Foraging Pittsburgh

I am happy to announce that I will be hosting the 2016 Spring Foraging Workshop & Hike on Saturday, April 16^th at North Park in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

Spring is the perfect time to learn the skills involved in foraging for wild food. Roots, tubers, shoots, greens, buds, and flowers are among the various plant structures that are available for harvesting.   Learn how to properly identify and harvest various wild species in Pennsylvania so that you can achieve greater levels of health, self-reliance, and nature connection.

The first part of the event will feature a presentation and discussion on springtime edible wild plants and mushrooms. During the second part of the event, we will explore the trails of North Park and discover, discuss, and learn about the edible plants in their habitats.

By attending the Spring Foraging Workshop & Hike on April 16^th, you will learn:

• The importance of foraging for wild edible plants and mushrooms
• Sustainable harvesting practices
• Wild plant identification
• Tree identification
• Edible and medicinal uses of trees
• Wild plant nutrition
• Harvesting methods
• Culinary applications
• Medicinal benefits

…and much more!

Interested in spending an afternoon with a great group of foragers?  Here are the details:

When: Saturday, April 16^th
Time: 1pm – 4:30pm
Where: North Park — Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Investment: $45

While this event will mainly focus on edible plants and trees, we will also briefly discuss wild springtime mushrooms and other fungi.

This event will take place rain or shine, and it will entail light hiking. Space for this event is limited in order to maximize the learning environment, and registration with payment in advance is required. The exact meeting location will be provided upon registration.

To register, please contact me (Adam) at:
adamharitan@gmail.com

I hope to see you there!

This is a common winter sight near wetter areas in Pennsylvania — the fertile fronds of sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis).

The green fronds (which are sterile) are gone this time of year, having succumbed to the first signs of frost months ago (hence the name “sensitive”).

Even if nature isn’t our thing, we can still appreciate this species… because… sensitive fern may hold value in modern medicine.  Research suggests that an ethanol extract from this species has the potential to prevent atherosclerosis — a pretty serious condition which can lead to heart attack and stroke.

Eat pines, not pills!

While this list focuses on the leaves of conifers, vitamin C is also concentrated in the inner bark of many species (for example, eastern white pine inner bark at 100g contains approximately 200mg of vitamin C).

Vitamin C is prevalent year-round, though there is a trend of increasing content during the growing season for many conifers, with levels typically reaching their highest in the autumn months.

Tap a maple tree, and the liquid tastes slightly sweet.  Did you know, however, that the sugars (mainly sucrose) in this sap can be 3-5 years old?

Interesting new research suggests that sugar maple trees (Acer saccharum) store atmospheric carbon over several growing seasons… essentially building reserves to be drawn upon in times of stress, drought, or defoliation by insects.  Humans formerly thought that all sugars were stored from the previous year’s growing season.  This research suggests otherwise (1).

Lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceus) for depression… ever consider it?  If you haven’t, perhaps the results from a particular study may change your mind (1).

Consuming 2 grams a day for 4 weeks reduced depression and anxiety in female subjects. Results were evaluated using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D) — a common self-screening test used to measure depressive feelings and behaviors.

Lion’s mane has been well researched in the cognitive-improvement arena, so it makes sense that this mushroom might also play some role in alleviating depressive symptoms.  The researchers in this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial suggested that 2 classes of nerve growth factor promoting compounds — hericenones and erinacines — might have something to do with the results, though “more research is needed.”  (Isn’t this always the case?)