Foraging for Wild Food Guide

What is Foraging?

As a noun, forage definition means food for animals (or us) especially when taken by browsing or grazing.

As a verb, forage definition means: to strip of provisions: collect forage from or to secure by foraging.

Now that’s the dictionary version. A more relaxed foraging meaning would be the act of gathering food, wild or cultivated.

What is Urban Foraging?

A forage synonym would be to hunt (or search) for, or to gather wild foods. This can be done in forests, fields, disturbed areas, rural locations, in or around water and there is even urban foraging. The term urban foraging can be defined as taking advantage of the natural foods that grow in urban areas such as fruit trees. However, I refer to this as backyard foraging, even foraging (where legal) in our urban communities.

Guide to Sustainable Foraging

Overharvesting, particularly due to commercial collection of medicinal plants has brought many once plentiful plant species to the brink of extinction. As foragers we should adopt an attitude of green guardianship for our planet.

Sustainable foraging really depends on what specifically is being harvested. Many edible wild plants produce tens of thousands of seeds per plant so sustainability is not an issue. Below is a general guideline to follow as far as sustainable foraging goes.

A general rule is to collect five percent of any individual patch of a given species within a maximum of 25 percent of an area.

Some plant species are more susceptible to overharvest than others and require careful management. For example, wild leeks take seven years from germination to producing seeds. These can easily be overharvested.

No more than half of the fiddleheads from a single ostrich fern should be harvested to allow for re-growth.

With the exception of harvesting roots, do not remove an entire plant – this provides the plant with an opportunity to re-grow.

How to Forage for Wild Food

Having a trustworthy foraging guide (or several) is a start in the right direction to wild food foraging. Yes, there are many places on the Internet that can help but be sure to check out the website you go to that wild food education is all they do. Many people are publishing foraging guides online thinking this is an “in” thing to do, and there are countless articles out there providing questionable information. You want to learn from those who have a dedicated website to foraging.

Here are some rules that every forager should be guided by:

• Familiarize yourself with the weeds, herbs, bushes and trees in your neighborhood, try to learn as much as possible about the ecosystem of which you are a part.
• Learn to identify them correctly and investigate all their uses. Try to understand it as part of a larger ecosystem. With which other plants does it form communities? Is it native or invasive? Building this kind of holistic knowledge base will give you a much deeper insight into the nature of a plant and its role within the ecosystem. Far too many plants are labeled invasive yet those who do this have not learned the true value of some of these plants.
• Learn to identify the poisonous plants you are likely to encounter. DO NOT EAT ANYTHING YOU CANNOT POSITIVELY IDENTIFY AND DEEM SAFE.
• When you think you know a plant, always cross reference with two or three foraging guides to be 100 percent sure because non-edible look-alikes can fool you.
• Don't be greedy! Familiarize yourself with the plants that are listed on the endangered species list for your area. Apart from being unethical, it is also illegal to pick endangered plant species. Instead of taking rare plants, consider sowing their seeds in the wild.
• Only pick as much as you need and never take ALL the plants of any one kind in a given patch. After harvesting an area give the plants plenty of time to recover before returning to the same patch. Be very careful when it comes to harvesting roots. Remember that often harvesting roots means the death of certain plants, especially ramps. Before you start digging, ask yourself if this plant is plentiful and if it can sustain a harvest of its roots. If in doubt, don't collect.
• However tempting it may look, never pick in places that are subject to pollution, roadsides, industry or heavy spraying of farm chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers etc.).
• Collecting wild edibles growing in soil that was brought in from another area may not be desirable. It could be soil that was contaminated with pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers.
• Don't collect from nature reserves - these are areas set up to protect wild species, so give them their space and let them be.
• Cast seeds of native species to the earth and to the winds once in a while - as a way of giving something back.
• When you are out and about, never leave any litter behind.
• Once you have collected your wild edibles make sure your body will not reject this new food. Just because science has proven a plant, or a part of it, is safe for human consumption does NOT mean it is safe for YOU! Due to a variety of reasons, you may have a serious reaction to some plants and the only way to be safe is to conduct the Universal Edibility Test.

When to Harvest Wild Food?

Wild edibles should be harvested when the oils responsible for flavor and aroma are at their peak. Proper timing depends on the plant part you are harvesting and the intended use.

If you are collecting wild edible weeds for their foliage then to maximize the nutritional content, they should be harvested before they flower. After flowering they are still good for you and they still contain vitamins, minerals and nutrients, just not as plentiful and chances are the plant will taste bitter (but this is ok).

Harvesting roots, such as burdock, thistles and chicory is best in the autumn after the foliage fades.

Some general guidelines include:

• Begin harvesting when the plant has enough foliage to maintain growth.
• Harvest early in the morning, after the dew dries, but before the heat of the day.
• Harvest the wild edible before flowering, otherwise, leaf production declines.
• Most flowers have their most intense oil concentration and flavor when harvested after flower buds appear but before they open.

Universal Edibility Test

• Separate the plant into its edible parts (leaves, stems, roots, buds, and flowers).
• Test only one part of a potential food plant at a time.
• It is advised not to eat for 8 hours before starting the test.
• During the eight hours you abstain from eating, test for contact poisoning by briefly (and softly) rubbing a piece of the plant part you are testing on your forearm. Usually waiting 15 minutes is enough time to allow for a reaction.
• During the test period, ingest nothing except water.
• If there is no reaction on the forearm, then before placing a piece of the plant in your mouth, softly rub a piece on your lip to test for burning or itching. If there is no reaction, try a small piece in your mouth then spit it out. Again, if there is no reaction, eat a small piece and wait an hour.

The above information is a condensed version of the Universal Edibility Test that appears in a US military survival manual.

There is not a doubt this test is time-intensive but ultimately all wild food educators must share this information to ensure no one becomes ill or worse, loses their life. As adults eating new foods (foraged or cultivated) is really no different than when we introduce “foods” to our young children to ensure our child has no reaction to that food.

Now that you know how to forage, the next thing to learn is how to preserve the wild food you've collected!