Urban Foraging - Share Your Finds

We had a wet winter for the first time in years- my pineapple guava has been absolutely loaded with blooms. Have you tasted those light pink petals? They’re delightful.

“…pineapple guava has been absolutely loaded with blooms.”

Mine too! A d yes, the petals are tasty. The birds seem to think so too!

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For fellow foragers in the Northeast US, blackberry season has arrived! First berries just ripening on the random blackberry bushes in the woodsy fringes of the backyard.

Birds love the berries too. Finders, keepers.

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My husband fried up some chicken of the wood mushrooms growing in the mulch in our backyard.


Two days later, we’re still alive. They were delicious. I did not feed any to our toddler, just in case.

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You were brave but that looked really delicious, I would have tempted. Mushroom can be dangerous. A death with a 3 stars Michelin restaurant in Spain. No joking.

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Purslane is out of control in my backyard, but I’ve never attempted to cook with it. Any suggestions? My mom did a big clearing of our garden recently, but I have no doubt they’ll come back within weeks.

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We had it served raw with an anchovy aioli-type dip at an Italian restaurant recently. Green goddess would be fantastic as well.

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Growing up, my mother used to pick the tend bits (stems included) of purslane and dry them out completely under the sun. She would re-hydrate it at a later date (likely winter when greens are scarce), then chop it up finely for dumpling/steamed bao filing. I recall the combination of ground pork and dried purslane being very tasty.

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I’ve had it in a Mexican green pork stew… Delicious & easy. I can’t remember where I found the recipe but Google might be your friend. My ex mother in law called it “verdolagas”…

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Someone gave me some of these that they foraged yesterday. She told me she has been foraging them for 10 years from the same spot.

Any advice? She told me to saute them in butter but now suddenly I am a little more nervous reading @naf’s comment!

In your shoes I would take lots of pictures and post them on urban foraging Facebook groups to get confirmation of the identification. And also Google the hell out of it :slight_smile:
And yes - def butter, maybe a little wine, some thyme?

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I might chicken (of the woods?) out of actually making them. I’m not ready to die!!! :rofl:

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Chicken of the woods is one of the easiest mushrooms to identify. Verify that it was growing on hardwood (not a conifer). It should not have gills. Just check on line for a reputable ID site. CotW along with morels are mushrooms I feel very comfortable IDing and eating.

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Yeah, double id the photos with online forums to make sure. If you have doubts, try to cook a tiny portion to test, if no problem, then cook everything. Some people might have allergic to the mushrooms. Don’t give to child.

I believe that person who give to you should know what she was doing.

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Don’t worry everyone. I ate it and didn’t feed it to the kiddo. I’m feeling great. It was super tasty!

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Great!!!

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But I definitely do trust this woman who gathered them. She is a highly respected gardener with a long-standing blog and several books. She had befriended my mom after my dad told her about my mom’s enormous garden. Here is a pic from yesterday

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Amazing black berries …

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A well known German Chef, in Valencia, who felt absolutely awful over the horrendous horror. The Government closed the restaurant until they could do testings for toxicity etcetra, and collaborate with the Forensics on this specific case.

I have not followed what has happened to date, however, it took place approx during the late spring to early summer of 2019.