I had a foraging epiphany today. There are many reasons I forage (exercise, yummy food, time outdoors, constant learning, etc.), and I've always looked at them as being of roughly equal importance. (Left: Violet Field by wide eyed lib)
Today I spent some time looking for pineapple weed (Matricaria discoidea), from which I make my favorite herbal tea. In this one area of a park the path is paved with old, crumbling cobblestones, and I've seen pineapple weed there in the past.
Suddenly, I saw it, and I felt a physical jolt of recognition, like a mild electrical shock. It's hard to describe, exactly, but it was a very similar pleasure to coming across someone I haven't seen in a long time in an unusual place.
All at once I felt hyper-aware of everything and completely and utterly alive. I'm sure that sounds corny, but it's true. That feeling is, I think, the number 1 reason I forage on a regular basis. There's nothing else quite like it.
Pictured: pineapple weed, yew, goutweed, cleavers, wild ginger & clover
[As always, if you're new to foraging and want to give it a try, please read the first diary in the series for some important information. Additionally, if you're tempted to forage any of the plants discussed below, please read the linked diaries where each plant is discussed in depth.]
No new plants today, but lots of peeks at what's growing in the NE right now. Provided I get some time during the week, next week's diary will have 2 or 3 new plants.
Speaking of pineapple weed, it's furry basal rosettes are making their first appearance of the year. Did I mention that it's my favorite herbal tea? You can read more about it at the link above.
Yews (Taxus species) are flowering right now. Although I suspect few people generally notice their creamy orange flowers, up close they're quite lovely. The only edible part of the yew is the red aril. Read more here
Goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria) is putting up shiny, bright green leaves. The tender leaves are at their tastiest right now. Learn more about recognising and harvesting goutweed here.
Cleavers (Galium aparine) are their sticky selves. I love them both as a potherb and brewed into tea. They're the quintessential spring tonic for me. Read more here. Although other species in the Galium genus look very similar, only this species has the tiny hooks all over the leaves and stems. There's not much agreement with various foraging sources about whether the smooth species are edible, so I'd recommend avoiding them.
Wild ginger (Asarum species) has glossy green, heart-shaped leaves above and tiny purplish flowers beneath. The flowers are close to the ground because they're pollinated by ants. The rhizomes of this plant have an unmistakeable gingery scent. Learn more about them here.
Clover (Trifolium species) grows just about anywhere there's enough sun and rain. Although the leaves are edible, my favorite edible part is the flowers. Read more about clover here.
Be sure to come back next week for a few new plants, including the delicious flowers from the redbud tree (Cercis species).
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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 38 installments, and here for RonV's 4 part mini-series on medicinal plants and how to use them. 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.
For well-sourced info on the medicinal uses of plants, Plants for a Future is a site I turn to time and time again.
Finally, the USDA plants database is a great place to look up info on all sorts of plants.
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