tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post6314932755019319772..comments2023-12-27T07:25:11.324-05:00Comments on Cincinnati Locavore: Foraging: hot new foodie trend, or the hottest new foodie trend?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-5192790948822695012009-05-25T15:21:18.063-04:002009-05-25T15:21:18.063-04:00I really miss foraging for mushrooms in my hometow...I really miss foraging for mushrooms in my hometown. With unfamiliar local fungi and no friendly mycologist to consult, it's a little more intimidating! We especially loved puffballs sauteed in butter, and found a few choice coral-like types that were unforgettable.Matinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-37271946711789680682008-05-29T20:56:00.000-04:002008-05-29T20:56:00.000-04:00You might say that I harvest wild garlic out of my...You might say that I harvest wild garlic out of my backyard since I don’t tend it or cultivate it like one would regular garlic that’s grown for the cloves/heads such as we buy in the stores. It’s Green Garlic, and it only takes a few feet of space to grow enough to last a family year round. From my experience it’s best to use hardneck type instead of softneck garlic as you get cloves or rounds AND bulbils to renew the harvest. Bulbils [pea sized ] form on top of the scape and if planted will make what’s called a round the next year [which looks like a small marble sized onion] which planted in the fall will produce a full head of garlic in July or harvested as green garlic in mid May the lastest.<BR/><BR/>Green garlic looks similar to green onions and any chef in the know will salivate when lucky enough to spy it at a vegetable stand. It smells and tastes like garlic cloves but is more mild and has a more, well let’s say, refined taste than garlic cloves. It can be used in most any recipe calling for garlic.<BR/><BR/>If I wanted to start my own patch of [wild] green garlic here’s what I’d do for a fall planting and harvest next spring in 09. Find some heads of hardneck garlic. Each clove on a mature head will yield one stalk of green garlic about the size of a medium green onion, so plan accordingly. Plant the cloves 2 or 3 inches deep and one inch apart to get larger stalks or if you want plant the entire head of garlic and it will form a clump and give large to small sizes of green garlic scallions.<BR/><BR/>If you leave the garlic be for a couple years [in the ground] it will get thicker and thicker as the cloves make new cloves and the bulbils fall to the ground and make new rounds and pretty soon in a few years you will have more garlic than you can shake a stick at. LOL. Also, in the summer when the tops die back you can dig them and plant the rounds/coves for a spring harvest.<BR/><BR/>You can also use the larger cloves for growing regular garlic that you harvest for heads of garlic.<BR/><BR/>If you can dig a 3 inch hole you can grow garlic. Even softneck garlic will work, the kind you get from the grocery store. In march-April, I’ve even dug and transplanted individual green garlic scallions and it made heads of garlic by July.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-2073450519529833542008-05-12T18:38:00.000-04:002008-05-12T18:38:00.000-04:00I haven't thought much about wild foods since the ...I haven't thought much about wild foods since the seventies when my wife and I tried a few of Euell Gibbons' delicacies. Day lily buds were a delicious vegetable but it seemed a shame to rob the roadsides of tomorrow's blossums. The day lily tubers were not bad. Acorn bread was a lot of trouble and not very good.<BR/><BR/>My fourth graders tried lichens at "camp" this past week as part of a "survival" class. I missed that pleasure. The consensus seemed to be the stuff was tasteless.<BR/><BR/>I enjoyed your article. Thanks for supporting Learning in the Great Outdoors.Terrellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04349990421673327619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-88148403731883198762008-05-12T17:10:00.000-04:002008-05-12T17:10:00.000-04:00I love the idea of gathering wild foods, but the r...I love the idea of gathering wild foods, but the reality of it leaves me afraid of poisoning someone! I do make salads from dandelion greens and I've cooked cowslips, but I'm not ranging much farther than that. You give great references for those brave enough to try!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-7837901559057309222008-05-11T00:53:00.000-04:002008-05-11T00:53:00.000-04:00Foraging is fun. I first did it about 20 years ag...Foraging is fun. I first did it about 20 years ago, hunting for wild berries. You can't get salmon berries any other way, and I love the delicate little morsels. I remember the first time I found oyster mushrooms. Made myself a nice omelette the next day. Food is better fresher, and even better when you sweat trying to get it.<BR/><BR/>It has been a couple years since I've done much foraging. I occasionally go into my yard and pull up some of the wild garlic and mint, but that is not the same.<BR/><BR/>This article has been included in the <A HREF="http://tiredgarden.info/blogs/tiredgardener/dirty-fingers-issue-3" REL="nofollow">Dirty Fingers blog carnival</A>. Thanks for the submission.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-34312724150372207052008-04-29T08:58:00.000-04:002008-04-29T08:58:00.000-04:00Pradeep and I would definitely agree that there is...Pradeep and I would definitely agree that there is a groundswell of interest in foraging. <BR/><BR/>We believe that much of the new found passion for wild edibles stems from the public's growing uncertainty with regard to the safety and provenance of the foods that are availability on the common market.<BR/><BR/>There is no better way to forge a true connection with our individual terroirs than to go out into the world around us and forage for dinner.<BR/><BR/>Forage On! -<BR/><BR/>Farmer de VilleAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-38747773159290652172008-04-15T07:04:00.000-04:002008-04-15T07:04:00.000-04:00This post was featured in the carnivals of Improvi...This post was featured in the carnivals of <A HREF="http://improvedlife.ca/content/fourth-edition-carnival-improving-life" REL="nofollow">Improving Life</A>, <A HREF="http://www.rather-be-shopping.com/blog/2008/04/15/festival-frugality-121/" REL="nofollow">Frugality</A>, and <A HREF="http://www.diaryof1.com/2008/04/14/carnival-of-homesteading-45/" REL="nofollow">Homesteading</A>valereeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07109328679669048231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-83763821990771475982008-04-11T12:10:00.000-04:002008-04-11T12:10:00.000-04:00Valereee, definitely ask permission. The embarrass...Valereee, definitely ask permission. The embarrassment will be magnified if they catch you. Besides, you have the opportunity to provide yr neighbors with a "teachable moment." <BR/><BR/>Hurry, get 'em before the mower comes out! And let us know what you makeLangdon Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13824455892396013221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-775439072209559082008-04-11T08:48:00.000-04:002008-04-11T08:48:00.000-04:00this is something that have talked with friends ab...this is something that have talked with friends about quite a lot. Years ago, when I was in Japan I went foraging for fiddleheads. I was on a homestay and the family I was with had lifelong permission to do so--in otherwords, there was a connection with one's neighbors, and there was the understanding that you only take what you need, so we harvested and gave a portion back to the neighbors. <BR/><BR/>So this issue about tresspassing is also an issue about if your neighbors are informed about the value of what they have. Some neighbors might see your foraging as labor-saving for them--they wont have to dig up their dandelions.maybelles momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16658578052191010931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-86640889180751212162008-04-11T06:40:00.000-04:002008-04-11T06:40:00.000-04:00Maybelles mom, I forgot to also mention (and I'm g...Maybelles mom, I forgot to also mention (and I'm glad you brought up this aspect!) that foraging usually also requires going onto someone else's property, so there's an ethical issue there too, obviously. :D It's best to have permission, though for some foods that most people consider weeds, it's kind of embarrassing to ask. My next door neighbors have a stunning array of dandelions in their back yard, but I can't decide whether it would be better for me to harvest while they're at work one day without their permission or to ask them and have the request be seen as some sort of criticism of the way they keep their yard.valereeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07109328679669048231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-3679463650754200252008-04-10T21:42:00.000-04:002008-04-10T21:42:00.000-04:00Whats in Rabbit Hash? Heck it's the Center of the ...Whats in Rabbit Hash? Heck it's the Center of the Universe havent you heard? Google it! Great folks and a friends property to walk, we look for morels admire the spring wildflowers and forage.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-88683498344394180122008-04-10T13:52:00.000-04:002008-04-10T13:52:00.000-04:00Hi Jen,Glad you like my cookbook. The reason there...Hi Jen,<BR/><BR/>Glad you like my cookbook. The reason there's not much identification info in it is because it's a companion book to my Identifying and Harvesting Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not-So-Wild) Places, which features such info. The books are by different publishers, so they don't cross-promote. and I've got another book, Shoots & Greens of Early Spring in Northeastern North America that I'll be publishing myself within a week or 2. Please get signed books from my site, wildmanstevebrill.com, or the publisher and book seller will get nearly all your money. Thanks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-82634475637029134292008-04-09T05:54:00.000-04:002008-04-09T05:54:00.000-04:00Jen, I got some fiddlehead ferns at Madison's at F...Jen, I got some fiddlehead ferns at Madison's at Findlay Market here in Cincinnati last week. They also had morels. Haven't seen any ramps or nettles.valereeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07109328679669048231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-52244581343824523072008-04-09T05:52:00.000-04:002008-04-09T05:52:00.000-04:00Vudutu, what's in Rabbit Hash?Maybelles Mom, there...Vudutu, what's in Rabbit Hash?<BR/><BR/>Maybelles Mom, there are always ethical issues! Some wild foods (for instance, ginseng root) are so valuable that they have been foraged into endangerment. These obviously shouldn't be foraged at all. Others should be foraged with care -- for instance, when harvesting fiddlehead ferns, never take more than half the fiddleheads from any fern, and don't harvest from a fern more than once per season. Otherwise you could endanger the plant. You do need to know what you're doing.valereeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07109328679669048231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-49104651417617643392008-04-08T22:03:00.000-04:002008-04-08T22:03:00.000-04:00interesting post. Are they any ethical issues on f...interesting post. Are they any ethical issues on foraging--I obviously wouldn't want to pull up all of anything, but is there any rule?maybelles momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16658578052191010931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-53283814326524261772008-04-08T12:10:00.000-04:002008-04-08T12:10:00.000-04:00I came across a book a few years ago that might be...I came across a book a few years ago that might be of interest to any foragers out there by Steve Brill who you mentioned in your post called 'The Wild Vegetarian'. I remember it didn't have too many tips on foraging, but did have a huge number of delicious looking recipes once you had already foraged.<BR/><BR/>I think it's interesting too that things that were once only gotten by foraging are now showing up in groceries and farmer's markets -- for example, I can get dandelion greens, nettle, and even fiddle head ferns at my local markets! yum!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-35479934122224024482008-04-08T08:34:00.000-04:002008-04-08T08:34:00.000-04:00Great post and comment finspot, you pretty much su...Great post and comment finspot, you pretty much summed it up. I love getting out in the spring and morel hunting. Me thinks it's time for a trip to Rabbit hash.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145304480917779208.post-8540669616779425282008-04-08T02:30:00.000-04:002008-04-08T02:30:00.000-04:00Sorry...wish there was an edit button. One more tr...Sorry...wish there was an edit button. One more try:<BR/><BR/>A trend? Probably. Here to stay? Hard to say. Michael Pollan has no doubt kicked up the interest level--but so have all the survivalists, millennialists, peak oilers, and other doomsayers that are a sign of the times. Fact is, foraging was a much bigger part of our grandparents' lives than it is ours. I saw some figures recently about canning that just blew me away. Before 1950 something like 75% of American households canned. I'll need to look it up for exact numbers.<BR/><BR/>Here in Seattle the biggest foragers are the folks just off the boat. They foraged in their homelands and it's only natural to forage here. Economical, too. A winter night of squid-jigging down at the Elliott Bay public pier is a fantastic amalgam of foreign tongues and excitement.<BR/><BR/>I've been foraging for about 15 years, but only seriously for the last five. By "seriously" I mean I purchased a vacuum-sealer and I'm now planning my year around what species are available when. That said, I still think of it as a hobby. Yes, there's satisfaction in subverting the dominant food paradigm, but I personally get more pleasure out of being outside, finding wild edible treasures, and cooking than I do imagining what sort of political impact I might be having. Bottom line for me is that foraging is fun and educational.<BR/><BR/>Great topic, Valereee!Langdon Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13824455892396013221noreply@blogger.com