Any foragers out there?

autovatic
autovatic Posts: 99 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I would usually consider this a separate hobby from fitness, but if you think about it, it's exercise + nutrition, so it totally fits! :flowerforyou:

This time of year, I'm out digging for ramps and getting fiddleheads. Come autumn, I mushroom hunt. Anybody else like to find their food in the woods?

Replies

  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    I have in the past, but never in the CA desert. I've been toying with the idea though.
  • HerkMeOff
    HerkMeOff Posts: 1,002 Member
    Don't mushrooms come out in the spring?

    At least here they do
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,213 Member
    Yes to fiddleheads. Moreso asparagus, not in the woods of course, but in ditches everywhere. And raspberries, blackberries and wild grapes.
  • Michelle_Padgett13
    Michelle_Padgett13 Posts: 417 Member
    Right now where I am the mulberries and wild blackberries are fruiting. Going picking on Friday. There are wild strawberries, too, but they taste awful. It's possible there are still wild onions growing, but they may have flowered already.

    In August, we'll get wild grapes (muscadines).

    It's too hot here for good greens, but when October comes, I'll start looking for wood sorrel and chickweed for salads, and yellow dock for soups and added to cooked greens.

    I love foraging. Most of my family and friends think I'm weird, and they're probably right. But they still eat my wild mulberry jam. :glasses:
  • autovatic
    autovatic Posts: 99 Member
    Don't mushrooms come out in the spring?

    At least here they do

    Depends on the mushroom... Morels flush in spring, and some types of fungal fruiting bodies grow all year 'round. But the stuff I really like to eat, and find most frequently up here, comes out in late summer and fall: chanterelles, black trumpets, hidnum & hericium.
    It's too hot here for good greens, but when October comes, I'll start looking for wood sorrel and chickweed for salads, and yellow dock for soups and added to cooked greens.

    Ooh, I love wood sorrel - it makes a nice addition to turkey sandwiches!
  • Michelle_Padgett13
    Michelle_Padgett13 Posts: 417 Member
    Don't mushrooms come out in the spring?

    At least here they do

    Depends on the mushroom... Morels flush in spring, and some types of fungal fruiting bodies grow all year 'round. But the stuff I really like to eat, and find most frequently up here, comes out in late summer and fall: chanterelles, black trumpets, hidnum & hericium.
    It's too hot here for good greens, but when October comes, I'll start looking for wood sorrel and chickweed for salads, and yellow dock for soups and added to cooked greens.

    Ooh, I love wood sorrel - it makes a nice addition to turkey sandwiches!

    My favorite is to put it in egg salad. My son likes to just graze on the plants in the backyard like a goat.

    And I WISH I knew where to find chanterelles and black trumpets here. Oh, they're so good just sauteed in a little butter... om nom nom...

    Great, now I've got the munchies, and I'm done eating for the day. :sad:
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    Here in AZ the spring scorpions are in full bloom, and in a few weeks the tarantulas will be ripe enough for harvest! Can't wait!
  • Strokingdiction
    Strokingdiction Posts: 1,164 Member
    Lamb's quarter and Russian thistle are coming up now and have made it into several salads already. I could have added dandelion greens but since I hate them...

    Coming soon, purslane and wild sorrel.
  • Michelle_Padgett13
    Michelle_Padgett13 Posts: 417 Member
    Lamb's quarter and Russian thistle are coming up now and have made it into several salads already. I could have added dandelion greens but since I hate them...

    Coming soon, purslane and wild sorrel.


    I forgot about purslane! It grows here in August. I love it chopped up with cucumber, tomato, onion and oil/vinegar/salt/pepper. Lamb's quarters grow here, too. Dandelion is scarce, I think because it's so hot in south Georgia. I need to remember grapevine tendrils as well -- the grapes won't be ripe for a while, but the growing ends of the tendrils are fabulous in salads or cooked (I steam them and eat them with a chunk of good bread and some olive oil and herbs.)

    Do y'all use field guides for identification? I use Peterson's guides. I cross reference the Wildflower, Edible Wild Plants, and Medicinal Plant guides.

    I also "plantnap" things I find in my foraging, and plant them in my yard. This way I've gotten violets, chickweed, yellow dock, shepherd's purse, and wood sorrel growing in my backyard. Still working on getting dandelion back there (although I'm not telling my neighbors that I'm deliberately TRYING to grow dandelions. Ha!

    I love this thread!

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