I've been talking for the last few weeks about how there's nothing to forage, but what I really mean is that there's nothing new to forage. (Left: Winter Scene by Peter Coughlin)
The foraging season really doesn't end until 2 things happen: the first frost (which kills all but the hardiest leaves) and the first hard frost, which makes digging increasingly difficult. (Even then, it's still possible to dig if you build a fire on the spot in order to soften the ground first.)
Because neither of those things has happened here yet, the foraging is still pretty good. Even the period between those 2 events offers lots of opportunities for the prepared and informed forager.
Covered: hog peanut
Bonus list of plants for winter foraging
[As always, if you're new to foraging and want to give it a try, please read the first diary in the FFF series for some important information.]
Hog peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata) is a member of the legume family (Fabaceae), along with previously covered plants like wisteria, black locust, Kentucky coffeetree and beach pea, not to mention agriculturally important crops like chickpeas, beans, garden peas, peanuts, soybeans and alfalfa. (Right: Hog Peanut Leaf by wide eyed lib)
Hog peanut is a delicate, perennial, native vine that has alternate, 3-part compound leaves. Each leaflet is oval to heart-shaped, and the whole plant climbs by twining around other plants (including other parts of the same vine). They tend to heavily colonize small areas, coiling around all the other plants growing there. They're found in fertile soils in woods, thickets and along the edges of paths throughout the eastern half of the U.S. and Canada. In mid-Summer, racemes of 6-10 white to pink to purple pea-like flowers arise from the leaf axils and sag from their own weight. These later give way to small, flattened pods about an inch long that contain 1 or 2 seeds. Meanwhile about 6 inches below ground, tiny subterranean petalless flowers develop on threadlike roots. These self-fertilize and develop into tiny underground seeds that look like the negative of a black eyed pea and are of similar size. (In other words, black with a whitish spot where it attached to the root.) Having expended all that energy to create 2 sets of flowers and 2 sets of seeds, hog peanut vines die back to the ground, leaving behind a few straw-like strands before starting the process anew in Spring.
Both kinds of seeds are edible, and the above-ground pods are edible when they first form and are still tender. Not surprisingly, the immature pods taste like sugar snap peas but a bit less sweet, and the mature seeds look and taste like lentils. The pods are best raw, steamed or sauteed, and the peas are best boiled or added to soups. You have to get to them relatively quickly because lots of little critters like to eat them. The number of pods produced by a given colony varies greatly, but even in a good patch, it would be rare to find more than a cup of pods or 1/4 cup of peas. (Left: Hog Peanut Flowers by wide eyed lib)
The underground beans are about 1/2 inch long by 1/4 inch wide. While they tend to be more plentiful, finding them involves quite a bit of digging. They're usually only 4-6 inches beneath the ground, but they can be difficult to locate and to distinguish from small rocks, and this year they seem sparse. In a normal year, half an hour's digging in an area of about 2 square feet yields about a cup of beans, but this year I haven't yet found any. I'm not sure if that's because the local vines aren't producing or my efforts have been too haphazard. I've come across some sources that say you can simply yank the plants out of the ground and the beans will come up strung on the roots like beads on a necklace. Perhaps that's true in extremely loose, sandy soils, but whenever I've tugged on the roots, I've ended up with lots of stringy roots and no beans.
Once you locate some beans, rinse them well, then soak overnight in cool water. They have a coating much like fresh fava beans, and soaking makes removal a bit easier. From that point, they'll take about 10 minutes to cook. Use them in soups or boil them in salted water then saute them with onions for a nice side dish. They taste a bit like black beans. (Right: Hog Peanuts by Steve Hurst @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database. These still have their outer skins intact.)
Nutritionally, hog peanut seeds of either variety are about 25% protein. I haven't seen any analysis of the pods, but presumably they'd be similar to pea pods. Medicinal uses are kind of scarce, but an infusion of the roots has been used for diarrhea, and pulvurized leaves have been used externally to reduce swelling.
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In addition to hog peanut, there are many other plants that can be foraged in the winter provided the ground isn't frozen. Digging for roots this time of year requires knowledge of exactly where the particular plant was growing in Spring through Fall and/or intimate knowledge of what remains the dying plants left. If you're not 100% certain of the location, don't dig. Identifying the species you've excavated by examining its root, bulb, rhizome or tuber alone is a recipe for disaster.
Those of you in more southerly climes may of course find that some of the plants listed here or discussed previously in the series survive year-round. Finally, please be sure to refer to the linked discussion for information about which parts of each plant are edible.
apple (Malus species)-- some varieties are tastier after a couple of frosts
bayberry (Myrica and Morella species)-- berries and sometimes leaves
birch (Betula species)-- twigs
bull thistle and other true thistles (Cirsium species, including vulgare)-- roots
burdock (Arctium species)-- roots
chestnut (Castanea species)-- chestnuts
chickweed (Stellaria species)-- leaves and stems
chicory (Cichorium intybus)-- roots and sometimes leaves
curly dock (Rumex crispus)-- medicinal roots
dandelion (Taraxacum species)-- roots and sometimes leaves
daylily (Hemerocallis species)-- tubers
evening primrose (Oenothera species)-- roots
field garlic (Allium oleraceum)-- bulbs and sometimes shoots
garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)-- leaves and roots
hickory (Carya species)-- hickory nuts
hog peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata)-- underground beans (covered above)
Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus)-- seeds
mullein (Verbascum thapsus)-- medicinal roots
oak (Quercus species)-- acorns
pine (Pinus species)-- needles and seeds
ramp (Allium tricoccum)-- bulbs
rose (Rosa species)-- rosehips
sassafras (Sassafras albidum)-- roots
seaweeds (see link for species)-- blades
spicebush (Lindera benzoin)-- buds and twigs
sumac (Rhus species)-- berries (sometimes)
sunflower (Helianthus annuus))-- some varieties have tubers
viburnums (Virburnum species)-- the berries of some species, including nannyberry and black haw, stay in good shape for most of the Winter
walnut and butternut (Juglans species)-- nuts
wild ginger (Asarum species)-- rhizomes
wild lettuce (Lactuca species)-- leaves (sometimes)
wintergreen (select Gaultheria species)-- leaves and berries
witch-hazel (Hamamelis species)-- medicinal twigs
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If you'd like to learn more about foraging but missed the earlier diaries in the series, you can click here for the previous 34 installments. As always, please feel free to post photos in the comments and I'll do my best to help identify what you've found. (And if you find any errors, let me know.)
Here are some helpful foraging resources:
"Wildman" Steve Brill's site covers many edibles and includes nice drawings.
"Green" Deane Jordan's site is quite comprehensive and has color photos and stories about many plants.
Green Deane's foraging how-to clips on youtube each cover a single plant in reassuring detail.
Linda Runyon's site features only a few plants but has great deals on her dvd, wild cards and books (check out the package deals in particular).
Steve Brill's book, Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places is my primary foraging guide. (Read reviews here, but if you're feeling generous, please buy from Steve's website.)
Linda Runyon's book The Essential Wild Food Survival Guide contains especially detailed information about nutritional content and how to store and preserve wild foods.
Samuel Thayer’s book The Forager's Harvest is perhaps the finest resource out there for the 32 plants covered. The color photos and detailed harvest and preparation information are top-notch.
Steve Brill also offers guided foraging tours in NYC-area parks. Details and contact info are on his website.
Don Wiss’s website is a treasure trove featuring hundreds of photos of common northeastern edibles.
Finally, the USDA plants database is a great place to look up info on all sorts of plants.
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