Wild Food Foraging

[CookingWithMrsG]

I enjoy teaching this skill to all ages because not only is it a necessary survival skill, but wild food is much higher in nutrients than cultivated and has profound healing and medicinal properties. I am a Mass. Certified Educator and Programming Partner with the Museum of Natural History, Sudbury Valley Trustees and Scouts of Eastern MA. I have a FaceBook where I post educational videos and information, and list my classes. I teach private groups, organizations, gun clubs, churches, etc. Just contact me to set up a class at your location. I teach in MA and southern NH.
Rachel Goclawski
IT Specialist, US Army DOD, Certified MA Educator
www.facebook.com/cookingwithmrsg
(You don't have to have a facebook acct. to use my web site, it acts just like any other web site)

 

[Individualist]

Many of us don't use Farcebook. Do you have another site?

 

[Obie1]

Did you know Euell Gibbons?

 

[Bando_Red]

Liked. scratched the surface of foraging when I was a summer camp counselor but I'd love to learn more.

 

[rwl1955]

Hmm, interesting. Ditto, I don't do facebook.

 

[Bill Katt]

My son and I went on one of Rachel's 'adventures' last Spring. Very informative...she knows her stuff for sure.

 

[sharona]

Interested and following but also not on Facebook

 

[MaynardDad]

I know Rachel a little and can confirm that she knows her stuff.

 

[slap shot]

If you google her name you get lots of hits.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/news/201...-goclawski-of-maynard-teaches-foraging-skills

 

[enbloc]

This Spring I have already tasted what Nature has to offer up.
Garlic Mustard greens, dandelion greens and tea, plantain, Jap Knotweed, forsythia flowers. (All in my own yard)
Missed stinging nettle and ostrich fern due to a broken leg.
Looking forward to blueberry, blackberry, hazelnut, hickory nut, service berry, autumn olive, mulberry, sassafras coffee, and
chicken-of-the-woods.

Life is good when you're in the Woods...

 

[Dadstoys]

This Spring I have already tasted what Nature has to offer up.
Garlic Mustard greens, dandelion greens and tea, plantain, Jap Knotweed, forsythia flowers. (All in my own yard)
Missed stinging nettle and ostrich fern due to a broken leg.
Looking forward to blueberry, blackberry, hazelnut, hickory nut, service berry, autumn olive, mulberry, sassafras coffee, and
chicken-of-the-woods.

Life is good when you're in the Woods...

Don't forget sumac tea .

 

[enbloc]

Don't forget sumac tea .

Never! I love Indian Lemonade!

 

[tuna]

This Spring I have already tasted what Nature has to offer up.
Garlic Mustard greens, dandelion greens and tea, plantain, Jap Knotweed, forsythia flowers. (All in my own yard)
Missed stinging nettle and ostrich fern due to a broken leg.
Looking forward to blueberry, blackberry, hazelnut, hickory nut, service berry, autumn olive, mulberry, sassafras coffee, and
chicken-of-the-woods.

Life is good when you're in the Woods...

I'm actually headed out to a Garlic Mustard pull this morning (clearing a trail) - got any recipies for the Garlic Mustard, and which parts?

I'm always interested in wild foods, following Mrs G's page. (which turns out to answer this question)

 

[Dennis in MA]

OK, cool! I've never actually eaten a Fiddlehead but know where tons are. Never done a forage for anything but would be interested in doing so. Very cool. Will keep my eyes peeled.

 

[Obie1]

This Spring I have already tasted what Nature has to offer up.
Garlic Mustard greens, dandelion greens and tea, plantain, Jap Knotweed, forsythia flowers. (All in my own yard)
Missed stinging nettle and ostrich fern due to a broken leg.
Looking forward to blueberry, blackberry, hazelnut, hickory nut, service berry, autumn olive, mulberry, sassafras coffee, and
chicken-of-the-woods.

Life is good when you're in the Woods...

Serious question--what do you do with stinging nettle? Just pulled out a bunch of it at my dad's house and both my brother and I remembered my mom doing something with it. To me it's more vile than poison ivy.

 

[Spanz]

OK, cool! I've never actually eaten a Fiddlehead but know where tons are. Never done a forage for anything but would be interested in doing so. Very cool. Will keep my eyes peeled.

was up in maine once, saw a ton of fiddleheads, and picked them. fed them to the family, very tasty. a couple weeks later l was reading an article on foraging, and they said something like "If you are picking fidleheads, make sure you do not mistake them for X which looks just like them but is poisonous"....and THAT ended my foraging days right there. Too many chances for mistakes to be made for me.

I stick to blackberries and blueberries...all others i pass on

 

[lancecolonel]

Serious question--what do you do with stinging nettle? Just pulled out a bunch of it at my dad's house and both my brother and I remembered my mom doing something with it. To me it's more vile than poison ivy.

boil the leaves to remove the "stinging" part.
can be eaten or used for tea. i tried a chip dip once that had nettle in it. it was pretty good.

 

[Spanz]

Serious question--what do you do with stinging nettle? Just pulled out a bunch of it at my dad's house and both my brother and I remembered my mom doing something with it. To me it's more vile than poison ivy.

there are recipes online for stinging nettle. you have to cook it. If you get stung, throw some amonia on the wound, since then have formic acid in them that makes them sting

 

[Dennis in MA]

This Spring I have already tasted what Nature has to offer up.
Garlic Mustard greens, dandelion greens and tea, plantain, Jap Knotweed, forsythia flowers. (All in my own yard)
Missed stinging nettle and ostrich fern due to a broken leg.
Looking forward to blueberry, blackberry, hazelnut, hickory nut, service berry, autumn olive, mulberry, sassafras coffee, and
chicken-of-the-woods.

Life is good when you're in the Woods...

Wait! What do you do with that awful Japanese Knotweed crap??? Besides curse it and hope it all dies a horrible painful plant death, I mean.

It makes for interesting honey, I'll say that. It's dark. Like stout dark. And it blooms right around Sweet Pepper Bush so you get a combo which makes it tangy and sweet at the same time.

But DAMN I hate them things.

 

[enbloc]

OK here goes.

Garlic mustard is entirely edible, but I only like the small tender leaves at the top when plant is less than 18" tall. But there are tons out right now and the are easy to distinguish by the very small, white 4 leave cross-shaped flowers (Kind of pretty too)Leaves can be eaten raw (after washing) and actually taste like a mild garlic and mustard green. Very good in salads (I use about 10% of the greens weight of this wild edible, too much is too strong)
Leaves can be eaten any time of the growing season, but best early. It is not native to the US and you are highly obliged to eradicate it when you see it. Hence the Garlic-Mustard Pull you are going on!

Stinging Nettle is awesome. As mentioned before a quick steam of boil will neutralize the "sting" and nettle can be used in a cream soup, eaten in a salad or can be mixed up into a pesto.
You can add it to spinach in an artichoke dip. I like the tea which can be made from the leaves too.
Stinging Nettle is a antioxidant-killing supper food. A must-have.

Ostrich Fern, aka fiddleheads are one of the best tasting early wild foods around.
I like cooking them with a little olive oil and salt and pepper.
Almost too late for them now though...

Japanese Knotweed is also an invasive species and is everywhere. The young spring shoots (Under 20" tall) can be picked, trim the outer skin off and eaten raw.
It is an awesome replacement for rhubarb in any rhubarb pie recipes.
Try a little raw. You will like it!

~Matt

 

[enbloc]

I enjoy teaching this skill to all ages because not only is it a necessary survival skill, but wild food is much higher in nutrients than cultivated and has profound healing and medicinal properties. I am a Mass. Certified Educator and Programming Partner with the Museum of Natural History, Sudbury Valley Trustees and Scouts of Eastern MA. I have a FaceBook where I post educational videos and information, and list my classes. I teach private groups, organizations, gun clubs, churches, etc. Just contact me to set up a class at your location. I teach in MA and southern NH.
Rachel Goclawski
IT Specialist, US Army DOD, Certified MA Educator
www.facebook.com/cookingwithmrsg

Sorry for hi-jacking this thread Mrs G. Hope I helped pique some interest.
~Matt

 

[enbloc]

Well this weather just brought in my first yellow morel of the season. In the bark mulch of my front yard no less.
More should be a-poppin up soon. (I've been getting 6-12 a season for about 5 out of last 9 years) Not a lot...but just enough!

I cut them in half lengthwise, dust them with a little flour, melt a 1/4 stick of butter and a little salt and pepper to taste and cook on medium heat for about 3-4 mins.

From all the reports I've been reading, 2017 is going to be a BIG mushroom year!

Get a class and get out into the woods...

 

[enbloc]

[video=youtube_share;lTFugHA2WaI]http://youtu.be/lTFugHA2WaI[/video]
Check out this family's Urban morel hunt...


[video=youtube_share;T-vyjyK6_kg]http://youtu.be/T-vyjyK6_kg[/video]
This guy is changing the world around him...

 

[Dennis in MA]

Cool on the knotweed. I hate the stuff. It sure looks like asparagii at that stage.

Morels look like something that attacks a spaceship on the Creature Double Feature. (Channel 56. Unless it's raining. Then you're stuck watching Candlepins for Cash on 6.)

 

[enbloc]

Cool thing about the knotweed is that you have more than a few weeks to try some tender shoots. Right now I can find some that are 6-foot tall and others just pushing up through the leaves.
One thing I've come to realize about adding small amounts of wild foraged foods is that they contain some valuable and highly needed nutrients, minerals and other substances that you just won't get from a Big Mac, store-bought chicken or even a daily multivitamin. You don't have to go all "Mountain Man meets Paleo Man," just add a couple of wild things to your diet at your own pace...

 

[lancecolonel]

ate fiddleheads for the first time tonight. store bought not foraged. i was surprised to see them for sale at market basket. they were pretty good. boiled for 5 minutes then sauteed with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
i heard that people can sometimes get sick from them.....hoping i sleep ok tonight.

 

[enbloc]

Store bought fiddleheads (Ostrich Fern) are still foraged by someone. As far as I know, none are farm-raised, and only picked wild, mostly in Maine.
Only time I've heard of anyone getting sick was from eating the wrong ferns that start out as fiddlehead-like pinwheels.
They are hairy, are not loosely wrapped in the papery protective cover and do not have the "U" shaped stem that looks like baby celery.


EAT THESE!

NEVER EAT THESE!

 

[Spanz]

ate fiddleheads for the first time tonight. store bought not foraged. i was surprised to see them for sale at market basket.

MB goes WAY out of their way to support the local farmers. I know one farmer in town, and the MB owner told him, just grow all the peppers you can and i will take them all. So i would not be surprised at all if foragers in Maine are picking and selling to MB.

- - - Updated - - -

NEVER EAT THESE!

thanks, those pictures explain a lot!

 

[Dennis in MA]

I knew a girl in college that had legs that looked like that.

Might have to swing by MB this week.

 

[enbloc]

Fiddles are very healthy:

Nutrition Facts
Fiddlehead fern
Amount Per 100 grams
Daily Value*
Calories 34 %
Total Fat 0.4 g 0 %
Cholesterol 0 mg 0%
Sodium 1 mg 0%
Potassium 370 mg 10%
Total Carbohydrate 6 g 2%
Protein 4.6 g 9%
Vitamin A 72% Vitamin C 44%
Calcium 3% Iron 7%
Vitamin D 0% Vitamin B-12 0%
Magnesium 8%
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.