The very first time you go out to forage it may seem awkward and intimidating. As a novice, you will see a wall of green vegetation and begin doubting your ability to discern what is edible and what is poisonous. This is natural; it happens to most of us when we branch out and try new things. Fear is a valuable emotion; it keeps us from doing things that could potentially harm us. If we give in to our fears completely, however, we may end up stuck in our limited comfort zone and never get to experience all that life has to offer. This chapter is aimed at easing your journey through the early stages of foraging. The following simple, commonsense guidelines are meant to keep you safe while at the same time nurturing your curiosity and challenging you to forage.
Your brain catalogs everything you see in images. According to Samuel Thayer, our eyes capture billions of pictures over the course of our lives. When you come in contact with an object repeatedly, such as a banana, your brain collects more banana images, and your familiarity with bananas becomes more refined. Like a computer, your brain creates a folder in which it saves the information it receives about a particular banana, as well as bananas as a whole. This folder is called a “search image” (Thayer 2010). Over time, as you continue exposing yourself to bananas, peaches, and pears, your brain makes more search images, and you become great at differentiating one fruit from another.
In the same way you learned to distinguish kale from cilantro, you can learn to differentiate wild mustard from common mallow. Through careful observation, you can learn to spot a plant’s distinguishing features and be able to identify it quickly, if not instantly. In order to progress quickly, you must expose yourself to plants often. Each time you reexamine a plant, your search image of this plant will improve, and your awareness will be heightened. If you regularly expose yourself to wild edibles, you will become a professional in no time.
PLANT AWARENESS EXERCISE
Try this exercise the next time you go outside: Pick up a plant. Any plant. It could be one that you know or one that you have never seen before. Look at it for thirty seconds. Notice any striking characteristics this plant displays. Does it have any markings or discolorations? Are the edges of its leaves smooth or serrated? Are the leaf veins easily distinguishable? Does the top of the leaf have a different hue than the bottom? Crush the stem and smell it. What does it smell like? Notice how your body reacts to the aroma. Does your mouth salivate, or is the smell repulsive?
Be creative and come up with your own questions. You don’t have to be too scientific. Ask yourself the kinds of questions that will help you remember the plant you are studying. You are creating a mental map.
Finally, if you don’t know what you’re looking at, take it home for identification. For this step it is helpful to have a plant reference book, such as Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, by Jim Pojar and Andy MacKinnon. Such books make it easy to identify unfamiliar flora by giving you the ability to search by leaf shape, flower color, the number of petals, and so forth. Once you determine the name of the plant you collected, you can then consult a book on wild edibles to determine its edibility. If you do this once a week for a year, you could learn fifty-two new plants by year’s end.
As a way of helping myself progress as a forager, at least once a week I try to allocate fifteen minutes or more toward focusing my attention on my surroundings. This practice is not super-regimented and often occurs spontaneously. Having a dog helps. My pooch, Bella, requires a walk every day. During our expeditions it’s easy to find a place or a plant that I can lose myself in for a brief moment. I try to keep up this practice throughout the seasons to get a better grasp of how plants change during their various stages of growth. I do this both at home and when I’m traveling. As a result, I am able to spot edible plants easily and have piece of mind that I am not eating something poisonous. My observations also help me feel more connected to my environment.
Did you know that donkeys kill more people than airplane crashes each year? On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens annually. Texting while driving killed 6,000 people in the United States alone in 2011. About 450 Americans will die this year by falling out of bed (Jenkins 2011). Life is full of risks. Harvesting wild edibles presents some inherent dangers as well. Nature is unpredictable. Wild plants do not come with nutritional labels and should be approached with a degree of caution. But foraging is no more dangerous than the million other activities you engage in daily. If you are patient, attentive to your body, willing to educate yourself properly, and able to resist the temptation to eat everything you see, I’m confident that eating wild food will impose no major risk to you. Most of you will find foraging to be extremely pleasant, fun, and healthful. In this section, I would like to discuss a few simple guidelines that should be considered prior to eating new food, whether it is wild or not. Following these rules will greatly minimize your chances of experiencing any negative reactions.
Most plant poisonings occur when people make no effort to identify what’s in front of them and put unknown vegetation into their mouths (Thayer 2010). You will be surprised how often this happens. I receive emails more often than I would like from people who eat mysterious wild plants. When they complain about the stomachache they got from consuming an unidentified herb, I have to fight my urge to shout, “Don’t eat something if you don’t know what it is!” (I wrote a song about this. Search for “Don’t eat something if you don’t know what it is” on YouTube.) While nature is bountiful in edible plants, there are plants that can harm you. Every time you choose to eat a foreign food, you wager your well-being on your decision. Therefore, if you are even slightly hesitant about whether it’s edible, take the appropriate steps to double-check before you take a bite. Create an identification protocol that you feel comfortable with. This process may include bringing the actual plant, or a picture of plant, home for investigation, identifying it with the help of a book or a reputable website, or inquiring with a local expert. I recommend getting in the habit of cross-referencing all new plants with at least two different sources.
When I was an undergrad in college, I learned that the majority of all communication exchanged between people happens nonverbally. Like humans, plants have the ability to convey information by how they look, feel, smell, sound, and taste. If we employ all of our senses to listen intently to every form of communication that a plant makes, we can better determine whether it is fit to eat. Engaging all your senses helps to significantly dilute your risk of experiencing an allergic reaction or being poisoned. Many poisonous plants display characteristics that communicate their lack of edibility. Some plants, or plant parts, have very strong, unpleasant odors, while others have tough leaves or sharp thorns. When we engage all of our senses, we can notice such characteristics and avoid the plants or plant parts that will make us sick. I do not recommend for people to forage relying solely on the five basic senses unless they are in an emergency situation. But even if you’re not stranded and starving in the woods, this technique—in addition to the guidance of a credible wild edible book—will help you train your observation skills and plant awareness.
Next time you go foraging, follow these five steps:
1. Look at your surroundings. Notice if any plants appear more tender or edible than others. Even if you’re harvesting a familiar plant, study it and try to figure out which part(s) are suitable for consumption. Notice anything that is not particularly edible (i.e., leaves, sap, thorns, and so forth). Consider the environment you are in. Are there signs saying that chemical sprays have been used in the area? If no signs are posted, but you see plants that are dead or dying for no apparent reason, this could mean pesticides or herbicides may have been used. If unsure, it’s best to harvest from someplace else.
2. Touch everything before you eat it. Sometimes what the eyes miss, the hands see. Use your sense of touch to determine if a plant would be pleasant to consume. Some plants, or plant parts, might appear to be edible, but upon further investigation, your fingers might notice little hairs that can cause irritation. Use your sense of touch as a second pair of eyes to back up your assumptions.
3. Smell everything before eating it. You may need to crush a plant’s leaves or stem to be able to detect its odor. This is a very important step, because a putrid smell often indicates toxicity. On the other hand, some plants have a pleasant aroma that might cause you to salivate. If you notice a strong or unpleasant aroma emitted by a plant, please take extra precautions to determine its edibility.
4. Listen to your surroundings. Become still and try to hear the plants talking to you. This may sound a little crazy, but during my six-month hike from Mexico to Canada, I became more attentive to nature and could hear plants speaking to me. For example, curly dock seeds are encased in a loosely fitting husk that rattles in the wind. There were many times when I would have walked by dock without noticing had I not heard its gentle clatter. Even if a plant doesn’t make a peep, see if you can detect any other sounds that could potentially jeopardize its edibility. Listen for automobiles, roadways, pets, people spraying chemicals, and other potential sources of contamination.
5. Taste only a small amount of anything you pick for the first time. If you want to be even more cautious, you can rub a little piece of a plant on your lip or under your tongue prior to tasting it. Both these areas are extremely sensitive and will alarm you if the plant is toxic. Make sure you give your body time to react. Allow fifteen to twenty minutes to elapse from the moment you taste a new plant. Once you know how your body reacts to it, you can eat more of it.
As a newbie forager, many wild edibles will be foreign to you. As adults, we rarely experiment with new foods, which is exactly what we do when we begin eating foraged fare. Just as some people are allergic to peanuts, some wild edibles may cause allergic reactions to any individual. When I say that dandelions are completely edible, don’t just take my word for it. Conduct your own experiment to make sure. The best way to avoid suffering any unpleasant symptoms is to approach new food cautiously and in small proportions. As mentioned earlier, engaging your five basic senses when experimenting with new food is incredibly helpful.
Once, at the start of my wild edible exploration, I made a salad out of seventeen different ingredients. I chopped up wildly harvested salsify, miner’s lettuce, and wild radish, along with other greens, and dressed them with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. I had never tried several of the edibles in my salad prior to that point. I ate the entire bowl and shortly thereafter broke out in hives. I made sure to drink lots of water to flush out whatever I was allergic to. Nevertheless, the experience shook me up. Though it was a relatively mild reaction, it is not something I’d care to repeat. On the bright side, I learned a valuable lesson that day. I understood the importance of easing new foods into my diet one by one.
I recommend not mixing newly discovered wild edibles. If you combine too many ingredients in a recipe and have a reaction, you won’t know which plant caused it. Instead of mixing your weeds, consume one wild edible at a time until you are absolutely sure how your body will react.
Knowledge is power! The best way to stay safe is through good old-fashioned education. Reading a book, such as this one, carefully and in its entirety will help you grasp nuances that will make your foraging experience more enjoyable. Attending a hands-on wild foods workshop is a great way to learn about plants as well. The internet is also a valuable tool for identification, but you should never make conclusions solely on what you read on the net. Anybody with a computer can post anything, any time. It is a good idea to cross-reference any and all information about wild edibles with several other sources. After all, it’s only your life we’re talking about.
All greens taste best when they are young. New leaves are generally more tender than mature ones and contain higher concentrations of protein and sugar (Thayer 2010). These factors make young plants and plant parts more enjoyable and more nutritious. As a forager you will need to know how to identify meristems in order to get the maximum amount of enjoyment and health out of your meal.
The term meristem was coined by Swiss botanist Karl Wilhelm von Nägeli in 1858. Nägeli discovered that certain groups of plant cells were capable of division and called these parts meristems, from the Greek word for “divided.” Meristems are the parts of a plant where growth occurs. During cell division, the tissue of a plant will need to shift or expand, so plants supply growing parts with constant nutrients so that they will remain flexible for growth to occur. Thus the young, growing parts of plants are always more tender and taste better than the older, fibrous parts.
How do you find a meristem? When a plant is young it’s easy. New flora is likely to consist entirely of flexible, growing parts. This means that the whole plant is a meristem. As a plant develops, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to identify which parts are newly formed. Generally, as a plant matures, the lower parts closest to the ground begin to harden, in order to support the growth taking place above. These hard sections are not meristems, as they no longer experience stretching or widening. It can be helpful to note such fibrous parts, as they are the exact opposite of what you’re looking for. When looking for meristems on mature vegetation, try searching near the tops and tips of the plant. For example, in late summer, the stinging nettles patch near my house reaches its peak height of about seven feet. If I try to harvest the bottom leaves from such mature nettles for a smoothie, my drink will be extremely bitter and tough to blend. On the other hand, using leaves from the top two feet of the nettles guarantees a delicious smoothie, because I am using new growth (meristematic parts).
Here are a few easy ways to spot meristems:
These parts are often a different color. Their hue is usually a lighter green than other portions of the plant.
These parts break and bend more easily.
Meristematic leaves are generally smaller than mature ones.
These parts can lack the hairs or thorns of mature plants.
These parts usually grow in tighter clusters.
These parts may be folded or curled, unlike other leaves.
Many edible plants have roots that are both delicious and edible. I make note of this in the field guide chapter of this book. From time to time I like to indulge in these earthy treats. However, for the majority of my harvests, I prefer to stick to fruits and greens. These parts are nutritionally superior to roots and are much easier to harvest and eat. Additionally, harvesting roots often ends a plant’s life and prevents other creatures from enjoying its bounty. Thus, I stick to what grows above the ground and on rare or special occasions eat roots.
When you go out to forage for food, it is likely that you will at some point encounter poisonous flora. This is normal and nothing to be alarmed about. Our modern, fearful society makes it seem like picking wild foods is akin to playing a game of Russian roulette. Through movies and books such as Into the Wild, we get the false impression that weeds are evil and are trying to trick us into eating their poisonous lookalikes. Further, we are told that even experts make mistakes and that novice foragers don’t stand a chance. I don’t agree with this mindset in the slightest. I believe that if you are a rational person, capable of restraining yourself from eating unfamiliar, unidentified foliage, foraging will be nothing but fun for you. As a rational forager you will have almost zero risk of harming yourself. In this section, I would like to present several considerations about plant poisons and give you peace of mind that you can collect wild edibles safely.
Educating yourself about highly poisonous plants is a good idea. Nature produces some plants that can cause serious injury. Luckily there are relatively few of them. In this section I discuss some of the most toxic plants in North America. Study them and be aware they exist. Additionally, I recommend conducting your own research about poisonous flora in your geographical region. In this way you will be able to recognize and avoid local plants not meant for food. If you are new to foraging, the best precautionary measure you can take is to approach all unfamiliar food as though it were poisonous. This means first identifying what’s in front of you, then sampling it in a very small dose to see how your body will react. This is the best approach even with plants you know are edible. For example, if you have never tried eating dandelions, you cannot be sure how your body will react to them. For all you know, you could be allergic. By tasting a tiny amount and paying close attention to any signs your body sends you, you can figure out how to classify dandelions for yourself. This method is labor-intensive, but it’s the most effective way to keep you healthy and happy. Laziness is dangerous! According to Nancy Turner and Adam Szczawinski, most plant poisonings occur when people, particularly children, put unknown vegetation into their mouths (1991). If you resist the urge to eat wild plant life before you’re confident that it’s safe, your chances of harming your body are almost nonexistent. This may seem like common sense, yet many adults struggle with this basic concept.
WARNING: The following plants are poisonous plants that can have harmful effects on your health if ingested. No part of these plants should be used for food. Familiarizing yourself with the most poisonous plants in your area will maximize your safety and reduce your chances of getting poisoned. Never eat any plant unless you are absolutely sure of what it is. It is a good idea to cross-reference your knowledge with a book written by an expert.
Baneberry (red and white)—Actaea rubra/Actaea pachypodaFamily Name: Ranunculaceae/Buttercup Family
Baneberries are red or white waxy berries that grow in clusters at the top of the plant. Berries are extremely bright and glossy. Leaves are thin, sharply divided, and serrated. The entire plant is between one and three feet tall.
A. Red baneberry (Actaea rubra). Photo: Warren Lynn
B. White baneberry (Actaea pachypoda). Photo: ayjackson, Flickr
Buttercup—Ranunculus spp.Family Name: Ranunculaceae/Buttercup Family
Buttercups are low-growing plants with butterfly-like leaves. Leaves are divided with many lesions. Flowers are flat, bright yellow, and round. They have five overlapping petals and five sepals.
A. Waxy yellow flowers with five petals.
B. Buttercup leaves.
C. Buttercups grow in patches near the ground.
Death Camas—Zigadenus spp.Family Name: Liliaceae/Lily Family
Death camas is often confused for wild onion. It has an onion-like appearance, but it has no onion smell. Leaves are flat and slender and grow from a single base. One round stem sprouts from the middle of the root. At the top of this middle stem is a round cluster of white flowers. Flowers have six narrow petals and a yellowish, round gland.
A. Flat, iris-like leaves with white flowers that grow in clusters. Photo © iStockphoto
B. Flowers have six triangular petals. Photo: Keir Morse, keiriosity.com
C. Death camas resembles wild onion but does not have an oniony smell. Photo: Keir Morse, keiriosity.com
False Hellebore—Veratrum virideFamily Name: Liliaceae/Lily Family
False hellebore is a tall (four to seven feet tall), upright plant with broad, oval leaves. Leaves are green in color and have well-defined parallel running veins. Flowers are greenish-white and grow in spiky clusters at the top of the plant. False hellebore likes to grow near water.
A. Broad leaves growing in an alternate pattern.
B. False hellebore top.
C. False hellebore often grows in meadows near water.
Foxglove—Digitalis purpureaFamily Name: Scrophulariaceae/Figwort Family
Foxglove is an erect plant with a hardy stem. Flowers are bell-shaped and grow in one long cluster at the very top of the plant. Flowers range in color from white to purple. Leaves follow an alternate pattern.
A. Foxgloves are common garden plants.
B. Flowers grow in tall clusters and are bell shaped.
Lupine—Lupinus spp.Family Name: Fabaceae/Pea Family
Lupines have bunched, narrow leaves growing in an alternate pattern. Leaves are compound with five or more leaflets. Flowers are typically blue or purple and grow in clusters at the top of the plant.
A. Leaves have a palmate shape.
B. Purple lupines in a meadow.
Nightshade—Solanum spp.Family Name: Solanaceae/Nightshade Family
Nightshades are vine-like plants that grow in patches near to the ground. Stems are long, slender, and woody at the base. Leaves are shaped like teardrops and follow an alternate pattern. Fruits look like small tomatoes and grow in little clusters. Flowers range from purple to white.
A. Nightshade fruits resemble tiny tomatoes. Photo: Warren Lynn
B. Flower color may vary, depending on species. Photo: ayjackson, Flickr
C. Fruits grow in clusters. Photo: ayjackson, Flickr
D. Leaves are fuzzy. Photo: ayjackson, Flickr
Poison Hemlock—Conium maculatumFamily Name: Apiaceae/Parsley Family
Poison hemlock is a musty-smelling plant with hairless, purple-blotched stems. Leaves look like carrot greens. Flowers are white and grow in little umbel-shaped clusters. Poison hemlock is in the carrot/parsley family (Apiaceae). You should avoid harvesting any species from this family unless you feel comfortable differentiating edible varieties from poisonous ones.
A. Poison hemlock near a roadway.
B. Poison hemlock flowers.
C. Stems are smooth, with purple blotches.
D. Poison hemlock is in the carrot/parsley family, and its leaves are proof of that.
Poison Ivy—Toxicodendron radicansFamily Name: Anacardiaceae/Cashew Family
Poison ivy is a common three-leafed vine that grows in many parts of the United States. Leaves are typically almond shaped and resemble green bean leaves. Leaves contain oils that give them a natural shine. Poison ivy leaves are mostly green in color, but can develop yellow or red tints. Do not touch this plant, as it can cause an unpleasant rash.
A. Poison ivy leaves. Photo: Keir Morse, keiriosity.com
B. Poison ivy is commonly found in the eastern United States. Photo: Keir Morse, keiriosity.com
Poison Oak—Toxicodendron diversilobumFamily Name: Anacardiaceae/Cashew Family
Poison oak is a common three-leafed plant that grows in many parts of the United States. Leaves are typically lobed and resemble oak tree leaves. Leaves contain oils that give them a natural shine. Poison oak leaves are mostly green in color, but can develop yellow or red tints. Poison oak can vary in size from a single-stemmed plant to a large shrub. It likes to grow below four thousand feet and in dry areas. Do not touch this plant, as it can cause an unpleasant rash.
A. Poison oak leaves are shiny and grow in groups of three.
B. Poison oak is commonly found in the western United States.
C. Poison oak likes wooded areas below four thousand feet in elevation.
Water Hemlock—Cicuta maculataFamily Name: Apiaceae/Parsley Family
Water hemlock is a foul-smelling plant that grows near water. It has a thick rootstock containing a yellowish, oily sap. Leaves grow in an alternate pattern and have saw-toothed edges. Flowers are white and grow in round clusters.
A. Water hemlock flowers and leaves. Photo: Keir Morse, keiriosity.com
B. Flowers and leaves, side view. Photo: Keir Morse, keiriosity.com
C. Leaves are serrated with well-defined veins. Photo: Keir Morse, keiriosity.com
After thoroughly studying poisonous flora, I have arrived at the conclusion that there is no cut-and-dry distinction between what is toxic and what is edible. The label “poisonous” can be misleading and is easily swayed by personal bias and educational background. Experts who study plants in labs are likely to oppose foraging, because their research yields proof of toxins, whereas followers of Native American teachings embrace all plants and believe that toxicity is dosage-dependent. Google “poisonous plants,” and your results will include apples, cherries, mint, nutmeg, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, and garlic. If you do a chemical analysis of an apricot seed, you will discover that it has trace amounts of cyanide and arsenic, both of which can be lethal. Likewise, greens, both wild and domestic, contain different chemical compounds. Some of these are vitamins and minerals, and some are oxalates and alkaloids (Kallas 2010). Some help our bodies, while others are said to detract from our health.
Wild or not, all food can be toxic to one degree or another if you consume too much of it. The keywords, of course, are “too much.” For most people, ingesting small amounts of oxalates and alkaloids from greens is not problematic. In fact, many common foods, such as coffee, beer, chocolate, wheat bran, and soy products, contain these same chemical compounds. If you consume any of these foods, then you know first hand that it is not a big deal. Your liver and kidneys are fully capable of eliminating oxalates without ill effect, as long as you don’t eat oxalate-rich foods in unthinkable amounts. If you gorge on a bucket of lamb’s quarters daily, perhaps you should consider cutting back, but if you enjoy lamb’s quarters in your smoothie every other day, then you have nothing to worry about. As long as you eat a diverse diet, your body will be able to adequately manage the oxalate/alkaloid content.
Some researchers state that eating small amounts of oxalates is healthy. John Kallas writes that oxalates have the ability to bond with heavy metals, such as lead and mercury, and eliminate them from the body (2010). Other experts claim that certain chemical compounds, while toxic in large amounts, help destroy cancer cells when ingested in moderation. I am a strong believer that if you make it a point to eat a diverse diet, oxalates and other mildly poisonous substances become a nonissue. But if the idea of overdosing on such compounds worries you, I invite you to be extra attentive to your body’s needs and reactions. Over the years I have learned that it is not a good idea to rely solely on science to tell me what to eat, because modern nutrition is limited by what it knows at the moment. A better system is to test all scientific data on yourself and pay attention to how your body reacts. This is the only sure way to know whether something is beneficial or not for you personally. For example, my sister, Valya, once got on a narrow-leaf plantain kick and began adding it into her smoothies every morning. After two weeks of sipping approximately the same drink, she began feeling nauseous directly after ingesting her smoothie. As soon as she noticed the correlation between drinking the smoothie and feeling sick, Valya simply changed the ingredients that went into her morning drink. This stopped the feelings of nausea and prevented further mishap. After taking a break from plantain for a few weeks, my sister tried it again to see if it was a food allergy or just a reaction to accumulated alkaloids. That time she didn’t have any sort of negative reaction and concluded that it was indeed just too many alkaloids. From that point on, she made it a point to vary her diet.
Pesticides, herbicides, artificial fertilizers, and other manmade chemicals can be just as harmful as highly poisonous plants. Whenever possible, foragers should avoid harvesting food from an environment where such chemicals are present. In today’s world this can be challenging. In my own practice, I never harvest from sites I know to be contaminated, such as golf courses, roadways, railroads, corporate lawns, strip malls, business offices, apartment complexes, and other high-traffic areas. Further, I always try to be as informed as possible about potentially hazardous harvest sites. In my hometown of Ashland, Oregon, I have made a point to contact officials from the parks and recreation office, the downtown association, and the forest service to question them about contamination. I have found that when I inquire in a friendly manner, these branches of the city, county, and state are more than willing to divulge information.
It is wise to apply this same principle to your own property. If you use toxic chemicals on your lawn or garden, you should refrain from eating weeds from your yard. If you decide you no longer want to spray your land, wait at least two years before gathering and eating wild edibles.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where nothing is completely free of contamination. Even the best store-bought organic produce is likely to contain some chemical residue. I do my best to avoid such pollutants, but at a certain point I have to relax and enjoy what I collect. Wild edible greens are by nature good at cleansing the body of unhealthy matter. So if I accidentally eat something that is slightly contaminated, I am comforted knowing that my food will keep me healthy. While it is wise to be cautious, being overly concerned about external pollution has the potential to dissuade you from foraging.
Every forager’s main goal should be to identify a plant correctly and determine if it is fit for consumption. This process can be easy or long and tedious, depending on the plant. It is best not to cut any corners and to identify everything you plan on eating meticulously. Personally, I prefer to spend extra time concluding that a plant is edible rather than miscalculate and suffer the consequence. While I stand behind my book wholeheartedly, I believe that serious foragers should equip themselves with several other reliable books for accuracy. Having more than one book in your arsenal allows you to cross-check the knowledge of one expert with another. Check out my list of recommended readings on this page.
The procedure you choose to implement is largely up to you. Take my recommendations and tailor them to fit your life and habits, so your method of identification feels safe and comfortable. I should note that while hiking with a foraging book is a good idea, I often forget mine at home or in the car and have to rely on other skills to collect information about new plants.
The first step in identifying an unfamiliar plant is always observation. My friend and fellow forager Karen Sherwood taught me that if I take the time to look at a plant, I will remember it forever. When I look at a plant for the first time, I try to notice every little detail. Is the stem fuzzy or smooth? Are the leaves opposite or alternate? What color are the flowers? Are the veins easily distinguishable? Are there any markings that make this plant easy to spot? Does it have an odor? If so, is it pleasant or repulsive? I ask myself these questions, as well as many others, in order to create mnemonic devices that will help me remember that plant clearly. While I will eventually collect a physical sample or take photographs of the plant, meticulous observation of the actual plant engages all of my senses and gives me more information about what I’m looking at. This process in its entirety can take seconds or minutes, depending on the complexity of the plant. On average, I generally spend between two and five minutes studying each new plant.
When I feel comfortable that I am able to identify the plant in question, I move to phase two and collect a specimen. You can choose to collect an actual sample or snap several photos. More often than not, I choose the second option, because I usually have some sort of camera on me. Next, I take my sample home to determine what it is and whether it’s edible. Note that if you make it a point to hike with a wild edible book, you can begin this process trailside. I strongly urge you to corroborate any and all information with at least two credible sources prior to consumption.
I have several favorite books that help me familiarize myself with a new plant. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, by Jim Pojar and Andy MacKinnon, and Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest, by Mark Turner and Phyllis Gustafson, are great books for identifying vegetation in the Northwest. While they don’t comment on edibility, those books make it easy to search through hundreds of plants by categorizing them by flower color, family, genus, and species. After you have matched your specimen with a plant in your reference book, you will have the plant’s name, both common and Latin. You can now use these names to reference a wild edible book to determine if the plant is safe to eat. Make sure to read all the information in the wild edible book carefully, as many plants have nuances that should be considered. As mentioned earlier, it never hurts to reference more than one book to make sure there is consensus.
Finally, when you are 100 percent certain that you collected food, it is good idea to fall back on other commonsense guidelines (see Simple Rules for Foraging on this page) to make sure that you don’t have an intolerance to it. Remember, try all new food in small amounts the first time, and try not to mix too many edibles in one recipe.
USING THE INTERNET
The internet can also help you identify foreign vegetation. This method also requires you to observe and acquire plant samples. Once you are in front of a computer with samples in hand, you can look up a plant description in a search engine. For example, if you find a five-petaled flower that’s purple, you can google “purple flower with five petals.” It is helpful to note the region in which it was collected, such as alpine, desert, Northwest, and so forth. Once the search engine generates results, navigate to the “search by image” section. This will enable you to quickly look over thousands of pictures to find a match. If you are successful, you should be able to derive a name from your search. You can then use this name to identify your mystery plant by referencing other books. Because the web is a place where anyone can post whatever they please, substantiating any and all information in reliable field guides is a must!
A responsible wild crafter is one who recognizes that he or she could negatively impact an area by overharvesting its sensitive plant life. As a conscious forager, you should approach ecosystems the way you would your garden. When collecting wild food, pick only what you need for the next meal or two. Don’t stock up for the week. Most of us are used to grocery shopping once or twice a week. During our visits to the store, we tend to stock up on food so that it will last until our next trip. Try to break this habit when picking weeds. Harvest plants where they grow in abundance and do so selectively instead of uprooting everything in your path. When you pick crops from your garden, do you collect all of them at once? I don’t. I take just enough for my meal. If I need more, I know where to get it. The same concept applies to wild edibles.
Another thing I am very selective about is harvesting roots. On most foraging outings, I take only what grows aboveground. The greens and fruits are usually the most delicious and nutritious parts of a plant. They are also the easiest to prepare. By leaving the roots in the ground, I ensure the plant will continue prospering and supporting other life forms. Good stewardship is one of my biggest concerns. If you appreciate the many gifts wild edibles bring you, I invite you to be grateful and approach nature with respect. Think about giving back to the earth by occasionally planting seeds. This can be as easy as blowing a dandelion puffball into the wind or shaking dock seeds free of their dried stalks.
That said, don’t let fear of overharvesting prevent you from foraging. Nature is strong and resilient. While it is a good idea to get into the habit of practicing proper wild crafting, it is highly unlikely that your foraging adventure will bring your local flora any serious harm. As humans, we destroy exponentially more plant life each time we build houses and pave roads than when we pick dandelions for a salad. Harvesting from nature’s garden is the ultimate tribute to Mother Earth. When we enjoy the nourishment she provides, we connect with nature on a deeper level. I have noticed that the more I expose myself to nature, the more I want to conserve it.
The following plant categorization will give you a better idea of how sensitive certain plants are and will help you determine how much to harvest.
Annual weeds are weeds that complete their life cycle in one year. Such plants often grow abundantly and are considered a nuisance. Purslane, chickweed, lamb’s quarters, prickly lettuce, amaranth, wild mustard, wild radish, pennycress, and pineapple weed multiply rapidly and can be harvested without fear of eradication.
Perennials are plants that grow throughout several seasons. While the aboveground portion of a perennial plant generally dies each winter, it regrows in the spring from the same root. Perennial plants include dock, sheep sorrel, stinging nettle, plantain, dandelion, and chicory. You can pick the greens from most perennials without fear of overharvesting. Be mindful of collecting their roots, however, as it can take years for them to regenerate.
Invasive weeds are species that are designated by county, state, or country as harmful to agriculture, natural habitats, and/or ecosystems. Such plants should be harvested with reckless abandon. These weeds include Japanese knotweed, wild mustard, ox-eye daisy, and thistle. Check with your local park service to determine what plants are considered invasive in your region. Many states provide color pamphlets that can be helpful in the identification process. Eating invasive weeds is patriotic! Your local government will love you for helping it fight nonnative species.
Biennials are plants that take two years to complete their life cycle. During the first year, biennials produce only roots, stems, and leaves. They can reproduce only once they’ve grown flowers, fruits, and seeds in the second year. Biennial plants include burdock, thistle, and salsify. Such species can be completely wiped out by overharvesting of their roots, flowers, and greens. Be mindful not to pick too much when harvesting biennials. If you harvest roots, make sure you leave some in the ground. Allow a significant percentage of biennials to go to seed each year, so that they can continue prospering. These plants produce a lot of seeds, however, and are aided by soil disturbance. Thus, harvesting biennial plants in small amounts can be beneficial for their reproductive cycle.
Flowers are the parts of a plant that make seeds. Eating wild edible flowers is recommended, but be mindful not to pick all of them. This will ensure that the plant will be able to reproduce.
Fruits, nuts, and seeds are nature’s gifts. These parts are intended to be consumed, digested, and later excreted to give the plant’s offspring life. Picking the fruits and seeds from a plant can make it more bountiful the following year. You should embrace and enjoy these offerings.
Underground storage organs and roots—roots, bulbs, corms, and rhizomes—are the underground parts of a plant. These are the easiest parts to overharvest. Collect these parts mindfully and in limited quantities.
Occasionally, after leading a wild edible walk, I am approached by someone who argues that clover doesn’t grow in his or her area. When this happens, I think back to the first foraging course I took from Karen Sherwood of Earth Walks Northwest. During this intensive three-day workshop, we, the students, harvested wild food under the guidance of Karen and her team. Our group prepared meals out of what we collected and were able to eat almost entirely wild during the retreat. On the second day of the event, I volunteered to fill a large stainless-steel bowl with clover for the lunch salad. I grabbed a bowl and took a stroll around the farm where the retreat was being held. After half an hour I returned empty-handed and frustrated. I told Karen that I couldn’t find a single leaf of clover. Karen chuckled and shot me a look of amusement. She told me to go back to the field I had dilly-dallied in. Only this time, she said, “take a deep breath, relax, and slow down.” She instructed me to get down to eye level with the ground and try to spot a clover. Although I had already done this, I agreed to give it another try. Standing between the plowed rows of cover crop, I took a deep breath and dropped down to my hands and knees. I crawled around for a few seconds before realizing that I was kneeling on clover. The oval leaflets with crescent-shaped markings grew by the millions around me. As it turned out, I had been unable to find clover in a clover field. This experience is one of the best lessons I took away from that weekend and one I wish to share with my readers.
Abundant field of dandelions near my house.
Wild edibles are all around us. Before we can spot them, however, we need to know what to look for. If we are too engrossed in our own worlds, we can pass them by without knowing it. Weeds cannot compete with flashy smart phones, television, or the internet. They can’t contend with our worries about finances or relationships. They have their own agenda to grow and multiply. Unless you’re talking about plants that propagate by exploding their seeds, a weed will never throw itself at you or beg you to eat it. We must learn to slow down to notice plants. Otherwise, we will pass them by.
As your passion for wild edibles grows, you may notice that you have more curiosity about common garden weeds. About ten years ago, I got fed up with weeding my garden of weeds that tasted great and rivaled my cultivated crop in nutrition. This may sound crazy, but allowing edible weeds to grow in my veggie patch is convenient. Since I’ve stopped weeding my garden, harvesting wild greens for smoothies has never been easier. Every morning I walk down to the garden with scissors in one hand and a blender container in the other. I snip the tender tops off any weeds that are in season and blend them for breakfast.
If you are a gardener, next spring, when you plant your garden, leave some of the weeds that are sprouting up. As they mature, see if you can recognize any of them. Edibles such as lamb’s quarters, purslane, plantain, common mallow, chickweed, and clover thrive in places where soil has been turned and aerated. Your garden is the perfect environment for these plants to flourish. The best part about farming weeds is that it requires no effort on your part. Weeds grow whether you want them to or not. I used to fight to keep my garden free of these green parasites until I realized that much of what I was trying to eradicate made a valuable addition to my diet. Now I welcome weeds into my garden with open arms. When I notice their sprouts shooting up amidst more conventional crops, I allow them to grow unless they start crowding their neighbors. Sometimes, if I really want to nurture a population of weeds, I will transplant it to a contained area or an indoor planter, where it can prosper.
If you don’t have weeds in your garden, you can order them online from companies such as Seeds of Change (www.seedsofchange.com). Seed companies often carry seeds for lamb’s quarters, mallow, purslane, and more. You can also check with your local farms and nurseries to see if they sell any wild edible seeds. I try to support local businesses whenever possible.
A. Picking cultivated weeds from my yard.
B. Lamb’s quarters greens taste amazing in smoothies.
C. Weeds from my yard make my diet more diverse. Photos: NicoleSlaterPhotography.com
Many people think that wild edibles only grow in pristine forest settings far away from civilization. Perhaps, when you purchased this book, you romanticized the notion of leaving your food at home and foraging on your next backpacking trip. I don’t mean to discourage you, and I’m certainly not implying that this cannot be done. It is important to understand, however, that a pristine wilderness is wild and untouched for a reason—a relative lack of food (Thayer 2006).
Here is a simple exercise you can use to increase your plant awareness. Find a nice piece of nature, such as a garden, park, or grassy lawn. Take off your shoes, so your feet can connect with the earth. Get down on your hands and knees or belly and try to relax. Steady your breath and take in your surroundings. Allow yourself to observe and try not to judge yourself. Start by looking at what is directly in front of you. Get close enough until your eyes lose focus. Notice the blades of grass. Study the droplets of dew that have formed on them. Look past the plants directly in front of you. What else do you see? Can you spot different vegetation? How does it differ from the grass? Is it round, oval, triangular? Does it have big leaves or small ones?
Get on your hands and knees and slowly branch out in any direction. As you crawl, notice if anything changes about your surroundings. Look for plants that were not present only a few feet back. Let yourself be childlike and explore the microcosms in front of you. Try to refrain from identifying things by name; just be present in your environment. Most of us did this a lot more as children. You may find that it feels really, really good to go back to this kind of exploration.
When I assign this exercise at my workshops, people always marvel at how captivating it is. One of my students once approached me after this drill and told me that she felt as though crawling around and looking at plants helped her tap into a part of herself that had existed for millennia—her ancient hunter-and-gatherer roots. She exclaimed that she was not learning, but rather relearning how to be aware of her environment.
Certainly we are not the first or only creatures to eat things that grow in nature. Mice, rabbits, deer, and even bears have long roamed the earth in search of good eats. Many animals that search for food are not light on their feet, are often hungry, and can consume tens if not hundreds of pounds of food in a short space of time. Thus, scenic areas that look pristine are likely to look that way because they don’t provide enough sustenance for the local residents. I learned this lesson the hard way five years ago when I tried to lead a group foraging/backpacking trip in my favorite scenic wilderness area. It became evident within the first day that though the Sky Lakes Wilderness was beautiful, wild food was lacking. While I managed to find a lush grove of huckleberries, prepare pine needle tea, and pack in food I had made before the hike, I was a bit disappointed that my participants didn’t get much exposure to foraging. I made the best of the situation by focusing on other primitive skills, and ultimately everyone on the trip left satisfied. Since then, I have made an extra effort to visit every place where I plan to lead a wild edible excursion to make myself aware of current conditions.
Just like plants in your garden, wild edibles require sunlight, water, and warmth. Thus, if you are at a high elevation, in a dense forest, or far away from moisture, your food options will be limited. A spot with abundant wild edibles will likely have at least two of these three elements. When choosing where to go on your next wild edible outing, look for places at elevations that are lower than four thousand feet and that are close to water. Places with lakes, rivers, and streams are likely to have abundant vegetation. With this in mind, you might be able to find great foraging spots close to home. Try scouring city parks, vacant lots, fields, backyards, overgrown gardens, organic farms, and grasslands near your house. You might be shocked at the many different types of edibles hiding in your neighborhood.
In this section I would like to briefly discuss several tools I find helpful for foraging. These items will make harvesting wild edibles more convenient, will preserve your harvest’s freshness, and will increase your productivity. All of these tools are inexpensive and easy to acquire.
Wild edibles do not keep as well as store-bought foods do. They begin wilting almost instantly after they are picked. If you want to preserve your harvest more than fifteen to twenty minutes, you will need some way of keeping the plants cool and hydrated. I accomplish this by filling a five-gallon bucket with a few inches of fresh, cold water. Every plant I harvest goes straight into the bucket, with the cut stem down in the water. This allows me to stay out in the field for hours without worrying about losing my crop. Once I get home, I usually transfer what I collected to ziplock bags, which I put in the refrigerator.
A. Simple tools that I find helpful.
B. A spray bottle helps keep my harvest fresh.
Every foraging superhero should have a pair of scissors in his or her utility belt. Harvesting weeds with scissors is convenient and increases your productivity. I can harvest substantially more wild edibles in five minutes with scissors than I can with a knife. Furthermore, with scissors I don’t need to worry about cutting my fingers. Scissors also enable you to be more selective about what you pick. You can use them to quickly snip a desired leaf or cut around a bug hole.
Sometimes I find it helpful to use a smaller container that can be strapped onto my body when harvesting food. For example, if I’m harvesting berries or tree fruit, a bucket might not be practical. A smaller container strapped to my body frees both hands and allows me to maneuver and climb more easily. I cut a hole in the top of a plastic container, like a gallon or half-gallon cider or milk jug, leaving the handle attached, so that I can thread my belt through the handle to attach it to my waist.
A spray bottle with a mist setting is another helpful tool for preserving freshness. Misting the tops and leaves of the plants in your bucket will further ensure their survival. I have found that tall weeds and flowers keep much better after a thorough spray down.