Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2016 13:29:46 GMT -8
Hello everyone! Is anyone here foraging while hiking? Not that you have to rely your main source of food on foraging but mostly doing it as a hobby. If you haven't tried it, would you be interested to foraging while hiking and backpacking? I'm just curious to know if a lot of people are actually doing it and what they think about it. I'm noticing that foraging has become more and more popular nowadays.
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RumiDude
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Post by RumiDude on Aug 14, 2016 15:39:07 GMT -8
I eat berries as I go, but I rarely spend much time doing so. For me, the payoff is not worth the time. On a dayhike I might spend more time eating berries than on a backpack trip.
Rumi
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leafwalker
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Post by leafwalker on Aug 14, 2016 17:03:35 GMT -8
Some. On day hikes with ripe raspberries or mulberries I end up adding about an hour to the hike. Can't resist a tasty raspberry patch or mulberry tree (usually hang around it for a bit). Of course, with these my hands get all stainy and then I'm afraid to scratch my face or touch my cloths fearing stains. Not much for black berries though. A crab apple when I happen on a tree I'll give a try. A persimmon I'll nibble until I pucker up. There's a few persimmon trees about a mile in in an area I hike that I visit for that purpose at least once a fall. Made some rose hip tea a couple of times because I could when out hiking. Did pull up a cattail once to taste it after I had hiked a while and got in a mood. Felt too guilty to do it again because I love looking at the reeds and tails and all the things living there. Mushrooms I'll gather, but not as part of a hike. Have to move too slowly and not look up. Might run into a tree. Blueberries I gather, but, again, not really part of a hike except for one time hiking the Kek in early July when I must have found the first patch of the year. The same for thimble berries. Don't do animals because I don't eat meat. No beetles or worms. They would fall in the animal category. Although, have had a few bugs fly into my huffing and puffing mouth. There's a couple of flowers I tried (violets was one) that are supposed to be good, but, again, too pretty to pick so I don't any more. Do I forage? Kind of.
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whistlepunk
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Post by whistlepunk on Aug 14, 2016 17:42:20 GMT -8
Does fishing count as foraging?
If some berries are close by I grab some. I have added wild onions, nettles, and such to the dinner.
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balzaccom
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Post by balzaccom on Aug 15, 2016 7:32:33 GMT -8
Very occasionally berries, or trout. Miners lettuce for a salad. But that's about it. There isn't that much food available at 10,000 feet
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Post by Lamebeaver on Aug 15, 2016 8:43:43 GMT -8
Fish and berries as well. I've always been interested in mushrooms, but have't pursued that interest yet.
Greens aren't IMHO worth the bother. They take a lot of time to gather, and they dehydrate (ahead of time) to virtually nothing.
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tigger
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Post by tigger on Aug 15, 2016 9:43:02 GMT -8
I've done fish and berries. I will often make a tea from pine or fir bow, clover, and huckleberries. Back in the day, I used to eat grub, worms, bark lining, spiders, and all sorts of goodies. I wanted to make sure that I'd be able to do it if I ever had to rely on them. I've removed them from my diet as I haven't found the need. If beer and whisky grew wild, I'd be able to survive infinitely.
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Post by ecocentric on Aug 15, 2016 10:11:43 GMT -8
I forage regularly around home. Berries and mushrooms inspire my more frequent hikes for that purpose, and I don't have to go far for greens. There is an advantage in familiar territory, you know where to look for things, just like your regular grocery store. Foraging when you travel is far more challenging. You may not be as familiar with the plant community, and you have to explore to find whatever you find. Foraging while backpacking or canoeing is a nice way to supplement your supplies and add fresh flavor and texture, but to feed yourself will require a lot of time and a certain amount of luck. I can't think of a better way to familiarize yourself with parts of the ecosystem that most people overlook entirely.
ETA: Welcome to the forum, where is your home territory?
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BlueBear
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Post by BlueBear on Aug 15, 2016 10:22:30 GMT -8
Berries and occasionally fish, on the few times I've gone fishing. Learned to make tea out of Devil's Club some time ago in Alaska. Great stuff, hardly worth the time to prepare but great mental healing after getting torn up by those plants for years.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Aug 15, 2016 11:33:03 GMT -8
Nope. I have a difficult enough time foraging around my kitchen. Don't ask about the grocery aisles. It was a bad scene. turns out they really don't like it when you make your lunch and return the mustard to the shelf.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Aug 15, 2016 18:29:02 GMT -8
Never. I don't want to impact the land that much during my passage. Also grubbing for food isn't why I'm out there. But mostly it's to minimize my impact.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Aug 15, 2016 19:03:02 GMT -8
I'll take a couple berries if they're in season, just enough to get a taste.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 15, 2016 19:16:00 GMT -8
I'll admit that if berries are ripe, I'll stuff my face, and maybe pick a cupful to add to the oatmeal. I'm pretty much a sucker for berries. But I'm seldom in the right place at the right time, so it doesn't happen often. No fishing, no hunting plants--like HSF, I don't think that's low-impact.
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Post by ecocentric on Aug 16, 2016 7:28:51 GMT -8
Every footstep on the path is an impact. Fishing and hunting can benefit ecosystems that are out of whack. There are places where it is inappropriate to forage. I live in very close proximity to State and National forest land; land that has traditionally been managed for forestry. Hunting, fishing, and foraging have also been traditional uses. Hunting ramps and morels and cooking them up for dinner is a rite of spring for many people, as it was for their parents. The real damage is done when something acquires monetary value. Ginseng will be hunted to extinction. I see chanterelles at the farmers market. When morels are in season, some forests are over run by commercial hunters.
I do believe that the more that you engage with the living environment around you, the deeper your appreciation for it can become.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 16, 2016 7:43:20 GMT -8
Low impact? What can be more low impact than eating right off the wild plant? That depends. When eating off the wild plant involves pulling it up (as with wild onions) or destroying the flower (reproduction), it can have significant impacts. You have to use judgement. Berries, I wouldn't strip a bush, but they are less of an issue (and we, too, can help spread the seeds ). Fishing--most of the lakes in the Sierra are stocked, and I have no issue with catching and eating fish that aren't native anyway. I don't fish, but that's because I a) don't want to haul the gear, and b) don't want the mess of cleaning and cooking them.
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