Do you forage?

[randompersonrandom]

It occurs to me that a high number of people here likely:

Are interested in good food
Interested in healthy eating that isn't dull
Do a lot of reading up on stuff that's interesting to them
Open to very unfamiliar activities
Strongly in favor of getting things that would be expensive but don't have to be

Which means I'm probably one of MANY forage fans in here. So...whatcha eating there? Anything good up where you are?

They're building a house next door, and a big pile of dirt that's been sitting there awhile was covered in green. Wandered over to the property border to see what's to see; all I've got in my yard is horseherb and frog fruit, it's not time for wild onions or purslane yet, and the amaranth won't even start to grow yet.

COVERED in chickweed, you say? Bet they won't miss some.

Stole myself a big old double handful, washed and steamed it, very good on pasta with a little garlic and avocado oil.

 

[onbusiness85]

Don't forage, but I do hunt and fish. Deer, ducks, and turkey.

It was a conscious decision years ago. If we were going to eat meat in our house, then we were going to be a part of taking an animals life. However, finding a farm near where I live that would let you be part of the butchering process was impossible. So I went out hunting with a buddy that grew up hunting.

 

[RetCurious]

Wasn't familiar with chickweed, apparently it has as much iron as spinach.
I'll have to try it next chance I get.
I haven't delved into foraging per se but I was raised eating ramps, poke, morels and other traditional hillbilly food.

 

[Teretere]

I forage different stuff, as in the UK.

Garlic mustard makes a lovely pesto when it’s in season.
Wild damsons make a great chutney.
Crab apples make a lovely jelly.
We have field mushrooms sometimes.
Hazelnuts are possible but you need to get there before the squirrels do!

 

[CandyCap]

We forage. Mostly mushrooms, seaweed, nettles, wild berries, herbs and spices. We also fish, crab and dig for clams. It is something I grew up doing.

 

[randompersonrandom]

Don't forage, but I do hunt and fish. Deer, ducks, and turkey.

It was a conscious decision years ago. If we were going to eat meat in our house, then we were going to be a part of taking an animals life. However, finding a farm near where I live that would let you be part of the butchering process was impossible. So I went out hunting with a buddy that grew up hunting.

I did this for awhile. Raised quail for meat for the same reason; that it felt wrong to get meat anonymous and with no hint of the animal that died for it from the grocery store, wanted to understand not just the death, but the life before and the care. Did it for about a year and then stopped when my third husband pleaded with me to, I'd mostly learned what I wanted to know by then anyway.

 

[randompersonrandom]

I forage different stuff, as in the UK.

Garlic mustard makes a lovely pesto when it’s in season.
Wild damsons make a great chutney.
Crab apples make a lovely jelly.
We have field mushrooms sometimes.
Hazelnuts are possible but you need to get there before the squirrels do!

you got better backyard breakfast than we do over here!

 

[FarmgirlRebel]

Well, I raise my own lamb...but I hate gardening. So I do an exchange with friends...they garden and we swap. A nice perk about living rural, tons of people with gardens, cows, lambs etc.

 

[randompersonrandom]

Well, I raise my own lamb...but I hate gardening. So I do an exchange with friends...they garden and we swap. A nice perk about living rural, tons of people with gardens, cows, lambs etc.

I used to trade duck eggs for deer meat back in the day, til the husband half of the couple my then-husband and I trade with made a pass at me. I was so upset. "I'm so angry you did that. I LOVE deer meat, but now I have to tell my husband, which means I can't trade with you anymore, and there goes my deer meat source!"

 

[yrrdead]

Wow I had a completely different thing in mind when I clicked on this thread.

I was thinking "do i roam around the kitchen/fridge/pantry snacking on this and that everytime I go in there????. Not as much as I used to before Reta."

Carry on smartly healthy people.

 

[Zydeceltico]

I used to trade duck eggs for deer meat back in the day, til the husband half of the couple my then-husband and I trade with made a pass at me. I was so upset. "I'm so angry you did that. I LOVE deer meat, but now I have to tell my husband, which means I can't trade with you anymore, and there goes my deer meat source!"

I grew up on a small farm in southern Illinois, lived in Memphis for 10 years, and DFW for another 3 - and for the life of me do not know why I have an overwhelming compulsion at the moment to want to talk about something about something about Arkansas.........🙂

I'm feelin' something about Arkansas suddenly - in the back of my mind - LOL

 

[Zydeceltico]

@randompersonrandom .......something also told me that you would laugh at that AND that you might be the only one who would laugh at that! (other than me that is) LOL!!!!!

 

[Not_Your_Dad]

I don't know much about foraging. I have areas nearby that have historic apple orchards and blueberry barrens on public land, so those are always an option. I have an elm tree that died that I cut down that has taken to growing Flammulina mushrooms, which I'm excited to try this coming year. I have some apple trees growing on my property that grow the most sour, bitter, god-awful apples known to man - even the deer won't eat them!

But I would love to forage more if I had a decent way to learn about it.

 

[randompersonrandom]

@randompersonrandom .......something also told me that you would laugh at that AND that you might be the only one who would laugh at that! (other than me that is) LOL!!!!!

you and I are gonna do a DNA test someday and find out that one each of our parents has some splainin to do. Especially since you're from Illinois, and before I was from Chicago, I was from Indiana.

I don't know much about foraging. I have areas nearby that have historic apple orchards and blueberry barrens on public land, so those are always an option. I have an elm tree that died that I cut down that has taken to growing Flammulina mushrooms, which I'm excited to try this coming year. I have some apple trees growing on my property that grow the most sour, bitter, god-awful apples known to man - even the deer won't eat them!

But I would love to forage more if I had a decent way to learn about it.

I got started with the Eat the Weeds page, it's got a really comprehensive database, and it's easier to start with wild greens, as long as you stay away from things like wild carrots (maybe they are interesting wild carrots and maybe they are kill-you-dead hemlock. I don't like carrots enough to chance that one). I also garden a lot, and the wild cousins tend to look similar to the domestic versions, so it's easy to know what to look up when you spot something. These days, I walk around with ChatGPT and take pics, but I NEVER actually trust the lying machine; it tells me what it THINKS something is, and that gives me a reference point of what to Google and read up on later. (I never eat anything the first time I find it.)

And I don't do mushrooms at all; they want too badly to sneaky kill you. I do berries if I know them VERY well, but only if there are no poisonous lookalikes.

 

[Zydeceltico]

you and I are gonna do a DNA test someday and find out that one each of our parents has some splainin to do. Especially since you're from Illinois, and before I was from Chicago, I was from Indiana.

😂😂

 

[Not_Your_Dad]

you and I are gonna do a DNA test someday and find out that one each of our parents has some splainin to do. Especially since you're from Illinois, and before I was from Chicago, I was from Indiana.


I got started with the Eat the Weeds page, it's got a really comprehensive database, and it's easier to start with wild greens, as long as you stay away from things like wild carrots (maybe they are interesting wild carrots and maybe they are kill-you-dead hemlock. I don't like carrots enough to chance that one). I also garden a lot, and the wild cousins tend to look similar to the domestic versions, so it's easy to know what to look up when you spot something. These days, I walk around with ChatGPT and take pics, but I NEVER actually trust the lying machine; it tells me what it THINKS something is, and that gives me a reference point of what to Google and read up on later. (I never eat anything the first time I find it.)

And I don't do mushrooms at all; they want too badly to sneaky kill you. I do berries if I know them VERY well, but only if there are no poisonous lookalikes.

I'll check that out, thanks!

Re: mushrooms. I'm 100% confident on my Flammunlina that are growing that they are velutipes - what we'd buy as Enoki. I have an Amanita chrysoblema growing in my front yard that I'm tempted to prep and cook. I don't mind grip and rip with peps, but mushies do make me nervous too!

 

[randompersonrandom]

I'll check that out, thanks!

Re: mushrooms. I'm 100% confident on my Flammunlina that are growing that they are velutipes - what we'd buy as Enoki. I have an Amanita chrysoblema growing in my front yard that I'm tempted to prep and cook. I don't mind grip and rip with peps, but mushies do make me nervous too!

I DO eat the oyster mushrooms that grow in my garden sometimes. I know that sounds insane, but what happens is that in early spring, I try to grow oyster mushrooms, with spawn and substrate and such. I prep very carefully and then grow a beautiful crop of mold. In angry disgust, I bury it in the garden. At some undetermined point in the future, oyster mushrooms pop up in the place where I buried my failure, and I angrily eat them. Ciiiiiiircle of liiiiiiife.

 

[OldManStrength]

I grew up in the woods, I’ve always loved being able to hunt and forage for food. I find a lot of mushrooms every year, and a decent amount of berries, but that’s about it.
Decades ago, I worked for a forest management company, and I was always on the lookout for ginseng, but never found it.

 

[randompersonrandom]

I grew up in the woods, I’ve always loved being able to hunt and forage for food. I find a lot of mushrooms every year, and a decent amount of berries, but that’s about it.
Decades ago, I worked for a forest management company, and I was always on the lookout for ginseng, but never found it.

I wish I had the knowledge and the courage for mushrooms!

 

[OldManStrength]

I wish I had the knowledge and the courage for mushrooms!

There are groups all over Facebook that are usually local to most areas at least in the USA. The members of the groups, can help you identify mushrooms by your photos. You can find a lot of great field guides and books online and in your public library. Start by learning to identify
some very basic and commonly found edible mushrooms. It’s worth looking into, knowledge is a big step in developing courage in my opinion. Good Luck!

 

[latviantower]

I am so impressed by this community and its dedication to the pursuit of healthy living. Like another in this thread, I initially thought “forage” meant exploring the fridge and pantry, pre-GLP. And now, fully immersed in our (fifty shades of) gray peptide universe, “forage” means rooting through the myriad vials of Chinese mystery powder populating my freezer and deciding what looks to be my next obsession.

 

[Cumulus]

My mom, grandmother and I used to pick native blueberries and saskatoons out in the boreal forest. That was the extent of it, until this year where I am increasingly coming in contact with wild ideas regarding eating native plants that AREN'T berries. Can't believe I had a veritable buffet outside my damn door

 

[ataxia]

Formatting this is weird on mobile so if it's awful I'm sorry. I've been getting into plant identification more and more, which has cascaded into me foraging my own tea ingredients, acquiring new houseplants (lemon balm), and adding garlic mustard to my salads. I don't have photos but we had chickweed abound about a month ago, so it was cool seeing that mentioned.

Such a fun and rewarding activity

 

[skaylife]

It occurs to me that a high number of people here likely:

Are interested in good food
Interested in healthy eating that isn't dull
Do a lot of reading up on stuff that's interesting to them
Open to very unfamiliar activities
Strongly in favor of getting things that would be expensive but don't have to be

Which means I'm probably one of MANY forage fans in here. So...whatcha eating there? Anything good up where you are?

They're building a house next door, and a big pile of dirt that's been sitting there awhile was covered in green. Wandered over to the property border to see what's to see; all I've got in my yard is horseherb and frog fruit, it's not time for wild onions or purslane yet, and the amaranth won't even start to grow yet.

COVERED in chickweed, you say? Bet they won't miss some.

Stole myself a big old double handful, washed and steamed it, very good on pasta with a little garlic and avocado oil.

Mushrooms.

 

[RascalRaccoon]

Sorry if I missed it in this thread already but y'all might be interested in a site called Falling Fruit. It's an open source map of foraging locations (mostly urban/public spaces).

 

[Smiter]

I was told that there was an Elizabeth Taylor thread here so I just had to check it out. How does this work? One can make as many posts as many husbands they have or had? Bummer.

Foraging, huh? I guess I have been too civilized and tamed. I couldn't kill an animal for eating if my life depended on it. Don't have kids either, so can't use that for making it work. Does foraging include harvesting the stuff we planted ourselves? I should think not, but one can hope.

 

[desinr-gal]

Mushrooms.

I have gathered mushrooms with people who really knew what they were doing. Those can be deadly. My friend lost her two collegues to a bad foraging experience, they made dinner, ate it then died. Please be very very sure you can identify what you gather, before you eat it.

 

[RascalRaccoon]

Erin Patterson does a mean beef wellington.

 

[randompersonrandom]

I was told that there was an Elizabeth Taylor thread here so I just had to check it out. How does this work? One can make as many posts as many husbands they have or had? Bummer.

I stopped at three and decided it's time to let someone else have a chance. My grandmother married five times, but number two and four were the same guy.

 

[Smiter]

My grandmother married five times, but number two and four were the same guy.

So, you're Lizzie's grandchild? well, well, well. Let's see... Is foraging related to this? Is that why I don't do foraging? Hmmmm... I thought I would love to be a prepper, but I became a pepper instead, not even the spicy kind...just the Chinese kind.