Foraging for favorites

[heidih]

How would you do them differently to not let butter overwhelm? Warmed in cream then on toast or?

[donk79]

I'm not sure!  But tips and suggestions are welcome.   I saw several more while hiking today, but not enough to bother harvesting.   I may go back to my first spot in a day or two.  There should be lots more developing, and i harvested less than a tenth of what I found. 

[TicTac]

On 8/26/2022 at 11:00 PM, donk79 said:

I'm not sure!  But tips and suggestions are welcome.   I saw several more while hiking today, but not enough to bother harvesting.   I may go back to my first spot in a day or two.  There should be lots more developing, and i harvested less than a tenth of what I found. 

If you want to avoid the butter taste being too strong, sear in a dry pan with salt and then add some fat at the end (the butter possibly burnt in the cooking process and you got a lot of nutty notes from it) to avoid it burning.  Chicken fat would be good to keep it neutral but also flavorful (you can go with grapeseed or avocado, but I do not like either of those!)

 

 

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

I've been living on the northeastern end of Cape Breton for almost three months and have been exploring and foraging my area. 

These are all within hiking range of home:

Blueberries, blackberries, saskatoon berries, old apple trees, a cherry tree, what will be a spring bounty of fiddleheads, wild roses (rosehips), spear-mint and dandelion greens.

It's ongoing with something interesting found on every hike.

I've been too busy picking and will eventually start posting photos.

 

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Out to scout today with camera and my room mate for the next few days.

This is Cooper:

 

I'll be sitting him for my sister and BIL while they're off to Halifax.

 

Blueberry season is pretty much over. Any fruit left is not worth picking. Some exceptions for snacking while walking.

 

 

Blackberries pretty much done as well. This 'patch', by a rough estimation is about half an acre, can only be picked by circling the perimeter. I'm thinking to cut two swaths through with a brush cutter next spring to allow access. 

 

 

Some berries left.

 

 

Next year's fiddlehead crop: 

 

 

 

 

 

[ElsieD]

Are you anywhere near Meat Cove?  Loved the countryside there.

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

@ElsieD

Near in Ontario distances as in a weekend trip to cottage country. I'm still getting used to the distances here. I'm planning to head that way this fall when the weather cools and the crowds thin.

 

[TicTac]

Sounds like such an awesome adventure you are on @Senior Sea Kayaker.

 

Love foraging myself.  Just getting ready for elm oyster and bolete season here in southern ON.

 

Welcome to the forum!

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

@TicTac

Thanks.

We'll see how mushroom season goes here. I've some experience however I'm cautious. To paraphrase an old adage: There are bold mushroom foragers, there are old mushroom foragers but not that many old bold ones.

 

[Anna N]

58 minutes ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

@TicTac

Thanks.

We'll see how mushroom season goes here. I've some experience however I'm cautious. To paraphrase an old adage: There are bold mushroom foragers, there are old mushroom foragers but not that many old bold ones.

 

And the other one – – all mushrooms are edible – – once. 

[TicTac]

2 hours ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

@TicTac

Thanks.

We'll see how mushroom season goes here. I've some experience however I'm cautious. To paraphrase an old adage: There are bold mushroom foragers, there are old mushroom foragers but not that many old bold ones.

 

I learned about the elm oysters a few years ago from an old Italian guy and they are very easy to identify.  Boletes same.

 

Love learning about all the variety that grows here.  The coolest this season so far I have found are 'birds nest' mushrooms.

 

Just waiting on a puffball in the back field to grow before I chop it!

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, Anna N said:

And the other one – – all mushrooms are edible – – once. 

 

In Australia somewhere there is probably a mushroom not edible even once.

 

[donk79]

I am about to go pick pawpaws here in Virginia.  I checked them last week and they were still a little bit green.  This week I think they will be ready.

 

@gfron1has been posting about picking pawpaws this past week in his area, and I am benefiting from the fact that his are ripening sooner.  Especially today, as he posted a video on Facebook of how he processes the fruit.  Hopefully this link will work, as it will definitely change how I approach the task.

 

https://www.facebook.com/724934844/videos/5445230762240407/

 

Thank you, Rob!

[gfron1]

18 hours ago, donk79 said:

I am about to go pick pawpaws here in Virginia.  I checked them last week and they were still a little bit green.  This week I think they will be ready.

 

@gfron1has been posting about picking pawpaws this past week in his area, and I am benefiting from the fact that his are ripening sooner.  Especially today, as he posted a video on Facebook of how he processes the fruit.  Hopefully this link will work, as it will definitely change how I approach the task.

 

https://www.facebook.com/724934844/videos/5445230762240407/

 

Thank you, Rob!

Happy to help. We do a lot of them so it's all about efficiency.

[gfweb]

Our paw paws have yet to bear. Trees are about 5 ft tall. 

 

I should live so long.

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Out for an early morning walkabout.

Although finished for the season this is a very mature saskatoon berry bush/tree: They're not native to the area and were brought here by my BIL's great aunt from Regina.

 

Note the knife for size comparison.

 

One removed and resprouting:

 

 

Wild rose hips starting to turn. These won't be ready until after a frost:

 

 

 

And finally I've tentatively identified these as huckleberries but am unsure. They are partially shriveled since it's been very dry recently. Anyone?

 

 

The only mushroom I've seen were Amanita pantherina which are deadly toxic. It's been too dry and have not seen any other types.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by Senior Sea Kayaker (log)

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

Out for an early morning walkabout.

Although finished for the season this is a very mature saskatoon berry bush/tree: They're not native to the area and were brought here by my BIL's great aunt from Regina.

 

Note the knife for size comparison.

 

One removed and resprouting:

 

 

 

Well...yes and no. I grew up calling them "Indian pears," but they're mostly known as shadberry or serviceberry in NS. They're native to mainland NS, but maybe not to CB because it's an island? I dunno. The cultivated strains of Saskatoons from out West can bear larger fruit and keep them on the tree for longer (which of course makes for better commercial harvests), so you should be in good shape next year for Saskatoon jam.

[TicTac]

14 minutes ago, chromedome said:

Well...yes and no. I grew up calling them "Indian pears," but they're mostly known as shadberry or serviceberry in NS. They're native to mainland NS, but maybe not to CB because it's an island? I dunno. The cultivated strains of Saskatoons from out West can bear larger fruit and keep them on the tree for longer (which of course makes for better commercial harvests), so you should be in good shape next year for Saskatoon jam.

Service berries indeed.

 

Just planted two in my back yard. 

 

Oh, and also planted some chokeberries.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post some pics - love seeing where others forage.  I will try to do the same this season when I go out shroom hunting.

 

 

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

@chromedome

My BIL family calls them wild pears although after researching my guides and online I found that wild pears are European natives and pear cultivars were brought over to North America. After looking at leaf and fruit structure and taking into account my BIL's family lore we came to the saskatoon berry conclusion.

These have most likely been here for 90-110 years so no idea what the cultivars were then.

I also know them as serviceberries.

 

 

[heidih]

@Senior Sea Kayaker how do you use the rose hips - tea? jelly?

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

@heidih

Dehydrate for tea and will have a go at making syrup.

 

[TicTac]

Maybe its me - but I do not find they have much flavour.  I have tried them in teas, thats about it. 

 

Lately I have been focused on foraging for plants that have high medicinal benefits; things like purslane, plantain, baby raspberry leaves, mulien, etc. 

 

Good stuff for winter ailments and proactive medicine.

 

 

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Tea is for vitamin C. Depending on what this variety tastes like it can be amended.

Syrup will be an experiment.

I haven't seen any purslane here. Miss it.

 

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, TicTac said:

Maybe its me - but I do not find they have much flavour.  I have tried them in teas, thats about it. 

 

Lately I have been focused on foraging for plants that have high medicinal benefits; things like purslane, plantain, baby raspberry leaves, mulien, etc. 

 

Good stuff for winter ailments and proactive medicine.

 

 

 

High medicinal benefits?

[sverreef]

On 8/21/2022 at 7:54 PM, ElsieD said:

 

They taste a bit like honey.  They have a lot of hard seeds so a seed-adverse person would not enjoy them, I don't think.  However, they make for a tasty complete or jam if you strain out the seeds.  If you have an Ikea near you, they sell  cloudberry jam.  

 

I would never have made a comparison of cloudberries and honey. They both have floral and bitter flavour notes, so once you cook the cloudberries, the similarities may become more pronounced. I can't remember the last time I had cooked cloudberries (jams/compotes) though. Not that I don't like it. Fresh or uncooked berries are just in a different league.

 

Cloudberries have a very characteristic flavour, which people seem to either love or hate, but l really don't know how to explain the flavor to someone who's unfamiliar with it. The thing I love about them is the balance between sweetness, sourness and bitterness. Cooking them, or adding too much sugar, alter this fragile balance.

 

In other foraging news, chanterelle season has been amazing so far in my area:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've probably picked about 10kg of cleaned chanterelles so far, so now I'm stocked up on dried, cooked and (my take on) creamed chanterelles. No luck finding any Boletus edulis yet though...

 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by sverreef (log)