When I first saw your site name on another site, I immediately formed a mental image of what I imagined would be contained on your site. After reading a few topics and looking around the site, that initial mental image was, indeed, confirmed. So congrats on a catchy name that reflects the content of your site!!

I also think the name is appropriate, considering that in order to find truly wholesome foods, one must spend a little time and effort. That said, I do feel there is real value in conducting a bit of real foraging as well - a sort of wild food “supplement,” if you will.

I have been interested in real foraging for a number of years now, and can say that at the very least it is a fun activity, and at the best it has provided a nutritional boost to my diet that has improved my health. It makes perfect sense to me to add foods to the diet that many consider nothing more than weeds, and if you despise weeds then what better revenge than to eat them!

I must of course caution anyone who chooses to walk the forager’s path to be very careful and positively identify any plants or fungi before consumption. Even edible forage may elicit adverse reactions, allergic or otherwise. Start very slowly and consume only small quantities at first, perhaps only a single leaf or otherwise small taste to begin with.

Having said that, let me start by listing the edible plants I have foraged from my own yard for years: dandelions (leaf, flower, root), garlic mustard (leaves & roots), wood sorrel, ground cherries, chickweed, and catnip. I have found black walnuts, stinging nettles, mint, wild onions, morel mushrooms, puffball mushrooms, sulfur shelf mushrooms, may apples, hawthorn berries, gooseberries, grapes, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, apples, and many more close to my neighborhood.

So why in the world would anyone want to forage when they can get everything they need from the store, you might ask? Several reasons. First, foraged food is picked and preferably consumed at its freshest. Forgive the lack of references, but I have learned that fruits and vegetables lose nutrients through oxidation fairly rapidly. Most produce in the store has been picked several days ago by the time it reaches its final destination in the stomach of the consumer. Secondly, wild foods are not likely to have been (advertently) treated with pesticides or herbicides, or to have been picked over and/or handled by numerous human hands. Third, wild foods are better than the equivalent of “heirloom” produce in that they probably have not been genetically engineered. And lastly, they are free for the taking!

Anyone interested in foraging should of course brush up on some resources before setting out. The late Euell Gibbons authored several interesting books, most notably “Stalking the Wild Asparagus” and “Stalking the Healthful Herbs.” They contain much good information, but are not good for identification purposes. “Wildman” Steve Brill is also another excellent resource - http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com. The USDA maintains a website containing a plant database with both edible and non-edible varieties: http://plants.usda.gov/. There are many other sites and books you could reference as well.

I have a few more tips from my own experience. You should select plants from areas you don’t believe have been subjected to pesticide/herbicide application (an overgrow area is a good sign that it hasn’t been applied). Always wash any foraged plants thoroughly before consumption to remove any debris, etc. Some plants can be slightly hazardous even if they are edible, particularly stinging nettle - if you touch it without gloves be prepared for pain about the equivalent of a bee sting (naturally this will NOT be eaten raw).

At any rate, I hope this will be of interest to some. Proceed with caution, but by all means proceed. At the very least any nature lovers should enjoy the fresh air, sunshine, and exercise. Good health.

Marc

The name resonated with me the first time I saw it–I think it’s great!!

Cheers
Scott

Cheers
Scott