The Scout's Guide to Wild Edibles. Mike Krebill

      A fairy ring of Chlorophyllum molybdites mushrooms, the mushrooms that are responsible for more poisonings in the U.S. than all of the Amanitas together.

      Identifying

      Accurate identification is paramount. Dr. Peter Gail, a lifelong forager whose Ph.D. is in Plant Ecology, strongly believes that there is a best way to do this: it is to have the plant pointed out to you in the habitat where it grows. Ideally, the person who points it out to you should be a knowledgeable forager with a botany background and years of experience with edible wild plants. This foraging instructor should not only know what the plant is, but should be able to point out how to distinguish it from plants that look similar.

      For more than a decade, Dr. Gail strived to develop a directory of foraging instructors across the U.S. His ambitious goal was to find enough people so that there would be someone within 50 miles of anyone wanting help. Eventually, Dr. Gail agreed to pass the task on to Sunny Savage. She worked on it for several years and then found that Deane Jordan (aka “Green Deane”) was willing to post the list on his website. To learn if there is an instructor near you, go to http://www.eattheweeds.com and click on “Foraging Instructors.”

      Harvesting

      To have a good experience with edible wild plants and wild mushrooms, it helps to know more than just their identity. You must also know what part of the plant or mushroom is edible. For example, the ripe fruit of a mayapple is a treat and makes a magnificent marmalade, but the rest of the plant is poisonous. While the cap of the scotch bonnet mushroom is delicious cooked, the stem is too fibrous to eat.

      Timing the harvest is also critical: Siberian elm samaras (small, flat “wings” with a seed inside) are delicious when the winged portion is green – handfuls of them can be stripped off the tree and eaten on the spot. They are moist and nutty. When the winged portion turns brown, however, they become dry and papery. The length of time they are at their peak is only one week. You can find out when that occurs by making frequent observations beginning before the tree leafs out in the spring.

      Preparing

      Knowing how to prepare your wild plant helps you get the most from your experience. Acorns offer an excellent example: Most acorns have an abundant supply of tannin that must be leached out to render the acorn meal useful for breads and not unpleasantly bitter. After all, the best part of a successful forage is the enjoyment of eating what you have found!

      The Scout’s Guide is packed with insights and recommendations gleaned from a lifetime of foraging and my 50-plus years as a wild food educator. May you find this book to be exactly what I intended it to be: a useful field guide to the great adventure of foraging.