#safe foraging

[froggyforest]

As garlic mustard is starting to show up, please remember that it's invasive in North America BUT native to Europe and Asia. So taking the whole plant is fine in America but not in Europe. I'm making this post in reference to last year's posts about war on garlic mustard. I've seen a post of someone who took the whole plants and they were European and learned that it's not invasive there. So do your research and forage safely and ethically.

[dyslexic-asexual]

"tragic, tumblr user made a good point but was unnecessarily condescending about it" anyway heres some RESOURCES:

Reusing Potentially Contaminated Landscapes: Growing Gardens in Urban Soils (https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2014-03/documents/urban_gardening_fina_fact_sheet.pdf)

Steps to Creating a Community Garden or Expand Urban Agriculture at a Brownfields Site at (https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/steps-creating-community-garden-or-expand-urban-agriculture-brownfields-site)

Tip: kale (and others, research above) soaks up contaminants VERY easily, in general please dont eat anything without doing a soil test or research.

[toadstoolgardens]

Sustainable & Safe Gathering Practices for Foraging Wild Edibles and Herbs

Forage, don't Plunder: Overharvesting plants is a serious issue, along with habitat loss and climate change. Anyone interested in foraging needs a deep regard for the future of native plants and consider this future when harvesting. A rule of thumb that I follow is for every 10 of a species, take only 1. Focus your foraging on abundant, widespread, and nonnative species. Seek out common yard/field weeds over rarer woodland weeds, etc. If a species is uncommon/rare or just uncommonly spotted around your area, don't harvest any.

1. Only Forage Abundant Plants with a Large, Widespread Population. Never harvest any plant without assessing its population and the pressures it might face. A plant may be abundant locally, but declining or disappearing from worldwide demand. United Plant Savers and other resources will let you know what species around you are endangered and at-risk.

2. Favor Harvesting Nonnative Plants. Nonnative or invasive plants have traveled from other lands to grow. They displace native species through competition and lack of pests/predators. These species are perfect for human foragers since we're not taking from local food webs! Whether a plant is native is one of the first things we should consider when choosing whether or not to harvest a plant.

3. Tend the Spaces in Between. If you're a gardener, you probably spend time dealing with wild weeds already. These wild weeds can be planned to peacefully live alongside your planted veggies and herbs, giving you more food and medicine in your garden. Cultivating weeds in the in between spaces of your gardens takes advantage of an abundant, healthy resource. You can also leave useful wild weeds that pop up naturally and utilize them before pulling them up for the compost pile.

4. Be a Steward. Don't forget you're interacting with living, breathing beings when you forage. Take only what you need, leave no trace, pick up litter on your way. If you're harvesting a native plant that you feel is abundant enough to harvest, be extra conscientious. If it's a plant with multiple stems, take only one stem from each plant. Spread your harvest over a large area. If you're harvesting roots, take only a portion and cut back the aboveground plant parts so the plant doesn't become stressed with a smaller root system. Harvest regeneratively.

5. Harvest in Areas You Know Are Clean and Herbicide Free. Sometimes you'll see a fabulous plant near a road or power line, but it's important to avoid harvesting from these areas because soil is usually contaminated. Harvest 30+ feet from the road and be aware of other sources of potential pollution. Urban organic farms and community gardens are other options.

6. Properly Identify Any Plant Before Harvesting. If you're in doubt, don't harvest it! Spend time learning plants of your region with photographs and written descriptions as well as the poisonous species in your region. Identifying plants requires looking at a combination of traits to differentiate your plant from others. USDA Plant Database to help with plant identification.

7. Legal and Neighborly Considerations. Sometimes foraging isn't legal. Obviously get permission if you're harvesting on private land, but federal and public lands have regulations and permits as well. Don't harvest anything you aren't 100% certain you're allowed to be harvesting. If you are in the U.S. you can often obtains permits to gather wild plants for personal use from the U.S. Forest Service.

Source: Foraging for Wild Edibles and Herbs: Sustainable and Safe Gathering Practices by Juliet Blankespoor

[naturalholisticlivingwellness]

It’s that time of year again. Cold and flu season is right around the corner but as always nature has perfect timing. You can find an all natural flu fighter in the form of elderberries that ripen around this time of year (August/September). But hang on! Before you rush off to go picking these berries to put into your freezer for the winter, there’s a few things you should know!

According to Edible Wild Food, the American Elderberry tree (Sambucus canadensis) is “sometimes propagated as an ornamental shrub[.] The elderberry bush is a member of the honeysuckle family. It attracts birds and butterflies and can be pruned back every few years to keep it looking good in a landscaped garden. This deciduous shrub produces a fruit that, in recent years has become very popular. The white flowers transform into dark purple fruit late summer….Sambucus canadensis is a very close cousin of Sambucus nigra (European Elderberry).

[DESCRIPTION]

Trunk/Bark

Elder is characterised by its short trunk (bole). This deciduous shrub has soft, smooth, gray-brownish bark with corky bumps and furrowed bark. Older bark is brownish gray with shallow fissures, becoming rough with thin, plate-like scales.

Branches/Twigs

Twigs are hairless, yellowish green with a white pith and scattered, large lenticels (pores). There is spongy, white pith inside the twigs and branches. Some bushes can be as almost wide as they are tall.

Height

Up to 3 metres.

Leaves/Needles

The leaves are pinnate with 5 to 9 leaflets (rarely 3 or 11). Each leaf is 5 to 30 cm long, and the dark green leaflets have serrated margins.

Flowers

Each radially symmetrical flower has 5 flattened, white petals in a large umbrella-shaped cluster and has five protruding stamens (male parts). The overall flower head measures anywhere between 15 and 30 cm in diametre.

Fruit

Edible purplish-black fruit ripens in drooping clusters late summer and they measure 3–5 mm in diameter. Elderberries are particularly rich in flavonoids, especially anthocyanins. In addition to their culinary uses, elderberries are commonly used in cough syrups.

Habitat

Elderberry prefers moist soil but tolerates dry soil as well. It grows best in full sun. It is native to a large area of North America, east of the Rocky Mountains. They grow wild in parts of Mexico and Central America.

Edible Parts

The berries and flowers are edible. Flowers can be tossed into a salad. Eating the berries raw is not favoured by many. Elderberries tend to end up as pies, in pancakes, jams, jellies, and in wine making.”

According the to United States Forest Service, “American pokeweed is a member of the Phytolaccaceae, the Pokeweed family. Members of the family are found around the world in tropical and subtropical distribution with a few species that occur in temperate areas. About 16 genera and 100 species are recognized in the family. The genus Phytolacca contains about 25 species which range from herbs to shrubs to tall trees. Two native species of pokeweed are recognized in North America, one found across much of North America and one found in California and the southwestern U.S. A few tropical species have been introduced unintentionally in imported products or intentionally as ornamentals.

This pokeweed is usually 1.8 meter to 3.0 meters (about 6 to 10 feet) tall, but may in some instances reach 21 feet tall. One or more stems arise from a tuber-like taproot that can become large over several years. The often pinkish-red, smooth and partially hollow stem is rigid to flexible, not strong, and up to 5 centimeters (2 inches) diameter.

The leaves are alternate, thin, green on top, and lighter below. The leaves are usually 20 to 35 centimeters (7 3/4 to 14 3/4 inches) long by 10 to 18 centimeters (about 4 to 7 inches) wide. They are tapered at both ends. Bruised or crushed leaves and stems have a somewhat acrid odor.

Flowers are borne in pinkish racemes, linear clusters with each flower on a short stem. The flowers are usually white to greenish, but may be pinkish or purplish. Flowers have 5 sepals, no petals, about 10 stamens. It produces purple-black berries that are about 6 to 11 millimeters (1/4 to 2/5 inches) diameter with 6 to 12 seeds.

American pokeweed is a species of open or edge habitats, especially those where birds are able to roost. It is found at forest edge, in fence rows, under power lines, pastures, old field, forest openings, and other similar areas. It is sometimes a garden or yard weed. It is found from Washington south to California then east through Arizona and New Mexico to the Atlantic coast, north to Nebraska, Minnesota and Maine. It is also found in Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick in Canada.

This species may flower year around in southern states, and May to October in northern states. The entire plant is poisonous causing a variety of symptoms, including death in rare cases. The berries are especially poisonous. Young leaves and stems when properly cooked are edible and provide a good source of protein, fat and carbohydrate. Regional names for the plant include poke, poke sallet, poke salad, and pokeberry. The fruits are important food for mockingbirds, northern cardinals, and mourning doves. The name “phytolacca” means red dye plant.”

If you take a look at the picture I’ve provided, you can see some key differences. While the berries look similar because of the color, they grow differently. Elderberries grow in a bunch, like grapes. Pokeberries on the other hand grow more in a straight line. Elderberries are also smooth while pokeberries (at least in this picture) look like black curled up Rollie pollie pill bugs. The biggest indicator though is the color of the stalk/stem. A mature poke plant, like many poisonous plants, will have a magenta (reddish purple or hot pink) stem.

This website has two wonderful videos that show the difference between the plants.

https://herbs.motherearthliving.com/elderberry-vs-poke-berry-identification/

If you would like some more introductory information about elderberries check out this helpful guide: https://www.earthley.com/product/what-you-need-to-know-about-elderberries/ref/Donezzia/

If you’re looking at getting some high quality premade elderberry for the fall/winter, you can get some here: https://www.earthley.com/product/elderberry-elixir-herbal-extract/ref/Donezzia/

Or here: https://www.earthley.com/product/elderberry-syrup-diy-kits/ref/Donezzia/

Want to learn how to make your own tinctures? You can check the Introductory, Intermediate, Advanced and other herbalism courses from The Herbal Academy here: https://theherbalacademy.com/courses-classes/?ap_id=Donezzia

Sources:

https://herbs.motherearthliving.com/elderberry-vs-poke-berry-identification/

https://www.ediblewildfood.com/elderberry.aspx

https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/phytolacca_americana.shtml