Foraged Finds

It is spring time. I have been reading more about foraging wild edibles and here in the Bluegrass there are several kinds I have seen on my daily  goings on. A fascination with plants began in college where I developed a love for botany whilst in the rainforests of northeastern Queensland, Australia, loving every minute of a college course dedicated to spring flora identification, and getting a Master’s degree in plant reproductive ecology. After all,

“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.” (Genesis 1:29-30). 

Lately I have been reading about foraging and have become aware of how many native “weeds” that are medicinal and/or nutritional value. But be warned: do NOT forage in a place that you are unsure about in terms of herbicide treatment. The epidemic of pesticide usage has contaminated most everything, which is unfortunate. It brings up words from an old biology professor and current colleague who once said: “We should learn to love an ecologically diverse lawn”. It not only encourages native pollinators and animal species to flourish, it provides valuable botanicals that are nutritive, medicinal, and will aid in allergy relief. But the world we live in does not care about such things-the monoculture of hybrid grass reigns supreme.

Nevertheless I made my first attempt at foraging edible plants native to my region. These are plants I found on the grounds of my job and in my own back yard (since they were foraged in the city and on the grounds of a public place I used this forage as practice; I plan to use the flowers in artwork). Pictured are lovely violets, dandelion flowers and greens, and bluebells; not pictured: garlic mustard, mustard greens and dead nettles which are also rampant around here.

You can eat the plants raw, use them as garnish or incorporated in salads, sauté or cook the greens, incorporate the greens in soups or other recipes, make sun teas out of the flowers, dry the flowers and make tinctures…the list goes on and on. Just be sure you forage in an area that has not been treated with pesticides and thoroughly wash the plants before consumption (animal feces/urine is NOT appealing or healthy).

In this age independence in producing our own food is a critical skill. One day it will be the only means we Christians will have to survive since we will refuse the mark of the beast:

“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” (Revelation 13:16-18).

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What kinds of edible plants are native to your region that you can start foraging?

Selah my friends.