Hunting for mushrooms is always one of my favorite pastimes. To start with, the areas that most mushrooms prefer to hang out in are usually gorgeous. They are often near water, in lush green rainforests, which we have plenty of here in Oregon. Many times when I actually find wild mushrooms I’m not even actively…
Forage
Foraging and wildcrafting for your own food and medicine is a great way to get outside and reap the benefits of being out in wild areas. It gives you access to some of the most nutrient rich and healing plants, all while getting some much needed exercise and fresh air. Foraging is good for your body as well as your mind and soul! I love teaching others about the benefits of wild food.
Learn about foraging through the seasons, with guides on fall foraging, winter foraging, and spring foraging. If you want to learn about wild mushrooms, then read about these 5 easy to identify edible mushrooms.
Foraging for Wild Fennel
I’ve been visiting family on the central California coast, which has been wonderful. I always like going to other parts of the country to see what I can forage, and the temperature here is so mild that you can pretty much find edible or medicinal plants year round. Late spring and summer is when the…
Foraging for Salal Berries
On a recent camping trip to the central Oregon coast, we went on hike like we usually do, and came across what we believed to be salal berries! I snapped a few photos, then double checked my guidebooks when we got back to camp, and discovered that they were, in fact, salal berries. We decided…
Foraging for Wild Poppies
Hello and happy summer solstice! We are fully into the summer season now, and wildflowers are popping up everywhere. I love finding and identifying them, especially when I discover that they are edible or medicinal (or both!). Wild California poppies are a common sight for us here in Southern Oregon. No, they won’t quite put…
Foraging for Mugwort
Mugwort is one of the first plants that I foraged for as an adult, and it sort of happened by mistake. It grew in huge patches along the river in Yosemite National Park, where I spent many summers. Joel and I loved how it smelled and thought that it was a variety of sage (turns…
Foraging for Purple Dead Nettle
I can almost guarantee that you’ve seen purple dead nettle growing at one time or another. You may not have realized it, as it can sometimes be fairly inconspicuous, but if you really start to pay attention to the plants around you, I’m certain that you will see it growing. It’s one of those plants…
Foraging for Morel Mushrooms
This spring has been an exciting one for many reasons, but most recently because I found some morel mushrooms! This elusive mushroom is prized for it’s tastiness, and can only be wildcrafted as no one has figured out how to grow them (yet). They come up in spring to early summer, depending on where you…
Foraging for Stinging Nettles
I’ve been interested in foraging for stinging nettles for quite a while now, but I have to admit that I was a bit scared because of the “stinging” part. There’s a definite reason that I don’t have any tattoos, as I’m not super excited about voluntarily inflicting pain on my own body. I mean, I…
Foraging for Willow
One of the first trees or shrubs to bud in early spring is the willow. I remember as a child getting so excited to find pussy willows, although back then I didn’t liken it to the changing seasons. I’m pretty sure I just thought they were neat and fuzzy and like little tiny kittens, so…
Foraging for Pine Needles (and other conifer needles)
Late fall and winter can be a tough time for foragers in the majority of North America. After the fall mushrooms are gone, there isn’t a whole lot left in the realm of wild food. The one thing that most of us have, no matter where we live, is pine or other conifer needles. They…
