foraging

Fascinating Foraging and Wild Herb Ravioli Recipe

Gardening in a small space sometimes leaves me feeling envy for the the expansive veggie gardens and fruit orchards that I seem to see on endless magazine pages and websites. My new home doesn’t have much room for a backyard garden and not a lick of room for one in the front. I have to pick and choose what I want to grow very carefully, be it things I love but are hard to find at the market, or veggies that just taste a whole lot better when picked fresh. I was just thinking about this today as I get ready to start my vegetable seeds and then I read an article in Martha Stewart Living’s March 2013 issue about professional forager, Tama Matsuoka Wong. Fascinating!

Photo: colinclarkphoto.com

I’ve often been interested in foraging, and have certainly gone on my fair share of mushroom hunts, but this is a great way to augment my limited garden production. I love that Tama not only collects a variety of wild edibles for restaurants but also teaches school children this skill. Tama has a new book out, Foraged Flavor: Finding Fabulous Ingredients in Your Backyard or Farmer’s Market (Clarkson Potter, 2012), that I’ll be rushing to pick up. Particularly when I can see the range of edibles she describes.

Photo: colinclarkphoto.com

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Weekend Project: Mushroom Hunting

Many fall days are spent raking leaves and looking up at colourful, changing trees, but it can be just as pleasurable to slow down and hunt for what lies below. Over the past few days we abandoned the garden, grabbed the dogs and found a host of fascinating fungi.

It’s now the season for picking wild mushrooms in the woods. Even though there are pros who make their living finding delicacies deep in the forest, beginners can grab some great hiking boots and a camera and go looking for interesting finds.

A few things to keep in mind:

If you are not absolutely certain that a mushroom is edible, don’t eat it. Seriously. There are many mushrooms that are deadly poisonous and it’s just not worth the risk. Other may make you sick so it’s best to handle with caution. It not even a good idea to touch mushrooms if you don’t know anything about them.
Grab yourself a mushroom guide (we like National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms (National Audubon Society Field Guides) for our region) and/or a local human guide if you are lucky enough to find one.
If you plan to pick edible mushrooms, check that it is allowed in your area. Then practice good mushroom etiquette: Disturb as little as possible, carry mushrooms in a basket (not a plastic bag) to allow the spores to drop and repopulate, and gently cut the mushroom at the base as opposed to up-rooting the whole thing. There are some mushrooms that you remove the full root so it’s best to read up before you head out.