Delicacies like ramps and morel mushrooms are abundant in Michigan’s forests throughout springtime. Have you wondered what other foods grow in the wild, just waiting for foragers to discover them each year? The Michigan eLibrary (MeL.org) has articles and eBooks that describe how to locate, identify, and prepare a variety of edible plants.

Hobbies & Crafts Reference Center

Hobbies & Crafts Reference Center includes several magazines that feature wild food and foraging articles. If you’re new to foraging, A Beginner’s Guide to Wilderness Survival Foods: Start Your Foraging Adventures in BC Outdoors is a great place to start. This article describes several common edible plants such as dandelions, stinging nettles, and cattails and includes information about when and where to find them and how to prepare them.

Alexis Nikole Nelson and Twila Cassadore share how their knowledge of foraging has evolved in a Food & Wine article titled Found Foods. Living in Columbus, Ohio, Nelson harnesses the power of social media to share her foraging adventures. Cassadore, a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, is working to record, preserve, and teach about foraging in native communities by interviewing tribal elders so their knowledge can be shared with future generations. This article also provides expert recommendations to read, connect with, and view to learn more about foraging.

Getting started with eating more wild foods might be as simple as having great recipes. Go Wild with Foraged Foods in Vegan Journal provides recipes to help make using a variety of ingredients easier. Included are recognizable ideas such as blackberry pancakes and more exotic options as watercress bisque or a stew made with oyster mushrooms. In addition, this article provides a list of tips to stay safe while foraging in the wild.

eBook Public Library Collection

The eBook Public Library Collection provides more extensive information about wild foods and foraging. A few of the many available options include:

• The Beginner’s Guide to Mushrooms: Everything You Need to Know, From Foraging to Cultivating by Britt Bunyard and Tavis Lynch
• Basic Illustrated Edible Wild Plants and Useful Herbs by Jim Meuninck
• Dandelion Hunter: Foraging the Urban Wilderness by Rebecca Lerner
• Good Seeds: A Menominee Indian Food Memoir by Thomas Pecore Weso

Whether it’s your first trip into the woods or you’re an expert at locating and preparing wild foods, Hobbies & Crafts Reference Center and the eBook Public Library Collection from MeL.org provide information that can make your foraging adventures a success.

If you have any MeL eResources questions or issues, contact [email protected] for help.