Foraging in the Wild

One recent morning I found a most unusual gift waiting for me at my shop door. It

was a wrapped package of wild Lion’s Mane mushrooms that had been foraged

locally by my friend, Rosemary Kramer. Rosemary and her grandmother, Mary

Dearing had stopped by the day before to tell me about the fun they had foraging for

wild mushrooms. Luckily, they both know that only the mushrooms that grow from

logs and trees are safe for human consumption (after cooking) and those growing

out of the ground can be dangerous and should never be eaten.

I had told the two ladies that I loved the taste and texture of Lion’s Mane.

When sautéed in butter it tastes just like lobster. But I had only had this amazing

mushroom from a grocery store and never from the wild. Well, the wild foraged

version was even better. I cooked it that night and added a fresh salad for an

amazing dinner.

We seldom think of the edible plants (and mushrooms) around us because so

much of the basic knowledge of nature is lost on us these days. Our grandparents

and great-grandparents knew so much more about the outside world – its dangers

and its healing and nutritional value – than we have ever considered. I’m excited to

see a resurgence of people interested in the world that God made for us. Young

people like Rosemary are educating themselves because this knowledge is no longer

passed down from older generations like before.

Wild foraging can be fun and educational, and a great source of free food.

Perhaps, it was wild foraging that started me on my journey to become an herbalist.

You see, the first time I ate something picked in the wild it was a fried dandelion

flower – cooked for me by Rosemary’s mother, Whitman, when we were in third

grade. That’s the kind of thing kids seldom do today – explore nature. I’m happy to

see that there are young people like Rosemary who like the great outdoors enough

to learn about it. There are several popular books on identification of edible plants

and mushrooms in Alabama – including plants that can be used for medicine.

Anyone who is interested only needs look.