Local Foraging

After a morning of painting (yes, the painting saga continues) we went out for a walk in our neighborhood and came home with a big ziploc bag of blackberries. I grabbed the bag on our way out the door with the intent of finding these tasty berries because they have been everywhere the past couple of weeks when I drive down any road in our county.

About this time in our area there are all kinds of wild edibles to be found. Also, it never fails that if you admire a local gardener's work and chat them up a bit you usually end up coming home with something out of their garden, that's just the way farmers are. Thus is pays to carry plastic bags with you in order to contain your goodies until you get home. This month's finds include blackberries and huckleberries growing wild, tomatoes, cilantro, and potatoes from farmers. Soon it will be apples, nuts, and mushrooms which grow wild around here. Another plus in our area is that if you walk down by the fishing docks, you may end up with a fish as well. More than a few times I have admired a fisherman's catch and have been rewarded with a few choice fish for dinner.

So today's lesson is to pick up a bag of Ziplocs from the Dollar Store and keep them in your car for the times when you come across a foraging opportunity. Also, it pays to be interested in what others are doing because more than likely they will be so happy with you being interested in what interests them, that you will be rewarded with some edible goodies.