Plants & Mushrooms to Forage in Winter
Foraging in the winter isn’t always easy, but there are reliable plants even in harsh winter conditions! It’s always important to remember to leave most of what you find for the wildlife, but especially so in winter when food is more scarce. Always forage with care & an awareness of the cycle of life and how we play into it.
1. Conifer Needles: probably the easiest and most widespread thing to forage in winter. Most conifers are edible with the exception of the toxic yew trees. Pine, spruce, fit, redwood, and hemlock needles all make a lovely tea or as additions to baking or cocktails. Guide to identifying conifers: https://www.growforagecookferment.com/conifer-tree-identification/
2. Juniper Berries: aren’t really berries but a fleshy pine cone. They’re commonly used as a spice and are the main flavoring agent for gin. They can be made into a medicinal tea, homemade infused gin, or even a wild yeast starter for fermenting.
3. Birch Bark & Branches: the bark and small twigs of birch can be made into a tea or the inner bark can be used as a flour substitute. Never take too much bark from one tree or you could harm it and it’s growth!
4. Tree Sap: many trees can be tapped for sap, usually towards the end of winter but the perfect timing depends on your location. Maple, birch, even black walnut can all be tapped for syrup. Guide to tapping trees and making syrup at home: https://www.growforagecookferment.com/tap-trees-make-syrup/
5. Acorns: the nuts of oak trees come into season in late fall and can be foraged through winter. They require a bit of processing but the resulting acorn flour is very good! Acorn flour guide: https://learningandyearning.com/acorn-flour/
6. Maple Tree Seeds: A.K.A helicopters! They may be a bit dried up and not taste great by the winter, but they are often available through the cold months.
7. Dock Seeds: curly dock and yellow dock are leafy weeds whose greens are often foraged in spring and summer. When winter comes the plant will die back leaving the dried seed stalk. The seeds left behind can be made into a flour or added to recipes like crackers.
8. Rose Hips: the fruit of the rose flower appears in fall but often persists through winter. They are high in vitamin C and make a yummy tea, jelly, or rose hip syrup. Rose hip recipes: https://www.growforagecookferment.com/rose-hip-recipes/
9. Hawthorn Berries: there are many types and they persist into wintertime. Not all varieties taste great but none are toxic except for the seeds. Don’t eat the seeds! They are high in pectin and make a great jelly or jam.
10. Cranberries: native to the Northeastern and upper Midwestern US, cranberries handle freezes well and last through much of winter making them a popular foraging berry.
11. Wintergreen (Teaberry or Checkerberry): the berries of the wintergreen plant will often last all winter and still be on the plant in the spring. The berries and leaves of wintergreen are edible and make a great tea.
12. Uva Ursi (Bearberry or Kinnikinnick): common in the Western US, highly medicinal especially for urinary tract infections. Does produce berries, but most commonly used for it’s leaves. It’s low growing and can be found under the snow if you’re willing to dig for it!
13. Watercress: loves cold water and will often grow all winter. Watercress is a peppery green that you can use the way you would any leafy greens!
14. Early Spring Greens & Flowers: only in mild climates will these grow through the winter, but dandelion, chickweed, yarrow, dead nettle, miner’s lettuce, and wild violet may be available to you.
15. Oregon Grape: the inner bark of the stems and roots is highly medicinal. It contains berberine which is great for the immune system, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory. Oregon grape is at risk for being over harvested so be extra cautious foraging this one!
16. Cattail: the edible roots can be dug up in the winter. In late winter the first shoots coming up are also edible and really tasty!
17. Burdock: a thistle with an edible and tasty root. Many thistles have edible roots that can be dug up if you have access to others as well!
18. Jerusalem Artichoke: these knobby tubers are actually sweeter and more digestible after a few frosts. Often grown in gardens or found in disturbed areas.
19. Chicory: the root can be harvested all through winter. It makes a good coffee substitute and a yummy warm beverage!
20. Dandelion: the root can be collected through winter. Highly medicinal and bitter, good for a coffee substitute or homemade bitters.
21. Old Man’s Beard (Usnea): a lichen that hangs in long strands from trees, common in the pacific Northwest. It has medicinal properties and can be made into a tincture. Usnea takes a long time to grow so only gather what has fallen to the forest floor, don’t take from the tree itself!
22. Reindeer Moss: grows on trees and is edible with some preparation. Don’t eat it raw as it can cause some stomach upset.
23. Yellowfoot Chanterelles (Winter Chanterelles): these tasty mushrooms can be found through most of winter. They have the same false gills as chanterelles with a hollow stem.
24. Oyster Mushrooms: grow on downed logs or dead wood, often year-round especially in milder climates. They don’t tolerate a hard freeze.
25. Chaga Fungus: powerfully medicinal, chaga grows as a large knobby looking thing usually on birch trees. Harvest with care to ensure it will come back year after year, it’s a slow grower.
26. Turkey Tail: grows on trees throughout winter. They can be made into tea and are great for the immune system.
Dulse: a reddish colored seaweed is one of the most common and tasty. It is found on rocky shorelines throughout the world.
Kelp: there are several varieties of kelp, but all are edible. Sugar kelp and frost kelp are both common and great to add to soups and stews.
Keep Reading: https://www.growforagecookferment.com/what-to-forage-in-winter/
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