2021 Holiday Gifts for Foragers
Do you have a forager or beginning forager in your life? So much of the process of learning about and trying new wild foods requires determination and motivation to get outside and practice your foraging skills. The holidays can be a perfect time to encourage your wild-food-inclined loved ones to keep at it!
Here are some gift ideas for beginning wild food foragers:
The Scout's Guide to Wild Edibles: Learn How To Forage, Prepare & Eat 40 Wild Foods by Mike Krebill
-This is my favorite book for young beginner foragers, but adults will enjoy it too! It includes recipes and ideas for wild food projects.
Backyard Foraging: 65 Familiar Plants You Didn't Know You Could Eat by Ellen Zachos
-This is an excellent book for beginning foragers who are ready to jump into the kitchen and make some simple recipes with plants easily found in anyone’s backyard.
Wildcraft! An herbal adventure game that teaches 25 medicinal plants
-A fun way to get kids excited about plants!
40X Full Metal Illuminated Magnifier
-This magnifier is perfect for looking closely at the tiny line of hairs on chickweed stems to confirm your ID, or for checking the size of the pores on the underside of a Trametes mushroom to help you determine its species.
-I really do think that this is the best foraging bag out there. I often forage several different plants in one outing and this bag has compartments to keep them separate.
-This is a great way to remember what you found, where, and when. Recording this information will help you build on what you learn each year.
Mushrooms of the Upper Midwest by Teresa Marrone
-This is my favorite wild mushroom ID book for beginners. It contains great photos!
-Spore prints are really fun to make and are essential for accurate mushroom identification. This would be a fun project for young foragers too!
-You really need a good knife to cleanly harvest wild mushrooms, and this is one of the best! I really like that it folds up when not in use.
-Gloves are really important—especially when foraging stinging nettles (which are highly nutritious and worth the effort!) or rose hips. I like these in bright green!
-Show off your love of wild foods!
-Keep warm and show people how cool you are at the same time!
