Foraging Resources

Cool temperatures and some significant snow falls have kept me from foraging lately. That, and life being incredibly busy. The few times I've been out in "wild-ish" areas lately I've been keeping my eyes open for mushrooms or other interesting things. I haven't found much, other than some pretty hardy polypores and bracket fungus.

That being said, there are things you can forage for in the winter, and I have a few on my list I will be looking for when I am able to get out onto the trails. 

This post isn't about that though, instead I thought it would be a good idea to share some of my favourite sites that I use to reference and learn about foraging and harvesting from the wild.

***Please read the disclaimers on those sites (as well as the one on mine) before you start to forage on your own. People have become very ill (and sometimes have even died) as a result of incorrect identifications***

***I have read many sites which contradict each on various plants and mushrooms. When I find contradictions like this - i.e. one site says the item is edible, while one says it is not - I do not harvest that plant/mushroom. It's better to be safe than sorry***

***Beware reputed health benefits. Don't believe in something unless there is decent scientific evidence to back up claims. Anecdotal evidence isn't reliable***

I will update this page whenever I find new resources and when I have time. Consider it an ongoing project! And if you have any awesome resources of your own, please share!

Just a cute salamander.

My go to site when I am trying to identify new mushroom/fungus finds is Rogers Mushrooms. It's got a good visual key that I rely on a lot, lots of pictures, and all around good info on mushroom identification and foraging.

Northern Bushcraft has been very useful in learning about plants to forage for in Canada. It breaks down edibles by province and by whether it's a berry, plant, or mushroom. Good photos of edibles, and provides warnings on items that may be easily confused with inedible lookalikes.

I just recently stumbled across Foraging Pittsburgh, but I'm very impressed with the amount of content and variety of information on this blog. Great pictures. For those of us in eastern Canada, especially southern Ontario, we could expect to encounter many, if not all, the awesome edibles found in Pittsburgh since we share similar environment/climate.

Mushroom Appreciation is another great resource to learn more about mushrooms and fungus. Has a lot of great info on edibles (and also inedible/poisonous mushrooms). Lots of recipes as well.

Another good blog for recipes is Forage Chef. This guy is based in Minnesota, but again depending on where you are in Canada you can expect some overlap with environment/climate. The great thing about this blog is the variety (and intensity) of recipes this guy provides on how to cook your wild harvested goodies.

I found Ontario Wildflowers very useful when doing research on ramps. This website is a good resource for info on other edible/medicinal flowers. It has several sister sites, including Ontario Ferns, which of course is a good starting point to do research on harvesting fiddle heads. 

Here's a link to the Mushroom Observer's page on Ontario mushrooms. A good starting point for identifications and looking up new fungi to keep an eye out for.