Foraging edible and medicinal plants has become a forgotten skillset. There are many books on foraging but most are stock photos with authors who just researched and copied someone else’s work, that copied someone else’s work, out of what appears to be 2 or 3 main field-manuals.

The work and time put in to learning to forage is worth the peace of mind it brings. I don’t mean just reading a page and looking at pictures of a plant but the actual work. It’s a lot of walking outside in different seasons. Slowing down to observe what is around you. Getting sunlight and fresh air.

I forage more for knowledge than food. I’m not interested in making a salad with wild lettuce. Cultivated lettuce from my garden or the store tastes better. Then there are some foods that are worth spending a lot of time looking for, like pawpaws or morels. But the ability to be able to go without relaying on mainstream food sources for any period of time is knowledge worth having and passing down to your next generation. I do try everything I positively identify, just for the sake of knowing how my body will react to different wild foods. So far out of 14 wild mushrooms and at least 30ish wild plants I have not had any ill effects.

We won’t go into the Identification of edible and medicinal plants on here. That is way to much to cover. Nor do I consider myself expert enough to teach foraging, but I can give resources I have used to positively identify plants:

• Learnyourland.com has been my go-to for mushrooms and tree identification. There are courses that you have to pay to view, but worth every penny. There is also some free content on YouTube to get a sense of Adam Haritan’s teaching style.

• Any book by Samuel Thayer.

• Edible Wild Plants 1&2 by Kallas

• Wild wisdom of weeds by Blair.

• Mushrooms of the Southeast by Elliot

• Mushrooms of the Carolinas by Bessette

I have read dozens of other books but these have been my keepers and go-to’s.