Foraging for Beginners 🌱🍄🌰
Whether you want to learn to forage as a hobby, a means of sustenance, or to begin a new way of life, this is the video for you! Wren takes us through her top tips and lessons she's learned throughout her foraging journey. From how to find appropriate places to forage to how to properly identify plants to books and resources that will help you on your journey. Join us and find out how to enjoy some of the best food in the world!
Resources:
Insteading Foraging Articles: insteading.com/foraging-wild-...
Crazy World of Foraging Law: ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/vie...
Lead Contaminates in the Soil: www.soils.org/about-soils/con...
Foraging in American National Parks: thecounter.org/the-case-for-l...
Forager Chef: foragerchef.com/
Hunter Angler Gardener Cook: honest-food.net/
Eat the Weeds: www.eattheweeds.com/
Books:
Midwest Foraging: www.workman.com/products/midw...
Forager’s Harvest
Nature’s Garden
Incredible Wild Edibles: www.foragersharvest.com/our-b...
Botany in a Day: mountain-press.com/products/b...
Books by Euell Gibbons (the granddaddy of modern foraging): wildfoodadventures.com/books-...
0:00 Intro
1:30 Plant Identification
3:31 How to Properly ID a Plant
6:25 Top Tips for New Foragers
8:27 Where to Forage
12:34 Forager Safety
14:22 Forager Guides
16:55 Resources
17:37 Conclusion
I'm from the deep south and while working in Illinois I thought I had correctly identified queen Ann's lace. I ALMOST ate the root which is basically a wild parsnip/carrot. But being skeptical of things and careful though I kept studying. The purple spots and hair on the stems confirmed it was juvenile deadly hemlock. I would have went the way of Socrates if I hadn't done more research!
Here in northern california we sometimes have those growing basically side by side. I've known about Queen Ann's lace for all of my many years but never tried it. Think I will now.
Nope, I will not eat any of these lookalikes!!!! I almost used what I thought was wild parsnip many years ago until I suddenly remembered it looks like a well known deadly plant 😱
The rank odor of the broken hemlock stem might be a clue as well. Queen Anne's lace smells like a carrot -- the leaves smell like carrot leaves, and the stem like a carrot stem -- but it's the roots that take a bit of getting used to.
@@rachelwickart275 This was a very young hemlock she looked almost identical to QAL. I was still a bit inexperienced with identification, but it goes to show just how easily you could make a deadly mistake if you aren't paying attention with a plant you're unfamiliar with.
@@entrepreneursfinest You are right about that! Glad you didn't make such a devastating mistake -- it's certainly a good reason to pay attention to details. Those spots are a good way to know, for sure!
I live in the uk and here we are so wondefully lucky that the Wildlife Trust supports foraging and actually provides resources for foragers and runs foraging walks.
That is awesome! Lucky!
This channel will be huge one day. Incredible production values and tons of great info.
I agree it’s a really great channel
I agree .. very well spoken and laid out .. even a simpleton could learn from her .
I have been teaching wild foraging for 60+ years and while searching for a video for my gardening group I found yours. I have watch numerous other videos and while there are many good ones I found the production as well as your presentation and knowledge was worth sharing. Love the gifs and emojis.
This channel is super under rated. REALLY high quality content for such a small channel. Very Very impressed.
My dad always told me mulberries were poisonous 🙄 now I enjoy watching him freak out when my kids grab a fist full of onion grass or dandelion greens while they're outside playing. I have my degree in ecology and my kids know all the plants that grow on our property like they know their friends at school. Eta: I started with your chicken videos and now I'm binging everything you've made. Great videos!
I’m sorry your dad didn’t let you eat mulberries luckily my mom ate mulberries as a kid so she knows they are good to eat :D
i like the emphasis on protecting the reputation of foraging and representing the community well. thats something i probably woudlnt have thought about (though i hope i'd have done it anyways) but its something i'll definitely keep in mind actively now
This is one of the best starter video for foraging I've ever seen! Especially the points about park/conservation laws which can be so fraught haha. I'm an intermediate forager in western Canada, mostly learning from my family members who grew up in rural Ukraine where seasonal mushrooming/foraging is fairly common, as well as books. An additional point I'd add is to start small with your foraging, pick a couple plants/fungi that have few or no true look alikes and become super familiar with them. I started foraging by picking morel mushrooms, as they only have a couple mimics, and it's easy to tell the difference between them upon inspection. It made learning how to forage so much easier when I was controlling for the margin of error.
Just found this channel, And I have to say I have been foraging for years, My grandpa taught almost everything I knew. But when I left my home state and moved around, what he taught me , seemed harder to lean on. Those plants from where I was from are not every where. So with each state I moved to I looked for a book specific to that states flora. A handbook can be vital, specially for a forager who is colorblind and cant rely on that sense. Very good beginner advice, can not wait to watch more of your videos.
Oh man, I remember grazing on violets and red & white clovers! So sweet!
Your videos are so well-produced, informative, and entertaining, it’s a crime that you have so few views. I especially like the retro “80’s educational video” aesthetic that’s going on with the backgrounds and music.
I just LOVE this channel of yours! It's packed with useful info and presented in such a fun and unique way, I can tell you put a lot of effort in it and I want to thank you for that.
I miss foraging so much. 😔 I really hope to have someplace to do it again someday.
And I love how You do videos about plants,acorns and so Much more! It should Get 10.0M subs!
I live out in the country in Western Washington in the Pacific, Northwest, and there is wild food everywhere. This is my favorite time in of the year for harvesting the young greens, and I look forward to berries in late summer and the mushrooms in the fall.
I don't know if you take requests on plants to go over, but I'd love a video on Queen Anne's Lace! It grows everywhere at my grandma's farm and being able to know how to safely eat it would help trim it down a little so other plants can get a better foothold again! Either way I'll definitely be watching all these foraging videos, even if I don't actively forage you never know when the info will come in handy!
Best Intro to foraging!
Thanks! We've got more foraging videos in the hopper for a few more common plants, stay tuned!
This is a great video and I hope to see more from you as a creator. I’ve been wanting to get into foraging and this is a great friendly and interesting video. Thanks!
Hi! I just watched 2 of your videos and I LOVE it!!! ❤ 😊😊😊
Wow, what a hidden gem of a youtube channel! Awesome editing and useful information. As somebody just starting to get into this sort of self-sustenance, your videos are a really nice resource! Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge with all of us, it is very much appreciated.
Such an excellent video! Thank you so much!
I’m really enjoying these videos! Terrific job!-from a lifelong forager☀️
Great and intressting video! Just a bit sad to hear about the all the resticting laws and regulations in the U.S. "Allemansrätten" or "the right to roam" is probably the most amazing law in Sweden.
Just the kind of site I was looking for ...sub'd. God bless you in your foraging and off grid life. Gilly wife of Mark in Norfolk UK
There are 250 types of dandelion. I personally eat the green leaves in salad. The yellow flowers of the taraxacum officinale or common dandelion are very good to eat. When the blooms are green and closed as well. I dip mine in egg and seasoned flour and fry. They taste similar to a morel.They originated from Europe/Asia.It is said that migrants wanted something to remind them of home so they were brought on the journey to America.The health benefits are phenomenal.
I liked the indentation in this video it was really good And nice
There’s an app that I use often called “Picture this” highly recommend for a person who would like to start foraging. It identifies plants and gives lots of information about them. I take my research from there and find out if it’s edible or not.
... I love that app ...
I downloaded a plant id app and took pictures of the weeds in my yard. The first thing that i found was horseweed aka Mare's Tail. Then I looked it up on KZhead and Google and watched and read all that I could about it. When I was sure that it was indeed horseweed, edible and tasty, I harvested some. Since mine is growing in the yard, it has been mowed down in the past causing it to branch out. I cut off the tips of each branch and cleaned them in a baking soda and vinegar solution. Then rinsed well. I plan to puree in a cup of water and freeze in an ice cube tray. Then add a cube to soup for added flavor. I'm drying the leaves to make tea when my tummy is grumpy. I left the roots in the ground. With hopes that they will give me more. I plan to learn foraging one plant at a time this way. I also found that the plant that I thought was queen Anne's Lace is actually a poisonous imposter. So I won't be touching that.
Great job!
Really nice video!
Hello from Northern California. I'm wondering if you cover the uses of the ordinary cattail you see growing in wet areas. I learned many years ago that if you harvest the "cattail" while it's immature and brush off the immature fluff you are left with the core that tastes very much like asparagus when you steam it. Also, you can dig the roots, and after you peel and boil them they are a decent substitute for potatoes. Good stuff to know for future reference.
Is that your pigeon coop? I have been wanting to put a pigeon coop in our barn, but have not been able to find a supplier selling pigeons other than "specialty" breeds for $100+ per bird! My late grandfather kept a coop on the roof of the apartment building where he lived in the Bronx back in the 1950s, and would occasionally cull some birds, which my grandmother would roast. They were absolutely delicious! Years later, I managed to pounce on a couple or young pigeons living in the air shaft behind my store (in the middle of Michigan). I'd watched the parents nesting, and then raising them, and when they were just about full sized, I leapt out the window (ground level, from my store's bathroom) and ran to grab them. I thought I'd get a half-dozen easily -- but they were far quicker than I'd anticipated! I did manage to get two, though, which I cooked for dinner with a friend who'd driven out to visit from Minneapolis. They were delicious! Frankly, I don't understand why this delicious type of poultry is not consumed in this country, but I have the same bewilderment over the lack of goat meat in the grocery stores, too.
awesome video and very useful information. I plan on getting a few foraging books for my upcoming birthday, as well as researching more on some easy common wild edibles i could get started on :)
Eat the Weeds is my favorite resource for finding wild edibles. Also, love your channel. Another of your videos inspired me to go harvest acorns haha.
We have made leeched, drained, poke salad with enough water (or chicken boullion) to soften plant; strain; and prepare with scrambled eggs for a smooth movement...possible natural stool softener.
love it, great video! I would love to be that guy munchin on stuff walking around the woods :D
I get so excited in early spring seeing my edible weeds pop up. I eat weeds almost every day spring through summer. I rarely eat any vegetables except wild weeds then.
Here in north Florida my middle son 6 bug scientist ,nature boy , eats beauty berry every day, knows not to eat Polk berry, which grow together. We eat Polk salad because he wants to , wild muskidine grapes, and many other wild foods. I can't wait untill he grows up and has time tested knowledge about everything here. He read our ansestors used to eat acorns, so now we do that. He finds wild fruit, like goose berry and persimmon, I used to worry, but with the exception of those mentioned, he brings everything home for inspection first. He cought a bowfin/ mudfish the other day, I thought it was trash, but after talking to him and research we ate it,really good. ?. I learn something new from him everyday, we haven't eaten cicadas yet, but seems I will eventually.
We can also increase our foraging choices by planting out foraging Trees such as nut Trees and understory fruit bushes and improve the diversity of the woodlands.
How far do you have to go from cultivating fields which use pesticides and from trails where people walk and also walk their dogs in order to be safe with the plants? Is it ok just going a little bit off the trail? How do you clean the plants you pick up? If something is safe for eating, is it also safe to make tea?
im stuck inside and in school. my dad is tired or at work, and just wants to rest, so I can't do foraging
Maybe you can help me ? I was out on a vacant lot long a wooded area. I came across a plant that had string beans on them, but the stems was flat and had a vain in the middle and vine like. I don't think string bean plants have flat stems ? So what could it be (I live in South East Michigan) ?
What are those foraging books you recommend?
You are talking about poison plants but showing pictures of flowers at the same time. Are those flowers poisonous or not?
So question: if all you had was toxic growing grounds around you, to survive let’s say; would it still be better to eat the “maybe” toxic plants or not at all? Just curious ;)
probably would be better to starve to death, shitting and vommiting yourself sounds kinda fucked up
In Sweden the law called Allemansrätten (All mans right directly translated) which says you may gather fruits and mushrooms in all the land, but you may not start fires or cut down trees without permission.
I like this plants
This all plants available in my country
I've been foraging since I was 8. Even today, I would still not consume what I don't know.
Plse suggest ref book for south africa if possible
this would be a whole essay if you wrote it down bruh which is good lol
Wow you actully have to look up what you eat? I used to just grab a tree and start chomping
love the channel.. but.. you said guest-ture
I think that most people think I'm crazy eating weeds.
And spiders
You forgot the most important thing. WATCH Out for SNAKES!!!!!!!!
Laws Shmaws.
i cant even identify a tomato on the internet
Seems like a full time job to forage, with risks hirer than most jobs allow, that doesnt even meet returns 1/10th of minimum wage... why not just plant stuff?
Get to the point quicker. 3 minutes in and no real information, just criticism of differing approaches. Stopped watching.
Don't forget the foragers guide to wild edibles that's another book and Yule gibbons died too young especially since he was a forger he died way too young
I've been foraging since I was 8. Even today, I would still not consume what I don't know.