Foraging 2020

[Linea_Norway]

Hi.

Foraging season has started. What have you others been foraging recently?

As far as I can see there is no current thread for this, so therefore this new thread for 2020.

I have picked the following plants which are eaten fresh or are frozen, dried, pickled or fermented (in progress). I copied some names from the thread I made last year. Latin and Norwegian names added, the latter for my own convenience).

- Wild garlic (Allium ursinum, ramsløk) leaves and flower buds, either eaten fresh, or frozen as whole leaves. Some flower buds have been pickled. A good portion of leaves is currently fermenting after I watched a free web course in fermenting. Today I made herb butter with fresh leaves, which was good. Where I picked yesterday, it grew side by side with the very similar and poisonous Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis, Liljekonval). Therefore I only picked the ones with a bud, as that is the most obvious difference.
- Ground elder/Bishop's weed (Aegopodium podagraria, skvallerkål), eaten fresh in green salad in small quantities combined with other things. And eaten in veggie burgers. Also frozen for later use.
- Garlic mustard (løkurt, Alliaria petiolata) eaten fresh in green salads and wok dishes. Also frozen some.
- Common sorrel (Rumex acetosa, engsyre). Used in green salad and in dressing.
- Caraway (Carum carvi, karve). Only small leaves available now. I recently found some growing on a camping field further north in the country. I eat it in green salads and other types of food.
- Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica, brennesle). Today I made bread with dried leaves, but it didn't give much taste to it. Also used in veggie burgers.
- Broadleaf plantain (Plantago major, groblad). Eaten in a salad and in an omelet. Not so impressive, but is neutral fill in a salad.
- Cicely (Myrrhis odorata, spansk kjørvel). Eaten in green salad and frozen to be used in baking later.
- Cow slip (Primula Vera, Marianøkleblom), dried for tea.
- Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea, korsknapp), dried and chopped fine for herbs. I also put some fresh in a green salad, but thought it dominated a lot, as it tastes quite strong. Last year I drank it regularly as tea in dried form.
- lady's mantle (Alchemilla family, marikåpe). I tasted a fresh leave and it was not very good. I dried it for tea, like last year, combined with ground ivy).
- Yarrow (Achillea millefolium, ryllik), used fresh in green salad and potato salad.
- Wood stitchwort (Stellaria nemorum, skogstjerneblom), used fresh in salad.
- Nodding avens (Geum rivale, enghumleblom), used some fresh in green salad, is slightly bitter.

Yesterday I went foraging with a friend who is also interested. We used the app Flora Incognita to photograph most plants we were curious about and looked up the norwegian names. We learned a lot. I picked a lot of edible stuff.

DH picked rowan/roe (Sorbus aucuparia, rogn) leaves in our garden, soaked them in warm cream and made icecream. The only ingredients were cream with the taste of rowan leaves, sugar and cacao powder. The icecream really tastes like pistache while no nuts have been added. We will pick some more before blossoming starts for a later portion of icecream.

For 2 days in a row I made green salads from weeds and DH thought it tasted fine. This time I was careful to use greens with taste and avoid bitter ones like winter cress. I even saved money on not buying green salad from the shop.

[MudPuppy]

Just wild strawberries, ground ivy, and wild garlic so far! I like the ground ivy in white bean stews and as a seasoning for roasted root veggies.

[herbgeek]

I typically only forage from my yard, so I can be assured no pesticides were used on them, and they aren't getting road exhaust etc.

Its still early here, but I have foraged- dandelions, which are being made into an arthritis oil (supposed to be anti inflammatory and pain relieving, we shall see); nettles which I tincture for an anti allergy tonic.  Later in  the year, I use plantain for insect bites and yarrow to stop bleeding if I'm out in the yard.  I have an elder bush, I use the berries for anti flu.  I grow a bunch of medicinal herbs, but that's not really "foraging" as much as gardening.

[BECABECA]

I’m just a backyard forager, but I have two olive trees that up until now I’ve just treated as decorative. This last month I’ve been using the dropped leaves for tea (medicinal and tastes quite nice) and plan to brine the olives when they’re ripe in October. I might also add some dandelion greens to my salads, although I’ve done a decent job of weeding them out over the years, so I don’t have many now for foraging. But I’ve planted lots of fruit trees, herbs, and now veggies this year, so I should be able to rustle up a decent spread from the yard.

[Linea_Norway]

I typically only forage from my yard, so I can be assured no pesticides were used on them, and they aren't getting road exhaust etc.

Its still early here, but I have foraged- dandelions, which are being made into an arthritis oil (supposed to be anti inflammatory and pain relieving, we shall see); nettles which I tincture for an anti allergy tonic.  Later in  the year, I use plantain for insect bites and yarrow to stop bleeding if I'm out in the yard.  I have an elder bush, I use the berries for anti flu.  I grow a bunch of medicinal herbs, but that's not really "foraging" as much as gardening.

I usually don't pick beside a road, but more in a recreation area. I have heard that plants don't absorb heavy metals like mushrooms can do.

[Linea_Norway]

I’m just a backyard forager, but I have two olive trees that up until now I’ve just treated as decorative. This last month I’ve been using the dropped leaves for tea (medicinal and tastes quite nice) and plan to brine the olives when they’re ripe in October. I might also add some dandelion greens to my salads, although I’ve done a decent job of weeding them out over the years, so I don’t have many now for foraging. But I’ve planted lots of fruit trees, herbs, and now veggies this year, so I should be able to rustle up a decent spread from the yard.

We have a garden full of blueberry bushes, but the last two summers have been so warm that there weren't blueberries. Now I see the young ones developing, but we will move out once they are ready. We are moving into a rental for 1-2 years, and we will only have some plants in pots that we put on the terrace. Foraging needs mainly to be done in public areas. Although the rental has apple trees.

[Catica]

I'd love to do more foraging but I only know how to forage mushrooms (which won't happen till August, I'm in NE USA) and berries such as wild blackberries, blueberries, raspberries.  Never came across wild strawberries in this part of the world. Maybe there is a book I can get explaining what else to forage here.

[Linea_Norway]

I'd love to do more foraging but I only know how to forage mushrooms (which won't happen till August, I'm in NE USA) and berries such as wild blackberries, blueberries, raspberries.  Never came across wild strawberries in this part of the world. Maybe there is a book I can get explaining what else to forage here.

The morel (morchella) season will soon start. And the St Geeorge's mushroom (Calocybe gambosa).

If I new your habitat, I could make some suggestions, but they would be based on Europe, so are probably quite wrong for the US. But I am pretty sure you could find stinging nettle as a starter. That grows everywhere and most people know it already. Wear gloves when picking and, after wahing in cold water, dip it into boiling water to remove the stinging.

[Catica]

I'd love to do more foraging but I only know how to forage mushrooms (which won't happen till August, I'm in NE USA) and berries such as wild blackberries, blueberries, raspberries.  Never came across wild strawberries in this part of the world. Maybe there is a book I can get explaining what else to forage here.

The morel (morchella) season will soon start. And the St Geeorge's mushroom (Calocybe gambosa).

If I new your habitat, I could make some suggestions, but they would be based on Europe, so are probably quite wrong for the US. But I am pretty sure you could find stinging nettle as a starter. That grows everywhere and most people know it already. Wear gloves when picking and, after wahing in cold water, dip it into boiling water to remove the stinging.

I'm familiar with stinging nettle but I've never seen it here in NE US.  I bet it grows somewhere but I have never come across it. The problem probably is that everything is private property so if it's growing somewhere in the wild one would not see it.  If you go to parks and public places it's all manicured and nettle is considered weed so you would not find it.

[Kris]

Morel mushrooms (and hen of the woods), ramps, and watercress.

[Monkey Uncle]

- Alliaria petiolata (løkurt, no english name) eaten fresh in green salads and wok dishes. Also frozen some.

The English common name for Alliaria petiolata is garlic mustard.  It is a nasty non-native invasive species in North America.  All the more reason to pull it up and eat it.  I've eaten some pretty decent lasagna made with it.

So far this year I've only foraged ramps, which are abundant in my area if you know where to look.  I use them in all sorts of cooking in place of onions and garlic.  Especially tasty when mixed into burgers (you have to use A LOT of them to get the best flavor).

I did taste a leaf of toothwort (Dentaria spp., mustard family), but I haven't collected enough to use in a dish.  It has a pleasant taste, similar to a bitter lettuce or radicchio.

I typically forage large quantities of black raspberries from my yard, but that's still more than a month away.

[Monkey Uncle]

I'd love to do more foraging but I only know how to forage mushrooms (which won't happen till August, I'm in NE USA) and berries such as wild blackberries, blueberries, raspberries.  Never came across wild strawberries in this part of the world. Maybe there is a book I can get explaining what else to forage here.

The morel (morchella) season will soon start. And the St Geeorge's mushroom (Calocybe gambosa).

If I new your habitat, I could make some suggestions, but they would be based on Europe, so are probably quite wrong for the US. But I am pretty sure you could find stinging nettle as a starter. That grows everywhere and most people know it already. Wear gloves when picking and, after wahing in cold water, dip it into boiling water to remove the stinging.

I'm familiar with stinging nettle but I've never seen it here in NE US.  I bet it grows somewhere but I have never come across it. The problem probably is that everything is private property so if it's growing somewhere in the wild one would not see it.  If you go to parks and public places it's all manicured and nettle is considered weed so you would not find it.

The native wood nettle (Laportea canadensis) is abundant on cool, moist, forested slopes that have a good amount of calcium in the soil (think limestone or calcareous shales).  It can be used similar to the non-native stinging nettle.  May is usually the time to collect wood nettle, although it might be a little behind this year given the cold spring that we've had.  Focus on the new leaves, which I find I can collect bare-handed without too much pain.  But they do need to be cooked to de-activate the stingers.

[anonymouscow]

Just morels and ramps so far.

[Morning Glory]

I haven't been brave enough to eat the garlic mustard. We have tried mowing it and burning it but it seems like it comes back in a bigger area every year. I suppose I could dig up some parsnips too and have an invasive species stir fry.

So far I have collected a bunch of ostrich fern fiddle heads (not sure if that counts as foraging because they are on my land and they were planted by the previous owner for decoration).

[Catica]

I'd love to do more foraging but I only know how to forage mushrooms (which won't happen till August, I'm in NE USA) and berries such as wild blackberries, blueberries, raspberries.  Never came across wild strawberries in this part of the world. Maybe there is a book I can get explaining what else to forage here.

The morel (morchella) season will soon start. And the St Geeorge's mushroom (Calocybe gambosa).

If I new your habitat, I could make some suggestions, but they would be based on Europe, so are probably quite wrong for the US. But I am pretty sure you could find stinging nettle as a starter. That grows everywhere and most people know it already. Wear gloves when picking and, after wahing in cold water, dip it into boiling water to remove the stinging.

I'm familiar with stinging nettle but I've never seen it here in NE US.  I bet it grows somewhere but I have never come across it. The problem probably is that everything is private property so if it's growing somewhere in the wild one would not see it.  If you go to parks and public places it's all manicured and nettle is considered weed so you would not find it.

The native wood nettle (Laportea canadensis) is abundant on cool, moist, forested slopes that have a good amount of calcium in the soil (think limestone or calcareous shales).  It can be used similar to the non-native stinging nettle.  May is usually the time to collect wood nettle, although it might be a little behind this year given the cold spring that we've had.  Focus on the new leaves, which I find I can collect bare-handed without too much pain.  But they do need to be cooked to de-activate the stingers.

thanks, yes, I've seen wood nettle. I was only disappointed in not finding stinging nettle.  Will have to settle for wood nettle!

[Rural]

Lots of broadleaf plantain, dandelion leaves, various sorrels (oxalis species), some mint, some brier tips. Mostly eating it all in salads right now. Earlier in the year, we gathered a year's supply of blackberry leaves for tea and dried them. Now, the berries are forming, as are the blueberries (we have both highbush  and lowbush over several acres). The muskedines are just beginning to form grapes, and the elder haven't bloomed yet- another three weeks for that. I'll gather the blossoms for both fritters and tea when they do, and then berries later in the year, mostly for the antiviral properties, but also for pie.


Our real bulk of forest food comes in early October, though, with hickory, walnut, and acorn all at once.

[Linea_Norway]

- Alliaria petiolata (løkurt, no english name) eaten fresh in green salads and wok dishes. Also frozen some.

The English common name for Alliaria petiolata is garlic mustard.  It is a nasty non-native invasive species in North America.  All the more reason to pull it up and eat it.  I've eaten some pretty decent lasagna made with it.

So far this year I've only foraged ramps, which are abundant in my area if you know where to look.  I use them in all sorts of cooking in place of onions and garlic.  Especially tasty when mixed into burgers (you have to use A LOT of them to get the best flavor).

I did taste a leaf of toothwort (Dentaria spp., mustard family), but I haven't collected enough to use in a dish.  It has a pleasant taste, similar to a bitter lettuce or radicchio.

I typically forage large quantities of black raspberries from my yard, but that's still more than a month away.

Thanks, I updated my original post.

[Linea_Norway]

I haven't been brave enough to eat the garlic mustard. We have tried mowing it and burning it but it seems like it comes back in a bigger area every year. I suppose I could dig up some parsnips too and have an invasive species stir fry.

I have eaten a lot of it lately and I feel good. My latest book which is written by experts/professors states it as edible.
If you use the app Flora Incognita, it can recognize garlic mustard, as an extra confirmation.

[Monkey Uncle]

I haven't been brave enough to eat the garlic mustard. We have tried mowing it and burning it but it seems like it comes back in a bigger area every year. I suppose I could dig up some parsnips too and have an invasive species stir fry.

I have eaten a lot of it lately and I feel good. My latest book which is written by experts/professors states it as edible.
If you use the app Flora Incognita, it can recognize garlic mustard, as an extra confirmation.

Yes, garlic mustard is very edible.  As with most kinds of greens, the new leaves are the best.  The older leaves tend to be bitter.

Controlling garlic mustard is difficult, but possible with persistence.  Completely breaking the chain of seed production is the key.  If you're not into using herbicides, you have to pull the bolting second-year plants up by the root (making sure to get the entire root) before the siliques (seed pods) ripen.  Everything you pull up has to be bagged and removed from the site, or piled and burned completely.  If the bolts have started to flower and you leave the uprooted plants on site, they can still produce viable seed.

If you're o.k. with using herbicide, the most efficient method is to spot-spray in early spring when the leaves have started to show, but before any bolts or flowers appear.  If you spray after flowering has started, the plants can still produce viable seed before they die.

Once you've stopped seed production, you'll have to repeat your control activities every year for multiple years.  Dormant seeds in the soil can continue to sprout for a long time.  And then you'll still need to check every year for a while to make sure no new plants are sprouting.  If you miss a year and let even just a few plants sprout and go to seed, then all your previous efforts were for naught.

[MishMash]

I'd love to do more foraging but I only know how to forage mushrooms (which won't happen till August, I'm in NE USA) and berries such as wild blackberries, blueberries, raspberries.  Never came across wild strawberries in this part of the world. Maybe there is a book I can get explaining what else to forage here.

Catica, I'm from NE US, I used to forage morels in May and Chaterelles would start end of June and continue through the fall

[Catica]

I'd love to do more foraging but I only know how to forage mushrooms (which won't happen till August, I'm in NE USA) and berries such as wild blackberries, blueberries, raspberries.  Never came across wild strawberries in this part of the world. Maybe there is a book I can get explaining what else to forage here.

Catica, I'm from NE US, I used to forage morels in May and Chaterelles would start end of June and continue through the fall

Thanks so much.  Great to know.  Any hints on locations?

[Linea_Norway]

I'd love to do more foraging but I only know how to forage mushrooms (which won't happen till August, I'm in NE USA) and berries such as wild blackberries, blueberries, raspberries.  Never came across wild strawberries in this part of the world. Maybe there is a book I can get explaining what else to forage here.

Catica, I'm from NE US, I used to forage morels in May and Chaterelles would start end of June and continue through the fall

Thanks so much.  Great to know.  Any hints on locations?

Here in Norway, morels grow often on wood chips and are spread into many gardens.
Chanterelles grow typically under spruce on mossy ground, or under birch. Also between blueberrie bushes.

Do you Americans have a website where you can register species? In Norway we have that and it can give a good hint on where you can find species.

[MishMash]

I'd love to do more foraging but I only know how to forage mushrooms (which won't happen till August, I'm in NE USA) and berries such as wild blackberries, blueberries, raspberries.  Never came across wild strawberries in this part of the world. Maybe there is a book I can get explaining what else to forage here.

Catica, I'm from NE US, I used to forage morels in May and Chaterelles would start end of June and continue through the fall

Thanks so much.  Great to know.  Any hints on locations?

What state are you in?  Morels I always found near a water source, largely oaks Vally areas where you get runoff coming down were also good to check.  Google Morel map and there is a website that people list when they find them. So you can see when they appear in your state.  Chanterelles I also found along streams in hillocks, look for old growth oaks and they will usually follow the root lines.  I had one patch that would produce 100 plus lbs a season and it would run non stop from June to the fall so long as we didn't get a dry spell. 

[Linea_Norway]

Yesterday I was high on a mountain and picked Iceland moss (Cetraria islandica), for the first time. Today I cleaned it and put it to dry. In the past it was used a lot for food in years that other food didn't grow.

The day before I also picked chickweed (Stellaria media) and used it in a green salad in combination with rocket. I have some left that I will use in a stirfry dish.

DH caught a 1kg trout in the river that he took home for dinner.

[carameltooth]

I forage mostly mushrooms, berries, fruits and ramps here in Atlanta.  I have about 25 pounds of chanterelles curently if anyone in ATL wants to trade.

[Linea_Norway]

I forage mostly mushrooms, berries, fruits and ramps here in Atlanta.  I have about 25 pounds of chanterelles curently if anyone in ATL wants to trade.

Lucky you. Where I live, chantarelles are just popping up and still very small. And I am not home before next week. Currently my DH finds me mushrooms. But not edible species. Hard work to figure out what they are.

We are at our mountain cabin and there are cloudberries (Rubus chamaemorus) here. Only they are very young and uripe. I hope we will be back here when they are perfect, before someone else has picked them.

[Fishindude]

We harvest morels, raspberries and black berries right behind the house and occasionally some wild asparagus.
Could also harvest paw paws, walnuts and a few other things but we don't.   I've got a pond full of bluegill and bass anytime we want a fish dinner, shoot a few deer every year as well as; turkey, squirrel, rabbits and occasionally a pheasant, duck, goose or quail.

[Monkey Uncle]

The black raspberries in our yard are at peak production right now.  I'm picking about a half gallon every other day.  We still have some in the freezer from last year.  I guess we need to make more cobblers.

[Linea_Norway]

Before we handed over our sold house, I picked a bowl full of strawberries there.
Our new rental house has an apple tree, as well as a plumb tree and both have fruit. The graveyard behind the house has a row of cherrie trees. As there is a public path going into the graveyard, I will pick the cherries as soon as they are ripe. If not someone else does that before me.

At our cabin today, I picked the buds of alpine bistort (Bistorta vivipara), which you supposedly can eat in your porridge or cerials. I have put them to dry. It will be an exclusive ingredient, because after a lot of picking I had only a small amount, like 3 spoonfulls.

[nessness]

Blackberries are just starting to get ripe in my area, so I picked a handful last weekend, which naturally my kids ate before I could. Hoping to get more this weekend.

I'm not much of a forager, but I did pick some miner's lettuce a couple times this spring - it's plentiful near my house and easy to identify.

[carameltooth]

I forage mostly mushrooms, berries, fruits and ramps here in Atlanta.  I have about 25 pounds of chanterelles curently if anyone in ATL wants to trade.

Lucky you. Where I live, chantarelles are just popping up and still very small. And I am not home before next week. Currently my DH finds me mushrooms. But not edible species. Hard work to figure out what they are.

We are at our mountain cabin and there are cloudberries (Rubus chamaemorus) here. Only they are very young and uripe. I hope we will be back here when they are perfect, before someone else has picked them.

I have never had fresh cloudberries.  A chef friend of mine brought me back some jam or preserves from Finland and they were tasty.  I would love to have access and knowledge of all the things you listed that you forage!! Thanks for sharing and starting this thread!

[Linea_Norway]

Today I picked a lot of harebell flowers (Campanula rotundifolia). Originally I had planned to use them for decoration, but was too stressed cooking to bother. Therefore I picked more and am making an infusion with boiling water over the flowers and let it cool over night. It's a first time I am trying infusion and this flower.
The flower is supposed to blossom at hay harvesting time and that is exactly what the farmers here do now.

I also picked some bladder campion flowers (Silene vulgaris). But those flowers are very closed at the entrance. Ibhad to remove numerous small flies from the bluebells, but at least those are open. The bladder campions seemed impossible to clean properly.

Yesterday I listened to a live web presentation about edible flowers, so I am a bit inspired to try out new for me species.

[BECABECA]

I haven’t tried this before, but this thread inspired me so I went to the beach to collect seaweed for a seaweed salad. Since I live in a pretty populated area with lots of pollution runoff, I couldn’t harvest the growth on the shoreline rocks, so I had to settle for a big strand of giant kelp that had broken off from the deep ocean and washed to where I could grab it in the surf. Apparently in California you’re allowed to harvest 10 lbs of wet seaweed every day for personal consumption.

I was pleasantly surprised with what I made with it:

Seaweed salad: sliced the blades into strips, blanched, and dressed with a little rice wine vinegar and sesame oil. Tasted like the ones I’ve had from restaurants. We also used a bit of leftover seaweed salad in poke bowls and it was a nice addition.

Vegan fish sauce: we keep this on hand to make pad Thai and other Asian dishes. It’s made by boiling seaweed with onion, salt, and spices. In the past we’ve used nori paper but this time we used the foraged seaweed and it turned out just the same.

Pickled seaweed stems and floats: made refrigerator seaweed pickles with white vinegar and pickling spice. It’s a little too tart for me to eat them by themselves but I’ll use them as a relish. Next time I’ll cut the vinegar with water so they’re not quite so tart. The floats have a fun crunch when you pop them.

[Linea_Norway]

I haven’t tried this before, but this thread inspired me so I went to the beach to collect seaweed for a seaweed salad. Since I live in a pretty populated area with lots of pollution runoff, I couldn’t harvest the growth on the shoreline rocks, so I had to settle for a big strand of giant kelp that had broken off from the deep ocean and washed to where I could grab it in the surf. Apparently in California you’re allowed to harvest 10 lbs of wet seaweed every day for personal consumption.

I was pleasantly surprised with what I made with it:

Seaweed salad: sliced the blades into strips, blanched, and dressed with a little rice wine vinegar and sesame oil. Tasted like the ones I’ve had from restaurants. We also used a bit of leftover seaweed salad in poke bowls and it was a nice addition.

Vegan fish sauce: we keep this on hand to make pad Thai and other Asian dishes. It’s made by boiling seaweed with onion, salt, and spices. In the past we’ve used nori paper but this time we used the foraged seaweed and it turned out just the same.

Pickled seaweed stems and floats: made refrigerator seaweed pickles with white vinegar and pickling spice. It’s a little too tart for me to eat them by themselves but I’ll use them as a relish. Next time I’ll cut the vinegar with water so they’re not quite so tart. The floats have a fun crunch when you pop them.

Well done trying out something new. I have heard that seaweed tastes best in the winter half year, at least here in Europe. It can easily be dried for later use. I have also once eaten a recipe with (dried and rehydrated) kelp and sesame oil and cucumber and a lot more spices. It was very tasteful. In that case, the kelp was cooked for 15 minutes. But some kelp is thinner and easier to eat raw than others.
We don't pick kelp near where we live because of pollution in the Oslo fjord. So we need to wait until we visit the oceanic coast during the colder months, which is not often.

[BECABECA]

Well done trying out something new. I have heard that seaweed tastes best in the winter half year, at least here in Europe. It can easily be dried for later use. I have also once eaten a recipe with (dried and rehydrated) kelp and sesame oil and cucumber and a lot more spices. It was very tasteful. In that case, the kelp was cooked for 15 minutes. But some kelp is thinner and easier to eat raw than others.
We don't pick kelp near where we live because of pollution in the Oslo fjord. So we need to wait until we visit the oceanic coast during the colder months, which is not often.

Thanks! I hadn’t thought to dry some of it for quick rehydrated seaweed salad, what a great idea! Next time I’ll do that!

[Linea_Norway]

DH found the first edible mushroom (a leccinum) at our mountain cabin. It is in very good condition, no critters. So I put it on a pizza currently in the oven.

[Linea_Norway]

Today I picked a lot of meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) and made lemonade of it. It is currently cooling down in the fridge and needs to infuse for a couple of days.
I also picked a lot of pineappleweed (Matricaria discoidea). My plant book says to make icecream from it, so that's what I'm making now. I have cooked up cream and some milk together with the tops of the plants. Tomorrow I will taste it and add sugar. Then in the ice machine.
I also found some raspberries.
And yesterday, finally, I got some chantarelles and a few mild tasting russula.
This evening we had fish soup with grayling that DH caught earlier and melde (Chenopodium album) that I picked today. The plant didn't taste much in the soup, but also didn't add any bitterness like some others.

[Fishindude]

The black raspberries in our yard are at peak production right now.  I'm picking about a half gallon every other day.  We still have some in the freezer from last year.  I guess we need to make more cobblers.

Same here.
Picked a big mess a couple days ago and made three pies; gave two away and we're working on one.
Went out this morning and picked another 5-6 quarts.   Will figure out something tasty to make with these, possibly some "tarts"?

[Linea_Norway]

The black raspberries in our yard are at peak production right now.  I'm picking about a half gallon every other day.  We still have some in the freezer from last year.  I guess we need to make more cobblers.

Same here.
Picked a big mess a couple days ago and made three pies; gave two away and we're working on one.
Went out this morning and picked another 5-6 quarts.   Will figure out something tasty to make with these, possibly some "tarts"?

Smoothies, icecream, wine.

[bloodaxe]

Where does everyone go foraging at?

I live in a city in the southeast US but haven't had any luck discovering anything.

According to my local foraging facebook it's Chantrelle season, but I have yet to find any. The group is secretive about their spots.

I'm only looking for Morels, Chantrelles, and wild blackberries since those are the only things I could for sure identify. Are there other easy things to identify?

[Weisass]

I'd love to do more foraging but I only know how to forage mushrooms (which won't happen till August, I'm in NE USA) and berries such as wild blackberries, blueberries, raspberries.  Never came across wild strawberries in this part of the world. Maybe there is a book I can get explaining what else to forage here.

The morel (morchella) season will soon start. And the St Geeorge's mushroom (Calocybe gambosa).

If I new your habitat, I could make some suggestions, but they would be based on Europe, so are probably quite wrong for the US. But I am pretty sure you could find stinging nettle as a starter. That grows everywhere and most people know it already. Wear gloves when picking and, after wahing in cold water, dip it into boiling water to remove the stinging.

I'm familiar with stinging nettle but I've never seen it here in NE US.  I bet it grows somewhere but I have never come across it. The problem probably is that everything is private property so if it's growing somewhere in the wild one would not see it.  If you go to parks and public places it's all manicured and nettle is considered weed so you would not find it.

I have come across stinging nettle by waterways (I’m in PA)

[Monkey Uncle]

Where does everyone go foraging at?

I live in a city in the southeast US but haven't had any luck discovering anything.

According to my local foraging facebook it's Chantrelle season, but I have yet to find any. The group is secretive about their spots.

I'm only looking for Morels, Chantrelles, and wild blackberries since those are the only things I could for sure identify. Are there other easy things to identify?

I live in a small town in a rural area.  Some of what I forage comes out of my yard (mostly berries).  I forage other items on nearby National Forest land (foraging is allowed for personal use, but not for commercial use).  Most other public lands (e.g., state parks, national parks, local parks) don't allow foraging, except for berries. 

If there are areas of undeveloped land near you, find out who owns them and ask permission.  The worst they can do is say no.

Wild greens are relatively easy to identify.  These include plants in the mustard family, wild lettuces, and nettles.  Also, plants in the onion family, and other types of berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, serviceberries) are easy to identify.

[Linea_Norway]

Chantarelles grow in forest, typically under spruce or birch. I fpund lots of chantarelles yesterday in a production spruce forest, but they were tiny, so I left them to grow.

Weeds are often found along small gravel roads or footpaths. Everywhere where weeds grow wildly and there is not to much traffic (pollution). Also in gardens of people who don't garden actively.

For mushrooms, buy a modern mushroombook with only a limited species in it (maybe 10-15). Then start with learning boletes. I don't know about edibility of boletes in the US, but in Norway we have lots of edible species. A modern book should be up to date on edibilty status. Some boletes are a bit poisonous as raw (causing digestive issues) and need long warming before consumption (> 15 minutes). It is not so difficult to learn to recognize the leccinum family (with a black pattern on the stem) and boletus edulis/pinophilus and the like (they have a fine white netting pattern on the top of the stem). Leccinum typically grows under birch and some under spruce and pine). The boletus edulis and the like grow in forests (with spruce, pine, broadleaved trees).

[Linea_Norway]

I just collected a bowl of wild raspberries very close to home. In the outer side of someone else's bewildered garden. Much smaller than commercial ones.

[Poundwise]

I love this thread!  I don't know much about wild foods, but I have a gift certificate to take 6 people on a foraging tour this summer, and we are excited to go!

[Linea_Norway]

I love this thread!  I don't know much about wild foods, but I have a gift certificate to take 6 people on a foraging tour this summer, and we are excited to go!

Six people is a nice group, so bring your friends, then you can go together with someone next time.

Yesterday another girl and I held a beginner course in mushroom and herb foraging. We found two types of edible mushrooms on the lane. I just fried them in butter and served them to the participants.

My DH went on a boat fishing trip with some other people. Just outside the harbour they found a steam of fish. Within half an hour they had lots of fish. We are driving home now and tonight we will have a freezer full of fish.

[phildonnia]

I didn't know "foraging" was a thing.  But I guess I've done it.  I live in suburbia, so the wild herbs are pretty limited.  Still, I sometimes collect:

• Dandelions from the yard.  Although these are so bitter they typically require a good dose of bacon and ranch dressing to make them edible.
• Cherry plums.  From those purple trees that are over-planted in the neighborhood.  The owners are happy not to clean them off the sidewalk.
• Olives.  Same attitude as the cherry plums: "yes, please, take them!"
• Purslane from the edges of the sidewalk.  Wash it well; it tends to grow in precisely the places that dogs pee.
• Wild Fennel grows in the flood channel near our house
• Mustard, the leaves taste better than the dandelions.  It's about time I go back for the seeds.
• Blackberries, obviously.
• Pine nuts from the park.

We've also tried both wild oats and thistles, but both are more work than they are worth.  More just for fun.  Well, it's all for fun really; it's not like we have to eat weeds.

Oh, and I once found a three-pound package of pork hot-links in the street.  I don't know if that counts.

[Linea_Norway]

I didn't know "foraging" was a thing.  But I guess I've done it.  I live in suburbia, so the wild herbs are pretty limited.  Still, I sometimes collect:

• Dandelions from the yard.  Although these are so bitter they typically require a good dose of bacon and ranch dressing to make them edible.
• Cherry plums.  From those purple trees that are over-planted in the neighborhood.  The owners are happy not to clean them off the sidewalk.
• Olives.  Same attitude as the cherry plums: "yes, please, take them!"
• Purslane from the edges of the sidewalk.  Wash it well; it tends to grow in precisely the places that dogs pee.
• Wild Fennel grows in the flood channel near our house
• Mustard, the leaves taste better than the dandelions.  It's about time I go back for the seeds.
• Blackberries, obviously.
• Pine nuts from the park.

We've also tried both wild oats and thistles, but both are more work than they are worth.  More just for fun.  Well, it's all for fun really; it's not like we have to eat weeds.

Oh, and I once found a three-pound package of pork hot-links in the street.  I don't know if that counts.

That spounds like a nice neighbourhood from a food foraging perspective.

Dandelion get bitter in sunlight. If you want to make it less bitter, you can place a bucket upside down over de plant, or lay black plastic over some plants. After a few days the leaves should have become less bitter. I haven't tried this myself yet. You can also eat the dandelion root. Roots are best in spring or autumn. I tasted this last weekend, after frying in the frying pan, and they were edible, but with a bit of a bitter aftertaste.

Finding packs of sausage is normally called dumpster diving. But if you just found it on the street, then maybe foraging is a better term indeed.

[Linea_Norway]

Today I picked some chantarells, quite a few larch boletes (suillus grevillei) and some xerocomus species. All found on the same place where I found them a few years back, on walking distance from the campsite where we are staying. Tonight I will make a stew with those mushrooms, beef, broccoli, tomatoes and cream and rice.

[Fishindude]

Does fishing count?
We caught a bunch of real nice lake trout last weekend in northern Michigan.   Brought home enough processed fillets to eat a couple fresh, freeze a bunch, plus give a few to friends.