
Have you or anyone you know ever gone out into the wild to pick blackberries, honeysuckle, rabbit tobacco or mushrooms? If you have, you have been foraging. A time honored tradition and, for millennia, one of the few ways humans could sustain themselves. It has not been, historically speaking, long since humans started farming and we were able to move away from hunting and gathering to provide for daily caloric needs. If this topic interests you, I recommend you continue reading and check out some of the resources outlined below.
I recently had the pleasure of reading an article by Dr. Nancy Pietroski entitled, Free Food and Medicine: Make Foraging for Edible and Medicinal Plants and Mushrooms Part of Your Every Day Wilderness Experience (Part 1). Her article rekindled my desire to get more out of my wilderness adventures. I have long desired to be able to identify all the edible plants I see along a trail. I suspect that my biggest obstacle to moving forward with this desire is that of fear.
In the article, Dr. Pietroski is very keen to point out that positive identifications and the proper preparation are absolute musts when it comes to being safe with wild edibles. Toward that end, she provides several resources which I have linked below. One such source is a YouTube channel entitled Learn Your Land. This is a well produced site by Adam Haritan . I can assure you I will be spending hours in front of the tube learning more about identification now that I have a reputable source. There are also several books she lists and to which I will place a link to my Amazon Associate site below (Disclaimer: I do earn a commission on these at no cost to the consumer).
I encourage you to check out all of these resources and get out into the wild and enjoy all it has to offer.
DISCLAIMER: THIS CONTENT DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. The information contained herein or provided to you is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It has not been developed based on your specific medical history or condition or as a result of any medical evaluation. It may not cover all possible health care conditions, drug interactions or governmental warnings or alerts. You should not rely on this information as an endorsement of any specific tests, physicians, products, procedures, opinions, or other information. None of the information is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. You should always check with your physician if you have health questions or concerns. The CDC also provides a comprehensive list of CDC travel warnings. Although we attempt to provide accurate and up-to-date information, no guarantee is made to that effect.