Foraging for Wild Food

[TerraMer]

Does anyone forage while walking, like for edible weeds, plant medicine and bush tucker?
I'm getting into it but am wondering where people learn what is edible and how to prepare it.
Have you found joining a foraging/wild foods walk more or less helpful than self-taught from reference books?
Is there a good online reference or forum with photos and explanations that someone can recommend for Australian foraging?

[GPSGuided]

This has a lot of info.
http://bit.ly/15rwmF3

Otherwise all I know is to pay decent respect to wild mushrooms. Too many have been seriously poisoned both here and overseas.

[wayno]

http://bushtuckerman.com.au/#

nz isnt very good for finding a lot of food, unless you like eating weta's

[Maelgwn]

We eat quandongs if we happen to stumble upon them.

And the odd blackberry if they haven't been poisoned.

[GPSGuided]

LOL on Bear Grylls! I still can't work out how he got enough calories on his adventures.

[wayno]

film crew feed him M&M's aparently.. no one can keep prancing around like that without a bucket load of food in them....

[DARRIN-G]

Ive found some large crayfish along creeks and boiled them up when ya get to camp. A bit tricky you have to be quick and pick them up just behind the front claws on the head, they are defenceless from there . Reminds me going lobbying with mates with a bit of string with a bit of meat tied to it, a net made from a wire coat hanger an a pair of stockings....

[TerraMer]

This has a lot of info.
http://bit.ly/15rwmF3

Thanks

I have bought 3 different types of forager's books, Les Hiddins' bush tucker guide (which I have used in WA), Adam and Annie's Eat That Weed and Ffyona Campbell's The Hunter Gatherer Way (which prompted me to start trying fresh seaweeds). I have also joined a couple of Australian foraging facebook pages and an English one because we have lots of their weeds too.

Generally I won't try something if I'm not 100% sure of it's ID but a couple of times I have taken the time to fully test something before eating it but wouldn't want to be starving to death waiting for a reaction. Being a soloist means I need to be even more careful without anyone around to help (or share the pain ).

Years ago I started noticing the prolific weed growth in some national parks, especially where they have been working with contaminated materials on tracks and rehab sites and along old cattle grazing routes. Knowing some weeds are edible I often wondered if I could help them out a bit by eating their weeds as I walk. It also means I still get fresh greens when days away from the grocers as well as the medicinal qualities of some flowering weeds. Not forgetting berries thanks to well meaning naturalists explorers

The main reason for this post was to pin point some of the better resources others are using. With foraging experiencing a new popularity there appears to be a lot of new information but finding the most reliable isn't easy.

I have never watched Bear Grylls. I know he eats raw meat and drinks his urine but does he use plants?

[walk2wineries]

I have occasionally nibbled on Warrigal Greens which will add a bit of crunch and vitamin C to your day. BIt like baby spinach and like spinach its got oxalate in it so some people get tummyache from it. Qandongs - absolutely although not keen on the worms often found. NSW and Qld rainforests often have lillipilli - in fact you can be ankle deep in them in the Barrington tops. Sometimes you see lillipilli jelly at farmers markets, eaten raw they've got a rather chalky mouthfeel, like unripe persimmon or banana. I've eaten what I suspect must be cultivars from a WA suburban garden, and they were okay. Tas - native currants on Maria although you'd need a LOT to make a mouthful and they've litle taste. I like ruby samphire - not sure if that's samphire or saltbush - but again, takes a lot if you want more than a taste. If you're into seaweed you might try samphire - that's canned and sold for exhorbitant prices on Kangaroo Island. I think its only supposed to be picked in season. Anyway, its much nicer fresh.

[GPSGuided]

I have never watched Bear Grylls. I know he eats raw meat and drinks his urine but does he use plants?

He ate rotten meat that even the coyoties won't touch. Ouch!

It proves that either he has really tough stomach or us human are far tougher than we think. Scavenging can be a life...

[TerraMer]

Walk2wineries, you just reminded me of some of the most basics I was taught years ago
I do enjoy a good munch on lillipilli, my parent's neighbours have a huge tree that over hangs the pool and fruits all year.
When I lived in Brownlow, KI, I walked/ran 8kms a day to work in Kingscote and back and would have a bit of a pick at some samphire on the way home if I had an early shift. I used to live on Min Oil Rd before moving to Brownlow and was surrounded by it but didn't have a clue what it was until a local showed me some.
While doing a care taking stint at the Eyre Bird Observatory I tried a few wild fruits including native currants but they made me a bit crook catching me off guard halfway through a 20km dune walk on my first day off after handover, i think i was a bit impatient and ate them too early in the season because i had been watching them ripen for weeks and had only days left before leaving
One summer I attempted a walk around the Bight which was aborted after only about 400kms because of a contaminated well but i ate a lot of saltbush berries and pigface between Esperance and Israelite Bay.
As a kid I ate wild rocket out of the horse paddock and would pick handfuls (child sized) of nasturtiums and geranium flowers on the way to school and back. At infants and primary school there were huge honeysuckle bushes and this was my territory when in bloom. I could be found most morning and lunch breaks sucking nectar and munching flowers.
When you think about it, there really is a lot of free food available if you know what to look for

[TerraMer]

He ate rotten meat that even the coyoties won't touch. Ouch!

EW! He's disgusting!

(hunger is one of the most unlikely ways of dying in the bush or outback even without resorting to eating rotten meat)

[TerraMer]

Ive found some large crayfish along creeks and boiled them up when ya get to camp. A bit tricky you have to be quick and pick them up just behind the front claws on the head, they are defenceless from there . Reminds me going lobbying with mates with a bit of string with a bit of meat tied to it, a net made from a wire coat hanger an a pair of stockings....

Just use your toes
I have had a few warning nips while cooling off in creeks and waterholes.
Some of them are protected too, aren't they, but I don't know how to ID them because i don't know which ones.
Friends on KI took me out to catch marron (Kangaroo Island's cray) but being veggo I was glad we didn't catch anything. Although someone did catch and cook one especially for me because they heard I had never tried them before. Some cray fishermen did the same on the Bight when they heard I had never tried abalone. They went out diving in the afternoon and came back with 2 and cooked them just for me. God love em and I did gratefully eat their kind offerings.
If i was in a survival situation my vegetarianism will come second to staying alive but I would have to be getting weak and desperate before resorting to killing something with my own hands.

[walk2wineries]

Abalone are intellectually in the same group as the snails and slugs that supply most of the protein to your true veggo; go for it. Nothing to stop you but the great whites. YEs, I thought all freshwater crays were protected apart from Yabbies, and Marron in their short and bag-limited season.
You are right, we used to suck soursob and Salvation Jane blossoms on the way to school. Nasturtiums are feral in some areas; my mother says they used to eat the young leaves on sandwiches and I've heard of using the seeds as a substitute for capers; of course the flowers are used as edible decorations on salads but thats a bit OTT for bushwalkers. And I do remember a lovely bright winter day in Dove Canyon (sheltered alternative to Dove Lake) at the Cradle National Pk, no need to take a water bottle, just lift snow cones from where they'd collected on the waratah, flavoured with nectar. Its okay to eat yellow snow if its on a waratah..... Still on the sweets, we used to pick the candy-like solid gum from - is it sugar gum trees? Tasted pretty bland. We were Introduced to an edible tree fungus which grew on the Tas Myrtle, I think (NOrthofagus) - I've just checked, its Cyttaria septentrionalis . Looks interesting, bright orange golf-ball patterned globes which look like a fruit on the tree. Unmistakable and safe, but little taste.

[TerraMer]

Wattle nectar snow cones sound great!
Have you ever tried mistletoe fruit and native cherries?
I discovered mistletoe fruit while studying in Thurgoona. I would take long bushwalks and stroll down dirt roads when my brain felt fried and on the home stretch I'd have a seasonal snack. I would also snack on lerp. Both are sweet, although the first few times I tried the mistletoe it was a bit sharp.
Bushwalking in the Adelaide Hills about 10 years ago I was shown native cherries and every Spring since i look forward to picking them. These are a real treat.

[Onestepmore]

I have found the book 'Hedgegrow' The River Cottage handbook number 7 to be pretty useful - as you point out a lot the English weeds are our weeds too. Until I bought that I'd only ever thought of plants like Fat Hen and Chickweed as things to pull out! A lot of places we camp near creeks have old clearings where nettles grow - disturbed soil, high nitrogen from catle and sheep camps. The nettles can be added like spinach to jazz up a dehydrated pasta or rice meal.
ISBN 978-1-4088-0185-7
NB with this range of books, take care which edition you get - not so important in this volume, but some are imperial measuements, and some are metric. I found the English versions better than the American

Another favourite of mine is 'Breverton's Complete Herbal' - based on Culpeper's classic 'The English Physician and Compleat Herball of 1653'
ISBN 978-085738-336-5

Where I live I have my favourite secret trees around the Illawarra and Southern Highlands that I vsit, usually in Autumn. Some of the apples are incredibly sour, some are fine. I make a mean spiced damson fruit paste - great with a ewe's cheese or a cheddar or a red leichester. Crab apple jelly is delish. And more fun for the fruit has been gathered wild. I look forwards to my little trips every year. Blackberry jam and pies are a given
Ive pickled nastursium seeds too - they taste a bit ike capers. And cumquats in vodka - great with a very good vanilla icecream (preferably homemade) and some very dark cocolate (and then you drink the spiced vodka after - mmm)
The books by Stephanie Alexander 'Kitchen Garden Companion' and Maggie Beer 'Maggie's Harvert' have inspirational recipes too.

An article in The Age
http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertain ... ntentSwap2

I'll be interested to have a look at the foragers books you mention above - thanks!

[stepbystep]

fwiw I've learned quite a bit about Tassie bush tucker, other than the various animals for the most part other tucker is not very tasty or needs excessive preparation, and frankly if you can carry your food with you why disturb the natural environment if not in emergency situation?

http://www.lnt.org.au/programs/7-principles.html

[Onestepmore]

Hi SBS - thanks for an Aussie 'Leave No Trace' site - I've only seen US ones before

NB most (all?) of my foraging is introduced weeds and plants
Trout are introduced too - I catch them - when the little buggers co-operate!
Yabbies aren't

[stepbystep]

Hi SBS - thanks for an Aussie 'Leave No Trace' site - I've only seen US ones before

NB most (all?) of my foraging is introduced weeds and plants
Trout are introduced too - I catch them - when the little buggers co-operate!
Yabbies aren't

All good, should be a sticky on this site ihmo

Our freshwater crustaceans are particularly tempting and as a boy regularly took marron and 'julgies' from my local creeks. I wouldn't do it now unless I knew the creek system well, luckily my in laws have a dam full of juicy yabbies

[walk2wineries]

ONe of Stephanie ALexanders' recipes starts with "go to the nearest Pine forest and collect....."
I am pretty sure there are lots of pine mushrooms near me. There are also Amanita, shaggy caps, and natives, and I don't know anyone with expertise. The only feild guides I've seen have been limited to native fungi; the Farmer's Market had an expo but they ALSO and unbelievably were nerdish and limited to native species and said, no-one would be willing to identify edible varieties. The Central Market gets rather sad looking Pines for $50 a kg (really!) - I've thought about offering them 50% of the bag to identify mine for me!
Haven't seen cumquats growing feral yet, usually buy them for brandied cumquats so will look out - also for the cherries. THe Adelaide hills larder seems to be taken over by olives....

[TerraMer]

"When we leave rocks, shells, plants, feathers, fossils, artefacts and other objects of interest as we find them, we pass the gift of discovery on to those who follow" LNT

fwiw I've learned quite a bit about Tassie bush tucker, other than the various animals for the most part other tucker is not very tasty or needs excessive preparation, and frankly if you can carry your food with you why disturb the natural environment if not in emergency situation?

http://www.lnt.org.au/programs/7-principles.html

I agree, lnt should have a sticky.

You are absolutely right Stepbystep. Pack the food you need. Relying on foraging as a supplement isn't smart planning. In fact, it is a bit silly for multiday walks. The worst would be heading into the mountains intending to add weed greens to your daily menu only to discover contractors have just been through spraying. Being able to use them is a treat but not to be expected.

When I pick wild food in the bush and outback i use the aboriginal rule of leaving plenty for the next person/group and leaving plenty to seed for the next season. It is picking only what is needed, not harvesting. Most of my plant foraging is backyard, rural, roadside and pockets of public bushland in urban areas. In national parks I pick but, unless you are a trained tracker, you wouldn't know I had been there.

Foraging introduced weeds is my biggest interest at the moment. I love that we can collect a free fresh salad walking beside a country road.

Do people think of animals as well as plants when they think of foraging? I have never associated animals with foraging, apart from the fact that other animals forage, but that might be because of my dietary preferences/prejudices.

Thanks for the book references Onestepmore. I'll check them out. I think the complete herbal is in the local library Might take some photos of relevant pages on the phone camera

[TerraMer]

There are also Amanita, shaggy caps, and natives, and I don't know anyone with expertise. The only feild guides I've seen have been limited to native fungi; the Farmer's Market had an expo but they ALSO and unbelievably were nerdish and limited to native species and said, no-one would be willing to identify edible varieties.

I have joined some mushroom groups for the sole purpose to see their pictures and ID tips but have found as many "Shroom" nerds unwilling to help id as there are willing to help. It is one of those wild foods that could spell disaster if you make a mistake so i understand their caution.

[SteveJ]

I pretty much never walk without a fishing rod, it is a very easy way to supplment the protien intake and the more remote the better the fishing generally. I love the pastime of fishing so the 800grams (rod reel and tackle) is worth it from that perspective, but an 800 gram investment can pay back it's weight many times over on a longer trip by way of kilos of fish for food, so it balances out. I have started relying on my ability to catch fish, leaving several meals out of the pack on trips where I know the fishing to be good.

[climberman]

I pretty much never walk without a fishing rod, it is a very easy way to supplment the protien intake and the more remote the better the fishing generally. I love the pastime of fishing so the 800grams (rod reel and tackle) is worth it from that perspective, but an 800 gram investment can pay back it's weight many times over on a longer trip by way of kilos of fish for food, so it balances out. I have started relying on my ability to catch fish, leaving several meals out of the pack on trips where I know the fishing to be good.

I've heard a rumour you couldn't catch a cold mate ?

[SteveJ]

I pretty much never walk without a fishing rod, it is a very easy way to supplment the protien intake and the more remote the better the fishing generally. I love the pastime of fishing so the 800grams (rod reel and tackle) is worth it from that perspective, but an 800 gram investment can pay back it's weight many times over on a longer trip by way of kilos of fish for food, so it balances out. I have started relying on my ability to catch fish, leaving several meals out of the pack on trips where I know the fishing to be good.

I've heard a rumour you couldn't catch a cold mate ?

I've heard a rumour that 2 stroke motors don't run on Diesel?

[ricadam]

I pretty much never walk without a fishing rod, it is a very easy way to supplment the protien intake and the more remote the better the fishing generally. I love the pastime of fishing so the 800grams (rod reel and tackle) is worth it from that perspective, but an 800 gram investment can pay back it's weight many times over on a longer trip by way of kilos of fish for food, so it balances out. I have started relying on my ability to catch fish, leaving several meals out of the pack on trips where I know the fishing to be good.

out of curiosity, what do you do for bait? or do you use lures? I can never seem to catch anything on lures...

[climberman]

I pretty much never walk without a fishing rod, it is a very easy way to supplment the protien intake and the more remote the better the fishing generally. I love the pastime of fishing so the 800grams (rod reel and tackle) is worth it from that perspective, but an 800 gram investment can pay back it's weight many times over on a longer trip by way of kilos of fish for food, so it balances out. I have started relying on my ability to catch fish, leaving several meals out of the pack on trips where I know the fishing to be good.

I've heard a rumour you couldn't catch a cold mate ?

I've heard a rumour that 2 stroke motors don't run on Diesel?

Fantastic. Miss yer humour mate, need a walk after my ski season is done.

[SteveJ]

I pretty much never walk without a fishing rod, it is a very easy way to supplment the protien intake and the more remote the better the fishing generally. I love the pastime of fishing so the 800grams (rod reel and tackle) is worth it from that perspective, but an 800 gram investment can pay back it's weight many times over on a longer trip by way of kilos of fish for food, so it balances out. I have started relying on my ability to catch fish, leaving several meals out of the pack on trips where I know the fishing to be good.

out of curiosity, what do you do for bait? or do you use lures? I can never seem to catch anything on lures...

Fly and lure mostly nowdays, they are pretty deadly once you master them:-)

[ricadam]

Fly and lure mostly nowdays, they are pretty deadly once you master them:-)

and there lies the problem

[David M]

LOL on Bear Grylls! I still can't work out how he got enough calories on his adventures.

Having lots of blueberry muffins for breakfast at the hotel before filming was always helpful.