Foraging: How to find food and medicine in your own backyard
Walk outside and look around your yard. Peer at the cracks between the sidewalks. Sift through the weeds in your flower bed. Does anything look appetizing or interesting? If not, it’s time to look into foraging. You could be missing spectacular treasures in your own backyard.
What is foraging?
Wild food foraging bridges the gap between your kitchen table and medicine chest with the nature around you. Foraging has become more popular year after year, partially as an offshoot of the farm-to-table movement. But it’s not just about taste: Foraged food is typically wild, unsprayed and organic. It’s healthy for you and your family.
Perhaps best of all? It’s free.
Follow in the footsteps of natives who lived off the untamed land. Reap the wild harvests of settlers’ long-forgotten gardens and farmlands. Foraging isn’t just a way to eat, it’s a way to connect with the land and its history. Many of our ancestors used many of these herbs and weeds as natural remedies as well as feeding themselves and their families.
Photo Credit: Michael Wilson
Foraging isn’t for the inexperienced. You don’t want to walk outside and eat the first thing you see, and you should always be wary of plants along roadways, polluted lands and conventional farms. So how do you get started?
Foraging tips for beginners
Start studying. Head to your local library or order books on identifying edible plants and herbs. Study photos and illustrations. Visit a local arboretum or botanical garden.
Start observing. As you begin to learn about local plant life, keep your eyes and ears open when you’re walking and exploring. Go on a hike and journal what you see. Take some time to sit and be in nature. Take pictures and bring them home to compare to what you’ve studied in books and online.
Research locations. Abandoned homesteads and nature preserves are excellent areas to forage and can give clues to what plants were used in the past. Do your homework. Avoid private property unless you have permission to forage, and read up on local regulations.
Follow the seasons. Wild harvests are just as seasonal as harvests on a farm. Pay attention to the passage of the seasons and what’s blooming or growing and ready for harvest.
Identifying plants is the number one key to successful foraging, so plan on spending the most time up front getting familiar with local plant life. When in doubt, avoid eating what you’ve picked. Better safe than exposed to toxic plants!
When you get started, share your stories with us. We love hearing about what your area has to offer for nature lovers and adventurers.