Found a new hobby...foraging

[Donovan Jones]

My mom nailed Christmas this year. Nothing but field guides. Among them, I have several on edible plants.
Before I go any further I feel the need to say that I nor anyone else should eat anything u are not 100 percent sure on identification.
So tomorrow ill be making cedar berry tea. Turns out cedar is related to and just as edible as juniper, with sweet minty, slightly pine flavor. I also want to make cedar ice cream with fudge ripple.
If you're near me in the northeastern us, I recommend picking up northeast foraging by Leda Meredith as a start

 

[Lucy]

Found my apocalypse buddy!

Seriously though. It does sound interesting.

 

[Donovan Jones]

Doing some more research found out that some juniperous shrubs are toxic, if of non native origin. However, the "red cedar" in my yard isn't actually a cedar but a juniper. 99.99 percent of upright trees are safe, however with any herbal tea, too much is a bad thing. Interestingly enough, it seems to have antiviral properties and combat common covid symptoms?

 

[Kribensis27]

Yay! Another person into foraging! I have way too many books on edible plants of the upper Midwest lol... Cool to see somebody else that’s into it!

 

[Mhamilton0911]

I live for morel season, does that count? I've foraged hundreds of pounds.

And cedar anything smells amazing, I used to live in a cedar forest.

 

[Kribensis27]

I live for morel season, does that count? I've foraged hundreds of pounds.

And cedar anything smells amazing, I used to live in a cedar forest.

Morels are awesome! I say that counts.

 

[Betta'sAnonymous]

My sister makes dandelion wine. Also goes morel hunting. I got her a fish identification guide for our state for Christmas. Last year we got her scat and tracks ID books.

 

[Redshark1]

I'm an ecologist and naturalist in Yorkshire, England.

In my home town of Leeds I joined, set up or ran numerous nature clubs. One of these was to study fungi.

Eating the fungi is certainly one of the interesting and enjoyable aspects of this fascinating group and I have made a list of 50 or so species which I recommend.

However, the advice from Donovan Jones is important. I always confirm identification of new edibles with someone who knows more than me.

I also recently corrected somebody who had found some mushrooms but I realised they were the Yellow Stainer Mushroom Agaricus xanthodermus which are poisonous and the author Nicholas Evans, who wrote The Horse Whisperer, accidentally ate a species of Webcap Cortinarius sp. which destroyed his kidneys.

 

[Mhamilton0911]

Yes, that's why the morel is so appealing, it's the easiest to identify correctly, and it's "lookalike" is very different so misidentifying is less likely. It's so yummy. I can't wait for spring!!

 

[Kribensis27]

I'm an ecologist and naturalist in Yorkshire, England.

In my home town of Leeds I joined, set up or ran numerous nature clubs. One of these was to study fungi.

Eating the fungi is certainly one of the interesting and enjoyable aspects of this fascinating group and I have made a list of 50 or so species which I recommend.

However, the advice from Donovan Jones is important. I always confirm identification of new edibles with someone who knows more than me.

I also recently corrected somebody who had found some mushrooms but I realised they were the Yellow Stainer Mushroom Agaricus xanthodermus which are poisonous and the author Nicholas Evans, who wrote The Horse Whisperer, accidentally ate a species of Webcap Cortinarius sp. which destroyed his kidneys.

I love growing and finding fungi. I don’t actually eat most of the ones I grow/find, though, because I’m terrified of poisoning myself. I still pick morels because they’re easy to ID, and I also go for chicken of the woods when I see them. We have chanterelles, but I don’t pick them because we also have a million toxic species that look just like them. Most of the mushrooms I grow come from wild spores, so that’s why I don’t eat them. I just grow them because they look cool.