Foraging RESOURCES
Chronicles of an Urban Wildcrafter
The land around you is chock full of edible and medicinal plants – even in the urban landscape! What’s growing in your neighborhood?
This page is meant to help us open our eyes to our herban apothecaries! Hopefully it will inspire you to brush up on those botany skills, and learn to identify and harvest your own medicine, safely and responsibly.
Here you will also find additional resources for folks in Atlanta, Georgia and Dublin, Ireland.
Looking for herb growing resources – please see our Grow a Row Project Page.
DON’T EAT SOMETHING IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS!
First things first– Don’t eat something if you don’t know what it is! Please watch this little diddy by Sergei Boutenko.
GO ON A PLANT RAMBLE + USE A GUIDE
For practice with proper plant identification, go on a guided plant ramble or use a reliable field guide. An old school favorite is Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants by “Wildman” Steve Brill, but there are many options, particularly depending on the region you are in.
Please see this Book List for General Botany and Regional Foraging by Chestnut herbs for additional resources.
BEWARE OF POISONOUS PLANTS
‼️ ☠️ Two of the most poisonous plants in Georgia are Water Hemlock and Poison Hemlock. Poison Hemlock can often be confused with wild carrot, also known as Queen Anne’s Lace. For a special focus on this, please see the following resources. The first is a well written note by herbalist Howie Brounstein on Harvesting Umbelliferaes. The other is a comparison page with excellent pictures by Gabe Garms.
WHAT IS WILDCRAFTING?
‘Wildcrafting’ is simply another word for ‘foraging’ and means harvesting plants and herbs from their wild, natural environment (as opposed to harvesting from cultivated beds or fields). You can wildcraft in the woods, the countryside, and even the urban landscape.
EAT THE WEEDS
First and foremost, eat the weeds! Weeds are plants that are abundant, so let’s use them. Kudzu, nettles, dandelion, chickweed, and violet are incredible medicines that are not under any threat of over harvesting. These are great medicines to forage.
PROTECT AT-RISK PLANTS
Please be aware of plant communities that may be under pressure. Don’t harvest endangered or threatened plants. Please look at this at-risk list that is maintained by the United Plant Savers.
MINIMIZE YOUR IMPACT
Harvest in a way that promotes regrowth or makes minimal impact. For example:
- taking twigs and small branches as opposed to stripping bark from the main trunk of a tree
- respecting the seasons for when it is better to harvest particular parts of the plant
- dividing a root and replanting the part of the root with the shoot
- saving and spreading seeds
Here is a lovely guide to sustainable foraging that includes some thoughtful suggestions by my teacher Patricia Howell and herbal comrade Cara-Lee Langston.
WILDCRAFTING CHECKLIST
For more detailed information, please read the Wildcrafting Checklist below by Howie Brounstein. Howie was an early teacher of mine at Michael Moore’s Southwest School of Botanical Medicine.
He impressed on me not only the importance of respecting the responsibility we have as wildcrafters, but the true intimacy of it all. In order to “Wildcraft Responsibly” you must have a deep relationship with the plant communities you wish to harvest from.
WILDCRAFTING LOG
And if you choose to wildcraft for your medicine making or for others, please consider using a log sheet such as this one. Using a log offers transparency and helps maintain Good Herbalista Practices.
It has spaces for you to indicate location, quantity, quality, drying and storage information, and more.
As urban foraging and community gardening on abandoned lots grows in popularity around the world, some folks are beginning to do studies on urban foraging safety! Check out these links.
Is Food Foraged in Cities Safe to Eat?
- Christina Boyes’ article on city foraging safety as researched by a team from Wellesley College and presented at the Geological Society of America. At the article states, “Early research has found that some foraged urban foods are not only safe, they also have higher levels of nutrients.”
- “The way that different plants absorb contaminants is still being studied, but roots and tubers usually have the highest lead and arsenic concentrations, followed by leafy greens like spinach and mustard. Fruits and seeds, on the other hand, are literally at the other end of the plant and tend to have the lowest likelihood of contamination,” said Ciaran Gallagher, a member of the team who is majoring in Environmental Chemistry.
Weeds in Poor City Areas have Nutritional Value
- Researchers at Univeristy of California Berkeley in San Francisco report that, “Weeds growing in poor city areas more nutritious than store-bought produce”
- They not only describe the immense nutritive value of eating the weeds, but also attests to their safety. “After rinsing in water, the plants had no detectable levels of pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) or heavy metals – all toxic substances that might have been expected in local environments.”
- Ava has a few recommendations for urban foraging safety, such as foraging in elevated areas away from buildings and roads, or if you tend to work a particular area for an extended period of time, consider some soil testing.
‘In the Field’ Course Lecture on Foraging Safety
- Our ‘In The Field’ Free school course has a whole section on Urban Foraging, including a lecture on Safety in the City. Check it out!
There are so many great foraging guides these days, but here are a few that I have used and love. I’ve organized them by region.
The United States of America – BOOKS
Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants by Wildman Steve Brill This book is organized by season and then within each season it shares what you might fine in different ecosystems. It includes detailed line drawings, helpful id tips, and also recipes!
Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons This book has been passed around my family and was originally published in 1962. An early advocate of eating the weeds 💚
The Forager’s Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Wild Foods by Samuel Thayer. Just one of his many books, and honestly, ALL are recommended.
Foraging & Feasting: A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook by Dina Falconi Beautifully illustrated and exceptionally detailed, this book offers clear and practical identification and foraging tips while also sharing the magic and delight of preparing wild foods.
The United States of America – ONLINE
Backyardforager.com Ellen Zachos’ blog is filled with delightful foraged recipes. Use the search function at the top of the blog to find the plant you’re looking for as she has done a good job of tagged all her blogs posts and recipes by plant name (both common and botanical).
Foraging.com This online resource shares foraging links and resources, including books, online databases, and a regional guide to small foraging groups.
These Islands (Ireland and the UK) – BOOKS
Herbal Year Book by HWB Bristol. This gorgeous harvest guide through the calendar year also serves as a fundraiser, helping them continue their work of providing free herbal medicines in Bristol to people fleeing conflict, persecution, and intolerable living conditions.
The Forager’s Calendar: A Seasonal Guide to Nature’s Wild Harvests by John Write Covering Plants, Fungi, and Seaweeds, this book is arranged in a monthly fashion.
River Cottage Handbook No. 7 – The Hedgerow by John Write This book includes a great Forager’s Calendar, detailed monographs on eidble species, and a delicous recipe section. It also has a helpful section dedicated to poisonous species.
The Wild Flower Key by Francis Rose This book is a detailed botanical key with color illustrations. It even has a convenient plastic rain jacket to help keep your book dry when out in the field.
All books by Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew Seal This couple has written some of my favorite books, including Eat your Weeds and Hedgerow Medicine (known in America as Backyard Medicine).
These Islands (Ireland and the UK) – ONLINE
Eatweeds.co.uk by Robin Harford This website is a treasure trove of information. I’ve linked here to the archive where you can easily navigate his offerings. I especially appreciate the What’s in Season section.
The Atlanta Forage Calendar was created in partnership with Marie-Lies Van Asten of Fleur + Forage. The plants listed here are the edible and/ or medicinal herbs available in the Atlanta metro region throughout the course of the year. Many of these are considered “weedy” or “invasive”, which basically means they’re plentiful!
Over a decade ago, Lorna created this Atlanta Plant Photo Calendar as a personal project in order that she get to know her green neighbors. It is filled with images of herbs throughout the year, and little tidbits and thoughts.
Check out this Tree Map for foraging in ATL created by Concrete Jungle. They’ve documented over 3,700 fruit and nut trees of over 20 different varieties around Atlanta and Athens. Concrete Jungle transforms overlooked and underutilized fruit trees and land into a healthy food source for communities in need!
Georgia Organics Annual Harvest Calendar
Wild Flowers of Ireland An incredibly rich and easy to navigate on-line listing of local Irish wildflowers created by Zoë Devlin. Zoë has taken all of the photos on this website over the several decades and compiled them in several fully functional and searchable ways– you can search by name (both common and botanical), by color, and even by flowering season! Thank you Zoë! She has also published a handy print version called The Wildflowers of Ireland: A Field Guide.
Biodiversity Study of Dublin City Urban Parklands A survey commissioned in 1999 to make a comprehensive inventory of the flora and fauna of Dublin city.
Lorna has started building a photo calendar for Dublin, you can check it out here.
WILDCRAFTING LOG
If you choose to wildcraft for your own personal medicine making or for others, please consider using a log sheet such as this one. Using a log offers transparency and helps maintain Good Herbalista Practices.
It has spaces for you to indicate location, quantity, quality, drying and storage information, and more.
YOUR Plant Harvest Calendar Template
Check out this worksheet to help you create your own local plant harvest calendar.
HERBALISTA FREE SCHOOL
Since 2022, the Herbalista Free School has been offering free online herbal education. All our courses are free, self-paced and you can enroll at any time. Our In the Field Course is open for registration.
No matter where you are, you are surrounded by herbal medicine. Even in the urban concrete jungle there is healing all around us. Herbal medicine is the oldest and most widely used form of medicine in the world! Effective, affordable, environmentally friendly, with minimal side effects, and tantalizing to all the senses, herbs are a vital part to a healthy present and future!
This course was developed to help us cultivate our relationship with the plants, as they grow and live. Join us as we explore:
- basic botany for the herbalist
- botanical safety
- tools and field guides
- plant family patters
- urban foraging
- foraging ethics
- and more botanical bits ‘n bobs
This is a self-paced course open for enrollment at anytime!
Your teacher is Herbalista Lorna, founder of the Herbalista Free Clinic and Free School. She is a practicing herbalist, foot worker, medicine maker, and driver of the Herb Bus.
HERBALISTA TOOLKIT
Please support Herbalista and our community-based projects. When you join us as a sustaining member you also receive access to our online Toolkit, filled with the tools to help folks do herb work in their community. From templates to recipes, how-to videos to packing lists — we got you covered. Available to Sustaining Members, we hope the Herbalista Toolkit helps you on your herbal journey, just as your support helps us on ours.