Well, I've decided to add some foraging to my weekend outings. I picked up a book called "Foraging in New England", which is a nice field guide by Alpenguide. There are color plates in the middle, and descriptions of the plant, time of year to harvest it, where its found (the book is broken up into regions; coastal, wooded, cultivated land, waste land, etc), and even how to prepare it.
So, I went up to my local woodland, Groton Town Forest, and went for a walk. I have modified my packing list somewhat. I now use a Maxpedition pack, which is sort of a shoulder pack. In it I have the following (off the top of my head); military poncho, tied to the bottom, nalgene water bottle, with a stainless steel cup, Gerber hand saw, a battery operated chemical light thingy (looks like the military chem lights, but it run off of small batteries), compass, small emergency bivy sack, first aid kit, 50' of paracord, flight gloves, a survival tin, and my Mora knife with flint & steel. It sounds like alot, but, it weighs just under 5 lbs, and, for the summer, and warm weather, there's enough there to get me through a night or 2. Additionally, there is a zippered pocket, behind the main one, that I slipped this field guide into. So, knowing what I have, I'll go over what I learned!!!
I found about 4 different species that I could easily identify. I found common plantain, wintergreen, bunchberry, and burdock. Granted, I know what most of these were. Also, with the exception of the wintergreen, most species were WELL past their harvesting time. Which is fine; my goal is to become familiar with these. I also additionally tentatively identified a few more; stinging nettle, pineappleberry (which, when I was young, used to crush, ust to smell them), canada goldenrod, and queen anne's lace. All in all, a good, productive day. If you regularly spend time outside, I'd HIGHLY recommend getting a field guide, similar to mine, and spend the time outside learning. Its amazing how you look at the woods, after you start learning so much about them!
So, I went up to my local woodland, Groton Town Forest, and went for a walk. I have modified my packing list somewhat. I now use a Maxpedition pack, which is sort of a shoulder pack. In it I have the following (off the top of my head); military poncho, tied to the bottom, nalgene water bottle, with a stainless steel cup, Gerber hand saw, a battery operated chemical light thingy (looks like the military chem lights, but it run off of small batteries), compass, small emergency bivy sack, first aid kit, 50' of paracord, flight gloves, a survival tin, and my Mora knife with flint & steel. It sounds like alot, but, it weighs just under 5 lbs, and, for the summer, and warm weather, there's enough there to get me through a night or 2. Additionally, there is a zippered pocket, behind the main one, that I slipped this field guide into. So, knowing what I have, I'll go over what I learned!!!
I found about 4 different species that I could easily identify. I found common plantain, wintergreen, bunchberry, and burdock. Granted, I know what most of these were. Also, with the exception of the wintergreen, most species were WELL past their harvesting time. Which is fine; my goal is to become familiar with these. I also additionally tentatively identified a few more; stinging nettle, pineappleberry (which, when I was young, used to crush, ust to smell them), canada goldenrod, and queen anne's lace. All in all, a good, productive day. If you regularly spend time outside, I'd HIGHLY recommend getting a field guide, similar to mine, and spend the time outside learning. Its amazing how you look at the woods, after you start learning so much about them!
