WASHINGTON GARDENER
Urban Foraging: The Ultimate Revenge Against Weeds! to tell whether the property is public and private; in that case, it is best to grazing or forag- ing. Many that have edibles on make a positive plant ID before you pick and consume it.
BY KATHY JENTZ
On any sweltering summer Satur- day in the District of Columbia, sev- eral members of EcolocityDC gather for an “Herban Foraging” walk and talk. Within one hour, they located at least 10 edible weeds growing in the neighborhood around Howard University. They picked and sampled mainly wild greens — dandelion, sor- rel, purslane, oxalis, chicory, and wild garlic mustard. If they had come at a different time in the growing season, they may have found fruit such as mulberry, crabapples, cherries, rasp- berries, blackberries, service berries, paw paw, peaches, and rosehips. There are two big caveats before go- ing on your own urban (or suburban, or even rural) edible foraging walk: Know whose land it is, and know your plants. You may forage as you wish in the public right-of-ways on sidewalks, streets, and medians. You may not trespass or reach into private prop- erty without the owner’s permission. Always ask with a friendly smile and respect the owner’s decision. More often than not, they are very happy to have someone pick their fruits and are happy to share. Sometimes it is hard
Further, not all parts of an “edible weed” are okay to eat. Just like the tomato is part of the nightshade fam- ily and you eat only the fruit, not the foliage; some weeds come with warn- ings that certain leaves or fruits are off limits. Keep in mind that many edible plants have non-edible — and some- times poisonous — parts. Some plants need to be prepared a certain way to be consumed. For instance, burdock roots and leaves should be boiled, changing the water a few times. The “Handbook of Edible Weeds: Herbal Reference Library” by James A. Duke is one good guide to start with. Dr. Duke is a former USDA researcher and expert on edible weeds. He found 70 edible kinds of weeds on his six acres of property in Fulton, MD. Dr. Duke told WUSA-TV9, “Weeds have more nutrients and less water pro- portionate to what we grow as veg- etables.” Other good guides are “Edible Wild Plants: ANorth American Field Guide” by Thomas Elias and Peter Dykeman, “Identifying and Harvest- ing Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (And Not So Wild Places)” by continued on page 38
their properties are growing those for the express pur- pose of experimen- tation and need to observe the full plant cycle, includ- ing drying and gathering the plant seeds when done. Public parks are a little more open. Some allow foraging as long as it is for your own personal consump- tion. Others hold annual gleaning days. For instance,
assume it is private and leave it alone. UrbanEdibles. org suggests you forage ethically. Ask yourself, “How much do I really need?” and “Will my harvesting leave an impact?” Decide before you
pick how much you will actually consume. Over- harvesting a wild food source can be counter-intuitive, but think it through first. In some cases, you are taking food away from birds and other native fauna. You can also ruin the visual impact of a plant by over-picking, so considers the aesthetics as well. They suggest one way to give back for this free food is to water the plants dur- ing prolonged droughts and to scatter seeds in public right-of-ways. Public gardens in the DC area have made it clear that they are not open to
the park department in Montgom- ery County, Maryland, holds a garlic mustard challenge each spring and encourage citizens to pick and eat as much of that invasive weed as they can. As far as knowing your plants, keen eyesight and a good plant identifica- tion guide are great assets to have on hand. Even better: Have an expe- rienced forager accompany you to
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