Foraging best practices

My expanded list of practices for respecting the planet while gathering food (and having fun while you do)

Me out with my plant friends and a fermentation crock (image source)

Foraging is an expansive practice: One that asks us to take the techniques and ingredients we're familiar with, and reimagine them to incorporate place and time in a way our ancestors would have done, but which is unfamiliar to many of us.

Here are my best practices, expanded from my list in Our Fermented Lives, and these guide my relationship with foraging and plants every time I go out.

Many of these are common sense things you probably already do, but if you're new to foraging, they can help you form a relationship with the practice and the earth that's rooted in process, joy, and stewardship. Ultimately, foraging is about enjoyment and relationship: With the Earth, with ourselves as critters wandering around on the Earth, and with the plants that nourish us.

Reciprocity is central to relationship:

Yes, you can go out and pick whatever without much thought, but you're missing out on the most precious part of foraging when you do that: The relationships you cultivate with the natural world.

Just like with human relationships, consent and give and take are at the core of this work. Ask permission of the land (and listen to the answer!), offer gratitude or gifts in return for the gifts you've been given, take only what you need, and be intentional and present as you work.

Think of what practices would make you feel cherished and loved as a friend: someone spending intentional time with you, loving and appreciating you, probably would feel much better than someone coming over, eating all your food and leaving. The Earth feels the same way.

Ask permission:

In addition to asking the land for permission, you also have to ask the people connected to that land: Get permission to forage on private land, and follow signs and rules in places like state and national parks.

Learn your stuff:

Learn from someone knowledgeable to learn identification, consult guidebooks, go on educational foraging walks with a local expert, check and double check your plant/mushroom against pictures, books, and online guides, and don’t be afraid to ask questions!

There is an increasing flood of incorrect or low-quality information out there about foraging: Including AI-produced "mushroom foraging" books (which seriously, could get someone killed if they haven't already) to blog posts from folks who don't really know what they're talking about.
Some Facebook groups and online forums can be good but make sure you're hearing that identification from a few folks, and ask for specifics on how they're making that identification (e.g. hairy versus smooth stems).

There are many plants that are safe and have few dangerous lookalikes, but there are others for whom that is not true (like the carrot family, home of delicious garden carrots but also to poison hemlock). And for fungi, proper identification is critical.

None of this has to be scary: It's all a chance to learn more about the world around you, and to learn certain parts of the world more intimately. So whatever plants you encounter, you have a chance to learn as part of your growth as a forager. Just don't eat them until you're 100% sure what they are.

Respect the space around you:

Don’t trample all over plants or disrupt wildlife habitats, don’t leave trash behind, etc.

Steer clear of the rare stuff:

There are few better feelings out there than correctly identifying a plant! Once you do, it's time to be intentional about harvesting and make sure you're doing so in a way that supports the long term health of the species.

 Steer clear of endangered and threatened wild populations (a famous example in my neck of the woods is ginseng). If you’re eager to try them out, consider sourcing seeds or starts and growing your own. You’ll be helping native flora and fauna by providing food, shelter, and other good things (like nitrogen fixing, depending on the plant), and you’ll leave wild populations to thrive.

Go wild, but not too wild:

Intentionality is key with all foraging, not just rare plants. Foraging wild edibles is incredibly rewarding, and offers an abundance of free food, but remember you aren’t the only one eating it. Birds, insects, and other wild populations rely on the plants you pick to sustain themselves. Make sure you leave enough for them.

Even when picking invasive plants, make sure you consult with experts, like your county extension office, wildlife groups, and park rangers (if you’re in a park that asks people to pull up specific wild invasives), or do some research, to make sure that you’re harvesting in beneficial ways.

The exact guidance for what sustainable foraging looks like varies, and it depends a lot on what plants we're looking at and the health and abundance/scarcity of local populations. For more abundant plants, I might harvest one of every 3-4 fruits/leaves/whatever. For less abundant plants, it might be 1 in 10 or even less than that.

Learn how to transport and store your finds:

There are few things more disheartening than having a successful day of foraging, then coming home to find everything crushed and bruised.

For best results, use a basket or another container that won't crush your goodies, avoid putting heavy stuff on top of lighter stuff or overfilling your bag/basket, and use breathable materials if you're using bags (think breathable mesh or cotton rather than plastic grocery bags).

I have a tendency to stick a breathable bag of my finds in the top of my "purse" (actually a waterproof backpack), which works alright provided they aren't being crushed by the backpack itself.

If harvesting mushrooms, store in mesh bags so their spores can escape as you walk.

Prepare safely:

Make sure you know what cooking techniques are safe and not with each food you use, as well as any other particulars (e.g. is it only edible in certain seasons, is only one part edible, etc.)
Poke sallat is a good example: The poke can only be harvested when very young and tender, and needs to be cooked multiple times before consumption (if you aren’t sure how to do this, please learn from a trusted, experienced source).

Learn how to harvest for long term health:

Snapping or trimming off parts of the plant that are central to its continued growth mean that plant could be harmed in the long term.

If you're working with tree bark, for example, always use bark from branches you've snipped off: Never peel bark off the trunk, which can hurt the tree.

An important side note about ramps:

Every spring I lament the number of people who pull ramps up by their roots, then post photos of it on Instagram: ramp populations are decimated in the eastern US specifically because of this practice.
Instead, just harvest a few leaves: Given the now-scarcity of ramps in the US, I usually use 1 leaf from every 10 plants as a guideline. And leave the roots, please, so our ramp friends can keep growing.

It's all about process, not product:

If you go out to forage with the intention to have a fun time and maybe learn a new thing, enjoy nature, and maybe (just maybe!) also find something nice to eat, you'll enjoy yourself no matter what happens.

And going out with a mindset of abundance (that you're already getting what you need) rather than scarcity (that you won't find "enough" stuff to forage) not only makes the process more enjoyable but also makes it much less likely that you'll trample on things or overharvest.

While guidelines (including these) can sometimes feel restrictive, they're ultimately not: I follow these practices automatically now, and find that approaching the planet with respect as I forage makes the process much more enjoyable.
Other foragers I've spoken with feel the same.

This is all about having fun, enjoying nature, and maybe finding a plant or two to nibble on along the way.

Happy foraging!