First Forage at the Family Farm

I took work off last Monday to go Morel hunting. My dad decided to join me and we went to our families' farm. We rent it out right now and I haven't spent much time their in my adult life. In the past year or so I've become very interested in wild edibles. There has been a large learning curve so far, but my knowledge base is slowly building.

When we got there I went straight for these mushroom's on a log that I had seen a month ago. The old one's were unappealing, but people had told me they were edible and would come back. Come back they did!

Polyporus Squamosus - Pheasnt Back, Dryad's Saddle

I think they are really neat looking! They are in the refrigerator right now while I decide what to do with them. I was very happy to know that I at least found one source of recurring edible mushroom. I still haven't tried them yet so don't eat them on account of what I say.

My dad and I walked around a bit and I found another pond with American Lotus. I am excited to try and harvest it once it starts growing again. I have heard that the whole plant is edible. It is so cool to learn a new species and realize that you have been walking right by it all this time. Ever since I found out what a gooseberry bush looked like, I see them everywhere now. It is like putting on different vision when walking through the woods, or like reading a book years after you read it the first time. You pick up different things based on the knowledge and experience you have.

We took a stroll around the property because I had never really known the boundary line. There were also black berry patches that my father wanted to show me. It is still too early for them but here is a picture of their leaves.

Blackberry Leaves

I am waiting for the berries to come and then I will try to eat some of the leaves. Since I am new to foraging I try to make sure I get a 100% ID and am extra cautious about what I eat in any quantity. I feel like you need to research and make sure it's not poisonous and even then eat small amounts to make sure no allergic reaction occurs.

I was very happy to see wild life on the property. We saw two deer and two turkeys which bodes well for when I am ready to try and hunt them. Even if not, it's always nice to see them running around. There was a large black rat snake but I didn't manage to get a picture of it. We have also always had tortoises on the property. I couldn't tell ya what kind other than we've always called them box turtles.

I found violets in some of the woody areas and brought some home to eat. I made sure to be aware of how many there were in an area as to not over harvest them. I only took a few since they were competing with so many other plants.

Viola rafinesquii - Johnny-jump-up

That's not the violet I ate but I just learned what a Johnny-jump-up was writing this. They were all over the open fields. One of the reason's I am writing this is so that hopefully I can remember easier by interacting with the words and pictures. I also seek out experts online and in person as well as consult books and the internet. I think the best way to learn something is to immerse yourself in it, and over time connections start to form.

All this wandering and I hadn't found a single Morel. I dug up some wild onions, and found what I think is chickweed, still need to do some research on that one. I think it has a potential to become a staple though since it is so common. There is also a patch of cattails on the property and I dug up a few of the sprouts so that I could try them too. We were winding up the day when I decided to go check one more area. Guess what I found?

Morchella americana - Morel - Yellow Morel

I was so excited! I did a happy dance and started scouring the area for more. There was one that I seemed to have kicked, but none beyond that. I wandered in the woods a bit more searching and shaking the morels as I went in hopes of spreading the spores for future generations to grow. They seemed to have a very distinct, memorable smell.

All in all I think it was a pretty good day of foraging. My knowledge and skill have much room to be developed, but this is what I got for now. Here is one last picture of some of the stuff that I found.

Thank you for reading!