Foraging Maps

[Insel Affen]

I have had a quick search of the site and one resource I though may be on here was Foraging Maps. Do you think they are useful?

There used to be a really good on called Geoforaging, but sadly it ceased, which was a shame as it was easy to use, you could upload photos and had some really good locations/edibles. I know people could be reluctant to divulge their favourite spots, but it may be worth sharing.

So does anyone know of any good foraging maps???

Here's a couple I found:
http://fallingfruit.org/?c=forager,freegan&locale=en
http://fallingfruit.org/?c=forager,freegan&locale=en

https://oxfordwildfood.wordpress.com/

 

[dannyk64]

My worry with mapping foraging spots is trusting people to be responsible - the wild garlic is starting to come through in a few spots local to me and all that comes to mind is last year how certain individuals literally stripped areas clean of it, even removing bulbs. There was something very commercial about the way they went through it (and my suspicion is it was exactly that!)

Then there is the issue of simply to many people hitting one spot causing long term damage in the process!

Whilst I can sympathise with the idea of sharing foraging spots I think the risk of damage is too high - Plus half the fun is going out and finding them for yourself.

Maybe a thread for sharing spots on the full members section would limit the risk involved whilst still helping people locate their favourite natural goodies?

Anyway happy foraging and good luck!

 

[Robson Valley]

I don't believe that foraging maps are a good thing to have. The resulting harvest devastation is, or can be, profound.

Matsutake (Pine) mushrooms retail for about $200.00 per kg or more, here in BC.
Don't forget that the spores from the fruiting body, the mushroom are the major source of reproduction.
Many seem hell-bent on killing the golden goose in their greed.
Great acreages of forest floor are totally upturned in the search. Foragers are subject to robbery, too.
Areas in my district have been closed to ALL foraging as a result. eg Jackman Flats sand dune pine forest.

Also, we have great tracts of swampy forest with untold numbers of established ferns for the harvest of 1-2 fiddleheads/croziers per plant.
As they mature, we just go up in altitude for the nest few weeks! Each may show 4-6 croziers so we take just one.
They are harvested commercially by licence holders and shipped daily, air freight, to markets in Paris.
Steramed with butter& garlic or Cream of Fern Fiddlehead soup is heavenly.

I'm afraid that any conservation ethic is largely ignored to the detriment of the resource.
Is there much that you can do to extend the range by transplanting?

 

[oldtimer]

I know who my friends are when they share their foraging spots with me. I don't mind sharing my spots with like-minded people who won't despoil them for commercial purposes. Sadly, professional pickers know they can get good money from restaurateurs catering for rich clients too lazy to pick their own wild foods. Similarly, bulb collectors can strip whole areas. I don't see much difference between this and commercial game poaching and sheep rustling.

I think foraging maps are a bad idea.

 

[dannyk64]

I do agree,

I think one of the unexpected effects of the surge in support for environmentalism in the UK is that it has become 'trendy' and therefore commercially viable as an idea.

Restaurants are sending out people who literally pick the woods clean and then make a tidy profit on it by marketing it as 'ethically sourced', 'foraged', 'natural' or 'sustainable'. I think a few to many people (often consciously) miss the point about what sustainability and conservation is really about.

 

[Robson Valley]

Of course, we can permit areas of commercialization.
Careful harvest of a renewable resource provides both income and stewardship.
The licences don't allow access closure but exclusive rights to a single harvest resource.
Scuff up a spot by a creek and camp for 2 weeks, just you and the bears and the cats and the wolves.

We have an open public land base so large, you can hardly imagine it.
I'll take you out, 20 minutes, to the McHale river bridge.
I'll give you a compass ( because GPS is crap in real mountains and there's no cell phone service.)
Next, walk 50 miles straight north. You will not see a vehicle of meet a person at all.

Somewhere up there, if you turn East, you will cross the Yellowhead Trail.
I'm told some packers and prospectors disturb it enough that most people can find it.
Sure isn't The West Coast Trail but the bugs will test your sanity.

 

[Broch]

Surely the real foraging skills lie in finding stuff in the environment you're in, not going somewhere that others say is good for a particular group of species. There's stuff everywhere really. When people ask me where they can forage for wild food I suggest they start at their back door. OK, not so easy if you live in the middle of a big city or town, but what I really mean is get to know an area near you well before travelling long distances.

As you're probably aware, a great number of plant species that we now forage for were mainstay foods for our ancestors and turn up as 'weeds' around our homes

I wouldn't dream of producing/publishing maps of foraging areas in the UK personally.

 

[SCOMAN]

Essentially this was done in Oz by the Bushtucker man. Whilst in the army he created survival maps for aircrew, one side map the other side was the natural food resources in that specific area with photos.

 

[Janne]

In Sweden I had a few spots for fungi, wild fruit and apples. I would never share where those spots are.

Over harvesting, too much walking on the ground, maybe even littering. No thanks!

 

[Robson Valley]

The next phase of botanical and agricultural interests is the deliberate selection
of living plants to be brought "home" as transplants for the "kitchen garden."
You will stand there, examining the plants to collect the best-of-the-best to take home and nurture.
Given half a chance, many people do this, even in tubs as large plant pots
for many herb condiments, yes? Mint, wild garlic & wild onions, sage, etc.
All of our herbs came from the wild.

My experiment this year will be with wild beet from the North Sea coast.
Going to be some sudden deaths in my veg garden to make room for these!

We go out in early summer and putz around in rubber boots to pick 1-2 liters of fern fiddleheads.
Steam some as a veg treat, make some soup, that's it. Sure cannot be a dietary staple
I admit that if I has a particularly swampy place at home, I would have transplanted dozens of ferns
over the last decade. Even if I had to add water from time to time.!

 

[Janne]

Wild Cabbage from around Dungeness is fantastic....
You see guys, I shared a foraging place with you!
Pick responsibly, and enjoy!

 

[Robson Valley]

Can't I just tell you where to go, instead?