Foraging for wild food is quickly becoming a passion of mine. Its truly amazing just how much is out there in nature to eat, if you know what you're looking for. Each season has something to offer and spring's flavours are here now. Look for fiddleheads, mushrooms, wild leeks and onions in the coming weeks.
The benefits of foraging are hard to measure; you save money by picking wild food, the food you find is naturally grown in the wild and contains no additives, foraging is fantastic exercise, it teaches independence and self reliance and it tastes great.
I've been doing a lot of research on edible items easily found in nature in the Niagara Falls area but many of the items dealt with in this blog are popular and easy to find across North America. You only need to find the proper growing conditions for the items you are looking for and hunt in an appropriate area containing those conditions.
What I found was that May and June boasts a wide variety of wild foods. I went morel hunting for the first time this season last weekend. I didn't find a lot but certainly enough for a nice mushroom sauce to have with a nicely cooked piece of beef.
In order to find morels you need to know a little bit about them.
Where can I find morels?
They can be found in forests and wood-chipped areas. The soil should be rich and dark with a decent level of moisture. Look for them hiding under fallen foliage and wood chips and along paths in the woods. Once you spot one they become easier and easier to find.
When do I find morels?
There are a few different types of morels. The first ones to appear show up near the beginning of may. All morels have a unique brain-like structure. The early ones have dark ridges while the ones that come in late May and early June are closer to a neutral brown tone. Both are edible.
What do they look like?
They are odd and oblong. No two are exactly alike. They grow with a pitted brain-like structure. The early May morels have dark ridges and brown centres with the later morels having a more uniform brown tone throughout on the ridges and body alike. I have a photo of an early morel that I'll post in the next two or three days. At least well before next weekend so you hunters can see what you're looking for.
Be aware that before consuming any food from the wild you should consult an expert or an official field guide that lays out the details of edibility and toxicity or use the standard 13 step process to determine edibility employed by many armies around the world. I'll post a 13 step guide to eating unknown food tomorrow. It is essential reading for the adventurous wild food taster.
I am going hunting for nuts, fiddleheads and leeks this weekend so check back early next week for more details on finds. As I located items I will post photos, information details and maybe even a recipe for each one. Until next time.
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