I am, at best, a wanna-be food forager. I am really more of a scavenger, doing much better in dumpsters than I do surrounded by trees and weeds. In times gone by I have relied heavily on dumpstered bread and bagels, both as a way to save money and also to feed lots of people. In reality, just about any type of food can be found through dumpstering and curb shopping. Unexpired canned foods are common as are perfectly fine fruits and vegetables, ice cream, chips and juices. Granted, this is the realm of a dedicated few, some of whom rely on scavenging for survival, while others, like me, think of it more of a hobby just like foraging.
I have foraged with modest success on various occasions, with most bountiful results coming from fruit and nut collection. Wild blackberries, mulberries, pecans, chestnuts, black walnuts, hickory nuts and figs are all found in abundance around Wilmington.
* Pecans can be tricky to find because the trees can go for years without producing nuts. I found this out when Noel and I picked up probably 100 or so pounds of the nuts three years ago, and we haven’t seen anything since. But hickory nuts are pretty much a yearly find as are black walnuts, though it is often a race with the squirrels for the walnuts.
* Figs are in abundance at the beach and down a few alleys in my neighborhood. They are often neglected, the fruits going unpicked every year. Most folks don’t mind if you pick your fill as long as you don’t make a mess. As if fallen, rotting fruit isn’t a mess…
* For greens, our weedy areas and yards have a selection of plantain (seeds), lamb’s quarter, chickweed, mints, dandelion, sunchoke and wood sorrel. Dandelion can be used for many purposes –
“The plant can be eaten cooked or raw in various forms, such as in soup or salad. They are probably closest in character to mustard greens. Usually the young leaves and unopened buds are eaten raw in salads, while older leaves are cooked. Raw leaves have a slightly bitter taste. Dandelion salad is often accompanied with hard boiled eggs. The leaves are high in vitamin A, vitamin C and iron, carrying more iron and calcium than spinach.[3] Dandelion flowers can be used to make dandelion wine. The recipe usually contains citrus fruit. Another recipe using the plant is dandelion flower jam. Ground roasted dandelion root can be used as a coffee substitute. Drunk before meals, it is believed to stimulate digestive functions. “
Source – Wikipedia Danedlion article
* Sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes, are a member of theHelianthus(sunflower) family, grow on roadsides and near ditches. Here in Wilmington I find them all the time on the bike path behind Time Warner Cable and also along Park Avenue, usually surrounded bykudzu, another plant with some edible parts.
“It is perfectly valid as a food source,” says Regina Hines, a fiber artist in Ball Ground, Ga. “In the springtime, I like to gather the little shoots, and I will saute them with onions and mushrooms. They taste almost like snow peas.”
From the article “Kudzu:’Vine that ate the South’ is also good eating“
* Kudzu is an invasive plant, much maligned these days. I haven’t tried kudzu as of yet, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t try it soon. I’m discovering that I am becoming more open to trying wild edibles even if only to confirm my dislike of something. In the case of wild mushrooms, I would like to confirm my dislike for the thousandth time.
* Mushrooms are everywhere, but I am not a fan of mushrooms, wild or cultivated. I am fan of looking for mushrooms though, or looking for any other edible substance. It is the learning aspect that I often crave more than the actual eating experience.
I want to know how to identify the food, learn its habitat and then store that information for a time when I could really use that particular knowledge. I guess I am that way with many things, as there is so much to learn and so much more feral to become.