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foraging badge brainstorming

posted 5 years ago
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This thread is for brainstorming the foraging badges for PEP.

In general, the foraging aspect contains fishing, hunting, wildcrafting, and maybe some guerilla gardening. I think that we want to set it up in a way that vegans can do it. So maybe it'll be one of those things where it says "pick two items from this list."

What are some things that we can include in these badges?

Keep in mind that the key is that the tasks need to be provable. So it's not "read a book about wild edibles." But it might be "harvest 5 pounds of morels and post pictures."

Here is an attempt for a framework for the sand badge.


fresh list …  harvest one
 - one pound (total) of
       o huckleberries
       o wild raspberries
       o salmonberries
       o serviceberries
       o wild blackberries (the tiny, trailing variety)
       o cotoneaster
 - two pounds of
       o blackberries
       o chokecherries
       o Mulberries
 - (more)
 - (more)
 - (more)

dry list  …   harvest at least one pound fresh, dry and store one of the following
 - nettle
 - Wild raspberry leaves (might this be a better fit in “natural medicine”?)
 - Mullein leaf (definitely "natural medicine")
 - Mint
 - mushrooms
 - chicory root
 - sassafras root
 - shelled nuts
 - other ecosystem appropriate wild edibles
 - (more)

tea list … make a cup of tea from one
 - dried nettle
 - fresh nettle
 - dried mullein leaf
 - dried wild raspberry leaf
 - sassafras root?
 - chaga
 - dried rose hips
 - other ecosystem appropriate plants or mushrooms
 - (more)

dish list ….   prepare a dish (soup, salad, entree, side, etc.) that uses at least a cup of:
 - dandelion (blossoms or leaves)
 - wild mushrooms (must be cooked)
 - nettles
 - miner's lettuce
 - lambs quarter
 - purslane
 - acorns (must be prepared properly)
 - burdock (must be cooked) leaves or root? Leaves are used for topical applications and tea; roots considered medicinal
 - curly/yellow dock leaves (roots would be appropriate for natural medicine)
 - chicory leaves (roots listed separately?)
 - chickweed
 - wild sorrel
 -Henbit Dead-nettle
Lamium amplexicaule L.
 - nopales
 - red-root amaranth
 - watercress
 - other wild species of greens, seeds, fruits, roots, or nuts
 - wild fish or game
 - rose hips
 -Plains Prickly-pear Cactus
Opuntia polyacantha Haw.
big list  - complete 3
 - catch and prepare at least one pound of fish
       o four small fish or maybe one large fish
 - catch and prepare one wild rabbit/squirrel
 - 4 pounds of seed balls/bombs
       o at least an inch in diameter
       o can either be used immediately or quickly dried for storage (before the seeds germinate)
       o at least six different species in each ball/bomb
           - possible species:
               o nettle
               o dandelion
               o maple
               o mulberry
               o apricots
               o apples
               o black locust
               o more

 - harvest maple sap and boil it down to make 1 pint of syrup
 - (more)
 - (more)
 - do 2 more items from the dry list (duplicates are okay)
 - do 4 more items from the dish list (duplicates are okay)
 - do 4 more items from the fresh list (duplicates are okay)


So "the big list" has the stuff about fish and meat and vegan alternatives.

Now we just need to fill out the lists.
COMMENTS:
 
Shawn Klassen-Koop
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posted 5 years ago
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I just found this brainstorm from a couple years back:

https://permies.com/t/41902/PEX-Wildcraft-Guerrila-Gardening

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Developer of the Land Notes app.

 
paul wheaton
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I think sand badge needs to have a list, like "the betty list" where it says "select 3" and the idea is to wild harvest and eat at least a pound and there is a list.    And then in straw badge it says "select 10 from the betty list - no repeats" and then another item could be "select 20 from the betty list - repeats allowed"

Maybe there are two lists, one of stuff that you can go out and eat raw (like berries) and another one where there needs to be some cooking (like nettles).  

Maybe there needs to be cooked dishes that are 10% wild, and others that are 99% wild.  ??

Then we need lists that have lots of foraging options, and they have some fishing and hunting options in there too.  So there are plenty of opportunities for fishing and hunting, and there are opportunities for vegans also.

We need to have stuff where we can encourage and discourage plants in the wild.   Native american ag style.  

Planting seed bombs and seed balls.  Getting new species to start in relatively wild areas.  The difference here is that gardening will be inside of a fence, and this "gardening" will be outside the fence.

Tan a hide:  does it go into textiles?   We have stuff like that - maybe this is something to be brought up in textiles.

Make a wild salad.

Make a wild soup.

Nettle lasagna.

Wild mushrooms!

Instead of "betty list" --  I like the idea that the lists have names to reflect famous people (probably dead, maybe living) in this aspect.  Suggestions?  (Elpel?)

What other stuff should get mashed into the badges for foraging?



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Dennis Mitchell
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posted 5 years ago
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Maybe foraging for non food purposes. Creating rope from nettles, or sandals from bark. Clay for pottery. Basket making materials.
 
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Shouldn't hunting be separate? When I think of or hear the word foraging I'm not picturing hunting animals. It seems like one could be a very proficient hunter with little plant foraging skills and vice versa.

-WY

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Dennis Mitchell wrote:Maybe foraging for non food purposes. Creating rope from nettles, or sandals from bark. Clay for pottery. Basket making materials.



Rope, nettles, sandals and basket materials - head over to the textiles stuff for all those ideas!

Clay, take a look at natural building.

There's gonna be a lot of overlap, so we've taken certain things and assigned them to just one badge.

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paul wheaton
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Mike Patterson wrote:Shouldn't hunting be separate? When I think of or hear the word foraging I'm not picturing hunting animals. It seems like one could be a very proficient hunter with little plant foraging skills and vice versa.

-WY



What would "iron badge" in hunting look like?  What would take up six months, spread out over two years?

The iron badge in foraging could include hunting, fishing and wildcrafting.  

The important thing is that it is possible that they could be branched out at a later date.  But to get these done, we made some decisions and drew some lines.   And then changed it.  And changed it again.   And then a few more rounds of changes.   And now we are pretty locked into finishing with the layout we have now FIRST and any further changes can come later.  :)

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Nicole Alderman
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I'll give it a whirl!

Sand Badge:

- Make 2 pounds of seed balls and distribute them someplace that isn't your home (1.5 hours?)
- Graft an edible variety of plant on to a non-edible plant of the same species. Examples: (30 minutes?)
    -- edible cherry on to flowering cherry tree
    -- edbile pear on a bradford pear
    -- edible plum onto a flowering plum tree
- *Harvest and consume list* choose two of the below plants to harvest and eat right away 1 pound of (this can be done over many days, but the total must be 1 pound of that plant): (1 hour)
    -- huckleberries
    -- blackberries/wild raspberries/salmonberries
    -- dandelions (in tea or raw. If you only use the roots, you need 1 pound of roots. If you only use the leaves, you need 1 pound of leaves, etc)
    -- oyster mushrooms (there's no poisonous look-a=likes, and they're easy to grow)
    -- miner's lettuce
    -- wood sorrel
    -- autumn olive
    -- nettle
    -- lambs quarter
    -- purslane
    -- pineapple weed (use for tea)
    -- gleaned fruit from somebody else's yard (with permission)
    -- gleaned fruit from public street
- *Jam list* Pick one of the following to make into jam (each must make 2 quarts of jam. Must be harvested by you) (1.5 hours)
   -- service berries
    -- huckleberries
    -- blackberries/wild raspberries/salmonberries
    -- Oregon grape
    -- salal
    -- dandelion flowers
    -- bunchberries
    -- wild grapes
    -- gleaned fruit from somebudy else's yard
    -- gleaned fruit from public street
- *dehydrate list* dehydrate 1 pound (fresh) of 1 of the following: (30 minutes?)
    -- service berries
    -- huckleberries
    -- blackberries/wild raspberries/salmonberries
    -- Oregon grape
    -- salal
    -- dandelion flowers
    -- bunchberries
    -- wild grapes
    -- gleaned fruit from somebudy else's yard
    -- gleaned fruit from public street
    -- raspberry leaves for tea
    -- huckleberries
    -- blackberries/wild raspberries/salmonberries
    -- dandelions (If you only use the roots, you need 1 pound of roots. If you only use the leaves, you need 1 pound of leaves, etc)
    -- oyster mushrooms (there's no poisonous look-a=likes, and they're easy to grow)
    -- miner's lettuce
    -- wood sorrel
    -- autumn olive
    -- nettle
    -- lambs quarter
    -- purslane
    -- pineapple weed (use for tea)

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What about foraging for wild berries, grapes, etc. and then making jams or jellies from them. A foraging and preserving badge? For instance, we often forage for wild berries that ripen at different times, so we freeze them, then combine them for a bit of hedgerow jam. Or forage for wild grapes, then using some crabapples to make grape jelly without added pectin.

Josephine, Forest Witch

 
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Some random ideas that could be fit somewhere, in no particular order:
  • Forage 8 cubic feet of wood for a fire or RMH
  • Correctly identify 10 different mushrooms
  • Correctly identify 10 different berries
  • Catch 5 fish, one big enough to sustain you as food for 4 hours
  • Make a trap to catch a fish.  Later BB to catch 5 fish with said trap.
  • Make a rabbit (or other game) snare.  Later BB to snare a rabbit.
  • Correctly identify 2 different tubers
  • Get within 30 yards of a deer, elk or antelope (or hide and let it get 30 yards from you)
  • Show competence with a bow and arrow (volley ball sized target hit 10 out of 10 times at 25 yards)
  • Show competence with a hunting rifle or slug shotgun (volley ball sized target hit 10 out of 10 times at 150 yards [100 yards for slug])
  • Humanely kill a deer, elk or antelope.
  • Help butcher a deer/elk/antelope/goat/steer with someone (prerequisite to killing big game)
  • Humanely kill a rabbit
  • Hunt/fish/trap XXXXX calories of wild game (bigger XXX's for higher levels)
  • Make a blickey to collect berries/nuts in a "hands-free" manner
  • Make a stick to pull branches down into reach for berry picking (fork at one end and rope loop at the other to stand on)
  • Complete hunter safety course (before any killing occurs)
  • Stalk within XXX yards of an elk/deer/antelope (may need different XX's based on species and level of badge)
  • Run down a deer on foot and humanely kill (may be solo or as a pack)
  • Identify 10 animal tracks and indicate direction of travel
  • Something with using or making a spear?
  • Something with using or making a slingshot?

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    Skandi Rogers
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    Is this still for a specific area? Remember a lot of these things are totally illegal anywhere that isn't America.

    It might be better to have a list that says something like, gather 10lb of wild berries including at least X number of different species, and leave the actual species up to the persons choice. Similarly perhaps X amount of wild greens, and maybe find and take photos of 5 plants where the root is used but DO NOT DIG (as this is illegal on ALL public land in the UK and over here in Denmark)

    I do not think hunting should be included, for me I need to spend 2 years at a gun club and then take a license and then travel to do it. so even shooting at a rat would be iron level! Same issues with fish, there is no public freshwater fishing here, it all costs money. And traps/nets are again illegal.

    Having read through many of the PEP ideas I find that they exclude most Europeans and yes I understand that they are local, but so many of the broader ideas cannot be applied to Europe that they would be totally gutted if someone over here tried to make a similar list.

    I have one idea for something that should be added. Find and document 5 poisonous plants from your area, and find and document 5 poisonous mushrooms. It is just as important to know what not to eat as to know what to eat.
     
    Mike Haasl
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    Skandi Rogers wrote:Is this still for a specific area?


    Yes, since it's Permaculture Experience according to Paul it is aimed at his site in Montana, USA.  My hope is that it is so popular that someone creates a PEEU (Permaculture Experience for the European Union) or a PES (for Scandinavia) or a PES (according to Skandi).  Those could be 50% the same (copy PEP) and 50% different (customized to local laws, plants, building styles, geography, climates).

    I'd imagine that if there are small changes to PEP that would open up options for a much vaster part of the world to copy a BB, Paul would consider it.  I don't recall hearing a stance from him on that either way so I don't want to speak for him...

    Good ideas for poisonous stuff and X pounds of stuff.  

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    Nicole Alderman
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    I have a feeling that after the first PEP certification  event at Paul's place, he might broaden the requirements. Right now, it's geared toward something he can have people do at his place, so he can easily certify them in person, especially during the upcoming event thats in...three?!...months!

    I, too, would like the requirements broadened where they make sense (type of tree, type of plant, etc). While it's neat to have different people make their own PEX, I don't know if Paul would allow the shiny badge in their signature for it. I really want at least one of the badges I made, so instead of making my own PEN, I'm working on Paul's PEP.

    When I wrote up the foraging list, I was kind of spewing them forth from what wild edibles I could think of at midnight. What are common, easily foragable edibles in Europe? I can add them in. I don't know if Paul will keep them there, but I can add them to my list above.

    I think for the foraging stuff, too, it could just be harvesting weeds from your own or a friend's property. I've got a lot of wild blackberries and dandelions. Maybe there's hedgerows of hawthorn at someone's house you know? Maybe you know someone who has apple trees they don't harvest from, and you could ask permission to "gleen." Maybe the seedballs could be strewn at a friend's field.

    I certainly wouldn't want people getting in trouble over this badge! And, permies probably doesn't want any legal trouble from that either!

    I know for certain that Paul is really trying to have the PEP--especially the earlier levels--be vegan friendly. So maybe people could learn hunting in higher levels, but it wouldn't be required to do the badge--instead they'd do something else. Like in the textiles badge, people can crochet a cotton dishcloth, or knit a wool hotpad.

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    Mary Beth Alexander
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    Running the risk of being labeled "Typhoid Mary" or Debbie Downer ... but I completely DON'T GET this exercise of "pex/pep".
    Am VERY thankful for so many of you willing to share your experiences and expertise AND questions! That's what I selfishly need as a NB permie and homesteader. Looking forward to soon being able to contribute to this community, which has already helped me so much.
    I'm guessing that pex/pep is supposed to encourage people to try new things/branch out/become educated/etc - ALL GOOD. We already know that, as "permies" we are trying to recreate/relearn lost knowledge to put to use in the 21st century.
    But, I'm concerned that this will become a "social-media game" with unverifiable results; potential "shaming"; and wasted time for "reportage" to the moderators.
    I'm looking forward to reading about your successes and failures within the proper threads - PLEASE put your ZONE in your profile or post!
    FOR EXAMPLE, If you have "spare time" (lucky you) - I hope that you would share photos of the toxic/non-toxic mushrooms you found.
    THANK YOU to everyone here - the contribution, volunteerism, and sense of community is outstanding! I'm very grateful and am wishing all of us the best.

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    Nicole Alderman
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    I think PEP serves thee main purposes:

  • It's a way for people to learn skills that they don't even where to start. I used to know nothing about woodworking, though I wanted to learn. By doing the roundwood woodworking Badge Bits, I've learned the basic skills, and can now do stuff! And, I have a mallet and a spoon and a bench and coat hangers to show for it!
  • It's a way for someone to show that they know something. It's fun to have the spiffy badge in your signature. I want one of those badges!
  • It's a way for someone to look a prospective employees/inheritors of their land, and see if they have the skills necessary.


    • But, I'm concerned that this will become a "social-media game" with unverifiable results; potential "shaming"; and wasted time for "reportage" to the moderators.



    So far, we haven't had any shaming or any extra work as moderators from this. There haven't been cranky debates or flame wars. Everyone's been polite. I don't think we've even had to delete one thread in the PEP/PEX forums, and that's saying something!

    And, it's true that verifying results is hard. It's hard now matter what the certification or degree the person has. Someone can cheat on a test, they can hire someone else to write their papers, they can "cram" for a test and then forget it, etc, etc. As a teacher, I know how hard it is to make measurable and provable metrics. You never really know if the person who got the "A+" or certification actually learned anything. But, you can become more certain. And, I think with the requirements for pictures, and just the amount of posting required, it's kind of hard for someone to lie about having learned something. Sure, I could conceivably have had my husband do all the work on my roundwood working, and posed for pictures and claimed his work as mine...but the same could be said for ANY online certification. And, it's kind of hard to cheet at the higher levels, because they require evidence of you teaching someone else--and that's hard to do, if you've never learned it! At some point, I think we just have to say that we think we've got something that is "good-enough" and hope that it does good in the world, and work with it. And, hopefully along the way, we can learn from it and improve it!

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    J Davis
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    Excellent thread.

    The foraged greens are fun and all, but a badge should probably focus on sustenance.

    Nuts (hickory, walnut, pine). Acorns (leaching method). Roots (dandelion, cattails, palmetto, yam, solomons seal, sunchoke).

    And perhaps add edible bugs and preparation method. Crickets, grubs, etc.

    And squirrels, rabbits, trapping, skinning, cooking in the wild w minimal tools.

    Fish trap construction.

    What fun!

    Jd

     
    David Huang
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    J Davis beat me to it in suggesting that there should be something about processing acorns.  It's a process that takes some time to do, but yields a calorie dense food, and I believe acorns are fairly plentiful in many regions.  A few years ago I collected about 5 gallons of them and then processed them down to about 14 lbs of acorn meal.  It felt like a good skill to learn.

    That leads me to my second suggestion.  It seems like there should be some cooking/meal preparation aspect to this as well.  I had 14 lbs of acorn meal and no good idea of what to do with it!  I still have probably 10 to 12 pounds of it because I haven't really focused on changing my eating routines to utilize it.  I think the same thing can apply to most wild foraged foods.  Sure we can learn about all these things growing wild around us that are edible, but until we actually change our personal food culture to utilize them as a matter of course this knowledge is more of a curiosity.  This is something I intend to start focusing more on for myself.

    You are welcome to check out my blog at http://www.theartisthomestead.com or my artwork at http://www.davidhuang.org

     
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    Mike Jay wrote:Some random ideas that could be fit somewhere, in no particular order:

  • Forage 8 cubic feet of wood for a fire or RMH
  • Correctly identify 10 different mushrooms
  • Correctly identify 10 different berries
  • Catch 5 fish, one big enough to sustain you as food for 4 hours
  • Make a trap to catch a fish.  Later BB to catch 5 fish with said trap.
  • Make a rabbit (or other game) snare.  Later BB to snare a rabbit.
  • Correctly identify 2 different tubers
  • Get within 30 yards of a deer, elk or antelope (or hide and let it get 30 yards from you)
  • Show competence with a bow and arrow (volley ball sized target hit 10 out of 10 times at 25 yards)
  • Show competence with a hunting rifle or slug shotgun (volley ball sized target hit 10 out of 10 times at 150 yards [100 yards for slug])
  • Humanely kill a deer, elk or antelope.
  • Help butcher a deer/elk/antelope/goat/steer with someone (prerequisite to killing big game)
  • Humanely kill a rabbit
  • Hunt/fish/trap XXXXX calories of wild game (bigger XXX's for higher levels)
  • Make a blickey to collect berries/nuts in a "hands-free" manner
  • Make a stick to pull branches down into reach for berry picking (fork at one end and rope loop at the other to stand on)
  • Complete hunter safety course (before any killing occurs)
  • Stalk within XXX yards of an elk/deer/antelope (may need different XX's based on species and level of badge)
  • Run down a deer on foot and humanely kill (may be solo or as a pack)
  • Identify 10 animal tracks and indicate direction of travel
  • Something with using or making a spear?
  • Something with using or making a slingshot?


    • I've not only passed my hunter Safety course, but I've completed the hunter safety instructors course.





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    paul wheaton
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    I think that this is going to need a lot of lists.  So at the sand badge there could be


    (elpel list) find and eat at least one pound. Must be wild sourced. Complete 4
      - huckleberries
      - salmonberries
      - purslane
      - lambs quarters
      - blackberries
      - raspberries
     

    (______ list) find, harvest, prepare and eat at least one pound.  Must be wild sourced.  Complete 2
      - stinging nettle
      - acorns
      - dandelion
      - burdock
      - elderberry
      - morel mushrooms


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    In my experience preparing acorns is probably a bit more than a sand badge level, at least in terms of time involved.

    As far as people to honor as names for list titles I'll nominate Samuel Thayer.  While I certainly haven't read every foraging/wild edible book out there, in my experience his three books have elevated the genre and exist in a lofty plateau all their own.  I'm planning to start a blog soon (perhaps even starting the draft of the initial post today) and I expect one of my posts will focus on his books and why I feel they are so remarkable.  (I'm also hoping to try out affiliate links in this project!)

    For a historical nod I'll suggest Euell Gibbons, author of "Stalking the Wild Asparagus" which I understand was a ground breaking and influential book in its day.

    While I'm not as familiar with him it seems like Green Deane of eattheweeds.com is an influential name.  He seems to be more into videos and blog posts.  I don't think he has a book.  For me I want a hard copy reference book for this subject matter.

    I was also thinking with regards to the iron badge that an element requiring foraging in all 4 seasons should be involved.  This would help with the element of making sure it takes at least a year of effort, plus knowing how to find wild food in the winter seems like a good skill for the most skilled of us to have.

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    Josephine Howland
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    Paul, what about wild blueberries? They're a big thing here in NH & Maine. Funny story, my husband's mother always called him her blueberry baby. She had picked wild blueberries and baked 60 pies to freeze the day before she went into labor. We have several wild elderberries trees here, but the birds always eat them before they are even ripe. What about fiddleheads? WE pick fiddleheads in the spring, then blanch and freeze them. The USDA does not recommend canning them only because they have not found a safe method yet. We have canned pickled fiddleheads though. Wild blackberries and raspberries line our forest edges so we pick them every year.







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    We need to nail down the Sand Badge for this. We'll worry about the next levels when we get these done.

    As with other categories, I like the idea of learning basic skills, and then building on them in the higher levels.

    So the Sand Badge could be identifying, harvesting, preparing, and perhaps preserving, wild edibles in your area. Select from a list, maybe; but the list must be large to include wild edibles that are available in many places.

    Or just say, harvest and prepare  X amount of berries (3 different kinds), X amount of greens (3 different kinds), X amount of roots (3 different kinds).

    It could also focus on learning to build things like fish traps, homemade fishing pole and hook, and simple mammal traps.

    Also meat prep and safe preserving techniques. Drying or salting fish, for example.

    Then move on to the actual stalking, killing, and butchering of wild animals in the next levels. But I think fish could be included in the Sand Badge level.


    What else?

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    I think that identification does not meet the requirement of creating an artifact. I think that identifying something, harvesting it, and preserving it does create an artifact.

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    I think different volumes/weights and lengths of foraging could make a few BB's. Like, forage during one season, two seasons, three seasons, and all year. Or, forage one cup, a liter, ten liters, of whatever

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    Top of the head ideas:

    Gathering leaves for food - nettles
    Gathering berries for food
    Gathering roots for food - gobo (burdock) is my favourite.
    identifying mushroom - I wouldn't recommend eating them as a requirement in case someone makes a false identification.  We're having a lot of trouble with deathcaps here these last few years.   A few years before that we had some mushroom experts from the mainland come to the island and gather a feast and ended their vacation with very expensive hospital bills - some mushrooms that are safe and delicious on the mainland are deadly here.  

    Something could be combined with medicine.  I often gather Oregon Grape to make bitters (roots steeped in gin) for my digestion and health.  


    Something could be combined with textiles - twine and basket making.

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    What will impress Otis?

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    paul wheaton wrote:What will impress Otis?



    A meal made entirely out of foraged foods?
    Being able to take a picture of an area that has at least 7 plants in it, and identifying all of them.
    Making actual twine or other useful things from nettle/blackberries/etc?
    Identifying poisonous plants, both poisonous to themselves and to their livestock?
    Building relationships with other people to glean from them?
    Grafting food-bearing plants onto ornamental plants (people often buy homes complete with ornamental pears and cherries. Graft some food on those babies!)?
    Growing edible mushrooms?

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    Here is an attempt for a framework for the sand badge.


    fresh list …  harvest one
      - one pound (total) of
            o huckleberries
            o wild raspberries
            o salmonberries
            o serviceberries
      - two pounds of blackberries
      - (more)
      - (more)
      - (more)

    dry list  …   harvest at least one pound fresh, dry and store one of the following
      - nettle
      - Wild raspberry leaves (might this be a better fit in “natural medicine”?)
      - Mullein leaf (definitely "natural medicine")
      - Mint
      - mushrooms
      - (more)
      - (more)
      - (more)

    tea list … make a cup of tea from one
      - dried nettle
      - fresh nettle
      - dried mullein leaf (definitely "natural medicine")
      - dried wild raspberry leaf (definitely "natural medicine")
      - (more)
      - (more)
      - (more)

    dish list ….   prepare a dish (soup, salad, entree, side, etc.) that uses at least a cup of:
      - dandelion
      - wild mushrooms (must be cooked)
      - nettles
      - miner's lettuce
      - lambs quarter
      - purslane
      - acorns (must be prepared properly)
      - burdock (must be cooked)
      - (more)
      - (more)
      - (more)

    big list  - complete 3
      - catch and prepare at least one pound of fish
            o four small fish or maybe one large fish
      - catch and prepare one wild rabbit/squirrel
      - 4 pounds of seed balls/bombs
            o at least an inch in diameter
            o can either be used immediately or quickly dried for storage (before the seeds germinate)
            o at least six different species in each ball/bomb
      - (more)
      - (more)
      - (more)
      - do 2 more items from the dry list (duplicates are okay)
      - do 4 more items from the dish list (duplicates are okay)
      - do 4 more items from the fresh list (duplicates are okay)


    So "the big list" has the stuff about fish and meat and vegan alternatives.

    Now we just need to fill out the lists.

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    Paul, I just made this thread into a wiki and copied your starting point into the first post so that everyone can edit it and add ideas to the list!

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    Joseph Lofthouse
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    The specific species of plants on this list may not be species that are available in many areas. For example, around here, wild berries are more likely to be: rose hips, cotoneaster, chokecherry.
    Greens that would be more appropriate in my ecosystem are: red-root amaranth, mallow, nopales, chickweed, watercress.
    In other words, I'd prefer to make the lists illustrative instead of prescriptive. I have no intention of ever cooking and eating dandelion. In my opinion, she is definitely not an edible species!!!

    I'd add drink from a natural water source to the list... Bwah ha ha!

    In my ecosystem, there are a lot of domestic tree species that are growing totally feral in the badlands.




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    Shawn, can you add a link to the wiki you made into this thread?

    I would add broadleaf plantain, sow thistle, purslane, and wild fennel(seed, bulbs, either) - maybe cattail corms?

    many more that are region specific, but these are pretty broad-ranging.

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    Dustin Rhodes wrote:Shawn, can you add a link to the wiki you made into this thread?



    The first post of this thread is the wiki.

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    Wild plums



    My experience with wild plums is that they are small and 90%+ pit.   So you might harvest a pound or two and you might end up burning more calories than you consume.

    I suppose we could be talking about a plum tree that is not being tended somewhere - that seems worth the effort.   But I'm not sure how well that falls into "foraging" as much as it is "harvesting from somebody else's tree" or "harvesting from my own tree, but I didn't plant it."



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    fresh list …
    [...]
    nettle



    Harvest and eat a pound of fresh nettle?


    Maybe I need to add some clarity to the section title of "fresh list" to be stuff that you would harvest and eat fresh or raw. ??

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    dry list  …   harvest at least one pound fresh, dry and store one of the following
    [...]
    feral grain



    This is an especially fascinating idea that I never considered.   Do we have a thread about this?  

    What sorts of grasses might be growing in the woods and fields in the wild that I might go out with a basket, harvest a bag full of seed heads and later thresh to have a mason jar full of grain?

    The next question is:   I have always just stored the grain, I haven't thought to dry it.   Does it need drying?

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    tea list … make a cup of tea from one
    [...]
    dried mullein leaf



    I'm thinking that this one should probably be kept over at natural medicine.


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    This thread caught my eye as our family forages extensively.  I don't understand precisely how the badges work but I'll offer up what my hubby, kids and I have done as examples of possible things that could make the list.  We do not hunt, fish, trap or "forage" for animal products (other than bones, which I don't consider foraging but we do collect), so I'd be ineligible if it relied on those.

    In 2018, we:

    Foraged at least 35 different types of wild edible and medicinal foods, totaling several hundred pounds (here's our list: Our 2018 Foraging Wrap-Up

    Used wild plants extensively for medicinal purposes (like making elderberry syrup to cure the flu, elderflower tea for coughs, plantain for wasp stings, etc.)

    Preserved wild foods by canning, freezing and drying.

    Made several gallons of country wine with foraged ingredients.

    Made many, many dinners with wild food ingredients (often every day, and at least once a week in the winter)

    Taught 7 free foraging classes in communities (3 on elderberries and 4 on foraging acorns), along with helping various individuals who asked for help learning more, and sharing information about foraging often on my Facebook pages like All Natural Family and my author page, along with on my Instagram page.

    Wrote blog posts about foraging topics such as how to cook wild foods, what foods are in season for various months, etc.

    Read and reviewed (on Goodreads) 12 foraging books about foraging plants for food, drinks, and dyes.

    Created and posted recipes for dishes that use foraged wild foods.

    Foraged 11 new-to-us wild plants.

    I also now put out a free nonprofit monthly printable nature magazine for kids and their grown ups that teaches foraging in every issue.  You can find all the issues so far here: Wild Kids Magazine

    I've also written two foraging books: Elderberries: The Beginner's Guide to Foraging, Preserving and Using Elderberries for Health Remedies, Recipes, Drinks & More and Acorn Foraging: Everything You Need to Know to Harvest One of Autumn’s Best Wild Edible Foods, with Recipes, Photographs and Step-By-Step Instructions (affiliate links) and I'm helping my youngest two kids write foraging books for kids by kids now.

    I hope I'd qualify for a badge.  I'm not sure what you do with one, but it sounds fun.  :)

    foraging-alex-fiona-jack-nettles-ramps-asparagus-pheasant-back.JPG
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    Thomas Elpel
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    Hey, I'm new to the badges, etc., but I do know plants and foraging, so please fire away with any questions you have.

    My book Botany in a Day is used worldwide for plant identification based on plant family characteristics. For example, when you know that plants of the Mustard family have 4 petals and 6 stamens (4 tall, 2 short), then you can recognize 3,000+ species of plants around the world as mustards, and they are all edible. It's pretty simple, so I also wrote a kids version of the book called Shanleya's Quest: A Botany Adventure for Kids Ages 9 to 99, plus a related plant identification card game. And for serious foragers, I wrote Foraging the Mountain West: Gourmet Edible Plants, Mushrooms, and Meat. Here are the links:

    Botany in a Day: http://www.hopspress.com/Books/Botany_in_a_Day.htm
    Shanleya's Quest: http://www.hopspress.com/Books/Shanleya's_Quest.htm
    Foraging the Mountain West: http://www.hopspress.com/Books/Foraging_The_Mountain_West.htm

    Let me know if I can do anything to help!




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    For the tea list:

    Rose hips
    Rose petals
    Red clover (I’m not a fan, but people do drink it.)
    Raspberry leaves can be used medicinally, but do make a pleasant tea also
    Yarrow (ditto... actually most teas including real black/green tea can be used for medicine)
    Mint
    Dried berries (for tisanes, technically, but then herbal “tea” is technically called something else... an infusion, I think...)
    Pine needles (I haven’t tried this, but I’ve read it’s actually good...)

    All I can think of atm, but there are many more.

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    I think it's important to specify 'leaves or root' when suggesting an edible....also genus and species would make things  much clearer.

    For example, burdock is listed and specifies 'must be cooked' but not whether to use leaves or roots.
    Is this the burdock (Arctium lappa, A. minus) that has these properties?

    1.Blood Pressure. Burdock has inspiring ability to lower blood pressure.
    2.Digestive Issues. Burdock is loaded with fiber which is useful to stimulate...
    3.Diabetes. Although almost all kinds of fiber can regulate the balance...
    4.Detoxify the Liver. The chemical which give burdock its bitter taste also stimulates bile...



    Or is burdock being used as a common name for some other wild plant such as Burdock Herb- cocklebur (Xanthium).

    Xanthium (cocklebur) is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower tribe within the daisy family, native to the Americas and eastern Asia.



    I realize this list  is only to set  parameters not to teach...although I think clear definitions, in this case, are important.

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