|
Post by downriver on Jun 12, 2024 18:21:50 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by bluefish on Jun 13, 2024 3:25:43 GMT -8
This year's haul included fiddleheads from my property, ramps (leeks) from an abandoned hospital property above my town that I mountain bike on, and a few morels off the lawn. If I was really ambitious, I could gather ginseng. Our very talented retired school maintenance guy put his kids through college doing just that. I notice that local people have become extremely secretive of where they find wild edibles. Like the rest of outdoor activities, it's now being overrun with newcomers. There are so many places I no longer, hike, fish, or bike due to the fact I dislike being around other people while doing it. I know of a wild blueberry patch that is acres in size. It's on a mountain that's the terminus for a state forest trail. Maybe a few dozen people picked berries there. Now its hundreds and it'll likely get worse as influencers, FB'er's, and other intrepid neophytes spew their ego for all to see. Do they include a word of caution about preservation of the resource? Nah. Monetize to the max. Trample new paths and leave a bloom of Charmin lilies behind. Covid has done irreparable damage to so many things.
|
|
ErnieW
Trail Wise!
I want to backpack
Posts: 10,637
|
Post by ErnieW on Jun 13, 2024 3:33:09 GMT -8
leave a bloom of Charmin lilies behind. LOL
|
|
|
Post by va3pinner on Jun 13, 2024 4:16:35 GMT -8
bluefish -I sadly have to really agree with you on this. Not far from where I live as a really unique wilderness area called Dolly Sods. I've been hiking & photographing it since the 1970's, and it has been destroyed by too many people. There's a local volunteer group that is really working to preserving it (latest is to have what they call trail ambassadors at the busiest trailheads to educate hikers), but ALL the places I used to go for some peace and privacy have been posted hundreds of times on every social site imaginable, inclding (at last count) about 400 videos on Youtube of grizzled manly looking hikers extolling the virtues of wilderness existence.
It's not just covid, it's the internet.
And yes as a long time hiker/photographer, I have sadly contributed to this.
The fact that it's kinda crowded here on the East Coast doesn't help either.
|
|
balzaccom
Trail Wise!
Waiting for spring...
Posts: 4,769
|
Post by balzaccom on Jun 13, 2024 5:23:09 GMT -8
We took a hike a few years ago in a fire-affected part of the Eldorado NF and were amazed by the number of foragers--some carrying a shopping bag full of morels. We managed to hike past them a few miles and camp in solitude.
It would be interesting to have someone study and/or compare the effects of this kind of activity in the national forests, compared to the foraging done by Native Americans before Europeans arrived. Anyne have any data on that?
|
|
ErnieW
Trail Wise!
I want to backpack
Posts: 10,637
|
Post by ErnieW on Jun 13, 2024 5:56:32 GMT -8
It's not just covid, it's the internet. And yes as a long time hiker/photographer, I have sadly contributed to this. The fact that it's kinda crowded here on the East Coast doesn't help either. You may not have contributed that much as a photographer. Most cameras don't have a way of including location data in the EXIF. Now cell phones are a different story. They can provide the exact GPS based location of where the pic was taken. I would also like to point out for many of us here the US population has doubled in our lifetimes. Throw in that in 1960 there were 62 million registered vehicles in the US. In 2012 there were 254 million. A lot more people able to drive to the trailhead. They don't even need to know how to read a map to get there anymore.
|
|
Travis
Trail Wise!
WYOMING NATIVE
Posts: 2,769
|
Post by Travis on Jun 13, 2024 14:26:45 GMT -8
Later in summer I've occasionally picked a few raspberries or rose hips, but I don't go out with a bucket and attempt to harvest loads of them. I simply gather a few and keep going. Most I leave for the birds or other animals. They may even take them after they have shriveled in later months. There are tons of prickly-pear cactus (Opuntia) on the federal grasslands that no one shows any interest in. Not only the fruit but the leaves/paddies of pricklypear are edible and very nutritious. But somehow those sharp spines discourage so many foragers. A fork and a flame can remedy the situation. Prickly Pear: A Treasured Fruit of the Southwest. Despite the link title, pricklypear grows throughout the United States and into Canada. Native Americans, Mexicans, and fur traders found many uses for the pricklypear. Most folks around here have never caught on.
|
|
|
Post by absarokanaut on Jun 13, 2024 14:40:44 GMT -8
I've got no problem with folks harvesting things as long as they leave plenty for the animals that rely on them. I've seen some abject jerks hauling out huge buckets of huckleberries after stripping areas clean.
|
|
swiftdream
Trail Wise!
the Great Southwest Unbound
Posts: 664
|
Post by swiftdream on Jun 13, 2024 15:20:30 GMT -8
Later in summer I've occasionally picked a few raspberries or rose hips, but I don't go out with a bucket and attempt to harvest loads of them. I simply gather a few and keep going. Most I leave for the birds or other animals. They may even take them after they have shriveled in later months. There are tons of prickly-pear cactus (Opuntia) on the federal grasslands that no one shows any interest in. Not only the fruit but the leaves/paddies of pricklypear are edible and very nutritious. But somehow those sharp spines discourage so many foragers. A fork and a flame can remedy the situation. Prickly Pear: A Treasured Fruit of the Southwest. Despite the link title, pricklypear grows throughout the United States and into Canada.Native Americans, Mexicans, and fur traders found many uses for the pricklypear. Most folks around here have never caught on. Travis I totally agree. We do micro analysis with sampling one bit or one fruit or flower of the desert flora for simple interest. We don’t dig and tread lightly but are curious how the ancients thrived and kept healthy. Mostly I just do the single small sample, photograph and enter into my notes. There was a year with tons of amaranth, big plants everywhere, a couple years ago and that was interesting. Not much happening in our very dry environment but the saguaro bloom has pretty much ended and the ripe fruit will be here soon where I can reach it. Gonna scrape some out with my knife for a delicious bite of flavor. BTW, I have seen prickly pear on the windward side of Maui. Only tried the fruit here and it tastes like watermelon but the seeds are like a mouthful of smooth gravel so straining it advised.
|
|
|
Post by bluefish on Jun 15, 2024 14:45:01 GMT -8
bluefish -I sadly have to really agree with you on this. Not far from where I live as a really unique wilderness area called Dolly Sods. I've been hiking & photographing it since the 1970's, and it has been destroyed by too many people. There's a local volunteer group that is really working to preserving it (latest is to have what they call trail ambassadors at the busiest trailheads to educate hikers), but ALL the places I used to go for some peace and privacy have been posted hundreds of times on every social site imaginable, inclding (at last count) about 400 videos on Youtube of grizzled manly looking hikers extolling the virtues of wilderness existence. It's not just covid, it's the internet. And yes as a long time hiker/photographer, I have sadly contributed to this. The fact that it's kinda crowded here on the East Coast doesn't help either. Sad to hear the desecration. My wife and I backpacked there 30 something years ago. Saw very few people during a mid-week trip. Sorry, no videos, especially of me being all-outdoorsy . I'm just average outdoorsy-wise. Grizzled , I got down.
|
|
sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
Posts: 1,168
|
Post by sarbar on Jun 16, 2024 18:22:19 GMT -8
I ate Red Huckleberries and Salmonberries today. With zero worries. No one but me wants to wade through a wall of Stinging Nettle to get them......
|
|
rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,931
|
Post by rebeccad on Jun 17, 2024 6:23:21 GMT -8
Hmm. Haven’t seen any of the red hucks yet in my neighborhood, but the salmon berries are definitely coming on well. Lots of us grazing through the park, but mostly obeying the injunctions to stay on the trails, so there’s plenty left for the critters.
|
|
sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
Posts: 1,168
|
Post by sarbar on Jun 17, 2024 13:29:34 GMT -8
Haven’t seen any of the red hucks yet in my neighborhood, but the salmon berries are definitely coming on well. Lots of us grazing through the park, but mostly obeying the injunctions to stay on the trails, so there’s plenty left for the critters. It depends on elevation and which way it is facing, South will produce earlier, as will open forest areas versus dark areas. The islands produce often earlier than inland (personal experience, of many years). Evergreen Huckleberry produces in late August into September as a note. I don't live in an urban area where 100's if not thousands of people a day choo choo by. I saw 4 people yesterday in a local land trust hiking system. I didn't leave the trail to pick anything. The Stinging Nettle grows right along the trail; you just gotta know how to get around it, or over it - or have immunity, which I overall have. I touch nettle almost daily on my land. So assuming isn't nice, since you were accusing me of going off trail. There is NO lack of berries for the birds. Literally, I have at least 10,000 evergreen huckleberry plants on my personal land - and I pick maybe .001th of the berries yearly. Half a mile from where I was hiking yesterday. I grow Pacfic Madrona, both kinds huckleberry, thimbleberry and a whole lot more. We have ID'ed 10 types of native bees, and support deer, coyotes and Bald Eagles, owls and hawks, along with Golden Finches, Dragonflies, native hummingbirds and so much more. I am a conservationist and practice regrantive permaculture agriculture, and am fully organic. I was in the Trillium Community Forest, which sits north of Freeland, Wa, on the south end of Whidbey Island. It is a ridge that produces most of the water for Freeland, so it is home to many bog plants. It's just a ferry ride away from urban land and the mass of King County hikers. The island offers vast hiking experiences without the over crowding of the mainland. Whidbey Camano Land Trust is an excellent group, one we have given to, to support their buying of land.
|
|
walkswithblackflies
Trail Wise!
Resident terrorist-supporting eco-freak bootlicker
Posts: 7,182
|
Post by walkswithblackflies on Jun 17, 2024 17:15:37 GMT -8
No one but me wants to wade through a wall of Stinging Nettle to get them Nettle is highly nutritious. Tasty too.
|
|
walkswithblackflies
Trail Wise!
Resident terrorist-supporting eco-freak bootlicker
Posts: 7,182
|
Post by walkswithblackflies on Jun 17, 2024 17:32:12 GMT -8
This year's haul included fiddleheads from my property, ramps (leeks) from an abandoned hospital property above my town that I mountain bike on, and a few morels off the lawn. I'm jealous. I didn't have time to forage this spring. There are so many places I no longer, hike, fish, or bike due to the fact I dislike being around other people while doing it. Same here. Like the rest of outdoor activities, it's now being overrun with newcomers. I was in a few foraging groups on Facebook. I had to leave all of them. The constant "Edible?" with a single photo of a plant. RTFM. Because deciding if something is poisonous is best left to a group of anonymous strangers. I saw one person post a photo of what was possibly water hemlock, and other a Destroying Angel. Madness.
|
|