The official foraging thread

[StonesBally]

Some regulation or something. You could always raise and slaughter your own pig...

 

[Homercidal]

Oh, and on top of everything else we did yesterday, SWMBO picked a bucket full of stinging nettles and cooked them down. Bright green and pretty much like spinach. Good stuff, except for when it's alive and stings you.

Dad and I would sometimes harvest red worms from the lowland river area near our house. Family property.

Anyway, nettles were all over that place and I'd always get stung. It's like a mosquito bite that also burns. Luckily it goes away after a while.

I was shocked to discover that people can cook and eat it! I don't know where to get it where I live now and frankly I have no desire to seek it out.

 

[podz]

Dad and I would sometimes harvest red worms from the lowland river area near our house. Family property.

Anyway, nettles were all over that place and I'd always get stung. It's like a mosquito bite that also burns. Luckily it goes away after a while.

I was shocked to discover that people can cook and eat it! I don't know where to get it where I live now and frankly I have no desire to seek it out.

Sure, a lot of people eat nettles. It's quite like spinach when cooked.

 

[Gavin C]

Selling pork blood is illegal in the US, but it is the traditional blood used in blood sausages from Poland to Spain to the UK.

Pork blood is readily available in the local asian market I shop in. I've seen it on sale lots of other places too. It certainly appears very much legal to sell, buy etc. It's right there for sale along with the other bits of the pig. Any butcher should have it also.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Law of supply & demand I guess.

 

[dinnerstick]

i think fresh pork blood can't be sold in the netherlands either, dunno why, some stupid rule, but dried blood can. it still makes a good blood sausage.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=467107

 

[mattmmille]

Scoped out some muscadine grape vines today, while my son had ball practice. Ate a few blackberries that I found...not enough to do anything but eat. Found a persimmon tree...branches pretty high though, won't be any low hanging fruit.

 

[slym2none]

Scoped out some muscadine grape vines today

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>.>

You're from NC, man. You know we call them scuppernongs here.

 

[unionrdr]

Seems to me those are the grapes used in making Midas touch clones?

 

[mattmmille]

<.<

>.>

You're from NC, man. You know we call them scuppernongs here.

I've always called the black ones muscadines and the green ones scuppernongs. Been here all my life!

 

[slym2none]

I've always called the black ones muscadines and the green ones scuppernongs. Been here all my life!

Interesting!

 

[mattmmille]

Interesting!

So, I had looked this up before, but I wanted to double check before I said something totally wrong! They are ALL muscadines, and the green ones are a VARIETY of muscadines...like a distinct species...called scuppernongs. In all my local poking around, I have only found ONE wild scuppernong source. Last year, it hardly produced any fruit...I don't know if it will make a comeback this year or not. I think they are a little sweeter than the black grapes...like a little touch of honey.

I have a pretty good source for the muscadines, but it is a very public place and, if I'm not careful, I might get a scolding for picking them. My next best source is smaller, but fairly prolific. After that, I have some that are more spread out and many are higher in the trees...and I can't climb like I did when I was a kid!

I started a vine in my garden. from seed, a couple years ago...it's slowly advancing up a little trellis, but no grapes yet. Maybe in another year or two. I've noticed that some vines produce grapes and some don't...I may not even have a good vine. If it ever does produce, though, I might build a small grape arbor beside the garden and transplant it. I know some places sell the vines, but I wanted to start out with a vine from wild seed. Fingers crossed.

 

[MaxStout]

We often spot wild asparagus in the road ditches around late Apr to early May. Can't miss those straight up green things popping out of the still-brown landscape. I'll jump out of the car and snip off a dozen or so. They are most delicious and tender when the heads are still small.

A friend sometimes brings us morel mushrooms in the spring. Sauteed in butter...yum!

 

[dinnerstick]

bumper year for elderflowers here. dunno why as the spring was rubbish and the summer is following suit. have made 'champagne' in the past, but this year just going with a syrup (boil water, dissolve sugar, pour over the flowers and sliced lemons, leave to cool, strain) which goes really well diluted with tonic, sounds weird but is true, or in interesting cocktails. or just with water and ice. some people take the whole head of flowers and dip it in pancake batter, and fry it. never tried that.

 

[mattmmille]

Foraged just over two pounds of muscadine grapes last weekend...my big, secret spot was pretty bare this year for some reason. My secondary spot was okay. Today, while my son had baseball practice, I walked around the field, where I had previously seen some vines, and I came up with another pound. I have about 11 pounds of blueberries that I got a good deal on in the freezer. I think I'll make a Blueberry-Muscadine Wine.

I have also spotted some black walnuts, but they are a mess and nearly impossible to try and process...not worth the trouble. Also found a couple of persimmon trees. I don't know if I'll be able to get enough of them to do anything with though...other than just a little snacking.

 

[unionrdr]

So, I had looked this up before, but I wanted to double check before I said something totally wrong! They are ALL muscadines, and the green ones are a VARIETY of muscadines...like a distinct species...called scuppernongs. In all my local poking around, I have only found ONE wild scuppernong source. Last year, it hardly produced any fruit...I don't know if it will make a comeback this year or not. I think they are a little sweeter than the black grapes...like a little touch of honey.

I have a pretty good source for the muscadines, but it is a very public place and, if I'm not careful, I might get a scolding for picking them. My next best source is smaller, but fairly prolific. After that, I have some that are more spread out and many are higher in the trees...and I can't climb like I did when I was a kid!

I started a vine in my garden. from seed, a couple years ago...it's slowly advancing up a little trellis, but no grapes yet. Maybe in another year or two. I've noticed that some vines produce grapes and some don't...I may not even have a good vine. If it ever does produce, though, I might build a small grape arbor beside the garden and transplant it. I know some places sell the vines, but I wanted to start out with a vine from wild seed. Fingers crossed.

I forget the brand, but that scuppernong grape wine was marketed by a company I forget back when my parents were still alive. I thought it tasted like just starting to get over-ripe grapes. Kinda rich tasting. Might be that they have male & female vines? I've made some good wine out of the wild grapes that grow in these parts. Some kind of wild concorde I think?

 

[mattmmille]

Grabbed another 3 lbs of grapes today!

 

[dinnerstick]

as usual lots of porcini this year. in one spot they grow to the size of frisbees and then rot!

 

[gratus fermentatio]

We often spot wild asparagus in the road ditches around late Apr to early May. Can't miss those straight up green things popping out of the still-brown landscape. I'll jump out of the car and snip off a dozen or so. They are most delicious and tender when the heads are still small.

A friend sometimes brings us morel mushrooms in the spring. Sauteed in butter...yum!

There was a nice patch of asparagus growing wild next to a pond we used to fish in when I was a kid. Even if we didn't catch a fish, we'd come home with enough young, tender asparagus for supper. About 3/4 the diameter of a pencil or smaller, tender as could be; we'd saute those little spears in some butter, maybe with a little chopped scallion, mmm mmm mmm! Of course, it was always better with some fresh bass or catfish to go with it.
Regards, GF.

 

[unionrdr]

OH yeah! When out hunting or fishing in wilder places, I always took a few blue store bags to keep an eye out for foragables. Shellbark hickory, mushrooms, ramps, etc.

 

[richbrew99]

Found this 7+ lb Hen of the Woods mushroom while out mushroom hunting this morning.

View attachment 1442696569195.jpg

 

[podz]

as usual lots of porcini this year. in one spot they grow to the size of frisbees and then rot!

I know a few spots where they grow huge like that as well. I used to go and collect about 25 kg of the hard ones per year, then once when I ate them I got violently ill and honestly thought I was going to die. First thought was maybe I had accidentally mixed in some kind of bad mushroom, but I don't really know how since nothing else really looks like a porcini. Then a few years later, smbo and I bought some frozen porcini from the store and fried them with some veal liver. Again, got violently ill and ended up laying on the shower room floor in a pool of my own vomit that just kept coming and coming.

It was a long time after that before I wanted to eat any mushroom again.

 

[dinnerstick]

wow that's weird indeed, never heard anything of the sort. and strange that it happened suddenly. as much as i love them, i could easily never eat them again if faced with the possibility of an episode like you describe!

 

[dinnerstick]

Found this 7+ lb Hen of the Woods mushroom while out mushroom hunting this morning.

that's a beauty! i love the hen. never find them here though. i find chicken mushroom and sponge mushroom regularly (in the same spot every year) but they are second-best compared to maitake.

as my mind wanders, here is something for chicken mushroom collectors. sometimes the texture, even of the younger bits, is too firm or almost leathery. obviously avoid the really woody bits, but put the rest in a food processor with steel blade, and process to a coarse crumble. then season and fry as you would minced meat, let it brown up a bit, add chili paste / mole if you want and simmer in there for a while, and make tacos. reaaaally tasty.

 

[richbrew99]

that's a beauty! i love the hen. never find them here though. i find chicken mushroom and sponge mushroom regularly (in the same spot every year) but they are second-best compared to maitake.

as my mind wanders, here is something for chicken mushroom collectors. sometimes the texture, even of the younger bits, is too firm or almost leathery. obviously avoid the really woody bits, but put the rest in a food processor with steel blade, and process to a coarse crumble. then season and fry as you would minced meat, let it brown up a bit, add chili paste / mole if you want and simmer in there for a while, and make tacos. reaaaally tasty.

That sounds way delicious, will have to try that. About a month ago I found a chicken and tried it by itself sautéed in a pan. To me it needs to be mixed with something else. The hen was awesome sautéed, will definitely go looking for more this weekend. Been getting some good rain, so should be successful

 

[unionrdr]

oops...

 

[dinnerstick]

shaggy manes. lots. and a few porcini

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Awesome foraging Dinnerstick! Makes me wish I'd spent more time out in the country areas of The Netherlands when I was there. Tough to forage in Amsterdam or Rotterdam.
Regards, GF.

 

[richbrew99]

Found a bunch of puffballs over the weekend.

View attachment 1444065604076.jpg

 

[unionrdr]

I like those peeled, sliced breaded & fried with breaded/fried walleye & fries.