#wild foraging

do not taste plants if you don't know what they are

do not identify a fruit as edible just because it tastes sweet

hope you didn't eat any fucking seeds, bro

Note: if you've followed along for a while, you'll have noticed that I generally abhor telling other people what to do. So take this as a suggestion that can save your life. This post is brought to you by the letter "I" for identification. Know your identification apps and their shortcomings, and, for the love of all of the gods, don't blindly trust AI.

If you are going to forage AT ALL, there is one rule that you absolutely cannot forget: YOU ARE THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT YOU EAT OR PUT ON YOUR BODY.

Not the books, not the websites you visit, not an AI identification app - YOU. And yes, I do think that means double-checking and triple-checking your work from completely different sources.

This is a really big deal because eating the wrong thing can make you really sick or kill you. I'm not kidding. (You should already know this but...)

And it's not just inherently poisonous foods that can make you sick - a lot of plants uptake and accumulate heavy metals and other toxins from the soil. That means eating foods from the wrong area can make you very, very sick even if the food itself wasn't poison.

So, in order to safely wild harvest, you need to not only get a proper plant identification but also to know where you are harvesting from. Is it close to a major roadway? Is it downhill from a cemetery? Is it near a polluted waterway? Is it close to any major industry that may have dumped or leached chemicals into the environment? Does somebody nearby spray with dangerous pesticides?

If the answer is "yes" to any of these questions, skip eating it. You can still harvest it for other craft purposes, of course.

I m aware that for some of you who live in unlucky areas means you might not be able to wild harvest (to eat) at all. That sucks and I'm sorry, but trust me, ifs for your best good. It's vitally important. Wild harvesting can be fun and incredibly rewarding, but it is not worth your health or your life.

Purslane blew my mind

I noticed a small succulent looking plant growing out of one of my cactus and like any gardener does, classified it as 'other' or a weed in my specific type of plant! Untill I googled about what it could be, and found out that purslane has many vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that make it recognized as a superfood in many parts of the world. Rich in vitamin C, A, beta - carotene, omega 3 - fatty acids, calcium, folate, iron, magnesium, and potassium! Excellent for tossing into salads. It's recommended to either cook lightly, leave it raw or cook the hell of out them to avoid an okra - like gooey texture that can generally be unpleasant. The only thing I'd say to watch out for when consuming purslane is due to it's oxalate content, especially the seeds, it may not be the most suitable for those who are prone to kidney stones. And the plant that may be mistaken for it, poison spurge, will leak a white sap when broken apart!

Purslane completely changed my view on the things the grow around me, in my garden and throughout the neighborhood. It has inspired me to really consider what is a 'weed' and what is actually just an unidentified source of healing, or nourishment.

[ID: Seven pictures of a creeping cucumber plant and several of its fruits.

The first three pictures show fruits, both ripe and unripe hanging on the plant. The fruits are small green ovals that range from light to dark green with light spots, like tiny cucumbers, to smooth black. The leaves are light green and spiky. A fw tiny yellow flowers are visible.

The next four pictures show a white hand holding several ripe fruits, then holding them up to unripe fruits to show the difference. The last picture shows a different handful of ripe fruits that are partly dried and winkled, all of them solid black.

End ID.]

Creeping cucumbers that are being collected to save seed from from our plant, which we took as a cutting from a wild plant two years ago. The original plant, unfortunately, has been murdered by McDonalds, so this is all that remains. I will make sure some of the seeds are planted in the wild to continue the genetic line. 🫡 [a saluting emoji].

The ripe fruits from this species are not safe to eat, they have extreme laxative properties when eaten by people, but are eaten by many other types of wild animals. We are only harvesting them to save seeds.

The unripe fruits, the green ones with the spots, are safe to eat, and as their name implies, taste like tiny cucumbers. Because this is just a tiny itty bitty cousin of the domestic cucumber.

This species is native to North America, and if you're in or around Savannah, Georgia, at the very least, you can find it in a lot of places if you know what to look for.

We have it in a pot with a tomato cage, but eventually we'll have to get it a proper trellis, as these can grow big enough to climb up trees and hang their fruits 30ft overhead.

fun fact - fire ants will also be happy to eat the ripe berries, which I know because of trying to save seeds from one that had climbed a tree and had to wait until its ripe fruits fell down.

The scientific name is Melothria pendula, because the fruits hang from the vine like the pendulum of a clock.

A lot of scammers online will call them "mouse melons" and photoshop the inside to be red and claim they're tiny watermelons. Do not fall for it.

To save seeds, as with many small fruits, you place the ripe fruits in a bowl or cup of cool water, squish them, pick out the skins, and strain the seeds through a mesh, or if they're too small for that, drain off most of the water and put them on a paper plate. Let them dry somewhere for at least a week, preferably longer, then store them with a label marking the species, date (at least mark the year), and if applicable, the specific plant they came from.

The seeds for these are little solid yellow-white disks.