Foraging For Edible Wild Plants: The Natural Food Lover’s Guide to Identify and Cook the Abundant Free Food Around You Right Now

Welcome to the World of Foraging!

There is something wild in you.

We, humans, are animals, after all. And for about 90% of our history, we have ventured out into grasslands, forests, seashores, and oases, into uncultivated lands to find food. Your recent ancestors certainly did. Maybe you even joined them a time or two. It is impossible not to feel the residue of this essential and ancient activity within you. The urge to gather wild food is deep in your bones.

Or maybe you're a food lover. You delight in the pleasure of the palate and the creativity of the kitchen. People have been cooking food for 1.5 million years. Yes, fire allowed us to get more calories into our systems. But it also made it possible to try new foods that would have been unpalatable or inedible otherwise. Trying and cooking different foods is in your DNA. It only makes sense that you'd feel a pull in this direction.

Perhaps it's both. Both compulsions pull you into the wild, to the coast, to riverbanks, and meadows. Part of you knows there's abundance out there. But there’s another part of you that can't quite see it just yet; doesn't know where to look and doesn't want to waste too much time trying.

In the 21st century, we mainly harvest food from shelves. We can even have it show up at our door at almost any hour. Today, eating is easy. But something essential is missing in how most of us eat every day. Yes, it can be tasty. Yes, it can be nutritious. But I think you need more.

Unlike going to the grocery store, the farmers' market, or even my kitchen garden in the yard, when I'm foraging, I know that I’m participating in an ancient cycle of life that has kept people nourished for over one million years.

So, there's a rush when I pull a wild plant from the ground with my bare hands. I get excited about what I’m going to make with it, the flavors I’ll develop with it, and the good time I’ll have with the people that share it with me. But there’s more.

Even though pulling plants from the hard ground can be strenuous at times, there’s tranquility in this act. Even if I’m sweating, I feel peaceful because I know I can return to this spot and find more when needed. And I feel a sense of abundance.

There's a bonanza of food in your backyard right now. All you have to do is find, pick, and enjoy it.

Most people don't realize how much free food is out there, just waiting to be harvested. Thousands upon thousands of wild plants grow all around you, in every season, in every part of the country. Finding and using these edible wild plants offers tons of benefits. Here are just a few:

Many of them provide as many nutrients, if not more, than the typical foods you find in grocery stores!

They're free!

It’s a super-sustainable and environmentally friendly way to eat.

It's a great way to experience new flavors and textures.

It's a great way to spend time with people you love.

You'll feel a sense of accomplishment by participating in this cycle of life.

You can get creative with these new ingredients.

Many wild edible plants have medicinal uses.

You'll always be able to get food, any time, any place, under any circumstances.

You can add a bit of wildness back into your life.

You can always find a bit of peace out in the wild.

What's In This Book

Finding edible plants can be challenging if you're starting out. And, you probably have lots of questions. How do you find wild edible plants? What's the best way to identify the ones that you’ll like? How do you know if something's poisonous? We'll help you with all that and more in this book. You’ll learn everything you need to know about foraging for wild edibles.

You'll learn how to forage for various crops so that no matter where you are or what time of year it is, you'll be able to find something tasty. We'll tackle the common and not-so-common wild plants people love to forage, including wild mushrooms. You'll learn which parts are best to eat, including the stems, roots, seeds, flowers, and the like. You'll love this book if you've ever been curious about what is truly out there.

We'll also review how to use these foraged foods, including discussing their various flavors, recipe ideas for preparing them, and other uses beyond the kitchen. That's right. The medicinal uses I alluded to earlier include treating ailments, easing pain, controlling inflammation, and more.

We'll also dive into the best ways to preserve these wild edibles so they're fresh in between uses and meals. That way, you can keep and use these edibles for a long time.

Most people shy away from foraging because they don't want to eat something toxic or poisonous and get sick. I've been there. I've picked my fair share of plants I shouldn't have. I don't want that to happen to you. That's why this book gives you a process to identify safe plants, so you can be sure they're good to eat before you harvest them. There are easy ways to determine if a plant is harmful or not.

Identifying edibles, even at a beginner level, is an invaluable skill. You'll be able to find dozens of useful plants that are edible while avoiding any chance of consuming plants that are not good for you. That way, you'll be able to make meals with nutritional value, all through wild plants. With this book, you'll have a solid foundation to start your foraging adventure and make sure it's safe and fun. Pretty cool, huh?

In my opinion, foraging should be fun first. It's a great activity to do with kids, family, or friends. Or it can be a fun way to enjoy some alone time. Either way, you'll get to explore and connect with the wild lands around you. We'll give you some cool ideas to make foraging a fun hobby rather than just an errand, like going to the grocery store can be at times. We'll also talk about the tools you'll need when out and about.

Who Is Greer?

Hi, I'm Greer. My father used to take me foraging as a kid in Michigan. He had a pocket-sized field guide with a plastic cover that wouldn’t get damaged in the wetness. We’d take that book and trek through the forest at the park and talk about the different plants and nibble fluffy Queen Anne’s Lace blossoms. Sometimes, we’d also harvest dandelions and other weeds from our yard.

I remember the first time I ate wild dandelion greens, with bacon, of course. I’d never tasted anything like it. Most kids don’t like the green flavor of vegetables. But wild foods have such unique flavors that it can be a fun experience for kids to try them. I think that’s what got me hooked on wild edibles.

But everything changed when I tried to get into wild edibles as an adult. I felt like I was starting over. And in many ways, I was. I was living on the other side of the country, in a different climate, and adulting for the first time. I had to ask a lot of questions, buy books, and just get out there and try things. That's how I learned. There's wisdom in community. People will help you if you ask, especially in the community of foragers. But then, you gotta get out there and try things yourself.

I've foraged myself and studied some of the best methods to find wild plants. And I put what I learned into this book. But this read will not be like taking on a super-scientific textbook. It's not an encyclopedia. It’s not a field guide. This book is a mix of fun and informational, inspiring and functional. My goal is to free you from confusion when choosing edible wild plants. I want you to be able to walk out your door on any day, at any time of the year, and see abundance because it's there, just waiting for you.

I wrote this book because I'm confident in the strategies inside. This book offers you all the practical experience I've gathered so you can avoid the issues I've faced in the past when gathering wild edibles. I want you to avoid my mistakes so you can gather wild edibles easily, all while having a good time. After you finish reading the tips here, I know you’ll be able to identify yummy wild edibles you'll enjoy cooking and eating.

So, what are you waiting for? Are you ready to improve your diet, reduce food costs, and learn a fun hobby? Then, keep reading. I hope you enjoy this book and have fun learning how to forage plants the way I have.

CHAPTER 2

The Basics About Wild Food

Wild means untamed . Wild means natural. Wild means untouched by humans.

So, what are wild foods? Wild foods are all the varieties of tasty and nutritious edible plants in nature, in uncultivated areas, waterways, along shores, and in forests and prairies.

Before people knew how to farm, wild food was all humans ate.

Our ancestors searched for plants to create sufficient nutrition to survive. Wild food was nutritious enough to live on back then. The same is true today. It’s been there all along. Over time, we just forgot how tasty, nutritious, and enjoyable all these plants are.

But also, there’s a continuum to wildness. Wild food can include, for example, a commercially harvested seed that a bird accidentally dropped in your yard. It was not cultivated by humans and could only rely on its natural powers to sprout and grow.

A few years ago, a bird dropped a peach seed at a friend’s house in the compost pile. They just let it grow back there. And boy, did it grow, with all that fertilizer around it. The forces that brought it there were wild. And the more time it spends there, the more it’s a product of those wild forces. This new little peach tree is wild food, too, in my opinion.

What about an apple tree that was planted by humans ten years ago? And since then, no one has tended, watered, or picked fruit from it. Only the birds, the sun, and the rain have paid attention to it. It’s surrounded by dozens of offspring, saplings that sprouted from the apples that fell on the ground around it. This tree didn’t start off wild, but it’s headed in that direction. So are all the other trees around it.

In my neighborhood, growing up, there were wild mulberry, and other bushes just left to grow across fences, only watered by the rain. They made for fun eating adventures, even though we were just in the alley behind the house. We didn’t know it at that age, but we were foraging in our own neighborhood.

There's wild food everywhere you look. Even though humans have close to three billion acres under food cultivation, mother nature is at work on a bigger project. Animals, wind, and water move seeds across all 36 billion acres of the planet