an Edible Mint: Mints (Lamiaceae family) usually have square stems and opposite) leaves. These leaf pairs will rotate back and forth 90 degrees as they move up the stem. If a plant looks like a mint, but doesn’t smell minty, avoid it. It might be fine. It might not.
Seeing an Animal Eat It Does Not Make It Safe: Animals can eat a lot of things that would make us sick or dead. They usually know what’s good for them. They don’t know what’s good for us. Don’t copy the animals.
Hopefully, this guide has encouraged you, rather than scaring you off. Wildcrafting is a wonderful way to empower yourself, and it’s a really fun way to spend an afternoon. If you follow the rules, and use a bit of common sense, you’ll come back in one piece.
Want to give it a try? Here are a few, easily identifiable plants that are growing right now!
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Blackberry. Rubus fruticosus
(Also check out the red and black raspberries, another Rubus species)
The thorny blackberry bushes produce delicious black and purple berries that ripen in the summer. The roots and shoots of the plant are also edible when peeled and cooked. The roots can be dried out and infused into a tea that can be used as an herbal remedy.
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Raspberry. Rubus species
These soft red berries can be used interchangeably like blackberries. Dried raspberry leaves can be used medicinally, particularly for women. They are an all-around tonic for the female reproductive system, and are used for both ease of menstrual pain, and by pregnant women to ease labor pains.
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Chicory. Cichorium intybus
The purple flowering chicory plant has many uses both as a food source and as a medicinal plant. The leaves can be consumed raw in a salad, while the roots can be boiled and eaten as a vegetable. When the roots are roasted and pulverized they can also be used as a coffee substitute.
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Dandelion. Taraxacum officinale
The dandelion plant is probably one of the most easily identifiable plants. As a child, you probably picked its bright yellow flowers or blew wishes on their puffy seed pods. Did you know they were also edible? Indeed, similar to the chicory plant, a dandelion can be eaten raw in salads or boil the roots if you are looking for more veggies. The roots can similarly be used as a coffee substitute and if you look hard enough in the supermarket, you might even see some dandelion wine!
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Daylily. Hemerocallis fulva
These orange flowers grow all over! The flower itself can be eaten in a variety of ways, boiled or even deep fried. The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked up like any other green!
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Scallion. Allium species (Related to ramps)
As a kid we called these ‘Wild Onions’ but they go by many names. While these grassy little onions grow in many of the same places as ramps, scallions do not have the big broad dark green leaves. Instead they typically have rounder, almost hollow tube-like stems, and they grow in clusters or as singles. There is no major pronounced bulb, but some of them might get as fat as your finger. The bulbous root and the green stalks are both edible. Think of it as a wild leek.
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Water lily. Nymphaea odorata
The flowers, seeds and rhizomes of these cool plants are edible and can be eaten raw, dried or cooked.
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Wintergreen. Gaultheria procumbens
This dark green plant is often found on the ground next to huckleberry plants but can be found in a variety of other places. Snap a leaf in half and take a whiff, if you’ve got the right plant you’ll instantly know it by the familiar chewing gum smell! The dark green leaves often have white flowers growing on them and when dried make a refreshing and minty tea!
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Wood Sorrel. Oxalis species
Also known as sour grass, wood sorrel almost looks like a cartoon shamrock or clover. The flowers can range from white to yellow to pink. The entire plant is edible, and it can be used medicinally to cure stomach cramps. Beware of eating too much, particularly if you have kidney or liver problems. Accumulation oxalates in the body can cause inflammatory issues.
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Quick and Delicious Recipes for July’s Long Hot Days!
One of the Harvest Moon staff was asking me the other day if I’d ever heard of cauliflower tacos. I hadn’t, but it sounded like something that might be worth looking into a bit further. Turns out, there are numerous recipes for cauliflower tacos, many of them looking downright delicious.
I think the key to making this recipe successful, is to add the extra taco fixings loved most by you and yours. A variety of possible options is offered below, but feel free to take all the liberties you want!
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Cauliflower Tacos
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons hot chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Dash salt
1 medium head cauliflower, cut into bite-size florets
4 (8-inch) whole wheat or whole grain corn tortillas, warmed
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Optional Extra Fixin’s: Shredded cabbage, salsa, nonfat Greek yogurt, sour cream, avocado and chopped cilantro. Don’t forget the possibility of adding a little refried pinto or black beans into this recipe. Meat lovers, don’t be afraid to cook up a little chicken or fajita meat with your cauliflower.
Directions
Preheat oven to 400F.
In a large bowl whisk together lime juice, olive oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and salt until combined. Stir in cauliflower florets, tossing gently until coated. Place cauliflower on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is tender.
Spoon roasted cauliflower evenly over warmed tortillas. Top each with cabbage, salsa, yogurt, lime, hot sauce, avocado, and cilantro, if desired. Serve immediately.
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Open-Faced Tomato Grilled Cheese
Simple, and simply delicious!
The kids will love helping you prepare this fun and tasty recipe… and then they will devour them!
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Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Kosher salt
1/2 baguette, halved lengthwise
1 large clove garlic, halved
1 medium tomato, halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/4 pound sliced provolone cheese
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Directions
Preheat a grill to medium high. Combine the olive oil, oregano, red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Brush the cut sides of the baguette with some of the flavored oil. Grill cut-side down until toasted, about 4 minutes.
Rub the grilled sides of the baguette with the garlic. Top with the tomato slices, season with salt and cover with the provolone. Grill, covered, until the cheese melts, 3 to 5 minutes. Drizzle with the remaining flavored oil and season with salt. Cut into pieces.
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Herby Kale Pesto Pasta with Buttery Walnuts
Believe it or not, this recipe has been one of the most popular dishes shared on Twitter during the Covid shut down. It looks absolutely lovely!
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Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 445 kcal
Ingredients
• 1 bunch Tuscan kale, roughly chopped (about 2 cups)
• 1 cup fresh basil
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• kosher salt
• 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• 3/4 pound of your favorite pasta
• black pepper
• 3 tablespoons salted butter
• 1 cup raw walnuts roughly chopped
• 1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
• 1-2 balls fresh burrata cheese, at room temperature (Burrata cheese is mozzarella taken to the next level — it’s mozzarella that’s formed into a pouch and then filled with soft, stringy curd and cream. Well worth it if you can find it!)
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Directions
In a blender or food processor, combine the kale, basil, parmesan, olive oil, and a pinch of salt and crushed red pepper. Pulse until chunky smooth.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Drain the pasta.
Meanwhile, heat the butter, walnuts, thyme, lemon zest, and a pinch of salt in a large skillet. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the butter is browned and the walnuts are toasted. Remove the nuts from the skillet to a plate.
Add the garlic to the skillet, cooking 1 minute, until fragrant. Drop the pasta into the skillet. Add the kale pesto, lemon juice, and a pinch of pepper. Toss to combine. Thin the pasta as desired with the reserved pasta cooking water.
Break the burrata into the bottom of each individual serving bowl. Spoon the pasta over the cheese. Top with the buttery walnuts. Enjoy!
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New, Back In Stock, and Seasonal Items in June
We want to be YOUR store. Please let us know if there is something we don’t have that you want, and we will do our best to get it in!
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