So Lots of individual posts on foraging and mushrooming... figure I would try and get it all in one place... figured hunting was a good place to put it cause your still hunting in a sense but your prey doesn’t run and field dressing usually just involves a washing. So let’s see em’ pics and Id as well as location sometimes you don’t even know what is in your backyard.
Prickly pear fruit is in season currently in my neck of the “woods”. Been out after it multiple times this year so far.
Yessir! Got a few of them that bushwalk. Wish I had some wild garlic at that elevation. There were a few other “spice” plants though. Pity I didn’t grab any...
......yes but like any grown fruit how much so depends on the growing conditions. Out here it is very common but considered a noxious plant (it was introduced by the British) so you have to make sure if you are eating it you get it from somewhere a bit out of the way so as to ensure you are not eating something that has been sprayed with a herbicide. The boffins out here have also introduced a moth that attacks it. but eating a few of them is only protein and not poisonous..
Great idea for a thread. I enjoy gathering some wild edibles when I can. Mostly mushrooms and greens. Here are a few I had handy photos of. Chicken of the woods is a favorite at our house. They're usually sauteed and added to something else. The next batch I find are going to get battered and fried. I collected some greens in the summer for pesto. Lyreleaf sage, birdseye speedwell, wood sorrel, dandelion, and a few others. It was great as a pizza base. This has been a good year for dryad saddle/pheasant back. I dried some and crushed it up. It makes a great soup base. On the other hand, I don't think I found any good puffballs this summer. I love some oyster mushrooms. We cooked up this lionsmane at a class a few years ago. It tasted a lot like lobster with garlic butter. While not technically wild, our thornless blackberries were great this year. It's nice to have them out the door versus finding a wild patch.
@R Stowe Im hoping to get more into mushrooms this year... love mushrooms but have always been weary it’s one of those things that takes a good teacher with lots ok knowledge
I've taken some classes, done my research, and I still double-check all but the most easily identified fungi.
Yup, they can be very sweet. The darker the fruit (almost purple) the sweeter it gets in my experience. I’ve eaten partially green ones too though. Definitely more sour than sweet on those ones. Pretty much like most fruit, gets sweeter with age.
Picked two types of cherries and raspberries from friend's properties. I picked a gallon of huckleberries this year. I found a bunch of serviceberries. Made a pie from scratch with the huckleberries, serviceberries and currants that my family picked this year. Turned them into a pie
It was absolutely delicious! My wife made the crust from scratch and it was amazing. That pie didn't last long hahaha. Black berry pie sounds really good.
I may be raising up the necro-thread here. I found it with the search feature… I got to give a 5 minute demonstration and talk on foraging wild plants today. I pointed out about 4 different ones that are quite common that most people will/would recognize if it’s identified for them. By far the most common was dandelion or goats beard. Even without the distinctive flower its everywhere if you look for the leafy growth. There was some amazement that it would be easy to fill up a 2-3 quart foraging bag including the nutritious tuber root and still not have depleted the number that could be found in just a 2 acre lot. I’m hopeful that the interest in doing this continues. I’m glad to share what I know if a person wishes to learn.
Love the foraging idea! found some wild apples on an old homestead and some mushrooms when out hunting grouse. The apples were delicious cooked into pancakes (no pics already eaten haha). I also ran across this mushroom any suggestions on what it may be? was thinking Chicken Of The woods.... I am very very leery of mushrooms and wont eat unless 100% id, basically only eat morels.
I’m no expert but chicken of the woods is one the clearer ones and that looks like a nice healthy example to me.
I’ve got the interest in fungus and mushrooms but I’m wary too. I’ve found a couple species that I took pictures of and spent research time on to be good with. They are a hard learn without a mycologists group or teacher for aid. It means I eat a lot of salads or stir fry’s instead!