# Do you do any foraging for wild edibles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-any-foraging-for-wild-edibles/852442 "2020-04-23T15:10:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2020, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-any-foraging-for-wild-edibles/852442/62 "2020-04-27T20:47:03Z")
Blackberries are plentiful and easily accessible along many of our bike trails nearby during summer. Each year I ride out to them in the coolness of dawn to gather a few containers of them for jamming. Lots of work in a short window since they ripen around the same time, but they are enjoyed year-round. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-any-foraging-for-wild-edibles/852442/63 "2020-04-28T10:21:59Z")
When I was a kid, we had fields and woods behind our house, with lots of blackberry bushes. We’d often go out and come back with baskets of blackberries, and the scratches that came with them. Blackberry pies, cobblers, preserves, etc. When I visited the Big Island of Hawaii, I was hiking along the Chain of Craters trail, and discovered some blackberry bushes. I even picked a few berries and ate them. Blackberries in Hawaii? Who knew? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-any-foraging-for-wild-edibles/852442/64 "2020-04-28T12:07:48Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > When I was a kid, we had fields and woods behind our house, with lots of blackberry bushes. We’d often go out and come back with baskets of blackberries, and the scratches that came with them. Blackberry pies, cobblers, preserves, etc. We had a similar setup behind our house when I was a kid, a wooded/field area with lots of blackberry and raspberry bushes. The blackberries were a lot better than the raspberries, I thought. It was eventually razed to the ground and an apartment complex built on the spot. Progress! ☹ > [@panache45](#): > > When I visited the Big Island of Hawaii, I was hiking along the Chain of Craters trail, and discovered some blackberry bushes. I even picked a few berries and ate them. Blackberries in Hawaii? Who knew? I would not have expected to find blackberries in Hawaii any more than I would have expected crayfish. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-any-foraging-for-wild-edibles/852442/65 "2020-04-28T12:16:27Z")
I lived on a place with a lot of black raspberries myself and sometimes there was enough of them that we could collect quartfulls and my mom would make raspberry tarts which were amazing compared to other kinds that use too much filler and not enough freshness, pure fruity delight. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-any-foraging-for-wild-edibles/852442/66 "2020-04-28T12:47:31Z")
We found more garlic mustard weed (_Alliaria petiolata_) on a hillside by our home. This time I added 4 cups of leaves to a hummus recipe, whirred everything in a food processor. Delicious and beautiful!! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-any-foraging-for-wild-edibles/852442/67 "2020-05-03T02:54:44Z")
I just candied some local violets for confectionery use. Will also harvest local “fox grapes” for eating purposes and verjuice. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-any-foraging-for-wild-edibles/852442/68 "2020-05-03T03:07:56Z")
> [@solost](#): > > So there are crayfish in Hawaii, eh? Huh. I know, right? Who knew. About the blackberries too. But Hawai’i Island is full of microclimates; we have something like 10 of the world’s 14 climates on island (different sources give different figures, but you get the idea). So almost anything can thrive here, in at least a small patch of the island. To add to my earlier list, other things I’ve foraged here include bitter melon and volunteer cherry tomatoes. (Lucky me, someone used to throw compostables right off the edge of my new porch!) If picking fruit from an ignored, not-presently-cultivated-for-fruit tree-although-decades-ago-perhaps-someone-had-that-in-mind counts, I’ve also recently scored an alarming amount of Surinam cherries. Some kind of tiny wild guava are all over here too, though I’m not a fan so I don’t do more than take an occasional nibble on a hike. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-any-foraging-for-wild-edibles/852442/69 "2020-05-03T03:59:56Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > I just candied some local violets for confectionery use. Will also harvest local “fox grapes” for eating purposes and verjuice. Violets are in season in my lawn right now. Recipe? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-do-any-foraging-for-wild-edibles/852442.md?page=3)