Karen Monger - Adventures in Edible Plant Foraging: Finding, Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Native and Invasive Wild Plants

Copyright 2015 by Karen Monger

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Jane Sheppard

Cover photo credit: The 3 Foragers

Print ISBN: 978-1-63450-407-2

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63450-889-6

Printed in China

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1:

Foraging for Wild Food

H ave you ever nibbled a few ripe blackcap raspberries growing around the edge of the lawn when doing yard work? Do your kids know what sour grass is, and love to munch on the lemony greens? Did you have a great grandmother who used to pick dandelion leaves for dinner or a favorite uncle who hunted mushrooms in fall that he called stumpies ? I am betting that even the most naturephobic people living in a large city have heard about the latest trend of finding your own food in parks, or have seen evidence of wild foods on menus of upscale and trendy restaurants. If so, you already have a little personal experience with wild food foraging.

In the beginning of human history before agriculture, we were all wild food foragers, searching our environment for sustenance, medicine, and natural materials to survive. Now with so many modern conveniences like grocery stores, electronic gadgets, and sturdy homes, our connection to the natural world is often reduced to recreational amusements, or worse, a need to tame our lawns into submission and control the habitats that surround us. We as a civilization have lost touch with understanding and appreciating the wild spaces and plants that we live with, including the value of the potential food source under our feet. A healthy interest in your local landscape can pay off with a rewarding pastime of wild food foraging with your family.

Who are The 3 Foragers?

We are a family of three, living in southeastern New England with a passion for hiking, travel, photography, cooking, nature, and wild edible foods. We have happily ma naged to combine all of our favorite things to do into a fun and fulfilling hobby of wild food foraging. We photograph and blog about our adventures, sharing them online, including some personal stories, lots of photographs, plenty of tested recipes featuring our favorite wild plants and fungi, and our travel experiences. We are still learning new things every time we head out into the wild, which keep us fascinated, enthusiastic, and engaged with the environments we find ourselves exploring.

Karen finding wild grapes

I grew up in a mostly rural area in southeastern Connecticut, surrounded by old farm fields and forests, spending time catching frogs in the pond and picking wild blueberries in the summer heat. After a career in foodservice, I became a stay-at-home mom to our daughter for eight years before venturing back into a part time job with the local schools, so I still get my summers off to spend in the woods. I take care of the writing, recipe development, researching the wild plants and fungi we find, plus the trip planning and laundry.

Robert finds a hen of the woods fungus

Robert is originally from Hungary, and it was his initial curiosity about differences between plants in the United States and Europe that led us to research our local plants, fruits, and herbs. He was looking for a springtime plant that he called medvehagyma (which translates as bear onion), that he encountered often as a child in Hungary. After hearing his description of the plant, I guessed he might be talking about ramps, a wild leek, and we went in search of this oniony-garlicky delicacy. We tried to figure out where to find some ramps, and that led to our first attempts to educate ourselves on our local wild foods through books and by walking with experienced mentors and wild food educators. Along the way, we learned that the plant he knew from Hungary was similar to our native ramps, but a different species, so we wanted to become familiar with the wild foods that grow in our current area. Robert is the photographer in our family, and he loves to be out hiking and gathering the plants we use to come up with tasty recipes.

Gillian catches a pumpkinseed on her own fishing pole

Gillian is our daughter, the third forager. Exposing her often to the wild foods we seek has made her a wonderfully educated young naturalist. Kids have an innate curiosity about their environment, and you might be amazed how much they can understand, learn, and remember. She loves the sweet berries and the sour sorrels, the cattail-on-the-cob and salads made with edible flowers. Gillian is the chief recipe taster, a budding fisherwoman, and with her sharp eyes and shorter stature, our best mushroom hunter.

Ill introduce you to some of the easiest to identify wild foods, great for beginners or kids. There are many wild foods I will not cover for several reasons: because they are hard to find, need a lot of preparation, are threatened or endangered, or dont taste that great; these are not survival foods, but wild foods to seek for enjoyment. I will be avoiding many of the look-alikes to potentially dangerous plants whose identifications should be left to more experienced foragers. Ill also try to focus on delicious plants that I am fairly certain kids will love to eat, and add a few of my familys favorite recipes. All of the wild fruits, berries, nuts, seeds, and greens in this book are foods that my family has eaten and experimented with over the years, and I hope I can convince you that they are worth finding, collecting, and tasting with your family.

Our experiences foraging with Gillian are what inspired this book, and I hope our adventures can motivate you to go out with your own kids, grandchildren, little cousins, and nieces and nephews and enjoy some of the wild foods in your area. Being able to connect with nature using all your senses, including your taste buds, is guaranteed to bring happy memories and full tummies to all wild food adventurers.

CHAPTER 2:

Why Wild Food?

T he reasons to get outside with your family and actively hunt for wild berries, fruits, greens, nuts, and fungi are varied. Children, and even inquisitive adults will all benefit from time spent closely observing and tasting a new array of yummy, free, and nutritious wild food. Spending time together participating in active learning strengthens our appreciation for the environment around us, often filling us with wonder and amazement. Creating personal experiences with wild food also teaches awareness of a place, and nurtures an attitude of conservation within children and their caregivers alike. Many of us now have hectic working hours, and children have school, scheduled activities, or spend a good amount of their time playing video games or watching TV, and we have lost touch with the natural world around us. Foraging over several seasons, and eventually years in a favorite spot puts us back in touch with the cyclical patterns of life.