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Foraging, free food! America
5 years ago
This will mostly be aimed for America but if anyone would like me to look up a list for other countries I can make one too!
Blackberry season - peak season in the United States runs from July to August - with the harvest beginning earlier in Southern states and later in the Northwest.
These things grow like weeds so if your in need of extra food now's a good time to go out foraging! Just grab a bag or basket and fill it up! Eat some fresh and storage the rest in your freezer for long term snacking even when the season is over!
Pine Nuts - Pine cones are usually ready for harvesting from August to September, depending on where you live.
All pine trees produce nuts which you can eat. However, some species have much smaller nuts. If some of the pine cones are open and some are still closed, then it is harvest time!
If all the pine cones are still closed, then the seeds/nuts probably haven’t formed yet.
If all of the pine cones have opened, then critters have probably already eaten all of the seeds/nuts
Gather the pine cones which are still closed or barely open. Twist the pine cone to get it off the tree. Try not to break any branches. You don’t want to damage the tree.
The easiest way to get the pine nuts out of the cone is simply to lay the pine cones out and let them dry out on their own. It will take a few weeks, but the pine cones will open up. Then you can tap the pine cones and the seeds will fall out.
If you don’t feel like waiting 3 weeks for your pine cones to open up, then you can use heat.
Lay the pine cones out flat and roast them in the oven (or over a fire). Let the pine cones cool down. Then tap them and the pine nuts will start to fall out.
Don’t try to microwave pine cones. They’ll start to smoke and ruin your microwave!
Here is a simple way to sort out the bad pine nuts from the good ones.
Put your pine nuts in a big bowl of water.
The bad pine nuts will float to the top.
The good pine nuts will sink to the bottom!
If you don’t want to toss the bad pine nuts, you can use them to make pine nut vodka. In Russian, it is called kedrovka.
Pine Nut Vodka Recipe: Fill a bottle about 1/3 full of pine nuts in the shell. Fill the rest of the bottle with vodka.
Close the bottle and let it sit in a dark area for at least 3 weeks. The essential oils from the pine nuts will leach into the vodka.
Drink and enjoy! (if you REALLY needed too you could also eat the inside white bark from the tree itself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22jX7ifvRhQ but i'm guessing nuts are nicer ;P)
(Most people just shell pine nuts with their teeth, much like how you’d eat a sunflower seed that's still in its shell.)
Pawpaw Fruit - Depending on region, pawpaws are ready from the end of August through October and the season lasts about 30 days.
Pawpaws are a mango-like fruit with a custard-like texture that’s too delicate to ship to stores so can mostly only be enjoyed from foraging!
Pawpaws grow naturally as far west as Texas, north to Canada, and throughout most of the midwestern and eastern U.S. map link
They get super-soft and fall off the tree when they’re fully ripe but they can be shaken off when they’re close to being ripe.
The skin, which is not eaten, is thin but tough and bruises easily, the light yellow flesh inside is mushy and tends to ooze out of the skin when you cut a pawpaw open. It’s not a fruit that you just take a bite of.
The flavor reportedly varies from tree to tree and even fruit to fruit. It’s been compared with bananas, mangos, pineapple, and any combination thereof.
A bit of caution, though: Pawpaws make some people nauseated after eating them. Eating them Underripe or overripe is thought to be the reason, so make sure they are ripe and to eat them fresh.
Dandelions - May to October but most profusely in May and June.
That's right! Those flowers everyone thinks are weeds? You can eat them from top to bottom! (avoid those by the road or in yards that may have been sprayed with pesticide)
The yellow flower can be pulled from the plant and eaten raw.
Leafs and roots can also be eaten, but leaves taste their best when the plant is still young.
Older leaves can have more of a bitter taste. Leafs and roots taste better after being boiled.
Roasted and grinded dandelion root is also a coffee substitute! It has a resemblance to coffee in appearance and taste!
Crabapples: (SKIP IF YOU LIVE IN FLORIDA) Crab apples typically appear on the tree in summer and ripen in fall, but the best time to pick them is winter! Freezing temperatures make the crab apples soft and sweet, so they taste better when it's cold outside. Alternately, you could pick them when ripe in fall and stick them in your freezer for a couple days. Regardless, make sure to taste test along the way! There is considerable variability from tree to tree, and you don't want to waste time picking something that tastes awful.
Many people think crab apples are poisonous but this is not true, there is only one type in the US that is (Florida death apple) the others just taste really bad lol
Range across most of the US and some Canada. They aren't found in Hawaii, Idaho, Arizona, and North Dakota in the United States. They're generally much more common in the Eastern and Central US. In Canada, they are found in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia. However, keep in mind that they are often planted as a decoration, so they are likely found outside this range.
It is common to find crab apples in parks, boulevards, in front of businesses, in yards, and other city scapes. In the countryside, they often grow in fields, hedgerows, and abandoned homesteads. There are ten native species to the US, and one is native to Minnesota— the prairie crab apple (Malus ioensis). It can be found in thickets, forest edges, and grassy openings.
Crab apples are most likely to be confused with other members of the rose family, notably wild plums (Prunus spp.) and hawthorns (Crataegus spp.) Fortunately, the fruits of both plants are edible, so if you do mistake them, it's not a huge deal.
DO NOT EAT THE SEEDS, like with normal apples from the store crab apples also have poisonous seeds, so even if your crab apple is small don't eat it whole.
In Florida there grows a deadly type know as Manchineel/Death Apple
Mulberries - harvesting season begins in mid-June through August.
Native to eastern United States from Massachusetts to Kansas and down to the Gulf coast. (I ate tons of them when I lived in Texas -mod chaossal)
mulberries grow on trees and oh boy do they grow a ton, they are similar to blackberries but have a longer bodyshape, sweeter taste and also turn from red to black/purple.
mulberry trees are generally viewed as a nuisance due to the shear amount of berries that grow on them that later go bad and drop by the thousands on the ground when not eaten fast enough by wildlife.
If anyone has these around their house i'm sure the person would even be thankful if you asked to pick a lot from their tree.
Loquat fruit - The fruits are usually harvested between the months of March to June
Hard to find good info on where all they grow freely in the US but for sure you will find some in Florida, California and Texas! (These where my favorite fruits to eat when I lived in Texas, they are sweet and sour - mod chaossal) You can just bite into it, you eat the whole thing, skin and all, just spit out the seeds.
Miner’s Lettuce: It is in season in April and May, and can be eaten as a leaf vegetable. The entire plant, except the roots, is edible, and it provides vitamin C.
Native to the western regions of North America and can be found growing naturally from the coast to the Central Plains. However, it's most abundant in coastal and central California.
The plant has single, roundish leaves with a tiny white flower in the center and is most often found in damp, shady areas. The leaves have a tasty, mild, spinach-like flavor and texture and can be eaten raw or cooked.
Yellow Wood Sorrel (Oxalis): It grows best in spring or fall in warmer climates but plants will be present year-round.
This common weed can be identified by its clusters of three heart-shaped leaves, similar to a shamrock’s, and its five-petaled yellow flowers. It grows in moist, semi-shaded areas throughout most parts of the U.S. and Canada, and is a common part of forest undergrowth. Its leaves, flowers, and immature seed pods are all edible, with a flavor that’s described as lemony and pungent. It can be added to salads, cooked in soups and sauces, or used as a garnish for meats.
American Persimmons (fruit) - begin picking persimmons in the early fall when the days are still a bit warm, and the fruit is hard but fully colored. Let them ripen at room temp in a cool, dry area until they are soft. American persimmons are only edible when they look like they're about to go rotten: the skin will be very wrinkled, and the fruit itself will appear quite mushy. Furthermore, the color will be a bright orangey-pink. Grows in southern Connecticut/Long Island to Florida, and west to Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa.
Notes: Make sure to ask permission before foraging on anyone else’s property, if it looks like someone has a lot growing in a fruit tree or such on their yard it is often more then what the home owner can use for themselves and many may be willing to share. My grandma for example has a HUGE fig tree growing in her front yard, if someone asked her if they could have a few of the fruits she would be the type that would have no problem letting people have a few. ^^
Many federal and state parks also forbid gathering plants so make sure to check the rules for your local park to avoid any trouble.
Some edible plants I won't add to the list as they could be too easily mistaken and I don't want anyone to get hurt with a mix up!
*********
I'll add more to this list later this took me a long time and I want to take a break now xD
-Mod chaossal
Blackberry season - peak season in the United States runs from July to August - with the harvest beginning earlier in Southern states and later in the Northwest.
These things grow like weeds so if your in need of extra food now's a good time to go out foraging! Just grab a bag or basket and fill it up! Eat some fresh and storage the rest in your freezer for long term snacking even when the season is over!
Pine Nuts - Pine cones are usually ready for harvesting from August to September, depending on where you live.
All pine trees produce nuts which you can eat. However, some species have much smaller nuts. If some of the pine cones are open and some are still closed, then it is harvest time!
If all the pine cones are still closed, then the seeds/nuts probably haven’t formed yet.
If all of the pine cones have opened, then critters have probably already eaten all of the seeds/nuts
Gather the pine cones which are still closed or barely open. Twist the pine cone to get it off the tree. Try not to break any branches. You don’t want to damage the tree.
The easiest way to get the pine nuts out of the cone is simply to lay the pine cones out and let them dry out on their own. It will take a few weeks, but the pine cones will open up. Then you can tap the pine cones and the seeds will fall out.
If you don’t feel like waiting 3 weeks for your pine cones to open up, then you can use heat.
Lay the pine cones out flat and roast them in the oven (or over a fire). Let the pine cones cool down. Then tap them and the pine nuts will start to fall out.
Don’t try to microwave pine cones. They’ll start to smoke and ruin your microwave!
Here is a simple way to sort out the bad pine nuts from the good ones.
Put your pine nuts in a big bowl of water.
The bad pine nuts will float to the top.
The good pine nuts will sink to the bottom!
If you don’t want to toss the bad pine nuts, you can use them to make pine nut vodka. In Russian, it is called kedrovka.
Pine Nut Vodka Recipe: Fill a bottle about 1/3 full of pine nuts in the shell. Fill the rest of the bottle with vodka.
Close the bottle and let it sit in a dark area for at least 3 weeks. The essential oils from the pine nuts will leach into the vodka.
Drink and enjoy! (if you REALLY needed too you could also eat the inside white bark from the tree itself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22jX7ifvRhQ but i'm guessing nuts are nicer ;P)
(Most people just shell pine nuts with their teeth, much like how you’d eat a sunflower seed that's still in its shell.)
Pawpaw Fruit - Depending on region, pawpaws are ready from the end of August through October and the season lasts about 30 days.
Pawpaws are a mango-like fruit with a custard-like texture that’s too delicate to ship to stores so can mostly only be enjoyed from foraging!
Pawpaws grow naturally as far west as Texas, north to Canada, and throughout most of the midwestern and eastern U.S. map link
They get super-soft and fall off the tree when they’re fully ripe but they can be shaken off when they’re close to being ripe.
The skin, which is not eaten, is thin but tough and bruises easily, the light yellow flesh inside is mushy and tends to ooze out of the skin when you cut a pawpaw open. It’s not a fruit that you just take a bite of.
The flavor reportedly varies from tree to tree and even fruit to fruit. It’s been compared with bananas, mangos, pineapple, and any combination thereof.
A bit of caution, though: Pawpaws make some people nauseated after eating them. Eating them Underripe or overripe is thought to be the reason, so make sure they are ripe and to eat them fresh.
Dandelions - May to October but most profusely in May and June.
That's right! Those flowers everyone thinks are weeds? You can eat them from top to bottom! (avoid those by the road or in yards that may have been sprayed with pesticide)
The yellow flower can be pulled from the plant and eaten raw.
Leafs and roots can also be eaten, but leaves taste their best when the plant is still young.
Older leaves can have more of a bitter taste. Leafs and roots taste better after being boiled.
Roasted and grinded dandelion root is also a coffee substitute! It has a resemblance to coffee in appearance and taste!
Crabapples: (SKIP IF YOU LIVE IN FLORIDA) Crab apples typically appear on the tree in summer and ripen in fall, but the best time to pick them is winter! Freezing temperatures make the crab apples soft and sweet, so they taste better when it's cold outside. Alternately, you could pick them when ripe in fall and stick them in your freezer for a couple days. Regardless, make sure to taste test along the way! There is considerable variability from tree to tree, and you don't want to waste time picking something that tastes awful.
Many people think crab apples are poisonous but this is not true, there is only one type in the US that is (Florida death apple) the others just taste really bad lol
Range across most of the US and some Canada. They aren't found in Hawaii, Idaho, Arizona, and North Dakota in the United States. They're generally much more common in the Eastern and Central US. In Canada, they are found in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia. However, keep in mind that they are often planted as a decoration, so they are likely found outside this range.
It is common to find crab apples in parks, boulevards, in front of businesses, in yards, and other city scapes. In the countryside, they often grow in fields, hedgerows, and abandoned homesteads. There are ten native species to the US, and one is native to Minnesota— the prairie crab apple (Malus ioensis). It can be found in thickets, forest edges, and grassy openings.
Crab apples are most likely to be confused with other members of the rose family, notably wild plums (Prunus spp.) and hawthorns (Crataegus spp.) Fortunately, the fruits of both plants are edible, so if you do mistake them, it's not a huge deal.
DO NOT EAT THE SEEDS, like with normal apples from the store crab apples also have poisonous seeds, so even if your crab apple is small don't eat it whole.
In Florida there grows a deadly type know as Manchineel/Death Apple
Mulberries - harvesting season begins in mid-June through August.
Native to eastern United States from Massachusetts to Kansas and down to the Gulf coast. (I ate tons of them when I lived in Texas -mod chaossal)
mulberries grow on trees and oh boy do they grow a ton, they are similar to blackberries but have a longer bodyshape, sweeter taste and also turn from red to black/purple.
mulberry trees are generally viewed as a nuisance due to the shear amount of berries that grow on them that later go bad and drop by the thousands on the ground when not eaten fast enough by wildlife.
If anyone has these around their house i'm sure the person would even be thankful if you asked to pick a lot from their tree.
Loquat fruit - The fruits are usually harvested between the months of March to June
Hard to find good info on where all they grow freely in the US but for sure you will find some in Florida, California and Texas! (These where my favorite fruits to eat when I lived in Texas, they are sweet and sour - mod chaossal) You can just bite into it, you eat the whole thing, skin and all, just spit out the seeds.
Miner’s Lettuce: It is in season in April and May, and can be eaten as a leaf vegetable. The entire plant, except the roots, is edible, and it provides vitamin C.
Native to the western regions of North America and can be found growing naturally from the coast to the Central Plains. However, it's most abundant in coastal and central California.
The plant has single, roundish leaves with a tiny white flower in the center and is most often found in damp, shady areas. The leaves have a tasty, mild, spinach-like flavor and texture and can be eaten raw or cooked.
Yellow Wood Sorrel (Oxalis): It grows best in spring or fall in warmer climates but plants will be present year-round.
This common weed can be identified by its clusters of three heart-shaped leaves, similar to a shamrock’s, and its five-petaled yellow flowers. It grows in moist, semi-shaded areas throughout most parts of the U.S. and Canada, and is a common part of forest undergrowth. Its leaves, flowers, and immature seed pods are all edible, with a flavor that’s described as lemony and pungent. It can be added to salads, cooked in soups and sauces, or used as a garnish for meats.
American Persimmons (fruit) - begin picking persimmons in the early fall when the days are still a bit warm, and the fruit is hard but fully colored. Let them ripen at room temp in a cool, dry area until they are soft. American persimmons are only edible when they look like they're about to go rotten: the skin will be very wrinkled, and the fruit itself will appear quite mushy. Furthermore, the color will be a bright orangey-pink. Grows in southern Connecticut/Long Island to Florida, and west to Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa.
Notes: Make sure to ask permission before foraging on anyone else’s property, if it looks like someone has a lot growing in a fruit tree or such on their yard it is often more then what the home owner can use for themselves and many may be willing to share. My grandma for example has a HUGE fig tree growing in her front yard, if someone asked her if they could have a few of the fruits she would be the type that would have no problem letting people have a few. ^^
Many federal and state parks also forbid gathering plants so make sure to check the rules for your local park to avoid any trouble.
Some edible plants I won't add to the list as they could be too easily mistaken and I don't want anyone to get hurt with a mix up!
*********
I'll add more to this list later this took me a long time and I want to take a break now xD
-Mod chaossal
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This is SO COOL AND I AM GLADit also reminded me of Blackberry season.. but could it be too late to hit a close by area ohno
Could always take a walk and see if you notice any.
Dandelions are pretty much gone, as of now. The hot, dry weather did them in, and the grass is dormant.
Any chance of adding picture links, for further identification?
What state do you live in? I could look up and make a list for everything that grows in your area too.^^
Though mulberries, crabapples and good pines if you can find some still good is not a bad haul.
Either is account is fine :3
Wuff just HAS to mention that, with Sous Vide, you can cut the time to make that Pine Nut Vodka down quite a bit>>
- Put the vodka & pine nuts into 1qt canning jars and screw the lids on slightly more than "finger tight" (You want the air to be able to escape as it heats)
- Fill to about 1 inch head space
- Set Sous Vide to 135 degrees (You can use higher temps for bolder flavors, but it tends to also bring out bitter components, which can be desirable for some infusions)
- Submerge the jars in the water. They will bubble after warming a bit, but this is okay. The pressure inside and out is equal and water won't get in.
- Allow to heat for 3 hours (You can remove and sample strength after that. Put back in bath and soak longer if you still want more flavor, but be advised that lengthy infusing can start pulling bitter notes)
- Remove to a towel. Allow to cool, strain into your storage bottle/jar and you're ready to go!
Dandelions: Vrghr's are all gone now. They're mostly a Spring thing in this neck of the woods. But wuff has made some DELIGHTFUL Dandelion Jelly from the blossoms. It's really not that hard.
But you have to pluck all the yellow bits out of the green leaves. Those leaves are bitter. And the yellow WILL stain your paws if you don't have latex gloves on (and it doesn't wash out easily).
- 4 Cups packed yellow blossoms. 4 C (approx) Sugar. 4 C Water. 1-2 TBS bottled Lemon Juice. 1 packet Fruit Pectin (1oz). 1 drop Yellow food coloring (optional)
- Put half the blossoms in a med sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. Simmer 10 minutes. Remove the blossoms with a slotted spoon and put in sieve. Squeeze out all the juice over the pot
- Put the remaining blossoms into the pot, and repeat the simmering, steeping, and sieving the juice back into the pot (Doing in 2 steps makes sure you can all the juice from the smaller portion of blossoms in the sieve)
- Add the sugar and bring to a strong simmer for 2-3 minutes, make sure all the sugar dissolves
- Remove from heat. Add the lemon juice and stir in. Add the pectin and stir in
- Add the Optional drop of yellow food coloring
- Decant into sterilized jelly jars. Process in hot water canning method. Use normal canning techniques to ensure things seal.
ENJOY!
Tastes a bit like light honey with a faint hint of grass and lemon, with a bit of subtle floral notes. Really nice, with a clear, light yellow color a bit like apple jelly
Cheers!!!
Might try to make that Dandelion Jelly next time I have a bunch growing in my backyard^^