Hopefully, everyone had an enjoyable Memorial weekend with their friends and family to relax, recover from the daily grind of work, and most importantly remember the reason for this holiday every year – to memorialize and remember our fallen military brothers and sisters who have served to protect our country. Some of you on this Memorial weekend may have gone to a lake, park, or camping/hiking somewhere in the spirit of disconnecting from our traditional concrete jungle lifestyles. If so, did you happen to spy any plants and vegetables that you might be able to put on your supper plate next to a steak?
A lot of people don’t realize, but by foraging for various plants you can actually gather a respectable amount of food in the springtime. As the stifling cold of winter ends and the woods once again become alive with life there are a lot of edible plants you might want to give a try. Some of the vegetables are Morel mushrooms (worth upwards of $20 - $50 per Lbs), Pheasantback mushrooms (which artfully look like they have a pheasant’s tail etched on them), and asparagus, too! The mushrooms can be hit-or-miss in the fact that there are faux or knock-off variants of the aforementioned mushrooms, It is best to buy a wild plant identification book or utilize an app on your phone to be 100% sure you are harvesting what you think you are harvesting. These wild mushrooms can be a delicious steak or potato topper if simply cooked in a pan with butter though.
Another common food people hunt and forage for in the spring and early summer is berries. There are lots to choose from depending on what region of the country you live in, but common ones are wild blackberries, raspberries, and even strawberries. Most of these have a fast maturity cycle meaning they go from small budding flowers to a ripe berry in a matter of a week or so. For that reason, your window of opportunity to pick them can come and go pretty quickly. If you know there is a berry patch close to where you live it might be worth visiting it once a week while on a walk to see how it is progressing not that that opportunity passes you by. Wild berries of all kinds are great to mix in with plain vanilla yogurt, top of your ice cream, or even make a smoothie with! Considering the berries are free (minus your investment of time to pick them), it can be incredibly rewarding and delicious to go out and harvest your own food in this manner.
Again, if you are new to foraging some of these vegetables and berries we mentioned, tried to go out with a friend to help in correctly identifying plants or get a book to help you along the way. Until next time, continually check out our blog, join our newsletter, and watch the website for new and exciting updates! As always, let us know all of your thoughts in the comments below. We love it when you participate in our articles and keep the conversation going!
