About Foraging Wild Food In CA
Gathering edible plants and animals from the great outdoors is nothing new. It was once the way of life for all creatures on earth, including humans. This method of getting breakfast, lunch, and dinner may seem strange to residents of North America today who shop at supermarkets and eat at restaurants. However, interest in foraging wild food in CA and other states is growing.
Of course, many people are perfectly happy to get their food from supermarkets and restaurants. If they really want fresh, they patronize farmer's markets in their area. However, it's trendy now to cook with foraged ingredients, like purslane or ramps (wild leeks). Others may have grown up eating dandelion salad, wild asparagus, and fish fresh from the pond. They know how fresh really tastes.
Recently, television and survival websites have brought this food source back to the public's attention. It used to be knowledge found only in magazines like 'Mother Earth News' or in out-of-print books - or learned from grandparents. The fact is that many indigenous plants, even ones that grow in the cracks of sidewalks or vacant city lots, are tasty, nutritious, and even therapeutic.
Most people know a little about foraging, even if they wouldn't think so. Almost everyone has picked berries on the side of the road or the trail. Schoolchildren read that Native Americans made flour from acorns, taught the Pilgrims how to eat oysters, and hunted buffalo for food, clothing, and warm robes. Most adults know that some wild mushrooms are edible but all toadstools are poisonous.
This knowledge may be important someday in a time of famine. In that case, it will be helpful to know a mushroom from a toadstool. Mushrooms are valuable foods, with a taste that mimics meat and a high protein content. Making a salad of plantain, dandelion greens, watercress from a stream, and a few edible mushrooms can be lunch for a hungry person. In warm places like California, with long growing seasons, foraging is easier.
Country folk may search out field cress in the spring or harvest ginseng and goldenseal to sell to herbalists, but most people do no more than pick berries in summer or go clamming off New England shores. California is blessed with many healthful wild plants, like elderberry bushes (elderberry wine is delicious, and syrup made from the berries boosts the immune system)and wild rose hips. The vast majority of people are unaware of the treasures that grow around them.
However, even those who never think of the word 'foraging' may garnish their ice tea with a sprig of wild mint or crystallize violets for cake decorations. Some may harvest day lily buds, saute them in butter, and enjoy them as much as cultivated asparagus. Others may know that plantain from the yard is sure to please their guinea pigs.
Foraging, like any other use of natural resources, requires responsible harvesting. Naturalists already fear that the gourmet craze for ramps might endanger that plant. There are ways to take a little and leave enough behind to sustain the population of valuable plants and animals. This is a very important part of being an educated forager in California and other parts of the country.
Of course, many people are perfectly happy to get their food from supermarkets and restaurants. If they really want fresh, they patronize farmer's markets in their area. However, it's trendy now to cook with foraged ingredients, like purslane or ramps (wild leeks). Others may have grown up eating dandelion salad, wild asparagus, and fish fresh from the pond. They know how fresh really tastes.
Recently, television and survival websites have brought this food source back to the public's attention. It used to be knowledge found only in magazines like 'Mother Earth News' or in out-of-print books - or learned from grandparents. The fact is that many indigenous plants, even ones that grow in the cracks of sidewalks or vacant city lots, are tasty, nutritious, and even therapeutic.
Most people know a little about foraging, even if they wouldn't think so. Almost everyone has picked berries on the side of the road or the trail. Schoolchildren read that Native Americans made flour from acorns, taught the Pilgrims how to eat oysters, and hunted buffalo for food, clothing, and warm robes. Most adults know that some wild mushrooms are edible but all toadstools are poisonous.
This knowledge may be important someday in a time of famine. In that case, it will be helpful to know a mushroom from a toadstool. Mushrooms are valuable foods, with a taste that mimics meat and a high protein content. Making a salad of plantain, dandelion greens, watercress from a stream, and a few edible mushrooms can be lunch for a hungry person. In warm places like California, with long growing seasons, foraging is easier.
Country folk may search out field cress in the spring or harvest ginseng and goldenseal to sell to herbalists, but most people do no more than pick berries in summer or go clamming off New England shores. California is blessed with many healthful wild plants, like elderberry bushes (elderberry wine is delicious, and syrup made from the berries boosts the immune system)and wild rose hips. The vast majority of people are unaware of the treasures that grow around them.
However, even those who never think of the word 'foraging' may garnish their ice tea with a sprig of wild mint or crystallize violets for cake decorations. Some may harvest day lily buds, saute them in butter, and enjoy them as much as cultivated asparagus. Others may know that plantain from the yard is sure to please their guinea pigs.
Foraging, like any other use of natural resources, requires responsible harvesting. Naturalists already fear that the gourmet craze for ramps might endanger that plant. There are ways to take a little and leave enough behind to sustain the population of valuable plants and animals. This is a very important part of being an educated forager in California and other parts of the country.
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