Foraging in northern Minnesota

greetings from northern minnesota friends this is richard with the hunter-gatherer society again not with my faithful companion dozer just out here it's our final day in minnesota and i decided to do a little bit of a exploratory walk the last video i went out i was specifically looking to identify um one plant in particular trying to determine you know what it was between a couple different options and i apologize if the lighting's a little weird on this uh i'm under an uh a elm grove here and uh a little sun and shade coming through so you might be seeing some change in lighting that's the sun it's a gorgeous day out here at 75 degrees and uh no humidity i'm enjoying it a little reprieve from the florida heat and so today is just an exploratory thing we've been here for a few days we've had memorial service for my father-in-law who passed away from covid we had uh we celebrated my mother's birthday we celebrated uh their my mom and dad's anniversary and uh we had a family get-together and so it's been a few days of just a lot of fun and a lot of food and so not a lot of time for foraging or preparing foraged foods but i always like to get out when i'm somewhere new i like to explore the area like to see what's out there and as i mentioned in the previous video this is an area that i grew up in you know i walk these trails as a young kid and it's interesting i didn't grow up in a foraging environment i'm learning now i'm learning every day and but i remember my grandmother you know on this property in particular this piece of property that that i'm on is um part of an original family farm that's been in our family for probably 80 years and you know it was much larger at one time couple hundred acres probably and it's now you know it's down down probably i suppose 26 28 acres of land and so there's a lot of memories for me on this property and one of the things i remember is being out with my grandmother or my uncle and i didn't realize it what we were foraging at the time you know we didn't do a lot of greens we definitely didn't do mushrooms but we did do some wild edibles for example one of the things i would afford here with my grandmother would have been wintergreens and i remember that as a kid finding these little red berries on the ground underneath that plant and getting to taste them and it was such a you know a neat experience to have something that stuck with me my whole life also i was walking with my son yesterday and we found honeysuckle and that's something my grandmother would have plucked off and we would have nibbled on the ends of it for that sweet honey flavor of that honeysuckle now there's no berries in here it's early june and things are you know the nights are down in the 40s still but there's so there's no berries on the plants but i am finding wild strawberry raspberry i'm finding wild blueberry plants and things are just starting to flower and just starting to start but those again are things that we would have harvested as kids on this property and you know again didn't realize we didn't know it was foraging at the time it was just time with your grandmother so today for me it's not about gathering any wild edibles and preparing them although i may grab a few dandelion flowers and dip them in some flour and fry them up real quick just for a little treat i might do that yet but it isn't really about gathering you know a lot of edibles it's really more about walking through this piece of property walking through the memories listening to the birds enjoying this beautiful sunny moderately warm weather and rediscovering some of the plants on this piece of property because again when i was walking this in my youth and my teens and my young adulthood i wasn't a forager i wasn't looking at the plants and what i could eat what i could prepare what treats there were and so that's kind of a unique way to go back through this piece of property and rediscover it and i'm finding great joy great peace and and i get a little walk down memory lane as well as i walk through this property and on this piece of property i've already seen deer here this morning there's always deer somewhere on this property oftentimes there's turkeys here and there are bear that come through here occasionally although they'll they'll stay away from me they won't bother me at all um you know so but there's you oftentimes will see wildlife here there is grouse as well on this piece of property uh it's surrounded by another hundred and some acres of potlatch land pot latches to the paper company that was originally part of the farm it's actually not even owned by potlatch anymore it was sold private party and they use it for hunting so we won't explore into that because you know they've asked us to to respect their boundaries and stuff in which we will do so but anyway today we're just going to look and see what we can find identify a few plants and take a walk down memory lane so come along with and let's see what we can find i love the early morning it's it's not too early now it's probably you know i think it's probably around 9 30. but the birds they're still just a singing away and like i said i've already seen one deer out here today there's a lot of edible plants on this you know on this property and in these woods here and but you know when i was younger i didn't really realize what they were now this one of course is one that as a kid i grew up foraging with my grandmother many of you recognize that right away that's a wild strawberry plant it's got its first flower on there serrated leaves there once you see them once you recognize them even without the flower you know right away what it is and of course with the flower that really really brings it home but again that's a wild strawberry plant we're several weeks out from berries being on there but there will be and of course wild strawberries for anyone who hasn't forged them before they're not like the strawberries you're gonna find in the grocery store they're very very small but when you're out in the woods and you find these little berries on the ground on those little plants there's just something special about that and especially as you're introducing young kids to foraging berries are a wonderful way to do that because you know think about you know you're a young kid and you're in the woods and it's like an adventure when you're out here and then you know you find i mean you you know what a strawberry is even at a young age and so you find these little berries and it's just such a great way to connect kids with the natural environment and start teaching them you know that you can find useful and edible plants here now of course you have to be careful kids making sure they understand the rules but it's a great way to introduce them into the foraging now here's an interesting find actually there's two of them here look at this here so this one i've been seeing quite a bit around the property let me show you that so you've got a rosette now for those you know fairly new to flooring rosette means it all comes down comes out from a center stock so it branches out around that stock and many of your plants that you'll forage are like that and we're going to look at another one here in a second that's similar now this one here for those that aren't familiar with it this has like a soft like cottony feel to it it's very fuzzy super soft it's also fairly thick now on the back side you'll notice the veins branch out from the stem to the edge but again that soft fuzzy feeling that's the key to this plant and now moline is edible these leaves can be eaten and they can be cooked or eaten raw but it's used more as a medicinal plant now this is used for you know i would say primarily for lung issues right um respiratory things so and that can include sore throats breathing difficulties pneumonia any bronchial issues and it's used as a tee of course it can be dried and ground as well but another use that people may not be familiar with this is thick doesn't pull right apart and it's soft and fuzzy and you're out hiking and you have to use the restroom and you need toilet paper that is natural toilet paper so multi-purpose now right next to it we have another edible and we have a thistle here now he's a he's a little one you're not gonna get much off of him sorry if the let me see if i can spin around and get the sun on that a little bit better there we go now this one here let's see if i can get close enough and you'll see the little barbs on the end of those on those leaves so and then look down below around that stock now that one there i wouldn't harvest anything from him i mean how are you going to get those little barbs off but as that becomes a larger plant you can eat the stalks just scrape off the little barbs and you know you can saute that up put it in a soup or a stew but that one is one you you definitely do not want to get the barbs in they're not going to cook out so thistle is edible to my knowledge pretty much most if not all thistle is edible but again it's a difficult one to harvest there's another small moline a whole bunch of thistle in there oh here we go this is wild raspberry it's a young plant he'll grow up and produce some tasty little berries but you know this time of year these leaves on this wild raspberry can be used for tea they make a nice tea and it's got it's a very nutritious plant and you know has some medicinal benefits as well and so this is a good time of year to harvest these and enjoy these leaves but they're very once you recognize those too again an easily identifiable plant you can see through here there's a lot of moline there's a larger thistle he'll get to be pretty sizable if he's not cut down so right in this little area here is a lot of moline if i was more ambitious i'd pick a little bit of that ship it back and then run it you know store it keep it keep it for medicinal use again for colds pneumonia bronchial issues we're gonna head back in the woods here and see what else we can find there's one right there there's a good find you guys i'll get close you'll probably recognize it pretty quick by the little berries that are starting to form up that is a wild blueberry it's actually several plants here now it's just starting to form the berries but here in a few weeks those will be loaded with berries again early june i think it's the sixth today so i would say first week of july maybe last week of june first week of july there'll be some berry hunting to be done here for anybody who has not been to minnesota i'm telling you guys there is some amazing beauty in this state now someone's going yeah but what about winter yeah that's true the beauty is short-lived here in the summertime but while it's here it's absolutely gorgeous oh here's one look at that you guys can see here the dandelions that's actually not a dandelion there are dandelions throughout here but here's one that's kind of interesting now there's no flowers on here but that leaf is very distinct that is red clover now that is also edible the flower is of course the best part the red clover is the better edible of the two clove of you know the white and the um in red now in some areas there is a white clover that is not edible in this area the clover is both are edible however this is the better one now you can eat these leaves they can be used in salads you can saute them up and of course when it flowers that's the best part it's very that's a great one now when you're in minnesota one of the things while i'm sitting here talking is you know of course mosquitoes that's uh you know the minnesota state bird is the mosquito and this time of year they're just starting to get pretty aggressive but there's another thing that you really want to watch out for especially when you're rooting around down here in the weeds and that is leaves of three let it be so that is poison ivy it's got a very distinct ribbed leaf you can see that but again you're looking for that distinct leaves of three let it be so be very aware of that when you're out here because you know that can really ruin a weekend some people you know i'm pretty good about it i can walk around in it and it doesn't faze me too much however other people like my wife just getting near it they break out and it's a terrible rash so just be aware that stay away from it definitely try not to touch it someone's talking to us man here's a great treat you guys kind of going slow because oftentimes there's deer laying down in this area haven't seen any this morning they moved through earlier but look at this this is a wonderful treat spruce tips now most of these are getting pretty i mean they're still usable but they're right at the end of their usability now these are wonderful just bust these off here just pluck them right off that's the new growth of the pine tree and take a few of those put them in your little camp stove with some water and make a nice tea out of them very high in vitamin c it's a taste you're either going to like or you're not i do enjoy it others don't but i do really enjoy it now the other thing you can do with these now here's what we're looking for here i always look you know look for the little caps on them they haven't shed their cap yet so they're going to be a lot more tender the smaller the better especially if you're nibbling them here's one here's a good one so i'm going to knock that little cap off perfect where are you here there we go perfect eating size oh man that tastes so good now again you're either going to like that flavor or not i really enjoy it to me it just tastes like spring it's got a very strong flavor to it and again you can just take these and make a tea out of them obviously you can nibble them so you can throw them in a salad throw them in a soup i've thrown them into pasta before just saute them up they make a nice addition it's a unique flavor to add to your dishes you can if you make beer try using the spruce tips to make beer well my local brewery right now has a spruce tip ale on tap the other thing you can do is take these while they're nice and tender like this and you can dry them up and then grind them into a powder use it as a seasoning use it for uh seafoods chicken i mean any poultry pork any any seafoods it's a wonderful season and you can store it year round so one of my favorite things this time of year the biggest thing with these is they're not going to stay on the trees very long so they're one of those things you only get for a little while during the spring and so they're a special treat and i really enjoy these short-term things of course it would be nice if they're around for us all year long but they're not and that i think makes them even more special just like a morel mushroom which just you know we will not find today i mean maybe we will but i find it unlikely i've never seen one on this property but you know again they're very valuable because they just they're only around for a little while and it makes it even more special so if you take some of these you know don't take enough to damage the tree just you know take enough for your enjoyment store some for the over the year doesn't take a lot to make a seasoning it's a wonderful treat look at over here oh man look at this beautiful little bush a lot of wild raspberry underneath me here there we go look at that that's the leaves on it if you can see that and there is the treat that is a honeysuckle this is what we want i want those little crowns this is another spring treat you're not gonna probably find this later in the season or just not very often i i don't know that i have so it's really more of a spring treat as a kid we would just nibble the crown off there it is it's got a sweet honey-like flavor i found that to be just a wonderful little thing as a kid that was one of the great discoveries with my grandmother and my mom hmm sweet little flavor the whole flower is edible or i don't even know what it is flower or i think i just think it's a flower oh nice and sweet just one of those spring treats again tastes like spring to me down here among the honeysuckles again we've got wild raspberry but if you look down in there we've got more wild strawberry all sorts of fun treats many of which are only available for a limited time in the spring and as you forage you know you want to learn your seasons everything has its season mushrooms plants especially up here in the north country everything comes on quick lasts for a limited time so enjoy it while you can harvest it responsibly dandelion when i was a kid we used to take these dandelions that's their seed pods and if you can blow all this off in one breath you make a wish right i'm a little older now but i still got it time to make a wish things we remember as kids simple pleasures my friends absolute simple pleasures but lock these in with your kids now or your friends your spouse your brother your sister your cousin your just whoever it is your co-worker that you forage with because you will remember this all later and it will bring back memories let's keep poking around back in here [Music] this guy here is already getting some breakfast enjoying that dandelion i don't spend too much time with dandelions i think most people that forage are pretty familiar with that this is this is a perfect time of year though to harvest these greens very distinct leaves very easy to identify even at this young age they're a little bitter but they're not bad but if you really want to experiment with the dandelion i would recommend your first attempt harvest those flowers take off the heads behind it you'll have some green leaves you can peel a few of those off that's even better wash them good dip them in a little flour and roll them into the flour and then just fry them up doesn't take much to fry those that's a great little spring treat it's an easy to identify plant no risk of any you know eating the wrong thing once you know how to identify dandelion it's pretty basic that's kind of a great starter plant and if you do the flowers it's probably one of the healthiest parts of the plant if not the healthiest and certainly the best tasting part and so you can add that like i said just just fry them up and have them as a treat put them on a little crack or something it's a great way to introduce foraging again either to yourself to friends family kids but just remember the rules you know the rules i started foraging with never say i think i believe or i'm pretty sure only eat what you absolutely know for sure you know is edible and if you're not sure check with a local expert because it's not worth risking it plenty of food around no no sense taking a chance but dandelion's a great starter and i think that's a great way to do it now the other thing you can do here's one here i like this as well there's there it is the unopened flower pod you can take those before they've opened and again add them into a stir fry that makes a great it's a great way to use it it's a mild flavor and it's a nice addition you can actually add those right to a salad nice and mild a great way to start let's keep poking around there's an interesting find there's some more up here we'll get away from that leaves of three we will let it be there they are this looks pretty safe here look at this guys aren't those pretty again very distinct leaf pattern get a close-up of that if i can get some unopened flowers yet that my friends is wild geranium that is also an edible plant the whole plant is edible it'll be raw or cooked and as with many wild plants the younger you find it the better off you are so i see some younger leaves down towards the base there oh there's a little place navy down in there we'll stay away from but it's a pretty little plant another wonderful edible now when you start putting all this together you know we've got um we've got the moline and we've got the spruce tips we've got dandelions we've got the wild geraniums and we're starting to get a salad um especially with the you know the dandelion buds i see a few around here you know a couple of the sweet treats that we found we're starting to formulate a pretty nice little salad so as you walk through this if you were collecting i think by now we could have had ourselves a little meal again not doing that today however you certainly could this would be worth a walk in a few weeks this is all wild strawberry through here but we found several nice edibles well i've moved up along the edge of the road it's actually looking for a little bit of plantain but i keep running into this plant which is kind of interesting it's got a very unique a little poison ivy right next to it so we won't reach in there it's got a very unique leaf structure i swear it looks like a pot plant but it actually isn't this is sulfur five finger or sulfur cynical and this is reported as a medicinal plant and used for as a poultice for like wounds and burns and i apologize for the traffic noise and again i moved up near the road so you're gonna hear the cars go by but again the reported use for this is a poultice for like burns and wounds it's also reported to be used to treat sore throats so there's no reported tox toxicity of this plant but it's not known as an edible but again just an interesting medicinal plant very distinct leaf structure and it will generate a yellowish flower at some point one of the things i've been looking for and i moved up to the road for it is plantain now i haven't seen any plantain today on this walk however i did see it the other day i took a walk went probably three and a half miles along the road and i saw several several plants and that's always a fun one to find another easily identifiable very safe plant great medicinal uses great edible but so far at least on this property i'm not finding it i believe those are hazelnut bushes a little early for them there's no nuts on there pretty easy to tell once they uh once they've got their fruit on them or their nuts on them oh look at their army worm nest destructive little things there's a another honeysuckle yeah we'll keep looking see if we can find that plantain okay more raspberry so i'm actually moved up along the property line now i'm kind of getting back towards the house and but i wanna i'm still looking for a couple plants now this one i wasn't really looking for but we'll accept it that is dock comes out of a rosette long narrow leaves another nice edible nice addition to a salad you know a lot of times you read on some of these you know kind of debates on edibility or how much or you know quantity but the truth is you know if i were to harvest a salad out of here today you know you're going to take a couple leaves of this and a few leaves of that a few flowers of that you're not eating these in bulk and you know even like mushroom poisoning oftentimes when you hear of mushroom poisoning if you do a little digging into it it's oftentimes they eat something in bulk so if they had one it wouldn't really affect it a much but they had 10 and that certainly affected them so that's just something to keep in mind as you do this stuff is you know do a little more digging into what you hear because there's a lot of opinions online and sometimes not as much fact to back it up and uh you know so if you're willing to do a little poke around look for scientific research look for you know historical data um you'll find that some of the stuff online is more rumors or opinions than it is factual doc is one of those you know it is definitely an edible there is a chemical compound in it that in high quantities you know can you know have some effects on you but again you're not gonna i mean what we're looking today you're not gonna find enough to have that impact so not something you're gonna be concerned with part of the joy of doing this it's not just about going out and picking a salad off the ground part of it is about learning about this stuff so if you're going to do this be willing to do the research and learn more about it and determine facts from opinion that of course is just my opinion let's carry on i got one more plant i'm looking for i am it's kind of funny foraging is a funny thing my last plant today was a relatively common one here and i did see it yesterday on a longer walk in a different area but it you know it's one that you typically will find uh in your yard and it's it's typically all over the place and that's plantain and it's just kind of funny how you go out looking for something and you think oh that's that's going to be an easy find and it's not so you never know what you're going to discover uh i think the wild geranium was a fun discovery today that was one that i didn't see yesterday so i harvested a few dandelion flowers talking about that attempted me to do a fry with them so i'll roll them in a little wash them roman a little flour and fry them up just as a little bit of a treat and i think tomorrow morning i'm going to go harvest a bag of the um the spruce tips i head back to florida tomorrow and i think i'll bring a bag or two of those back with me so i can dry them out and have that as a seasoning over the course of the next year again they're only here in the spring so it's a i have the opportunity now to and i should take it so this was a great walk i saw a lot of edibles you know what's neat is when you come out of this and you think i could have made a meal out of what i found today you know we found enough greens and flowers i could have made a nice salad and i could have sauteed up some veggies you know but for a meal itself i could have made a very nice salad with what we found so far you know we had you know the clover the dandelion the wild geranium and um we had doc there is plantain around i could have looked a little further like i said i did see some yesterday i could have went down there and and got that if i wanted and uh you know there's additional plants as well i imagine that we could find if we kept moving around we had the spruce tips all that could have been put together to make a nice nice little salad but today was more just about seeing and exploring and you know going through some of this land i went through as a kid so i really appreciate the fact that you joined me for this today i hope you enjoyed this video as much as i did uh i guess maybe that would be hard because you didn't walk through here as a kid but i do hope you enjoyed it and the mosquitoes are starting to come out and chase me around so i think it's time to head back in and and finish my time with my family but again i appreciate you joining me and hopefully the next time i see you i'm out doing something wild

Channel: The Hunter Gatherer Society

Views: 3,983

Keywords:

Id: bytybbRhtJs

Length: 34min 59sec (2099 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 07 2022