# Thoughts on Foraging



## erehweslefox

So from a post from OutRIAArage, I never get that right, tricky to type, I guess I can't complain as my name is a word backwords and a a woodland friend.

So anyone gone out into the woods with a basket? Still trying to persuade Dear Wife that 'crap I got in the woods' is the same as Real Food (tm) from the market. 

Wild onions, ramps, wild chives, and of course, mushrooms. Lets talk.


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## Dawgluver

Purslane makes a nice salad.  I've also cooked up nettles.  DH refused to eat either one.  A friend had a friend who would give him massive heads of Hen of the Woods, his family refused to eat it, so I got them!  They would fill an entire sink.  Sadly, the tree where they grew was taken out.


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## erehweslefox

Dawgluver said:


> Purslane makes a nice salad..



I had to look that one up, but we did have it about, hogweed right? 

It is tart and salty, of course sometimes that is what you look for. 

Nettles are quite nice, Now the Hen of the Woods, a great find, your poor friends that didn't get to eat that!

If I find a hen of the woods log, I am having a VERY good day, and I go back to it every time it rains.


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## Dawgluver

We also get plenty of wild raspberries around here.  And I plan to harvest wild sumac berries this year.  I was too late last year, they were dried out and shriveled up by the time I got to them.

Oh, and heavens no, purslane is NOT hogweed!  Hogweed causes a bad rash, and is poisonous.  Purslane is a succulent, it grows all over.


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## erehweslefox

Around here in PA the blueberries are known in the State Parks, and you are rather lucky if you get there and find them.


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## Dawgluver

Dawgluver said:


> We also get plenty of wild raspberries around here.  And I plan to harvest wild sumac berries this year.  I was too late last year, they were dried out and shriveled up by the time I got to them.
> 
> Oh, and heavens no, purslane is NOT hogweed!  Hogweed causes a bad rash, and is poisonous.  Purslane is a succulent, it grows all over.




Purslane:


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## Andy M.

My parents, aunts and uncles were immigrants from Armenia.  They harvested purslane wherever they could find it to make a dish with yogurt and garlic.  I used to love it.  Much better than the lame cucumber substitute we got when purslane was unavailable.


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## erehweslefox

Looks like hogweed to me. and never caused a rash. looks like little hogweed.

Maybe we don't have the same name for it?

TBS


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## erehweslefox

OK we do, I call it little hogweed, I didn't realize there was a large hogweed, so to wit:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portulaca_oleracea

Yeah, I grab this whenever I see it hiking. Good eating, there. 

So now I'm worried about the big hogweed.

TBS


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## Andy M.

Looking at these two links, hogweed looks nothing like purslane.  However, other names for purslane include pigweed and little hogweed.  So I guess precision is important here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portulaca_oleracea



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleum_mantegazzianum


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## erehweslefox

The giant hogweed sounds like a nasty plant, I can assure you I won't be cooking with it.


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## Dawgluver

Here along the river, hogweed is a noxious weed, has a flat leaf sort of maple-leaf shaped.  Folks are strongly advised not to touch it without gloves, it causes a rash similar to poison ivy.  We also call it cow parsnip here.

Ya learn something new here every day!  I had no idea purslane was also known as little hogweed!


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## Dawgluver

Andy M. said:


> My parents, aunts and uncles were immigrants from Armenia.  They harvested purslane wherever they could find it to make a dish with yogurt and garlic.  I used to love it.  Much better than the lame cucumber substitute we got when purslane was unavailable.




I have plenty to share!  It seems to like to grow in my vegetable garden containers and in my brick sidewalk.  Very prolific.


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## erehweslefox

Dawgluver said:


> Ya learn something new here every day!  I had no idea purslane was also known as little hogweed!



Um yeah, I like purslane, call it little hogweed, did not know about BIG AWFUL POISON hogweed. 

serious, you guys aren't gonna tell me dandelion greens are poison, are you?


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## Dawgluver

No issue with dandelion greens!


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## erehweslefox

We don't have it as noxious plant, and big hogweed sounds like a pain in the arse to deal with.

OK, have hunted ramps or haven't? When I can find them they are my favorite pokemon, um cooking ingredient.


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## Dawgluver

I think ramps are around here somewhere, haven't found any, but I haven't looked.  Morels are a big deal around here, but I haven't found any of them yet either.


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## Aunt Bea

Not since the 70's! 

We used to pick wild asparagus, Daylily buds and blossoms, watercress, cowslips, cattail shoots, nuts, berries, apples, etc...

Still much good information available on the internet from Euell Gibbons, James Churchill, Kim Williams and the folks at The Mother Earth News.


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## Cheryl J

This has been an interesting read.  Not much to forage out here in the desert, unfortunately.   I was up in NoCal recently and was amazed at all the wild blackberry bushes up there.


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## larry_stewart

Theres a guy, out by me, who offers foraging hikes every weekend from early spring to late fall. Usually covers parts of Connecticut, Long Island, even Central Park in NYC.   I think he has a cook book too consisting of wild ingredients.

http://wildmanstevebrill.com

We did it a few years back.   Definitely an eccentric fellow ( not in a bad way, just what you stereotypcially may expect from someone who gives foraging tours).

I learned a few things from him, that  I still look for to this day.  

Autumn Olives, which are a berry that thrives around here.  Not great, but when Im riding my bike for miles , its a nice little snack I pass along the way.  Also, there was this plant that grows near the beach that the leaves can be used like bay leaves ( I forgot what it is called).  And a bunch of mushrooms, sea weed, wild onions, ramps , sorrel  and other things as well.

I personally don't feel comfortable enough on my own knowing what is good not.

A few years back, I bought some ramps online.  The plants came and were so fresh and healthy, that I decided to plant a few to  see what would happen.  Luckily, the plants actually took, and now I have ramps every spring.  I pick them sparingly to allow them to populate .


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## CraigC

Foraging locally usually requires a swamp tromp. Although you'll run across hardwood hammocks and pine lands interspersed with the cypress. I avoid the Pahayokee (river of grass) part as much as possible. Sawgrass isn't any fun. Come to think of it, it really was more survival than foraging and not something you would really do voluntarily. 

Plant wise, there are cat-tail tubers, custard apples, elderberry flowers, wild papaya and if you are really ambitious and have a very sharp machete, there are hearts of palm to be had. You might run across some coconut palms, banana and abandoned orange trees, both sweet and sour.

Back when I used to teach Hunter Safety classes, one of the other instructors was a reserve Wildlife Officer. Some of the other instructors said that she could be dropped in the swamp naked with only a hunting knife, flint and steel and she would come back fully clothed and 10# heavier.


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## erehweslefox

Swamp tromp sounds like a lot of fun! I don't get out in the Swamp enough. My wife and I lived in Oklahoma for three years, spent a good amount of time Desert hiking in Texas, and did some prairie work in Nebraska and Kansas, and of course I love both my native Pennsylvania woods and the Ozarks, but just haven't done much swampwork yet. We are planning on a fall trip to Congaree, hoping to do a long weekend four day paddle down there, so that will get us out in the mud a bit.


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## PrincessFiona60

I have copious amounts of purslane in my yard, you are all welcome to come and graze.


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## larry_stewart

I remember the first time I even heard of purslane was on the food network, Might have even been Bobby Flay.  Anytime I hear about a new fruit or vegetable I get excited.  When I turned around to look at the tv and saw that it was a weed that Ive been hacking out of my lawn or garden for decades, I couldn't believe it.  They were making it out to be some exotic - like vegetable.

That being said, its kinda cool to have something that accessible without having to pay an arm or leg for it and from a gardening going of view, don't even have to care for it.  It just does its own thing.


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## powerplantop

Purslane is called verdolagas in Spanish, I have seen it at Hispanic markets.


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## Andy M.

powerplantop said:


> Purslane is called verdolagas in Spanish, I have seen it at Hispanic markets.



Thanks for the tip.


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## blissful

I have some tiny leaved weeds growing in mats between pavers that surround the garden and I'm not sure if it is purslane. It is like a succulent, matches pictures of purslane in some of the links posted, but the stem is not red, it is green. Can that also be purslane? I tasted a leaf, it is a little salty.


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## Dawgluver

blissful said:


> I have some tiny leaved weeds growing in mats between pavers that surround the garden and I'm not sure if it is purslane. It is like a succulent, matches pictures of purslane in some of the links posted, but the stem is not red, it is green. Can that also be purslane? I tasted a leaf, it is a little salty.




Purslane can also have green stems.  They do grow in mats.  Check out Google Images just to make sure.  I get another mat-like weed that's not purslane here, but it's not succulent.


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## Cooking Goddess

I grew up having to weed purslane from between the sandstone sidewalk pavers and from the garden. I guess my Mom didn't know it was edible - it never showed up on our table, but it would have.

We've never really foraged in my family. I do remember the smell of spring onion in the air as I would drive along one of the Cleveland Metropark connecting parkways on my way home from work. In spite of stopping and looking, I never did see "spring onions", only these tall blades that looked a little like thin daffodil leaves. Needless to say, I'm no where near them now that I know that they were ramps! Then again, ramps weren't exactly a trendy ingredient back then. We also tried what we thought were fiddleheads in our backyard shortly after we moved to MA and found out they were edible. Um, not the ones in our yard. Apparently they aren't the right fern. Wouldn't matter if they were poisonous or not, they were so very bitter we tossed them out after one bite each.


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## GotGarlic

Purslane isn't new. It was grown in the kitchen gardens in Colonial Williamsburg.


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## Dawgluver

It grows just fine in every crack in my brick sidewalk, along with every raised bed.


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## Cooking Goddess

GotGarlic said:


> Purslane isn't new. It was grown in the kitchen gardens in Colonial Williamsburg.


I'm sure it was, and used as a food, too, even earlier than Williamsburg. Either my Mom didn't know it was edible, or she ignored that fact because she didn't want to serve her family "weeds".  I know I got a bit of an argument every time I tried putting nasturtium blossoms in our salads!

I'm not sure it grows wild up here in MA. We've been here almost 16 years and I can't remember ever having seen it. Probably still growing the the sidewalk cracks of my childhood home in OH, though.


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## GotGarlic

Funny how our perception of what's good to eat changes over time.


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## larry_stewart

GotGarlic said:


> Funny how our perception of what's good to eat changes over time.



and I think its funny how the food network tried to plug it as an exotic ingredient.  I guess its exotic for someone somewhere.

Has anyone ever seen it sold in a store (purslane, that is) ??


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## Aunt Bea

larry_stewart said:


> and I think its funny how the food network tried to plug it as an exotic ingredient.  I guess its exotic for someone somewhere.
> 
> Has anyone ever seen it sold in a store (purslane, that is) ??



Here ya go! 

A little different than the common purslane we find in the driveway, a cousin maybe.







Micro Purslane Verdolaga


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## larry_stewart

Aunt Bea said:


> Here ya go!
> 
> A little different than the common purslane we find in the driveway, a cousin maybe.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Micro Purslane Verdolaga



Cool.
I like how they have the ' micro' to keep it trendy


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## Andy M.

larry_stewart said:


> Cool.
> I like how they have the ' micro' to keep it trendy



That packaged purslane is different from what I've seen.  Perhaps it is micro purslane.  "Regular" purslane has a thicker, shinier leaf.


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## GotGarlic

Micro just means young, and plants often do look different at different stages of development. There are quite a few varieties, although I doubt very many are cultivated commercially. 



> Portulaca oleracea (common purslane, also known as verdolaga, pigweed, little hogweed, red root, pursley, and moss rose) is an annual succulent in the family Portulacaceae, which may reach 40 centimetres (16 in) in height.
> 
> Approximately forty cultivars are currently grown.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portulaca_oleracea


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## outRIAAge

*I heard it through the grapevine...*

Does anybody use grape leaves? They're easy to find in jars, and are decent (if a little hard to separate without ripping them, and fairly lacking in taste), like these:




I know for a fact that wild grapevines grow in upstate NY, which varies between 90F+ in summer and -20F- in winter (with very little in-between: I _hate_ upstate NY weather), so I suspect they grow anywhere. 

Here's what they look like in Spring, when it's best to pick them:




The ones you want are full-sized, but are still bright green, unblemished new leaves. From the above selection, I would perhaps pick only three, but a typical grapevine will yield all you need and more. You can use the darker, older leaves, but they get rather stiff and bitter (much like my ex-wife). Don't use leaves that have even a little insect damage, because when attacked they quite deliberately turn themselves bitter

To prepare, cut out most of the stalk from the leaf, in a V-shape going about halfway up the leaf. You can blanch them, steam them, but quickest and easiest is to wash them, leave them slightly wet, lay them in one layer on a spanking-clean turntable and zap until done. Start with 20 seconds, but adjust to your own microwave. You want them pliable, but still with a little resistance.

What you get is something glorious, a distant, more elegant and tasteful cousin to the jarred stuff. In the West, they're used almost exclusively for dolmatas:




There ain't nothing wrong with stuffed grape leaves, but with fresh leaves, you can go much further, like this halibut roasted in grape leaves:




If you ever bake anything with a salt crust, it might be appropriate to first wrap it in grape leaves. Also, here's a classy-looking preparation from Epicurious that uses a grape-leaf spread:




But that was just five minutes of searching. Give them a taste, and let your imagination run wild. Right now I'm imagining a grape leaf, kalamata olive, feta, apple, and tangerine salad...


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## blissful

OutR--I pick them on the fence lines in June. A few years ago, my son and I picked a lot of them, washed them outside, cut out the stem, stacked them, folded them to fit in a jar, then canned them in a brine of salt/water. I love the taste of them. Mostly we used them for dolmades. (sp?)

Good post with the pictures and all, thanks!


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## outRIAAge

*Snacking on Chamomile*

Ever had fresh chamomile? While wandering across Scottish cow-pastures with my adventurous young pals, we often snacked on chamomile flowers, though we didn't know what they were called.





We preferred the bright yellow ones that still had a few leaves left. We just snipped the seed-pod off between finger and thumb, and munched away. Turns out they are fond of cow-pastures, so our main problem was trying to determine if they had peed on recently. (Quality control: always a problem 

They are sweet, chewy, and taste like no dried chamomile ever could. It would never have crossed our minds to take them home for a salad, because we were Scottish. The definition of a Scottish Salad is: "The green stuff that you leave on the plate."

But chamomile's fondness for cow-pastures is nothing compared to horse-mushroom's fondness for their namesake. I can't find a photo, but in Britain, horse-pastures sometimes bloom to the point where you can't see the grass. Everybody in the village would take home pounds and pounds, and then come back in a few days and do it again.


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## outRIAAge

*Lunching on young wheat*

My young pals and I discovered things to eat that few people knew about, like young wheat stems.




Farmers know that young wheat grains are tasty, but we also discovered how to eat the growing stalk. The light-green ones above are perhaps just a little old to eat the grains, but if you grab the head and pull _gently_, the growing stem that slides out of the stalk is wonderful ... for about the first two inches, no more.

Rose hips are something else altogether, and quite dangerous if not eaten properly. But I'm kinda hogging the thread here, so I'll wait on that one.

Queen Anne's Lace? Fresh flowers like the ones below are quite tasty.


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## Andy M.

When my sister and I were young, our parents would take us into the 'country' for a Sunday drive.  Without warning, dad would pull over, mom would produce two paper shopping bags from out of thin air and my sister and I were directed to go pick grape leaves from the vines growing on a fence by the side of the road.  

She'd blanch them and can them in salt water.  The leaves were used to make sarma, the Armenian equivalent of the Greek dolmades.  

We also made yelanchi, a cold appetizer. Among my extended family, this is the hands down favorite appetizer when we get together.  I've made it a couple of times but he process of rolling the grape leaves with the filling is not a task I look forward to.

The linked recipe gives you an idea of what they're like but my mom's recipe is different.


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## Aunt Bea

Andy M. said:


> When my sister and I were young, our parents would take us into the 'country' for a Sunday drive.  Without warning, dad would pull over, mom would produce two paper shopping bags from out of thin air and my sister and I were directed to go pick grape leaves from the vines growing on a fence by the side of the road.
> 
> She'd blanch them and can them in salt water.  The leaves were used to make sarma, the Armenian equivalent of the Greek dolmades.
> 
> We also made yelanchi, a cold appetizer. Among my extended family, this is the hands down favorite appetizer when we get together.  I've made it a couple of times but he process of *rolling the grape leaves with the filling is not a task I look forward to.*
> 
> The linked recipe gives you an idea of what they're like but my mom's recipe is different.



You could go with this lazy version, sort of a grape leaf lasagna!

Stuffed Grape Leaves Casserole Recipe | Vegetarian Times


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## Andy M.

Aunt Bea said:


> You could go with this lazy version, sort of a grape leaf lasagna!
> 
> Stuffed Grape Leaves Casserole Recipe | Vegetarian Times



That's interesting, Aunt Bea.  I've never seen anything like that.


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## outRIAAge

*Grape-Leaf Pasta, anyone?*



Aunt Bea said:


> _You could go with this lazy version, sort of a grape leaf lasagna!_



What a brilliant, easy recipe! And it immediately got me to thinking: why not make actual lasagna, from grape-leaf pasta? The recipe would be identical to making spinach pasta, but would be more full-flavoured. I just now googled it, and it looks like it has never been thought of before. To make it, gather only bright young leaves of any size, because they contain less fibre.  Then treat yourself to a copy of Aliza Green's "Making Artisan Pasta" and never look back. 




The top photos show saffron, beetroot and asparagus pasta. the bottom shows squash tortellini (stuffed with squash, which wouldn't be my choice), chestnut corzetti, and spinach manicotti. (Do you get the idea that I swallowed her book whole? Almost literally true, though I haven't yet made corzetti 

Like her, I prefer to not puree the leaves, so that the formed pasta has multicoloured streaks in it, like this:




Now, what would one put IN grape-leaf lasagna? Ideas?


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## GotGarlic

outRIAAge said:


> Now, what would one put IN grape-leaf lasagna? Ideas?



A layer of kefta-spiced ground beef, a layer of baba ghanoush, repeat, top with a lemony béchamel. Bake and dollop with tabouli for serving.


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## KitchenHack

Hi All,

I am new to this forum (glad to be here!) and this is my first post. I probably should have started in the Newcomers area but this is a topic dear to my heart! Just wanted to say to OP ErehwelseFox in regards to getting your wife interested in foraging: We took a class last year on how to find morels and other wild mushrooms. I've picked berries and wild asparagus all my life, but I can't tell you how exciting it was to look down and see a morel popping out of the ground after following the instructions we learned in that class! 

Our guy was in MN, but perhaps you could find someone in your area who specializes in what you're interested in foraging. A class might make that "crap in the woods" seem more official to her.


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## StuartCooks

outRIAAge said:


> Ever had fresh chamomile? While wandering across Scottish cow-pastures with my adventurous young pals, we often snacked on chamomile flowers, though we didn't know what they were called.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> We preferred the bright yellow ones that still had a few leaves left. We just snipped the seed-pod off between finger and thumb, and munched away. Turns out they are fond of cow-pastures, so our main problem was trying to determine if they had peed on recently. (Quality control: always a problem
> 
> They are sweet, chewy, and taste like no dried chamomile ever could. It would never have crossed our minds to take them home for a salad, because we were Scottish. The definition of a Scottish Salad is: "The green stuff that you leave on the plate."
> 
> But chamomile's fondness for cow-pastures is nothing compared to horse-mushroom's fondness for their namesake. I can't find a photo, but in Britain, horse-pastures sometimes bloom to the point where you can't see the grass. Everybody in the village would take home pounds and pounds, and then come back in a few days and do it again.



Suddenly I want to try fresh Chamomile


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## erehweslefox

KitchenHack said:


> A class might make that "crap in the woods" seem more official to her.


Glad to have you on board KH. And we are just about to get to great mushroom foraging season. I'm going to go out with my basket this weekend, and find hopefully some greens, wild onions, ramps, and some flowers. 

Beloved Wife has gotten better about trusting our 'crap in the woods', as she likes the flavors when I make up something nice, and I haven't poisoned her yet....

Anyone else getting ready for Mushroom season?

Cheers,

TBS


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## dlgauthier

I love purslane, I hate to see it being weeded from gardens.

- Wild garlic - you will find them when you are engulfed by the smell of onion, very prolific, you can pick them in the spring, pick the ramps and then pick the heads mid-summer when they go to seed (like tiny onion/garlic pebbles), then pick them in the fall and it's like a small bulb of garlic
- Fiddleheads - spring
- Berries - serviceberries, blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries - different types grow all the way through to mid-summer
- Mushrooms - this one is trickier but there are a few easy types with no poisonous lookalikes (like anything, you don't eat it unless 150% certain it's been properly identified)
- Apples - Unbelievably many areas have apples all over the place... look to places where there once was a farm, or where people lived in the past - these are feral apples that were planted and forgotten long ago
- Other greens - so many greens, dandelion, nettle
- Nuts - sweet acorns, hickory, walnuts (stay away from black walnuts, not worth it)
- Flowers - so many things make great teas, you can also forage for your beverages
- Cattails
- Ground cherries (they look like tiny tomatillos but they are orange when ripe)
- Asparagus - looks like regular asparagus but thinner
- Ramps - rare and hard to find, but if you do be responsible and only pick a small percentage, they are being overpicked and this is why they are becoming harder to find

Those are some easy ones. It's honestly so rewarding and fun, not to mention money-saving, to forage for at least some of your foods.


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## BlueMoods

I love foraging around here, berries, apples, muscadines, mushrooms, pears, cherries, purslane, poke weed (not recommended unless you are 1000% sure you know how to make Poke Sallit - it is very toxic raw.)

I can also find kudzu taters, wild rose hips, wild persimmons (very sour but good for jam or syrup.) Pecans, fiddle heads, cat tails, a few ramps, acorns, hickory nuts galore - all over my yard in the fall. Of course dandelion and nettle.

Add those to my hunting and fishing and, even if I didn't have a garden or grocery store, I'd eat well.

There is a whole bounty of foods out there that so few care to go get today.


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## blissful

We don't forage a lot but we've been hiking all spring, at least 5 days a week. We've been foraging watercress weekly now, and yesterday we ran into some oyster mushrooms, and picked those today. What a treat!


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## blissful

We found asparagus today and grabbed them. The mushrooms are still growing, more next week.


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## taxlady

Blissful, sounds like a good way to combine exercise and foraging. Great finds.


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## blissful

taxlady, better than the loss leaders at the grocery store. I can imagine what it was like when this area was just populating, in the 1880's or 1900's, fresh spring water, free watercress salad, mushrooms, and asparagus. There are nettles, m. stellatum and racemosa for medicine, deer, woodchucks, squirrel, rabbits and frogs. They had cranberry bogs, a marl plant, built a hotel, a fish hatchery, bustling with people living off the land. The history of this area is amazing and the more often we go the more we learn.


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## blissful

The grape leaves are about ready to pick, young and tender. Time for some grape leaves stuffed.


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## taxlady

blissful said:


> The grape leaves are about ready to pick, young and tender. Time for some grape leaves stuffed.


Thank you for the heads up.


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## blissful

taxlady said:


> Thank you for the heads up.


You're welcome and thanks for the flowers too! 



I've canned grape leaves, about 40, sometimes 72 per jar, washed stacked leaves, stems removed, kind of folded stacks into the jar, then canned like pickles, in a vinegar/salt/water brine, then water bath canned them. They keep well and they are less expensive than the store bought. If I can muster the energy I'd like to can 8 jars for us for the next year or so. Umm 320 to 500+ leaves ought to do it.



I have pressure cooking dried beans on my agenda, and there are a few more things to plant in the gardens.



Dh and I hike everyday for a while- an hour or so. I might be able to enlist him into helping me pick nice grape leaves. I hope. I might be able to squeeze that in.


ANOTHER thing, right now, the oregano is fresh and tender, if you have a patch or know of one, you know they spread easily. So tonight we cut about 3 square feet of it out, a grocery bag full and since it was freshly hosed down with a sprayer, I put it directly in the dehydrator, so I don't have to buy the stuff. I like lemon/oregano on meat, and oregano in curry.



I'll worry about crushing the oregano once it is dry and getting it into jars for this year.


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## taxlady

Canning them seems like a good idea if they are for dolmas. I want some for pickling. I have read that they help cucumbers stay crispy when you pickle them. I figure I will freeze them. I don't have the energy to make dolmas, so I will just need a few for the cucumber pickles. I think you need one or two per jar.


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## blissful

taxlady said:


> Canning them seems like a good idea if they are for dolmas. I want some for pickling. I have read that they help cucumbers stay crispy when you pickle them. I figure I will freeze them. I don't have the energy to make dolmas, so I will just need a few for the cucumber pickles. I think you need one or two per jar.




I'd probably freeze them for using them in pickles too.


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