Foraging for wild edibles can be a fun family adventure to harvest nutritional foods. Forests, parks, fields, and riverbeds offer an abundance of salad greens, vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, and nuts. You will need a knife, gloves, digging trowel, and a basket or bag to carry your harvest. When foraging be sure to wear appropriate clothing, footwear, raingear, walking stick, sunscreen, and insect repellent. As well, taking water to hydrate and some food snacks is a good idea. For safety on longer trips it is wise to bring maps or GPS, a compass, a few first aid and hygiene items, matches or lighter, and so on.
Common fruits that grow in the wild include apple, crabapple, strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, paw paws, hawthorns, mulberry, grapes, and more. Common wild nuts include acorns, hazelnut, beechnut, walnut, chestnut, almond, hickory, and more. Wild salad leafy greens include dandelion, purslane, plantain, chicory, chickweed, sorrel, and more. Wild cooking vegetables include asparagus, amaranth, cattail, burdock, amaranth, mustard, grape leaves, milkweed, nettle, lamb’s quarter, thistle, watercress, and more.
Beechnut
Habitat: Eastern U.S., hard wood forests, river valleys, mountain slopes.
Identification: Tall tree, large oval toothed leaves, burrs on outer shell.
Harvest: In autumn gather fallen nuts on the ground, dry in open warm area.
Preparation: Roast nuts, crack shells, used in baked goods.
Blueberry
Habitat: Northern U.S. from Maine to Oregon; open, sunny areas, fields, mountain areas.
Identification: A small shrub, perennial flowering plant, small dark blue berries.
Harvest: July through August.
Preparation: Raw fruit, on cereal, salads, frozen, dried, used in baked goods, jam, sauces. High in vitamins C and K, manganese.
Crabapples
Habitat: North America, fields, shrub areas, margins of woodlands,
Identification: Small shrub tree, gnarled branches, small apples, oval serrated leaves.
Harvest: Autumn.
Preparation: Tart and sour, best used in cooking, jam, chutney, sauces, baked goods, wine, syrup, pickled. High in vitamin C, potassium, manganese.
Elderberry
Habitat: Eastern U.S., open areas, near farms, near organic waste, margins of woodland, near marshes, rivers.
Identification: Shrub, dark blue berries in clusters.
Harvest: Late summer.
Preparation: Raw fruit, teas, wine. High in vitamins C and B6, iron, good for immune system.
Grapes
Habitat: Eastern U.S., along streams, river banks, fields, road sides, trails, margins of woodlands.
Identification: Climbing vines, fruit in clusters, leaves heart shaped, toothed.
Harvest: August through September.
Preparation: Raw fruit, juice, wine, jelly, dried as raisons. Leaves used in stuffed grape leaves. High in sugar.
Hawthorn
Habitat: Eastern U.S., woods, fields, along streams and rivers.
Identification: Small spreading shrub with dense branches, long sharp thorns, toothed leaves with lobes, red fruit. Taste for sweetness, some varieties are bitter.
Harvest: Ripe in autumn.
Preparation: Raw, dried, jelly, syrup, wine.
Hazelnut
Habitat: Eastern U.S., Pacific Coast, dense thickets, margins of woodlands, river banks.
Identification: Shrub, nuts in bristly husks, broad toothed leaves.
Harvest: Ripe in late summer, autumn.
Preparation: Dry nuts, raw or roasted, used in baking, deserts, confections.
Mulberry
Habitat: North America, forests, road sides, fields,
Identification: Tree, lobed leaves, red and black berries, resemble raspberries.
Harvest: Autumn, ripe black berries.
Preparation: Raw fruit, dried, used in baked goods, wine, tea, jam. High in vitamin C, iron.
Oak, Acorns
Habitat: Throughout the U.S., forests, parks, ridges, valleys.
Identification: Tall hardwood trees, spiral arranged leaves with smooth lobes, clusters of nuts. White oak acorns are sweet, red oak acorns are bitter.
Harvest: Gather fallen acorns on the ground in autumn.
Preparation: Dry acorns then grind, use like chopped nuts, meal, or flour. Soak red oak acorns for two days to eliminate bitterness.
Paw Paws
Habitat: Eastern U.S., hardwood forests, drained bottomlands, river valleys, hilly areas.
Identification: Small tree, large yellow-green to brown fruit. Sweet custard like pulp similar to banana and mango.
Harvest: Late summer, early autumn.
Preparation: Raw fruit, pies, breads, puddings, ice cream. High in vitamin C, iron, magnesium, manganese.
Persimmons
Habitat: Eastern U.S., margins of woodlands, fields, hillsides.
Identification: Common forest tree, large shrub, elliptical oblong leaves, yellow-orange or red-orange fruit.
Harvest: Ripe fruit in autumn.
Preparation: Eat raw like an apple, on cereal, salads, dried, used in baked goods, pudding. High in sugar, vitamin C, iron, manganese.
Raspberries and Blackberries
Habitat: Northeastern U.S., open sunny areas, along roads, railroad tracks, trails, ditches, fields, margins of woodlands.
Identification: Red and black berry varieties, small shrub, thorny woody stems, elliptical toothed leaves.
Harvest: Early summer.
Preparation: Raw, on cereals, smoothies, ice cream, with cream, yogurt, dried, frozen, used in baked goods, jam, sauces, leaves in tea. High in vitamin C and manganese.
Strawberries
Habitat: Eastern U.S. and northern Rocky Mountains, sunny areas, forest clearings, fields, meadows, edge of trails, margins of woodlands.
Identification: Low growing plant, red berries, oval toothed leaves.
Harvest: Early summer.
Preparation: Raw fruit, salads, cereal, ice cream, with cream, yogurt, dried, frozen, jams, baked goods, leaves for tea. High in vitamin C.
Walnut
Habitat: Eastern U.S., forests, bottom lands, flood plains.
Identification: Large tree, thick outer bark, lance shaped leaves, green-yellow-black thick outer husk.
Harvest: Gather fallen nuts in autumn.
Preparation: Raw or roasted, salads, baking, ice cream.
Sources:
The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plant, U.S. Army, Skyhorse, 2009.
Edible Wild Plants, Thomas S. Elias and Peter A. Dykeman, Sterling, NY, 1982.
Wild Edibles: A Practical Guide, Sergei Bootenko, North Atlantic, 2013.
