I am going to make this as easy as I can for you. The fungal kingdom is complex… mushroom hunting doesn’t have to be.
You’ve landed on this page for a reason. You want to find some mushrooms. No, not those white button mushrooms at the store. Heck, you probably don’t even care about chicken mushrooms or hen of the woods this time of year.
You want morels, and I can help…
Read the rest of this article at Wild Foodism
Foraging isn’t always about the food. The connection to nature penetrates much deeper.
Foraging allows us to connect to all the species within our landscape, and while we may think that we’re leaving with a basket full of nettles, we’re also leaving with an infinite amount of nature’s imprints… for example, the sight and song of this white-breasted nuthatch, who kept my eyes off the woodland floor for just a few moments while it danced up and down the tree. Seems like I wasn’t the only one foraging and having a good time that day!
Impressions like these are irreplaceable, and although we can leave a grocery store with enough food to last a lifetime, our shopping carts will always be devoid of things much greater, things that cannot be quantified with RDAs or DRIs…
Nature’s imprints.
The rewards of a long winter are quite visible now…
Stinging nettles are beginning to pop up all over. They’re much easier to harvest with bare hands when they’re young, though who doesn’t enjoy the occasional injection of acetylcholine and histamine from the matured specimens directly into your fingers? (…legs sometimes, too. And I have to admit, I have sat on them more than once…)
Nettles are some of the tastiest wild greens, they’re nutritious, and they’re quite medicinal, too. Research shows that various parts of the plant may treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), type 2 diabetes, and allergic rhinitis (allergies). To learn more about the health benefits of stinging nettles, check out this recent article I created over at Wild Foodism.
Enjoy the seasonal transition while it lasts… it’ll be summer before we know it. Until then, happy spring foraging!
Photo taken at North Park in Allegheny County, Western Pennsylvania.
Foraging… how did you learn the craft?
Books, videos, friends, walks, workshops?
For me, it all began with a single wild edible walk in my neighborhood. Two local experts led 12 of us through a park, pointing out all the wild species that could be used for food and medicine.
Wow! I was hooked.
Shortly after, I immersed myself in all the foraging literature I could acquire. I purchased the books, I read the online blogs, and I joined the foraging message boards.
All of these methods were instrumental in advancing my foraging skills.
Still, I have found few better ways to truly learn this craft… to really understand it inside and out… than by studying with the experts. In person. Face to face. (Well maybe not that close, but you get the point.)
I feel there is no substitution for the classic mentor/student relationship, and because of this, I seek out mentors every chance I get.
Take Patrick Adams, for example. Patrick is an environmental educator at Raccoon Creek State Park, a 7,572-acre state park located in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
I’ve learned many skills from Patrick: primitive fire craft, acorn processing, and maple sugaring, just to name a few.
Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Patrick one day prior to the annual maple sugaring workshop he runs at the park, and today I am happy to be sharing this interview with you.
In this video, we talk all things maple sugaring, including Patrick’s early experiences with this craft, red vs. sugar maples, indigenous practices, and more.
If you haven’t tapped any trees yet, I bet you’ll be inspired to do so!
Check out the video… I’d love to know what you think!
Back to the original question: How did you learn the craft of foraging? Books, videos, mentors like Patrick? Feel free to comment below and let me know… I’d love to hear from you!
Thanks for reading and watching!
I had the pleasure of interviewing my friend Patrick Adams — naturalist and environmental educator at Raccoon Creek State Park in Western Pennsylvania.
We talked all things maple sugaring, including his early experiences with this craft, red vs. sugar maples, indigenous practices, and more!
If you haven’t tapped any trees yet, I bet Patrick will inspire you to do so!
Look for the video next week!
I know what you’re thinking. “Oh no, not another article on superfoods…”
Or maybe you weren’t thinking that at all, but now you are because I brought it up.
Or maybe I’m just looking into things a little too much. Anyway…
I’m not here to proclaim that I have discovered a new miracle food – an ancient plant that sheds unwanted pounds, curbs your appetite, supercharges your immune system, and contains so many antioxidants that the concept of infinity seems miniscule in comparison.
Foods like that probably exist, but I’ll let someone else sell you on them.
Rather, my intention in writing this article is a bit different.
If you’ve felt confused over all the superfood hype – not sure which Amazonian berry should go into your morning smoothie; considering if it’s really worth spending $29.99 on 3 ounces of powdered fruit that contains more vitamin C than 12,000 oranges – I’m here to say, “It’s okay.”
Really, it is. Your health can flourish with or without these products.
Phew, take a breath. I just saved you some serious cash!
However, I’m not going to let you off the hook that easily. If I did, my writing would be done for the day, but I would also be doing everyone a big disfavor…
Read the rest of this article at Wild Foodism
The compound likely responsible for its cardio-supportive effects is berberine, an alkaloid that demonstrates a wide range of pharmacological activities (anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer).
While berberine is distributed throughout the barberry plant (and throughout the genus), this particular study utilized 200 mg of the fruits in dried form. If you’re interested in using barberry fruits for medicine, I commend you. I mean, it’s not everyday that you hear someone say “I’m looking to improve my cardiovascular risk markers by using the wild medicines of my landscape.”
The question, therefore, is not “will it…?” but instead “will you…?”
Anyway… look for the fruits to be ripe late summer through autumn.
If you’re reading this, perhaps you live in the Western Pennsylvania area! If that’s true, and if you have a Facebook account, I’d love for you to join a new Facebook group I created, cleverly titled: Western PA Foragers.
If you enjoy the edible and medicinal species that inhabit the beautiful hills, valleys, forests and fields out this way, consider joining the community. And if you know some friends who would be interested in joining, feel free to invite them! Thanks! -Adam
To join, click here (then hit the “Join” button)
If you’ve ever tapped a maple tree, surely you’ve tasted the fresh sap – unprocessed and unboiled – straight from the tree.
If you have never tapped a maple tree, perhaps you’ve got one of those nice neighbors who generously shares his or her bounty of maple sap. Or perhaps you’ve even purchased and consumed any of the various “maple waters” on the market today.
And if you have no idea what I’m talking about (…tree sap? What the heck is that?), allow me to put this into context…
Read the rest of this article at Wild Foodism
What was once packed neatly into pods is now dispersed among open meadows and barren lots. Floss, or fluff, from the common milkweed plant (Asclepias syriaca) is shown here, separated from its seeds.
Though too brittle for spinning, the floss was used as fill for life jackets during World War II, substituting fibers from kapok (produced from the tropical tree, Ceiba pentandra).
Pillows stuffed with milkweed floss can be made or purchased, though a blend with down or feathers may yield best results.
And as a side note, while peeking into milkweed pods north of Pittsburgh not too long ago, I was surprised to find several frozen ticks within each pod. If you ever decide to harvest a few seeds before a freeze, thoroughly inspect before bringing any inside the house.
Foraging Pittsburgh 