Early Retirement Extreme Forums

@gp That looks like urban foraging at its finest! I am actually kind of jealous. I continue to pick up pecans, but sooner or later I am going to have to crack and clean them all. All you have to do is pop open those packages and enjoy!

Nah I think you have it better @SA.

My foraging is definitely energy net negative. It is basically picking up a discarded cigar butt and getting that one last puff.

There is some community around it, like weeds growing from gaps in the pavement. But nothing close to a treatise on shelling beans.

Finally tried to eat some dandelions. Why did we ever wait so long? It's free food straight out of the ground.

I'd say avoid the thicker part of the stems. That just had a slightly weird mouth feel. They were far less bitter than I thought they would be; but our expectations have already been set by the "winter kale from hell". It's conceivable that the leaves get more bitter as we get into the warmer months, but for now they're great. I'll move them from the weed group to the crop group. Our neighbors are gonna love it

Did you eat them raw or cooked?

Raw

Dandelions become quite bitter fairly quickly in the season/growth cycle. Look out for Lambs Quarter next. IMO, much tastier and more versatile, but should not be gorged upon raw due to high oxalic acid. Otherwise has great nutritional profile. Subs in beautifully for spinach in any cooked dish such as spanakopita. Tends to grow in fairly large spread on cleared/bare ground, so reasonably easy to find decent amount to harvest at once and then again.

7Wannabe5 wrote: ↑

Tue May 02, 2023 8:02 am

Tends to grow in fairly large spread on cleared/bare ground, so reasonably easy to find decent amount to harvest at once and then again.

Are people worried about pesticides for this type of foraging? I've always been weary of things like dandelion greens because of the amount of commercial pesticides or fertilizers in use (assuming you aren't just pulling them from your own yard).

From a couple months back. Chanterelle and candy cap mushrooms.

DW got elderflower from somewhere around and made elderflower juice. Lindens are also blooming (think linden tea) and we spotted some barberries bushes (this would be ready in September I think). We are unsure to what extent we can forage in a city environment with all the cars and such. But are tempted. Also, cherry trees have cherries and maybe there are not enough birds around in the city centre compared to countryside, so the cherries stay on the trees.

The little public park near our place has five apple trees! A lot had already fallen off and rotted while we were away for summer, but I still managed to picked a few kilos. I made dried apple slices out of them. The dryer was a second hand one that had cost me like 10€. The electricity to run it was a tiny nibble of our solar surplus.

Delicious snack! Try it!

I went for a run last week when I was at a stats conference in England, found some fresh birch polypores. They are called the 'Swiss army knife' of the world of fungi, useful for making fire, can serve as a plaster on wounds, good for teas, probably some other uses I don't know of. Took one and dried it on our new balcony using one of the dehumidifier racks. Will make some tea today.

They are very common, growing on fallen birches or even standing ones.

I went mushroom hunting with my brother yesterday, we went to a known spot for ceps, we had a combination of rain and sun for the past week and were hopeful. zilch, nada. no ceps, no nothing.... But a nice walk in the woods by the river.

We went for a little adventure today and found Turkey's Tail. I am having a tea with it now. It fights cancer well.

guitarplayer wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 04, 2023 1:35 pm

We managed to go on an adventure today and got some goodies. I will post in the Foraging log, but the photos are here:



I am very excited about finding chaga (the black one in the white bowl) for the first time.

In turn:
- A fairly typical scenario is that some city planner 'plants' a fruit tree on an estate and nobody bothers to pick up fruit. We passed by an apple tree that was loaded, so ate some apples on the spot and brought more home. I will return to that tree, it is 30 min cycle away.
- Under the bowl with apples is Turkey Tale again
- Next to it on the left are some Wood Blewits (the larger purple ones). They normally grow in very large bunches.
- further left there are ametyst deceivers (small purple ones). We collected a few as a matter of principle as they are little food - but look pretty.
- Under wood blewits there are Trooping Funnels - also fairly common mushrooms and we will pop them in the slow cooker likely tonight
- bottom left corner, some more birch polypores known as the Swiss knife of the mushroom world

***********
- finally in the white bowl, there is what we believe is a chaga mushroom! Got it from a birch, first we thought it was just a burned bit of the wood, but then cut across and the dark brown / red colour surfaced, also no smell of burned. Super excited about it as this is a mushroom widely well regarded for its medicinal properties and can command a price of well over $100 per kilogram dried. Not aiming to be selling, but checked a random website where I saw it for £6.95 / 50g. We are going to research how to prepare it, but from initial reading about it best is to cut it small, dry, then can be ground and made into a 'chaga coffee' - I might add it to my coffee. The taste is said to carry a hint of vanilla.

Anyone has experiences with chaga?

***********