Summertime Foraging Guide: Over 100 Edible Plants to Harvest and Enjoy
Discovering Edible Wild Foods: A Summer Foraging Guide
Summer is an exciting time for foragers, as the season offers a bounty of edible wild foods that can be found in fields, woods, lakes, and oceans. This guide will introduce you to a variety of plants and their edible parts, ranging from greens, shoots and stalks, flowers, roots and tubers, seeds and grains, summer mushrooms, water and pond plants, sea vegetables, and medicinal plants.
Edible Greens
Dandelion, nettles, curly dock, galinsoga, purslane, chickweed, lambsquarters, wood sorrel, foraging henbit, sheep sorrel, wild lettuce, garlic mustard, ground ivy, sochan, sweet-scented gallium, cleavers, lady's thumb, dog violet, common daisy, and more—these are just a few examples of edible greens that can be found during the summer months.
Shoots & Stalks
Canada thistle, bull thistle, wild angelica, Japanese knotweed, and cattail are some examples of edible shoots and stalks that can be harvested during the summer.
Edible Flowers
Daylilies, bergamot, violet, pineapple weed, elderflowers, red clover, white clover, crimson clover, common daisy, wild blue phlox, ox eye daisy, fleabane daisy, wild roses, lilac, honeysuckle, strawberry, milkweed, creeping bellflower, jewelweed, angelica, campion, queen anne's lace, meadowsweet, dame's rocket, wisteria, and more—these are some of the edible flowers that can be found in the wild during the summer.
Trees and Shrubs
American beech, eastern hemlock, pine, balsam fir, birch, eastern white cedar, sumac, black locust, linden, spruce, maple, eastern redbud, willow, western red cedar, Kentucky coffee tree, hickory, American hop hornbeam, mulberry, poplar, sassafras, slippery elm, black walnuts, butternut, and more—these are some examples of trees and shrubs that offer edible parts during the summer months.
Wild Fruit and Berries
Wild strawberries, dewberries, thimbleberries, blackberries, red raspberries, black raspberries, elderberries, black chokeberries, hobblebush, chokecherry, gooseberries, bilberries, wild grapes, wild apples, mulberries, pawpaws, mayhaws, Juneberry, black cherry, blueberries, wild plums, and more—these are some of the wild fruit and berries that can be found during the summer.
Wild Nuts
Hazelnuts, beech nuts, black walnuts, pine nuts, butternuts, and more—these are some examples of wild nuts that can be harvested during the summer.
Roots and Tubers
Wild Parsnip, Pignut, Solomon's Seal, Sego Lily, Wild Potato, Shepherd's Purse, Cucumber Root, Bistort, and Groundnuts/Hopniss are edible roots and tubers that can be found during the summer. Purple Yam, naturalized in Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana, is also a summer tuber.
Seeds and Grains
Chickweed, Goosefoot Seed or Wild Quinoa, Hop Hornbeam, Dock Seeds, Plantain Seeds, Claytonia, Evening Primrose, Queen Anne's Lace, and Nettle Seeds are some of the edible seeds and grains that can be found during the summer.
Summer Mushrooms
Chicken of the woods mushrooms, purslane, plantain, beefsteak mushrooms, and more—these are some of the edible mushrooms that can be found during the summer.
Pond, Bog, and Water Plants
Water chestnuts, and more—these are some examples of edible plants that can be found in ponds, bogs, and other bodies of water during the summer.
Sea Vegetables
Research is ongoing, but some sea vegetables may be edible during the summer, such as dulse, sea lettuce, and bladderwrack.
Medicinal Plants
Many wild plants have medicinal properties, and some can be safely harvested during the summer for tea or other uses. Always ensure you have correctly identified a plant before consuming it, and consult a professional if you are unsure.
Foraging for wild foods can provide a deep connection to the past, add new flavors to our diet, and provide important vitamins and minerals lacking in modern American diets and the grains we eat from industrial agriculture. So, next time you're out for a summer walk, keep an eye out for these delicious and nutritious wild edibles!
