161 replies to this topic

[gfron1]

I admit that I'll put just about anything in my mouth unless I have a reason to fear it, and reading about all of your noreasterners eating fiddleheads got me out in the Wilderness recently where I knew ferns grew (they aren't common here, but they exist). I never found fiddleheads, but lots of baby ferns and new leaf groupings. So I ate them. I lived. At least for now.

But now I'm wondering how safe...safe enough for customers? I enjoyed the texture and could see me using them in some form or another, but as always, I prefer not to kill my customers, especially the regulars. I've got the question posed to a couple of my local botanic experts, but haven't heard back yet. Any idea?

On a related note, I recently tried yucca blossoms (petals only) and they are another super texture that I've confirmed to be safe - just the petals.

[Magictofu]

I think most North American ferns are toxic. Even the ostrich fern which gives us fiddleheads has some level of toxicity. Your customers might not enjoy the upset stomach.

There are tons of very nice edible wild plants that you ca serve to your customers without worries.

[Tri2Cook]

The foraging is going pretty good right now. I've picked 15 gallons of wild blueberries so far and the wild raspberries are coming in nicely. Both were later than normal this year due to an unusually wet and cool summer.

[Tri2Cook]

So the blueberries are winding down, if I counted correctly I got just over 60 gallons as of today (no, I didn't keep them all for myself ). A mushroom hunter friend said the chanterelles are out now (running a little later than usual this year) but I haven't seen any. I stumbled upon a HUGE patch of wild horseradish recently but haven't done anything with it yet... but I'll be going back to get into that. Matsutakes should be starting before too long but everything else was late this year so we'll see. I'm waiting for frost to go back out to the area where I pick blueberries, it's full of wild roses so I'm going to forage up some rose hips as well. Foraging is fun.

[clareskitchen]

Love the mushroom theme through these posts, they were the first foraging I remember, for the huge field mushrooms in cow paddocks after rain. Then later it was nardoo (an Australian water plant, bush tomatoes and quandongs in the local bush.
Later I moved to the coast (Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia) where lots of European pines have been planted a long time ago. With them came the spores of beautiful big apricot coloured pine mushrooms, and I was fortunate to have a big patch regularly sprout on my front lawn! Cooked them with garlic, fresh herbs, a dash of white wine and sour cream and ate them on crusty sourdough toast, or fettuccine.

Now living in the tropics of Australia and I've been foraging local indigenous rainforest figs, mangos from feral mango trees, jackfruit, limes, the occaisonal mangosteen (highly prized!) and lemon myrtle leaves (taste similar to lemongrass or lemon verbena).

We also go down to the local coarse sand beach and shuffle into the sand at the tidal mark to scoop out pippis, to take home and transform into fettuccine alla vongole, probably my most favourite pasta dish.
I was happy to discover, via my car dealer (!) who is of southern Italian heritage, that his family know of a spot on the tablelands where pine mushrooms grow. It's their secret, of course, but I'm alerted now to their presence here in the north so I'm now keeping my eye out for this deicacy.

[heidih]

After years of seeing women harvest a particular green near the lake, I stopped the other day and asked a lovely woman what she was picking and what she did with it. She was impeccably dressed in skirt, jacket and boots, wielding a large knife and had a huge basket of the greens already harvested. She told me it was like spinach but with a strong taste some people did not like, similar to cilantro. I pinched off a good bit and used it with twice as much spinach in a simple pureed soup which was excellent. Today at the Korean market I saw it labeled "suk gat" and it turns out to be edible chrysanthemum . A great find that I will return to shortly. It is very warm after a big rain so it is growing quickly. Next time I may need to strip the leaves from the stems. I plan to use it with eggs, in a pasta dish, or as a pesto, in order to showcase its flavor.

[nonblonde007]

That is soooo cool! In Wa. I used to often see Asian people foraging in various areas, and wanted to stop and see what they were gathering. I am now sorry that I never did. I found a great morel mushroom spot on my acreage last spring, ( Yes, I did a Big happy dance!) I keep wandering by peeking, hoping and wishing they would hurry about their business! I also found last fall, an oyster mushroom tree that still has some attached, a bit dry and quite a ways above my head. I will be watching it closely as well.

[Mr Pie]

A friend of mine that lives in the Canaries once gave me a gift of some small white truffles that he had picked himself in the woods nearby. There must have been a couple of pounds of them! He mentioned that they are so plentiful when in season that his family just boil them up like potatoes.

Blackberry picking has always been a popular event in our family. They usually go into jam.
I remember my Dad making wine from elderberries that we would pick from the hedgerows.

[heidih]

As the result of extraordinary rainfall in Southern California the mallows are ginormous. I should have picked them younger for tenderness, but I am going to try some just boiled and dressed with olive oil and garlic and lemon juice in a Greek prep. There is no real need to "forage", we are tripping over them.

[azurite]

Berries from the evergreen huckleberry, a native species of the western PNW. I don't exactly forage, one seeded itself in one of my herb beds, & they're difficult to move successfully, so I left it there. It now towers over the lavenders, thymes & roses in that bed. If I don't pick the berries and/or cover it w/fruit netting, the birds strip the bush by the end of October at the latest. Some years I am also able to forage in my backyard for the berries of the native coast strawberry, small but delicious. Have to compete w/the slugs & some other slimies though.

[KarenDW]

I haven't seen the topic of dirt/germs broached within this thread:
As in, does anyone worry about bacteria on foraged items?
Keep in mind I live in the middle of the city, and the only easily accessible forested spaces, with which I am familiar, are also very popular dog-walking areas.
Just how much cleaning is achieved by washing foraged leaves under running water?
Oh, and just to be clear, I am not a dog-hater. My niece is a 100-lb pure bred Roddy.
But just wondering. I also wonder about some of the root crops in my community garden plot... there is a rat (or, possibly family thereof, now) living in a burrow under my carrots. :(

[andiesenji]

With the exceptional amount of rain we have had in the California desert this year, the white yuccas are getting ready to produce some spectacular blossoms, which are edible, the only part of the plant that is safe to eat.
My ex-neighbors who now have a larger property that includes a hillside that is loaded with yuccas, have offered to share as much of their harvest as I want.
In earlier years, when my knees were still operational, I would gather them on public land, as far from the roads as I could get, because they do seem to absorb residue from traffic.
They are crunchy, slightly sweet. Some people say they taste something like an artichoke but I get more of a celery flavor. They have to be blanched for 20-30 seconds then chilled in ice water before going into salads. (Also have to be washed well to remove all insects.)
Most edible flowers are useful as a garnish but yucca blossoms are a substantial part of a salad, combined with greens or vegetables and even chicken or meat.

I have a cookbook that includes a recipe for a salad with yucca blossoms I don't recall the title but think it is one of the books by Lois Frank, probably Foods of the Southwest Indians.

[nonblonde007]

It's that time of year again!!!!! I am daily watching my "honey hole" for my favorite mushroom, the great Morel. Maypops are starting to show they're heads, dogwoods are getting ready to bloom, and I have ants in my pants, the surest sign! I know they are up and roaring in parts of Texas and Washington, anyone want to share they're adventures and hauls?

[BarbaraY]

With all the rain in CA this winter we have an abundant crop of Miner's Lettuce in the back yard. I like it mixed with other greens.
Waiting to see what happens with the blackberries that grow along the fence line.

[heidih]

The wild fennel is popping up. I have used it in a shrimp boil and as a bed for roasted fish so far. I am determined to be more vigilant this year and will try to harvest some of the pollen when the time comes.

[heidih]

I picked up a good looking pine cone yesterday for my collection and about 10 fat nuts came out when I shook it. That has never happened before. It was a different looking cone that I rarely see so that may be the reason. I could tell a squirrel had worked on it so who know where he dragged it from. I will keep my eyes open for that sort. Still doing research, but I plan to treat these guys like gold and showcase them with a fresh eggy pasta and a light pesto made in the mortar & pestle. I will NOT walk away from the oven while toasting them.

[Mallet]

That's pretty awesome. I've never found any pine nuts before, but I didn't know if it was because I was looking at the wrong species. How big was the cone?

[heidih]

That's pretty awesome. I've never found any pine nuts before, but I didn't know if it was because I was looking at the wrong species. How big was the cone?

The cone was similar to this pine cone. I really need to take a foraging class at one of the local colleges or universities.

[offcentre]

Great thread folks - really interesting to see what everyone else is foraging across the world.

I live in the Ashdown Forest so have to beat Pooh Bear to some of the more interesting goods. Some of my favourites recently have been:

Chestnuts - added to soups and stews they give a lovely nutty flavour.
Wood Sorrel - recently added to our list, amazing zingy flavour, best described as similar to grape skin.
Nettles - most get juiced along with other greens, but some made into soups and teas.
Dandelion leaves.
Lots of mushrooms - season should be starting pretty soon with the St.Georges.
Wild garlic is everywhere at the moment.

Its going to be a lifetime of learning for me.

[Hiroyuki]

I posted about koshiabura here in my blog the other day, and someone made a comment asking whether koshiabura has an English name and whether it is used in cooking outside of Japan.

I don't think koshiabrau has an English name and I don't think it is used in other cuisines.

Do any of you have any answers to these questions?

[dcarch]

Hostas grow wild in my garden:

dcarch

Stir Fried Hostas


Hosta Pasta (ravioli)

[Miriam Kresh]

Israel has plants I've never foraged (even the desert has edibles in season) - but there are many I routinely forage every year.

Lessee.

Winter: mallows, dandelion. Dandelions grow in cold, hilly regions like Jerusalem and the Galilee. When I'm up north I collect roots and leaves for dandelion beer; the green crown for frying in batter - minus the latex-filled stems. Dandelion flowers are too scanty here to collect for wine. We have taraxum syriaco, not the lush taraxacum officinalis of the US/Europe.

Citrus still on the trees, at least in Central Israel where I live. Lots of abandoned gardens and empty lots that were part of orchards where oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, pomelos and lemons just drop to the ground.

End of winter: more mallows - roots for soup, leaves for filling or in salad, flowers for tea, and fruit for noshing. Lots of nettles. Nettles go into everything - soup, omelets, pasta. Chickweed for salads and to dry as medicine. Chamomile for tea. Wild oatstraw. Pet birds love to eat green and dry oatstraw. I like it too, but as a soothing tea.

Springtime, which in this climate lasts about 2 weeks: hawthorn, almond, and rose geranium flowers for steeping in vodka. Arak is better for the geranium flowers. Add sugar syrup and you have the most ethereal liqueur. Hawthorn flower liqueur or wine is excellent for calming down jittery nerves, besides being delicious.

Citrus flowers. I like to gather a few handfuls for liqueur, or to flavor milk or rice puddings. 3 orange leaves will lend a delicate orange flavor to malabi, a well-loved Middle Eastern milk pudding. A few fresh citrus leaves in your bath make the water smell lovely. Not that we're encouraged to have tub baths in this dry country - it's the 2-minute shower for most of us. But sometimes I brew up a liter of citrus-leaf tea and just pour it over me last thing before exiting the shower.

Then there are the greens that Arabs, Beduin and traditional Druze know about: Jerusalem Sage, akoub thistle, melochia. I buy those in open-air markets. Does that count as foraged? They are wild greens, hand-picked.

Young plantain leaves (not the banana)are good pot herbs. I throw some into soup, mostly for the mineral and vitamin boost. Also good for lingering coughs and bronchial tsuris.

Young hawthorn leaves are good in salads or just nibbled on as you're tramping around the wadi.

Early summer: mulberries. There are 5 mulberry trees in my neighborhood. Good for WINE...oh, divine. Off-dry and fruity, mysterious and dark...people smack their lips over it but can't identify it till you tell them it's mulberry. The local mulberries are sort of chewy; making jam is a little too much work for me. For eating, I like them just raw.

Then there are mulberry leaves, which can be stuffed like any dolma. Also a lot of work - I stuff mallow leaves once a year just for the folklore of it, and that's enough.

Cyclamen leaves can also be stuffed but they must be pre-cooked to get rid of a mild toxicity. They are a protected plant here and my windowbox doesn't produce enough to bother with - no regrets about not stuffing cyclamen leaves.

Another foraging vegetable is young grape leaves. These are quite lemony in taste, but must be cooked (or marinated in brine). Traditional recipes with grape leaves are beef or chicken stews with the chopped leaves and rice (and more water to cook the rice) added to the cooked stew.

Green almonds on the trees now. The markets carry big bags of them, but there are plenty to forage in the hilly regions.

Summer: the landscape looks dry and uninviting, but if you know where to look, there are still wild edibles around. The biggest one is purslane, which thrives in hot weather. I do like the slightly lemony taste of purslane, and prefer it raw, chopped into salads.

Mulberry leaves still on the trees, but big and coarse now - good for drying and using for tea later on. The tea is said to bring down blood sugar. Don't know if it's true, but that's what they say. I dry a few and just crumble a little into my chamomile or other wild tea. Fig leaves are also said to reduce blood sugar, and they're also still on the trees. Fresh fig leaves lend their vanilla/cinnamon flavor to the sugar syrup you make for ice cream - especially fig ice cream. Just remove the leaves before making the ice cream.

Late summer: figs. I used to forage for wild figs when I lived in the cooler north. Little, sweet ones. There are big cultivated figs in the markets now, but they're nowhere near as good as the wild ones that appear in late August/September.

And wild grapes. You have to live up north to get those black grapes whose vines drape over old stone walls or climb up sturdy old trees.

Hawthorn berries. They're tiny and full of seeds, but they make marvelous jelly and wine. Mostly I tincture hawthorns as a heart tonic, but when I'm out there picking them, I eat quite a few too. I also like to dry some for winter tea.

Early winter, citrus comes in. As I said, especially where I now live there are plenty of trees gone wild. I lived on a street where there were two wild pomelo trees, with fruit as sweet as sugar. I made wine out of those pomelos. I hear that the abandoned property was sold and all the fruit trees knocked down to make way for an apartment building...

There are other, smaller wildlings that I forage for medicine: fumaria, marigold, Shepherd's Purse, cleavers,inula (related to elecampagne)and others I don't remember offhand.

Wow, this post got long. It was fun going through the forager's year, though. I'm now a grandmother myself. I'm the one taking the little boys out on foraging expeditions. Kids are great learners, and they love to forage. Their mom, my daughter, was interested as a child but less so now. I hope it sticks to my grandchildren.
Young plantain:


Stuffed mallows:

[crinoidgirl]

I had no idea hostas were edible! Will have to put that on the list for next year.

[Peter the eater]

I had no idea hostas were edible! Will have to put that on the list for next year.

My thoughts exactly. They're everywhere here -- are some better than others?

[Tri2Cook]

The first fiddleheads of the season for my area are in. Got about 6 lbs. today. Fiddlehead omelette time.

[kitchensqueen]

This season, I'm going to get around my neighborhood and see what's out there. A book I've had for a few years now and that I really like is Abundantly Wild: Collecting & Cooking Wild Edibles in the Upper Midwest by Teresa Marrone. I also have the Peterson Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants.

I looked into taking a class with Nance Khleme, as was recommended to me awhile back upthread, but dang she is pricey. Way out of my budget. So I'm still looking for other classes/nature walks in the city I can get involved with. There seem to be a far amount happening out in the suburbs, but being carless, that's not really a good option.

[dcarch]

Harvest of Daylily stems from my garden.

dcarch

[heidih]

You have almost got me thinking of poaching from the neighbor who has masses of the day lilies. At what stage are they best?

[dcarch]

"You have almost got me thinking of poaching from the neighbor who has masses of the day lilies. At what stage are they best?"

They need to be very young. I cover them with fallen leaves from last fall before spring to kind of blanch them.

What vegetables you can grow in the shade that is so delicious?

dcarch

[sparrowgrass]

Day lily buds are good too--stir fry quickly or steam and add butter and salt.