Foraging For Food

Foraging for Food

Foraging for food is fun only when you don't HAVE to do it. For me, it's a hobby. But in the back of my mind, I know that it may buy me some time if I'm stuck in the back country. So I try to learn a few new wild edibles each hiking season, to add to my repertoire.

I'm a mushroom wimp, meaning that I don't tend to fool around with sampling Mother Nature's bounty. She has decided which are edible, which are not, and until I take a class on mushroom identification, I'm sticking with visual admiration, not gustatory admiration, of the ones I see along the trail.

However, berries are a favorite while foraging for food. In the Pacific Northwest (my stomping grounds), we have salmon berries, thimble berries, huckleberries, raspberries, to name just a few. Some of my favorite hikes are categorized under "berry hikes" in the fall. What could be better than throwing off the pack, plopping down in the berries, and eating my way back to the trail? A note of caution: avoid white or green berries. Red berries have a fifty-fifty chance of being edible. Most blue berries are going to be ok. Eat only a few and see if you react.

I've made sure that I know my berries, using various field guides to help me out: Mountain Plants of the Pacific Northwest by Taylor & Douglas, Field Guide to the Cascades & Olympics by Whitney & Sandelin, Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West by Moore, & Peterson's Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants (Eastern states only, but applicable to the West). There's also an entire U.S. mushroom guide by Peterson that I have my eye on.

These books have also helped me out in identifying poisonous plants to avoid. I've made really sure that I can pick out water hemlock (also known by spotted cowbane) - it carries the most deadly toxin in the Western hemisphere, with no antidote. Only a tiny bit on your tongue is deadly.

Herbs are sort of a hobby for me, picked up during my naprapathic training decades ago. Mother Nature is the original source for so many of our medicines, including aspirin, digitalis, and antibiotics. I find it fascinating to identify medicinal plants in their natural settings. The Moore resource is a great start to pique your interest, with photos and line drawings as well as preparation and usage information.

Here's an online resource from the U.S. Army on edible and medicinal plants.

There are lots of other resources I'd be happy to share. Just shoot me an email, and I'll send you a list. Specify which types of food you're interested in foraging, or just say "all" in your message.

If you're finished with foraging for food, you can return to the home page here.