What do you like to forage? Calling all foragers!

[Sequoia Raven Bird Farms]

I was just on BYC's sister site 'Sufficentself.com' and it sparked my interest if anyone here forages too. I personally love foraging sustainably for things like burdock, hen of the woods, morels, plantain, purslane, horsetail, willow, and more.

I foraged some horsetail and dried it recently, now to grind it and put it in my pancakes!

Some ideas to spark the conversation:

What do you like to forage?
How do you like to use it?
When do you forage it in your area?
How do you use it medicinally?
How do you eat it?
Why did you start foraging?
What other things do you like to do to be sustainable?
Do you like weeds?

Tell me, what do you like about them?

I made this thread so we can all teach, learn and share everything about foraging in a communal way!

Need help identifying that mushroom? Ask a question! (although I'd go to the Learn your land YouTube channel to check)

 

[AGeese]

I need to start mushroom identification because I end up finding a variety.

 

[Sequoia Raven Bird Farms]

I need to start mushroom identification because I end up finding a variety.

For a beginner mushroom forager I recommend the YouTube channel 'Learn your land' since he's very knowledgeable and goes through everything for positively identifying mushrooms including spore print, rhizome color, bruise color, colorations, gill or polypore patterns, stem shape and more! He also talks about their medicinal and culinary uses .

 

[TooCheep]

I forage a few things immediately around my house:
-Day Lilly flowers
-Redbud tree buds/flowers
-Dandelion (multiple parts)
-Maple tree seeds
-Mock strawberries
-White pine needles (tea, high vitamin C)
-Plantain (medicinal)

I don't use any of them in significant quantities, but I use at least a little from each every year to keep myself in practice and knowledgeable about what is available locally.

I really like the YouTube channel "EatTheWeeds" for plant identification and uses. Unfortunately, he stopped publishing 2 years ago, but left 172 excellent videos for reference.

 

[Sequoia Raven Bird Farms]

I forage a few things immediately around my house:
-Day Lilly flowers
-Redbud tree buds/flowers
-Dandelion (multiple parts)
-Maple tree seeds
-Mock strawberries
-White pine needles (tea, high vitamin C)
-Plantain (medicinal)

I don't use any of them in significant quantities, but I use at least a little from each every year to keep myself in practice and knowledgeable about what is available locally.

I really like the YouTube channel "EatTheWeeds" for plant identification and uses. Unfortunately, he stopped publishing 2 years ago, but left 172 excellent videos for reference.

I love pine needles too! They are a very good medicine for lung problems and are used to stimulate the immune system, I imagine they have 1000+ other uses too lol. I've never used Day Lilly flowers before, what are they used for? It just goes to show we always have more to learn! I love using plantain whether it's narrowleaf or broadleaf, although I haven't been able to positively identify any young narrowleaf plantain since I could only find one picture of it young. Dandelion is so awesome and it's everywhere! It's so great for the kidneys and liver and cures/helps many things that are caused by a overloaded liver & kidneys like; eczema, gout, chronic acne, psoriasis, arthritis and more.
Some is better than none.

Thank you for sharing!

 

[TooCheep]

The first five are all edibles, though the dandelion has medicinal benefits as well.

Day Lilly flowers are edible. Slightly sweet and can be eaten straight or in salads. There are many variations, but the common yellow-orange ones are the best known for foraging safety.

I live in an urban area, so I only have a limited area to collect from. My foraging is just a useful skill- not for major sustenance. Instead, I grow a lot of my own food- 7 types of berries, a mini fruit orchard, mints and various herbs, both culinary and medicinal.

My chickens round out the package, producing protein and compost for the garden.

 

[Barnette]

I don't forage as much as I would like to, but I love collecting morels in spring, wineberries in summer, and pawpaws in fall.

 

[Sally PB]

Lamb's quarter. Delicious!
Morels
Japanese Beetles (for the chickens! not me!)

 

[TooCheep]

Japanese Beetles (for the chickens! not me!)

Yup. I love capturing JBs for the girls. They're main defense when you try to capture them is to drop off the leaf and fly away. So, I hold a bowl of water under them and I capture a fairly high percentage of them. Then it's time for "bobbing for beetles"!

 

[Sally PB]

Yup. I love capturing JBs for the girls. They're main defense when you try to capture them is to drop off the leaf and fly away. So, I hold a bowl of water under them and I capture a fairly high percentage of them.

That's exactly how I catch them too. I have a "bug jar," and when the chickens see me carrying it, they know what it holds! Happy chickens!