Category: Foraging
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Chicken of the Woods
Chicken of the Woods refers to a group of edible mushrooms in the Laetiporus genus, most commonly Laetiporus sulphureus in the eastern U.S. These mushrooms are prized for their meaty texture and flavor that resembles chicken — hence the name. One of my favorite things about Chicken of the Woods is you often find a…
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Chickweed: Nature’s Microgreen
Chickweed (Stellaria media) is a plant I forage for most of the year and keep some dried on-hand for when it dies back in the heat of the summer. It’s used as an anemia treatment, taken 3 times a day as tea or food. This wild edible is commonly found in gardens across the United…
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One of our favorite cookbooks is The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook by Dinah Bucholz. We made at least one dish from this book every week and have been steadily making our way through all of the recipes! If you don’t have her book and love to cook and/or love Harry Potter, this is a great…
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Wildcrafting Wild Greens Pizza
Making homemead wild greens pizza is super fun because pizza is such a popular food in America and it’s a great way to make it healthier, organic, and at least partially locally. I’m not always up to super long, complicated dinners especially with minding our 3 kids at the same time. My husband, David, often…
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Reishi is a wild and cultivated mushroom you can find in hardwood forests in North America and Asia. It has been used for thousands of years in Eastern Asia to boost the immune system and prevent disease. If you buy it at an Asian grocery store, it will be called “lingzhi” and look like the…
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Identifying Deadly Poison Hemlock
Found a highly toxic plant on my walk today in a neighborhood down the street from me! Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum). Poison hemlock is a highly toxic, invasive plant in the carrot family. It grows throughout much of the United States, including Virginia, and is commonly found along roadsides, creek banks, fence lines, vacant lots,…
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Learn to forage prickly pear
Prickly pear is a cool hazardous plants to have in your garden. The worst you’ll get is an annoying prick on your skin (or a bunch of them) that are super hard to get out, but it’s really cool to watch grow and a super easy beginner plant. It makes a great doomsday hedge to…
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Poisonous Dogbane
Dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum), also called Hemp Dogbane, is a very useful wild plant, but also very poisonous. It can be deadly to pets, so you really don’t want it in your yard. However, it can be used to make very strong, very thin string, so it’s a great survival plant to know. It is the…
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Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) is one of my favorite wild edible berries to forage, but one that I do not recommend planting in your yard or on your farm as it is highly invasive. Luckily, you can find these easily enough on old farms. Foraging these tiny berries is a super fun activity to…
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12 Ways to Save Money by Foraging
With inflation what it is today, most of us are looking for ways to save a buck here and there on food. Since gardening can be a costly endeaver after buying land, topsoil, garden tools, seeds, and putting in hours of your time into it, foraging can be a great alternative. The only expense in…