How much foraging do I do in a year?

I want to know about how much foraging I do a year I don't feel like I do a whole lot, but how much is a lot? I know I won't be able to quantify all the blackberries I eat walking the dog but to get a general idea.

Today I picked a 7ish cups of chokecherries. Internet says thats about 249 calories a cup without the pits and 1,743 calories total. Planing on canning them and drying the pits for flour.

It all adds up!

I picked some more chokecherrys and blackberries. 5 cups of cherries is about 1,245 calories. And a cup of blackberries is 62. I now know why chokecheries where a staple food for the indians instead of blackberries.

Yesterday I picked 9 cups of elderberries. At about 106 calories a cup thats 954 calories.

I picked even more elderberries today. About 13 cups worth so 1378 or so calories. These guys are everywhere.

I'd just like to point out that "calories" is not the only consideration. "Staple" foods are ones that are abundant and high calorie, but that's only one side of the equation. Blackberries, for example, are very high in nutrients and cancer-fighting compounds. Foods like that are just as important to a healthy diet, but not only do you not *need* as much of it, sometimes "too much of a good thing" is accurate. For example, I've been told that parsley is very nutritious and has lots of micro-nutrients to the extent that eating too much of it over a long period isn't a good idea. I suspect that is true of many "herbs" - very good for you added to soup, but not so good to eat 2 cupfuls at once.

Essentially I'm saying that counting the "calories" that you forage gives you a number you can work with. But please don't discount something that you forage just because you can't get a lot of it - it may be important to a balanced diet.

Definitely. The calories thing is just to have some kind of finate number that can be added up.  I am rarely able to pick more blackberries than will fill my mouth so there's not a whole lot to measure. The same with mulberries. I've picked some most every day but....

Even more elderberries yesterday. Three cups worth plus a solid gallon (16 cups) so 19 cups making about 2,014 calories. I also dried the last 13 cups.

I picked about a cup of black nightshade. The bush was load with them, I should have took a picture. A cup of it is about 60 calories.

This morning I picked about 19 cups of elderberries and a pocket full of muscadines. 19 cups is about  2,014 calories. Mucadines are supposed to be about 130 calories a cup. Or about 3 calories per grape if your that particular.

Collected fruits, berries, herbs, leaves, roots and mushrooms are part of my basic supply. I use them all year round.
They not only provide calories, but also vitamins, minerals and taste

Dave Luke wrote:I picked about a cup of black nightshade. The bush was load with them, I should have took a picture. A cup of it is about 60 calories.

I'm assuming here that black nightshade is edible (!) I'm only aware of deadly nightshade here, which I wouldn't think of browsing on.....yes, I found this reference from Paul Fookes here

Nightshade jam can be made from black nightshade which to the untrained eye looks remarkably similar to deadly nightshade.....  it is not a good idea to mix them up.  Both are highly toxic to animals.

Maybe that's my 'new thing for the day' I've learned, thank you!

And thanks for sharing your foraging adventures. as mentioned above I think the other nutritional benefits of berries are probably more significant than the base calories, but as you say easier to measure perhaps.

Dave Luke wrote:I picked about a cup of black nightshade. The bush was load with them, I should have took a picture. A cup of it is about 60 calories.

PFAF say, "Solanum nigrum - L. Black Nightshade, Common Nightshade, Poisonberry, Black Nightshade: There is a lot of disagreement over whether or not the leaves or fruit of this plant are poisonous. Views vary from relatively poisonous to perfectly safe to eat. The plant is cultivated as a food crop, both for its fruit and its leaves, in some parts of the world and it is probably true to say that toxicity can vary considerably according to where the plant is grown and the cultivar that is being grown."

It's been a while since I picked more than a mouthful of anything. Heres all the persimmons that managed to make it into the house. It was about two cups before the stared thawing out. They measure calories in these bad boys individually, at about 32 calories a piece. 32 times 25 is 800. I cooked them and some elderberries into what was supposed to be jam but is really just chunky syrup.

I found a huge persimmon tree on my property hiding in plain sight.