Foraging Wild Foods

Awesome post, thanks Ryan! This has been a hobby of mine for some time and I am particularly interested in the medical applications of different plants/roots/herbs. I'm currently in medical school and I spend a lot of time finding the latest research on the aforementioned. There are many I would like to mention here but fear doing so because of their potent effects, many contraindications, and limited scientific research. Furthermore, different people metabolize compounds at different rates making the dosing tricky. Here is one book on the subject I could recommend though; it lists many different herbs, their anecdotal use, what the current evidence says, the quality of the current evidence, and safety: https://www.amazon.com/Phytopharmacy-Evidence-Based-Herbal-Medicinal-Products/dp/1118543564/

One thing I think worth mention: Many studies have found that cinnamon may improve glucose regulation in a dose-dependent manner (don't go crazy please). Mechanism is thought to be due to increased glucagon-like peptide 1, which stimulates glucose-dependent insulin secretion. See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21480806 , https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22579946

On 12/14/2016 at 10:42 AM, Graig Alpert said:

Awesome post, thanks Ryan! This has been a hobby of mine for some time and I am particularly interested in the medical applications of different plants/roots/herbs. I'm currently in medical school and I spend a lot of time finding the latest research on the aforementioned

My pleasure Graig, as you can tell it is one of my passions. Interesting topic you brought up regarding the medicinal value of these foods. I have not discussed this specific topic of medicine as I feel it is sort of on another level of foraging, outside of the basics of gathering an item for a simple meal. Feel free to add more of your experience and uses of wild foods. When it comes to the medicinal uses of foods we tend to look at specific conditions or ailments someone is trying to address. I see some who way over sell these themes and cures, however, who are not qualified to address treating medical conditions. I personally do not get into that. When I seek out wild foods that have high nutrient density or potency in the research, low caloric value, without the purpose of treating disease, in my mind I think of this more as supplimentation. As of late, this is more of my interest, especially how it relates to performance or physical training and I spend more of my research directed in this area.

With that said, I can share a bit of what I have been up to this year with wild foods and the medicinal topic you presented. When looking at preparations, or techniques, a few of the methods are:

1) Infusing or decocting (teas): This method allows one to enjoy the benefits of polyphenols or antioxidents from various plant parts. Here is one I enjoy:

Bulk collection of Nettle in July, hanging to dry over 1 week in my favorite training area (my barn). When finished drying into the final tea product, I break down the dried plant material and store in these quart jars:

It makes a nice, earthy, dark green tea. I have already enjoyed 3 quarts of this so I don't think I will have enough for the winter.

2) Syrups are another way to enjoy the concentrated qualities of wild food.

I am sent out to forage elderberries, ready in August... Very hard to beat the birds to them!

My wife then made Elderberry syrup after a long, slow simmer of the fruit. It is used for the cold winter to sip on when sick or as a preventative dose while others around are getting ill.

3) Tincture: this process uses alcohol to extract some of the most active phytochemicals. These alcohol-soluble components are found in higher concentrations compared to a tea. We foraged a mushroom that grows on the Birch tree in a boreal forest in the region where I live. It is not edible raw or cooked, so the dual extraction method (both tea and tincture combined) allows for my buddies and I to enjoy this suppliment:

From the chaga mushroom (Inonotus Obliquus)

4) Fermentation: I would like to add this method for fun (as I am currently sampling a pleasant, and unique glass of my first ever home made wild wine) The wild river grapes were foraged from my river bank just around the first frost in september. The combination of the crushed grapes and their own fruit sugar along with the wild yeast from their skins begins its own fermentation process.  I then added my own maple syrup from my batch I made in March to allow for more fermentation. Now, 3 months later, I think it may be ready just in time for our Christmas wine.

Cheers!

-Ryan

Hey Ryan,  how did you like the nettle pesto this summer?  My own plant collecting was fairly anemic this year I'm afraid.  Mostly spring salad greens, the garden stuff through the summer, apples in the fall.  I continue to be impressed with the variety of things you're doing.  great work and a great role model for the rest of us!

Hey Doug, the nettle pesto is great. My buddy makes a recipe similar to yours but he substitutes Ramps (the wild leek bulbs) instead of garlic.

The ground is frozen where I am now, so the foraging is pretty sparce for me as well.

Maybe next year we will ramp up our foraging efforts!

Hey everyone...

This is year 2 of Foraging Wild Foods.

Last year was a blast discussing with you how to get started, sharing some experiences, and seeing how rewarding it can be when wild foods are added to one's nutrition program.

Now, for this year, lets see more of your wild foods. You have some resources on this thread to help you get started.

Lets see YOUR pictures of wild foods you discover through 2017.

Don't tell me you get all your food from the grocery store when there is all this free food outside waiting for us . I believe this experience taps into an inner hardwiring to want to search outdoors for nutrients.

(Caution: searching for wild foods is extremely addicting.)  Pretty soon you may find yourself writing down your current meal plan and comparing it to wild ingredients you can find in your local region.

Winter is ending and spring is beginning; Lets see what you find this year.

I'll show you mine if you show me yours...

Good luck and looking forward to your pics!

Ryan

2 minutes ago, Ryan Bailey said:

(Caution: searching for wild foods is extremely addicting.)

When I lived in Northern Sweden, I lived on mushrooms, berries, weeds, etc… Loved it. Here in Venice Beach, CA, not so much so  :-)  I became a grocery store girl. Looking forward to seeing all the wild plants pictures! 

22 hours ago, Suzanna McGee said:

Looking forward to seeing all the wild plants pictures! 

Very good. Looking forward to seeing YOUR raw, wild salad pictures with greens, immature seeds, mushrooms, berries and flowers this spring and summer... Maybe you can do a write up on it! 

Daniel vitalis covers a lot of interesting topics in his magazine and podcast related to this one which may be of interest here's a link. https://danielvitalis.atavist.com/let-food-be-thy-medicine

Me and my good buddy went out to one of our favorite Bear's Head spots today and scored some nice shrooms. We also ran into a momma bear and her cubs but thankfully we weren't eaten haha.

2 hours ago, Laine Rinehart said:

Me and my good buddy went out to one of our favorite Bear's Head spots today and scored some nice shrooms. We also ran into a momma bear and her cubs but thankfully we weren't eaten haha.

Great Laine, nice find! How ironic; you ended up eating bear in that situation... mushroom that is . Do you mind sharing your uses for it? Ways for cooking it ect? I am not the most knowledgeable mushroom guy and I have a lot to learn, so I usually leave that up to my buddies and other family members. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing!!

On ‎8‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 6:49 PM, Ryan Bailey said:

Great Laine, nice find! How ironic; you ended up eating bear in that situation... mushroom that is . Do you mind sharing your uses for it? Ways for cooking it ect? I am not the most knowledgeable mushroom guy and I have a lot to learn, so I usually leave that up to my buddies and other family members. Thanks for sharing!

Nothing super fancy, I guess Asian inspired dishes such as rice noodles with the mushrooms and tamari and maybe some green onions, cilantro, etc. Super tasty mushrooms you don't need much.

I love to pick berries in the woods when i go for the daily dog walk, these are today's harvest    

And last week for the first time i dared to pick mushrooms, we had a lovely dinner twice!
(no the eggs are no wild food, just for size comparison - and for the coat with breadcrumbs, mmmhh)

On 18/2/2017 at 10:52 PM, Suzanna McGee said:

When I lived in Northern Sweden, I lived on mushrooms, berries, weeds, etc… Loved it. Here in Venice Beach, CA, not so much so  :-)  I became a grocery store girl. Looking forward to seeing all the wild plants pictures! 

I used to have plenty of relatives up north in Kiruna, and there'd be plenty of cloudberries to pick out in the woods by our cabin. That's my favorite particular berry in northern Sweden ^^

I love cloudberries they also grow in Alaska in the muskeg. I think I like neigoons better though.

Yummy! But are those cloudberries on the picture? They look like them, but ours are orange over here (different subspecies?). Or are those neigoons? Don't think I've ever tried those, but I read just now that the taste is like a mix between raspberries and wild strawberries?

Yeah they would be neigoons. Our cloudberries are also a yellow/orange color. Neigoons are really great I believe a variety of them also grows in Northern Europe

Hi guys!

Here is a pic of the spoils from todays 1,5 hrs deep squating session in the woods. Some wild blueberries and mushrooms.