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Have You Ever Foraged For Food?

by 14

All of the culinary cognoscenti's talk of wild ramps being in season has left me wishing the wild leeks grew naturally on the West Coast so I could learn where to forage for them. Sadly, aside from the occasional blackberry, I'm not too versed in foraging. I'd love to learn where to look for other in-season wild edibles, such as fiddlehead ferns and morels. Have you ever picked your own produce from the wild?

Source: Flickr User mecredis

PollEcoSlow FoodForaging

14 Comments

GummiBears GummiBears
Nope. Never had the opportunity to forage unless foraging in the cupboard to make something quick to eat.
tigr3bianca tigr3bianca
Blackberries, crab apples, sunflower seeds, pecans. No forest near by for me to hunt for mushrooms though.
sourcherries sourcherries
If the source seems reliable, then why not? Good way for people to connect to food.
laurenot laurenot
I also recommend making a tasty foraged treat out of backyard "pests" ...http://gnoshings.wordpress.com/2010/04/27/escargot/...Escargot!
spngebobmyhero spngebobmyhero
i've only picked blackberries and blueberries. I've also eaten some wild wintergreen and some wild carrots...I was in nature camp
AbbyHintz AbbyHintz
I really enjoy it, and there are so many foods that are easy to identify. However, with the exception of berries and nuts, I have rarely gathered enough for a family meal. Usually, I just gather stuff to try it. Once, I was even so crazy as to collect acorns from red oaks to make acorn candy. The tannins from red acorns have to be extracted using boiling water, which is very time consuming. (White oak acorns would be better but it's impossible to get to the white oak acorns before the squirrels do.)
bluebellknoll bluebellknoll
When I was a kid I used to go matsutake mushroom hunting with my parents. Every summer the hubby and I go pick huckleberries. That's about it.
wiggle wiggle
Wild blackberries call my name! They are all over if you just look for them.
Spectra Spectra
Nothing except for the wild blackberries that we get from my in-law's farm. I have always wanted to go mushroom hunting, but I'm not experienced enough to know which ones are totally safe to eat.
limelindsey limelindsey
I will say I was with an experienced mushroom hunter when we picked chanterelles. They are fortunately very distinctive looking, but I definitely wouldn't have done it without her along!
I personally only pick what I am sure of -- fruits mainly. But I have had some daring friends bringing books into the woods to try and correctly identify things they could eat. They successfully cooked and ate what they found -- but I graciously declined (it smelt terrible too). If we are living off the land -- I think I would preffer to either grow it, catch it with a hook and line, or have the guy go hunting ...
Soniabonya Soniabonya
Hmm, only berries. I don't trust foraging for anything else. Not unless I have an expert next to me saying what I pick won't kill me. A while back, a family picked mushrooms out in the Santa Cruz Mtns. I think one or two died from consuming them.
limelindsey limelindsey
Just blackberries and chanterelles. Easy pickings in Oregon!
skigurl skigurl
too funny...we had fresh fiddleheads at dinner last week picked from the lane at our cabin but i didn't pick them ...some in my family are so inclined...me not so much
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