The expert guide to FORAGING

You never know what might be hiding in your backyard!

How closely have you looked at your garden recently? There could be a secret treasure trove of edible plants that you’ve never considered as food.

Foraging has become a lost art but thanks to a growing spike in interest, edible weeds are making their way back onto the table everywhere from homes to fancy restaurants and trendy bars.

“Foraging is the skill of recognising and collecting wild edible and medicinal plants,” says Diego Bonetto, who is Australia’s foremost expert on foraging and the author of Eat Weeds: A Field Guide To Foraging.

“Our gardens, parks, beaches and streets are full of edible plants – you just need to know how to recognise them and how to prepare them in tasty and nutritious meals.”

THE FORAGING MOVEMENT

Diego says our growing interest in foraging is all part of a bigger movement that’s seen us long to get back in touch with the great outdoors.

“In recent years, many of us have become aware of a disconnection from nature,” he says. “We want to find ways to better understand local ecologies. Bringing back the old skills of finding food in our neighbourhood helps that. “It’s part ecological awakening and part treasure hunt. It’s fun and filled with endless discoveries.”

HOW DO I GET STARTED?

“By far the best way is to go with someone who can teach you on location. Once upon a time, we used to walk with our uncles and aunties and they would take us through the dos and don’ts of the ecology,” says Diego, who runs regular foraging tours in Sydney and other parts of Australia.

When you’re first learning about foraging, it’s important to take things one step at a time. “Learn three plants first and then progress from there,” he says. “Check your local garden groups, there’s lots of knowledge there. Read books and go online in forums – lots of valuable knowledge is shared that way, too.”

WHERE ARE GREAT PLACES TO FORAGE?

Diego says a good place to start is by taking a look at plants in your own backyard. “Everyone’s garden would be full of weeds and many of them are edible and some even medicinal,” he explains.

“The beach is also great, as there we have plenty of time to engage in some nature play, and some of the seaweeds are amazing.

“And then you can venture further along rivers, in urban parks and even further afield into state forests. There is so much, each ecology offering a different set of wild ingredients for different seasons.”

DANDELIONS

Most of us have memories of blowing on dandelions as kids, but what you may not know is you can also eat the flowers, leaves, stem and root.

“It’s safe to forage the dandelions from your own backyard,” says Diego. “Dandelions have a couple of lookalikes, all edible, and the process to learn how to differentiate will give you the tools to learn so that you can notice the individual features of the plants.”

SAFETY FIRST

Many edible plants have uncanny lookalikes, and unfortunately some of these can be highly toxic. For instance, the death cap mushroom is a deadly species that closely resembles several species of edible mushrooms. It’s extremely important never to eat any wild plant unless you are completely sure what you’re dealing with.