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Anybody supplementing their diets with wild fruit, nuts, mushrooms? What are you gathering? Any laws/regs applied in your area?
I have a grove of hickory: there's apparently a knack I haven't acquired to opening the little buggers. I just get crumbs after great effort, but they do taste good. If you like hickory smoked meat, you only need to take a small can with a few nut shells in water and stick it under the hood while you're barbecuing to give the meat the flavor.
I also have plenty of wild black raspberries: tasty but very gritty.
In WI, you are allowed to harvest from public or your private lands for personal use without restriction. You can sell it if picked on private lands, but not that harvested from public land. (Exception: ginseng is highly regulated, even on your own property. You need special licenses and there's a legal "season.")
I thought I'd post this link here about northern bushcraft foraging for anyone in the Pacific north west states that might be interested in foraging. There's also information about foraging in all the provinces and territories of Canada. It lists only the edible berries, plants, mushrooms as well as seashore edibles that are safe for humans to eat. There's actually quite a fair skookum lot to choose from.
Guido, I grew up learning foraging and when I was a lot younger than I am now and was living on farms with plenty of acreage I used to do a lot of wild foraging off my own lands. The only time I've foraged on public or crown lands was if I was harvesting pink huckleberries or rainforest oyster mushrooms, and only on years when there's been a huge abundance of them with plenty to spare. Otherwise I believe in leaving wild edibles on wild lands there for the wildlife that needs it so much more than I do, and whose very survival depends on it.
These days I'm content to grow my own or to support my local community and economy and let other people here with acreage do all the hard work of foraging or growing edibles for me. If I'm taking a walk in the parks and forests I might nibble on a few ripe fruits in passing, but I no longer harvest to take them home. I do believe though that it's important for people to be aware of and be able to recognize what can be wild foraged in their own locations for in the event of an emergency where they must forage to make the difference between their survival and starvation.
If you have a hickory grove and like the nuts, maybe it would be worthwhile to invest in a hickory nut cracker that is designed specifically for hickory. You can find them online. I've read in some places that certain types of hickory shell can be conditioned for easier breaking by soaking them for several days in water and then spreading them out to dry for a couple of weeks in a dark place with plenty of air circulation. Apparently the soaking helps eliminate hickory weevils inside, and the shells go brittle after soaking and then drying, making them easier to crack. Once they're shelled the nut meat is supposed to be allowed to continue drying further so that the nut oils don't go bad or rancid too soon. I've only read about that though, can't confirm that since hickory doesn't grow wild here.
I do believe though that it's important for people to be aware of and be able to recognize what can be wild foraged in their own locations for in the event of an emergency where they must forage to make the difference between their survival and starvation.
Precisely.
Episodes like Franklin, MO or Baltimore in recent history show how fast things can turn sour and get ugly. Local natural disasters or the dreaded EMP can keep food deliveries from getting thru to re-stock shelves, and even f you are in the habit of storing 2 wks worth of food for emergencies, after 2 wks, well, your shelves will be empty, too.
It's important to know what you're doing when foraging-- many examples like May Apple- ripe fruit can be eaten; unripe fruit & foliage are poisonous. Mushrooms vs toad stools, etc.
Anybody supplementing their diets with wild fruit, nuts, mushrooms? What are you gathering? Any laws/regs applied in your area?
I have a grove of hickory: there's apparently a knack I haven't acquired to opening the little buggers. I just get crumbs after great effort, but they do taste good. If you like hickory smoked meat, you only need to take a small can with a few nut shells in water and stick it under the hood while you're barbecuing to give the meat the flavor.
I also have plenty of wild black raspberries: tasty but very gritty.
In WI, you are allowed to harvest from public or your private lands for personal use without restriction. You can sell it if picked on private lands, but not that harvested from public land. (Exception: ginseng is highly regulated, even on your own property. You need special licenses and there's a legal "season.")
I love the way you said "foraging" like your a little squirrel or something
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