Springtime is long at last here and it’s time to take full advantage of the fantastic wild food sources that are beginning to burst from the earth. Spring is my favorite time of year to do food foraging, because there are some particularly special offerings. Spring is all about fresh beginnings: light greens, tender shoots, and cool roots.
As we progress through November, it is easy to think that the harvest season is over. There are many plants, however, that are still ready to harvest and make a great addition to your fall larder. Acorns and wintergreen are mostly found in deciduous forests such as those found on the East Coast of North America; however, you can find different varieties of the same plants in many places. For instance, the greatest acorn producing oak tree on the east coast is the white oak, whereas the scrub oak is prevalent in the Rocky Mountain region.
The beginning of autumn is an incredible abundant time of harvest, and many plants are just coming into the height of their fruiting. This includes many plants that would normally be considered “weeds.” Many of these plants, however, are performing important ecosystem services in addition to being beneficial to humans. Get out your wild edibles guidebook and go hunting for these three plants you can find in early fall.
Out of all the spring plants you should forage for, wild chives are usually the first to start popping up. Once you train your eye to see them, you'll realize they're all over the place – in fields, in yards, even by roadsides. This hardy little plant is well worth knowing, especially since you can eat it!
How to Identify Wild Chives
Spring is a time of new beginnings, when the world shakes to life again, breathing into beautiful young colors and fresh, full scents of revival. And, amidst all the new life popping forth, one can also find some tasty wild plants, if you know where to look…or smell!
Most people would label everything that grows from the cracks in the sidewalks as weeds, but are they? Nope: You can actually eat a lot of plants you probably never noticed before. Unfortunately, I can't include all the foragable plants in your neighborhood in this one article, but the three I chose should be easy enough to spot.