Wild Food Foraging in Madison

Food grows wild all over Madison. In fact, the makings of a tasty salad may be growing right in your backyard. You just have to know where and how to find it.

Finding free edible eats in Madison, basic steps:

1. Educate yourself. Doing your research is by far the most important step. Learn what grows here, what is edible and what is NOT edible.

• Visit and talk with experts at the Schumacher Horticultural Library at Olbrich Gardens.
  
  
• Take a class with a local or regional wild food expert such as Kathleen Wildwood at Wildwood Herbs or Rose Barlow at Prodigal Gardens.
  
  
• Buy an illustrated plant guide for our area.
  Some good ones are Samuel Thayer's The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting and Preparing Edible Wild Plants and Edible and Medicinal Wild Plants in Minnesota and Wisconsin by Mathew Alfs. The Alfs book is out-of-print but available at most libraries.
  

2. Locate a good spot to forage. Your backyard is a great place to start but you can also find food growing in most fields and parks.

• Be careful and respectful. Private property without permission is taboo.
• Removal of plants is forbidden at the UW Arboretum and area Conservation Parks, although these often offer educational wild food walks.
• Avoid rail beds or public utilities as these are heavily sprayed with pesticides.

3. Prepare to forage. Check the weather and take the following.

• Illustrated plant guide
• Scissors or knife for cutting
• Small shovel for digging
• Basket or bag to carry your treasure
  
• Gloves and comfortable clothing
• Notebook and pen to record plentiful areas

4. Harvest with care. Make your experience a good one. Respect your surroundings, and follow the forager's code, "take only what you need." And, when in doubt, don't eat it.

• Take an experienced forager with you first time if possible.
• Check a plant guide to know what part of the plant is edible.
• Don't eat if sap is milky or turns black when exposed to oxygen.

5. Go for it! Wash your finds carefully and check out these recipes from Prodigal Gardens for ideas on how to enjoy your harvest.

Look for these incredible edibles this spring:

• Nettles — Highly nutritious, nettles can be subsituted for spinach.
• Burdock — Burdock root is good in stir fry.
• Dandelions — Great in salad but try dandelion wine or roast roots for a dandelion coffee!
  
• Violets — Violets pretty up any spring table.
  
• Wild Leeks — Ramps to some, stir fry these or add to salads.
  
• Garlic Mustard — Pungent and tasty, garlic mustard is great in a spring salad.

For more see How to Forage for Edible Plants on howcast.com or check out videos on foraging by "Green Deane" at eattheweeds.com.

All photos courtesy of shareware via Wikimedia Commons.