It feels good to be back! I have something that I want to show you.
By now, many of you have probably seen my video detailing why I decided to take a step away from the channel and from social media for a time in order to pursue the creation of a tool that I fully believe will change the way we learn foraging in the modern world!
(By the way, Iāve been reading all your kind comments, and I just wanted to let you know they mean the world to me and I appreciate you guys so much. š)
That is, of course, my new foraging app called āGatherā!
Gather solves some of the most important difficulties that foragers, especially new foragers, have to overcome.
You input your location, and the app will generate a foraging guide that is completely tailored to you!
The species you are shown are only the ones that grow in your range.
The seasonal timings are calibrated specifically to your location!
And, our lookalikes guide (which is my favorite feature) is there to show you, detail by detail, the differences between edible species and similar-looking poisonous plants. (Check out the app page to see a preview of this, itās so helpful!)
If youāre interested, you can try the app out completely free for two weeks to see if it is something that will be valuable to you! (I want to be upfront, Gather is a subscription app and weāve designed it for people who are serious about foraging or serious about learning foraging!)
Check out the app here - foraging.onelink.me/O5xE/youtube
And now, weāre hard at work on the biggest upcoming feature, the integrated foraging journal!
I want to hear from you about what kinds of things youād want in a digital foraging journal so we can make this feature as helpful as possible to you and our users!
You can complete this anonymous survey here to help us out - docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf1OTGg80ghm5MFoBā¦
From the last survey we did, your feedback directly contributed to changing the design of the app for a HUGE improvement. Thank you for that!
We want to do the same thing for this upcoming feature.
Look out for more photo posts like this from me going forward. Letās learn about wild food together!
Until the next one.
(Pictured: some of the times I was able to sneak away from app development to do some foraging!)
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Last week I posted about this strange tuber that grows wild in North America and asked you for your guesses!
By far, the most common response was "Jerusalem artichoke" aka "Sunchoke" (Helianthus tuberosus), which is *not* the answer.
Part of why I was so excited to make this video is because the plant it features has largely been forgotten as a wild food.
I initially was going to release the video on Friday of last week, but decided to delay the release to do a few more experiments. I'm glad I did. I think the final product is even better now!
The video will for sure be released tomorrow, April 8, at 10:30 am CDT. It may be the last video that I drop for a while, but more on that later...
I'm really excited for you to see it!
-Jesse
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Believe it or not, these strange tuber grows wild all across America and they are edible! š„
Can you guess what plant they come from?
This is one of the most underrated wild edible plants in all of North America. The entire plant is edible, itās very nutritious and super delicious! (You can see in the photos some of the larger ones I've found!)
Tomorrow, Iāll post a long video which shows you everything you need to know to find and forage this amazing plant. (Plus how to get them established in your very own backyard)
I've been working on this video for a month now and I cannot wait for you to get to see it! š
When I teach about this plant at classes, Iām always surprised at how few people know about it, so letās change that together!
I hope to see you there!
#foraging #wildfood
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One of these plants is edible; the other one is deadly. I eat the edible one every year, but should you?
First, let's talk about telling them apart and the concept of ālookalikes.ā
If you live in the US, youāve likely run into these plants before. This is perhaps the most notorious edible vs deadly lookalike combination in the world of foraging.
Before we start, I want to note that a combination like this is far more rare than many believe. I think many of us at the start of our foraging journey perceived that nearly every plant or mushroom we were interested in had a dangerous sneaky lookalike just waiting for us to make a mistake.
The truth is that there are far fewer close similarities like this and far fewer truly deadly plants and mushrooms than you might think, at least in North America.
That isn't an excuse to be not 100% confident in a specimen's identity before consuming it; I just want to give you the proper context.
With that, letās talk about distinguishing these, because another misconception is that there are these dangerous combinations out there that āeven experts mistake.ā This also is entirely false.
I know of no such combination that any season foraged (donāt have to be an expert) would mistake when given the right distinguishing details to be observed in the field. (more on that later)
So, what are the distinguishing details between wild carrot (Daucus carota) and poison hemlock (Conium maculatum)?
Letās start with one that isnātā¦ Donāt ever, under any circumstances, use the aroma of the roots as a distinguishing characteristic!
Not only is aroma something that can vary tremendously within a single species of plants, but also, *our experience of it can vary as well*!
Further, the difference in aroma between wild carrot and poison hemlock is a matter of degree.
People say āwild carrot smells like carrotā but fail to mention that poison hemlock also smells like carrot, just more faintly! (Before youāve smelled dozens of them separately, how are you to now how strong āstrongā is and how faint āfaintā is?)
Oh, wow. I'm already out of characters... š
I'm not even only halfway there! Continued in a free post for everyone on my Patreon (link in my bio, full comparison chart there too)
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If you live in America, Iām begging you to look for these blossoms this spring, hereās whyā¦
Over the past two hundred years, Americaās native wild plums have declined significantly in population especially in Eastern North America.
This is a wild food that once fed tens of thousands of people on this continent, now most people here donāt even know they exist!
I think the best thing that could happen to Americaās incredible wild plums is that each and every one of you reading this be able to develop a relationship through foraging them for wild food.
Wild plums grow from coast to coast here in North America, so chances are there is one close to you that is hiding in plain sight.
In order to become a successful plum forager, you first need to be able to find them! By far, the easiest way to find wild plums is when they are flowering in the very early spring.
Just last weekend, I took a long drive through a route I havenāt before this time of the year and I found FIVE new wild plum spots (one of the one of the bigger ones Iāve ever stumbled on).
But, you need to know how to distinguish them from Bradford pears, a noxious invasive weed that blooms at the same time as wild plums.
Bradford pears should be removed wherever found, and wild plums revered.
In my new video on wild plums, Iāll show you exactly why they have been declining so much in the last century AND Iāll show you what you can do to help them! Itās up now on the channel (newest video).
Now, more than ever, we need to be valuing the plants and the wild food that make this country what it is.
If you havenāt foraged for wild food before, American wild plums is a great place to start!
Again, in the video I mentioned, Iāll show you everything you need to know to get started.
In my interactive foragerās calendar, you can find the timing for wild plums and dozens of other vital wild food species in America. (link in my channel bio)
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Have you seen these white flowers in the springtime before?
One is from American wild plums (Prunus section Prunocerasus) which used to feed countless numbers of people in North America with flowers that smell like šÆ.
The other is from Bradford Pear (Pyrus calleryana) one of the worst noxious invasive weeds in North America which is now killing thousands of wild plum thickets with flowers that smell like ššĀ and š¦.
A lot of you have told me you struggle with identifying these two trees, which is understandable. If you donāt know the right details they can look very similar.
However, with the characteristics in this post you should be able to tell them apart whether you see them far away or up close!
Tomorrow Iāll share another post about the importance of Americaās wild plums.
Let me know if you have any questions about finding and foraging wild plum!
#foraging #wildplum #bradfordpear
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Did you know there is another kind of wild garlic that is FAR superior to the common field garlic (Allium vineale)?
Now that we know how to distinguish these Alliums from star-of-bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum), Iād like to introduce you to American onion (Allium canadense) commonly just called āwild onion.ā
The greens of field garlic are quite tough and have a bit of an off flavor to them, which gives them my stamp of *overrated*!
However, the greens of wild onion are tender and succulent and the flavor doesnāt have any components that put me off.
In this post, you can find the key characteristics to tell the difference between them.
Beyond the taste, there are more reasons to look out for wild onion. As you may have guessed from the name, American onions are native to North America. Despite that, at this time they are being outcompeted by the nonnative invasive field garlic in many areas.
This presents you with the opportunity to grow or propagate wild onion populations near you! One year I transplanted the sprouting bulbils from wild onions around me and theyāre getting more and more established in my backyard.
This is one of many examples of the reciprocal nature of foraging.
Donāt every let anyone tell you that foraging is bad for nature, that is the furthest thing from the truth. If each and every person in America was a forager, I can guarantee the American landscape would be in a much better place than it is today!
So please, be on the lookout for wild onions near you, they can use your help! They typically grow in more shaded areas than field garlic does.
Other important native onion species to look out for are:
- Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum) across North America
- Textile Onion (Allium textile) central Western North America, Colorado to Montana
- Prairie Onion (Allium stellatum) Midwest, Minnesota down through northeast Texas
You can find more ID comparisons and detailed timing info on dozens of wild food species in my Interactive Foragerās Calendar. (link in my channel bio)
#foraging #wildonion
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Have you seen this edible āonion grassā growing near you?
Field garlic (Allium vineale) is one of the earliest edible greens to pop up as winter wanes. Itās an excellent plant for new foragers to learn! My favorite way to use it is to wrap the leaves in a bundle to use a flavoring for soup or stock.
However, there is one mildly toxic lookalike that you should be aware of!
Star of bethlehem (Ornithogallum umbellatum) is a moderately toxic plant that can look very similar to field garlic if you donāt know the right details to distinguish them.
The following photos here will help you tell them apart!
By far the easiest detail to employ is the sniff test. If it doesnāt smell like an onion, it isnāt an onion! (There are several other similar non-onion lookalikes and none of them pass the sniff test)
Another detail that I didnāt get to show in the photos is that star of bethlehem has mucilaginous roots, but field garic does not.
There is a true onion lookalike, American wild onion (Allium canadense) that you should be aware of because the greens are FAR superior to that of invasive field garlic.
At my home, I pull up the field garlic to help the American wild onion that Iāve transplanted to take hold. If you live in America, I recommend you do the same!
Feel free to share this with a friend who has field garlic growing near them! (Thatās basically everyone š)
Have you used field garlic before?
Oh, I also posted a video about field garlic this time last year where I'll walk you though the identification step-by-step!
All the information from this post was from my Foraging Knowledgebase in the Interactive Foragerās Calendar where you can find timing info for field garlic and dozens of other wild greens, fruits, and more so youāll know exactly when to go foraging for them! (link in my channel bio)
#foraging #fieldgarlic #lookalikes
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Another use of wild kudzu is for making baskets! The vines are nice and flexible and make excellent material. Plus, you canāt harvest too much of it!
Last Autumn I learned how to make these at a fantastic class at the Sumac Cottage taught by Sarah Bell. If you also want to learn how to do this, you're in luck!
Sheās going to be doing more classes on basketry with wild sources (including kudzu) at the Southeastern Foraging Conference and Iām going to be there too!
Iāll be teaching foraging fundamentals as well as covering some of the most important wild food species in North America (particularly in the Southeast of course).
The event is coming up soon (March 13-16) and will take place at Camp McDowell in Nauvoo, AL. So get your spot soon if youāre interested!
This is the first big conference in the Deep South with a strong component of wild food and I canāt wait for it!
Thereās also going to be classes on prescribed fire with Kyle from Native Habitat Project. Classes on trapping, wild edible mushrooms, and much more!
I hope to see you there. More details below š
www.southeasternforagingconference.com/
(Pictured, the back of the basket, which I think looks very beautiful, me gathering the vines for basketry, and an array of different species of hickory nuts that I used in my hickory milk video)
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Have you seen either of these beautiful wildflowers popping up around you?
These two common yard herbs pop up *all over the place* in early spring.
I look forward to foraging (one of) them every year!
In my opinion, they are one of the best places to start learning plant identification, because while at first glance they can look extremely similar, with the right distinguishing details, youāll be able to tell them apart in no time!
In these photos, Iāve highlighted the most important details for distinguishing them! (Which is important because while I LOVE deadnettle tea, I think henbit tea is mediocre š
)
Feel free to share it with a friend!
P.S. As many of you discovered, yes the secret flour I was showing was indeed kudzu (Pueraria montata). I *just* dropped my half-hour treatise video on how to forage for it on my YT channel if youāre interested in checking it out!
P.P.S Less than a month to go until the Southeast Foragerās Conference in Alabama! If youāre in the area, Iād love to see you there. Weāre almost certainly going to be finding lots of these two herbs. It would be fun to gather a bunch and make tea together! šĀ (Pinned comment for more details)
#foraging #henbit #deadnettle
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Try out my foraging app! š