Wildharvesting natural materials

[jaykush]

There seems to be a lot of interest in the collection of natural local materials for use in the home garden. This can be a touchy subject so I will create this thread for people to learn and ask for the proper methods of wild harvesting particular plants. This way the natural world and you both benefit from the interactions between the two of you.

there are a few simple rules when collecting wild materials.

1 - do not overharvest
2 - know the plant/material your dealing with, not the plant/material you "think" you know
3 - proper harvesting methods can increase production and quality, improper methods reduce production and quality.
4 - respect the natural world, without it you wouldn't be collecting shit.

if you want to know how to harvest a plant, read through or search the thread first before asking. since the thread is new, ask.

i will update some good posts later today when i gather some thoughts.

a quick tip for those new to foraging for wild stuff. if you follow this you will be pretty safe. i got this from Green Deane of eattheweeds.

when wildharvesting plants you have to I.T.E.M.ize it first.

I - identification - is this the plant you think it is, does it have multiple traits related to the plant you seek, if you dont know this, do not proceed.
T- time of year - is it doing what its supposed to be doing when its supposed to be doing it. if its flowering in january when its supposed to flower in the fall, chances are you have the wrong plant.
E - environment - is it growing in a good healthy spot. free of pesticides, chemicals, herbicides, motor oil, car exhaust, etc....
M - method of preparation - know what to do with the materials you have collected, so that they do not go to waste.

ill add this to the first post to help.

 

[mostnonymouse]

AWESOME thread idea. Can't wait to see this one start moving...

The best things in life are free

 

[Rednick]

Subbed.

 

[unthing]

Yes, looking forward to this

 

[rckymtnthuglife]

Hey JayKush, I was just about to start a thread about adding wild mushrooms to my compost/ewc bin?

I was out hunting for morels the other day and found a few, but I came across a whole shitload of false morels...the kind that can make ya really sick or even kill you.

Would they work out in my bin??

As a more general question...are all mushrooms okay to add to my compost bin??

Thanks
Rocky

 

[CascadeFarmer]

Cool thread. I was fortunate to work with a local Native American 25 years ago who taught me what to eat, where it grows, how to identify it, what it was good for, etc. Been eating wild salads since then. I'm fortunate to live in a place of abundance of wild plants useful for growing.

Yeah some plants are easy to over harvest like Candy Flower. It only grows on banks of rushing water and many times in the water on soil covered rocks and fallen logs. It's SO delicious.

Got so much comfrey growing around here it's insane. Lots of yellow dock, nettles and a shitload of horsetail too. You just gotta go on scouting missions in your local area. Pretty soon I'll be into the yarrow, lambsquarter and mullien more intensely. Yellow dock booming all year round though and going to seed now. Miner's lettuce about done and going to seed.

 

[jaykush]

wild mushrooms for gardening purposes would be included in this thread. i have little experience with the eatable mushrooms, but as far as the others go they are mostly Saprophytic, which basically means they eat decomposing organic materials. every fall i collect all the wild mushrooms( with gloves ) and crumble them in the compost bin. its better to watch them and get them at peak ripeness for best spore count. i mostly add them to my fungal compost pits for the next years fungal compost.

take into account some if not a lot of the mushrooms are material dependent, which means they like to eat one thing, and if its not in your pile its not going to do anything. this is where diversity comes in, if you add enough there will be a good amount that can adapt to the decomposing materials in your pile.

that being said there is already fungi on pretty much everything you toss into your compost pile naturally, though it can be fun to go collecting mushrooms for the compost pile and identify new kinds of mushrooms at the same time.

 

[jaykush]

feel free to add any tips on proper harvesting of any of those plants cascadefarmer. sounds like you know what to do when it comes to this stuff.

our wild greens are long gone here, at least the winter/spring ones anyways. now its lambsquarters season. lambsquarters FPE for the plants, lambsquarters pesto pasta for me

 

[CascadeFarmer]

AWESOME thread idea. Can't wait to see this one start moving...

The best things in life are free

Holy crap I just took a close look at that pic and it's frikkin seaweed. No Maxicrop for you I guess...LOL!

 

[CascadeFarmer]

feel free to add any tips on proper harvesting of any of those plants cascadefarmer. sounds like you know what to do when it comes to this stuff.

our wild greens are long gone here, at least the winter/spring ones anyways. now its lambsquarters season. lambsquarters FPE for the plants, lambsquarters pesto pasta for me

Thx Jay. I've only recently gotten into composting/working with wild greens for growing. As for proper harvesting IMO that would depend on the plant you are harvesting, the time of year you are harvesting and the area that it's growing in. Some local areas can support a large population and others not. Tough for plants to repopulate certain areas so stay away or very selective harvest there only.

My recommendation would be to first learn what plants grow in your area, what their life cycle is, what growing conditions do they need to survive/reproduce/flourish, etc.

Honestly I probably over harvested the easily accessible Candy Flower this year in my composting zeal but lots of places up and down stream it's growing. I probably will only hit the areas I know for salads for a few years if that. I left a nice patch and will get a pic as it's not very common.

Thx for the thread and will contribute what I can.

 

[guest2012y]

I agree with Jay 100% when it comes to harvesting any native materials in a sustainable manner. From soils to plants...gather a little of whatever you're after in different places and it will have diminished impact.

Chances are that if you are out there doing this stuff,you already have an understanding of the processes involved,locating,digging,screening,picking drying,application,etc....this would be a good place to ask those questions if not.

 

[GoneRooty]

First can I say this should be a stickie!

Second, about the wild mushrooms for compost, etc. Certain types of edible mushrooms are mycorrhizal. Matsutakes and Chanterelles are two that come to mind, and have been mentioned in adding them to your vegetable garden for both the mycorrhizal effects as well as the edible mushrooms.

 

[CascadeFarmer]

First up, from what I can contribute, is Candy Flower. That's what I know it as.

Location: Fast running cold water both on the banks and on islands in the water itself whether soiled rock outcroppings or on fallen logs.
Availability: Very limited.
Harvest recommendations: NEVER uproot, cut half the plant at most once per season.
Sustainability: Limited, does not seem to propagate naturally easily and the natural growing enviro is very limited.
Growing season: Spring through Fall as water is not an issue with this plant.
Opinion: Great for salads, nutritious and not medicinal, probably the sweetest most succulent wild herb you'll find. Very high moisture content for composting.

Where I can harvest this plant starts at one of the headwaters of the Sacramento River...

There's actually a small plant in that patch behind that guy. That's the Sac River where it starts. The water is coooooold.

Here's the first really established plant in the entire Sac River about 20' below that dude...whoever he is. I'd never touch this girl but did harvest a bunch about 25-50' below here and left a bunch more.

About 3 miles down the river there's this beauty I'd also never touch. Had to cross a few feet of fast running cold water for this pic...refreshing! I did harvest a bunch of Candy Flower about 50-100' upstream from this one though.

Right next to the last patch I showed, looks like a youngin.

Yes this plant loves to grow right on the water. There's a few miles of stream between start and finish of the pics I've shown I'll never even see but know she's there along the way.

 

[quadracer]

Hey JayKush, I was just about to start a thread about adding wild mushrooms to my compost/ewc bin?

I was out hunting for morels the other day and found a few, but I came across a whole shitload of false morels...the kind that can make ya really sick or even kill you.

Would they work out in my bin??

As a more general question...are all mushrooms okay to add to my compost bin??

Thanks
Rocky

Nice! Both morels and false morels can cause toxicity, but both can be eaten when cooked properly.

I try to match the habitat of the mushroom when introducing them to my garden. For example, mycorrhizal mushrooms get put with their associated tree host (I have many types of saplings), while most will get put in the woody worm bin. Woodchip lovers go with the woodchips, and dung lover go with dung.

Lately I've been putting the stem butts in a mason jar with some compost and see how the mycelium takes. It's a lot easier starting with a stem butt than spores, but both methods can be viable. The way to really do it legit is to start the spores in petri dishes, but that method is much more complicated and involved, but it takes the chance out of it.

There are also a lot of fungi that grow in the soil looking for the proper environment to fruit and that mycelium can be easily transplanted into a garden environment.

 

[CascadeFarmer]

Nice! Both morels and false morels can cause toxicity, but both can be eaten when cooked properly.

That's pretty much crap. Raw morels are not toxic. From my understanding ALL raw mushrooms are at the least classified as 'sickening'. That includes the mushrooms at salad bars. NO mushroom should be eaten raw. Morels are not toxic...misinformation if you think otherwise.

 

[3rdEye]

Excellent thread. I read up on lambsquarters. Sounds like good stuff. I've got a bunch growing in my neighbors yard. He said i can take as much as i want.

Subbed to this thread for life.

Have to agree with Cascade. It would be more accurate to say that mushrooms should generally not be eaten raw and without a very firm positive identification. Psilocybe spp. mushrooms can be eaten raw. Case in point.

 

[Scrappy4]

I put lots of mushrooms in my compost. We have some bountiful fall shrooms around me. Meadow mushrooms, oyster, honey, and whatever i find. I always have some onion sacks in the car for an unexpected find. We eat some, can some, dry some, and I compost the rest. The morels don't get past me.........scrappy

 

[CascadeFarmer]

Excellent thread. I read up on lambsquarters. Sounds like good stuff. Subbed to this thread for life.

Very funny stuff. Jay throws up a basic post and lots of acknowledgement. I break down one herb, take fresh pics trudging around the woods and ignored. Spent more time this afternoon on horsetail then realized a waste of my time. I'm sure the experts here will post everything you guys need.

 

[quadracer]

That's pretty much crap. Raw morels are not toxic. From my understanding ALL raw mushrooms are at the least classified as 'sickening'. That includes the mushrooms at salad bars. NO mushroom should be eaten raw. Morels are not toxic...misinformation if you think otherwise.

From Wikipedia (I can post other sources too):

Toxicity

Morels contain small amounts of hydrazine[26] toxins that are removed by thorough cooking; morel mushrooms should never be eaten raw.[27] It has been reported that even cooked morels can sometimes cause mild intoxication symptoms when consumed with alcohol.[28]

When eating this mushroom for the first time it is wise to consume a small amount to minimize any allergic reaction. Morels for consumption must be clean and free of decay.

Morels growing in old apple orchards that had been treated with the insecticide lead arsenate may accumulate levels of toxic lead and arsenic that are unhealthy for human consumption.[29]

Have to agree with Cascade. It would be more accurate to say that mushrooms should generally not be eaten raw and without a very firm positive identification. Psilocybe spp. mushrooms can be eaten raw. Case in point.

And people wonder why they throw up when eating shrooms! Mushrooms contain proteins that humans cannot digest, hence why cooking all mushrooms is a good idea (and properly identifying them). Some people can digest them without ill effects, like in the case with the boring Agaricus bisporus, or with hallucinogenic mushrooms. But not everybody is the same and not every mushroom is the same.



For the purpose of this thread, even if the mycelium and spores do not get anywhere, mushrooms definitely add to the diversity of food in a worm bin and put proteins and other interesting chemical compounds back in the ground.

 

[Krshna]

Great idea, I hope to learn a lot of new stuff about collecting plants here! Last year I collected these floating plants in my pond, and neglected to ID them until now. I just spread them around my garden in hopes that they would have some nice seaweedish effect. Little did I know they were carnivorous plants!!





Family - Lentibulariaceae
Taxon - Utricularia Vulgaris
Common name - Common bladderwort, great bladderwort

Utricularia: from Latin utriculus, "a small bag or bladder," the common name of which is bladderwort
vulgaris: Latin for "common"


Status: Native


Plant: perennial floating aquatic
Flower: 2L parted; head 4-20 per stalk above water
Stem: floating to 12' long
Leaf: finely divided, leaf-like branches, fork 3-7 times, scattered bladders and spines; no midrib
Habitat: lakes, ponds, ditches
Notes: young greenish bladders transparent, older - dark brown to black, flowers sickle-like spur on lower lip

Wisconsin has eight species of bladderworts -- carnivorous perennial plants of wet and aquatic sites with flowers that resemble snapdragons. Common bladderwort -- much more common than any of the other species -- is a free-floating plant found in shallow still water of ponds and marshes. Patches can cover large areas with emergent bright yellow flowers in July and early August.

Its floating leaves are alternate and finely branched. The leaf segments are round in cross section and become progressively thinner with each branching. The leaf segments carry small bladders, about 3 mm across, that trap prey like mosquito larvae and protozoans.
The bladders have glands inside that absorb water and pass it through the bladder walls to create a negative pressure inside. At the entrance to the bladder is a flap-like hinged door and glands that secrete a sugary mucus that attracts prey. When the prey brush against small hairs near the trap door, the tension on the door seal breaks and the prey is swept into the trap with a rush of water. Enzymes inside the bladder then digest the food and the bladders establish negative pressure again.

The bright yellow flowers, 1 to 2 cm, are on a stem up to 20 cm long held above the water surface. Each flower has an upper lip, with two lobes, and a lower lip with three lobes. The floral tube is prolonged into a spur that holds nectar. The plant is branched in several directions at the base of each flower stalk. This forms a base that keeps the flower upright.

Plants overwinter by forming winter buds or turions in late summer. These are masses of tightly compacted leaves that sink to the bottom when the rest of the plant dies in fall. In spring, the winter buds expand, fill with air, rise to the surface and start new plants.

I still cant find any info on any potential benefits they may have for my cause, but if anybody has any experience using them (or any aquatic plants that grow in ponds or the like), I would love to hear about it. My vague and unscientific suspicion at the time was that they were a nice 'essence of pond' to add to the garden... if anybody can add any real info or methods of use that would be great!