Eastern Spice in Michigan

Wild Ginger!

MiWilderness has a video on identifying Wild Ginger that is excellent and will help guide you on your way to obtaining Wild Ginger at home.  Thanks!

Wild Ginger Leaf Screenshot from MiWilderness Youtube Video

Sincerely,
Outdoor Gathering

Recap of Summer

Well, I realize this site is quite new, but I have been documenting my adventures for some time.  A lot of this is catch-up, so forgive me for the poor timing!  We are already approaching fall again, but I have plenty of stories from the spring and summer.  So even though they will likely be drastically out of order, both sequentially and seasonally, please enjoy :).

A few adventures to recap:

Black Raspberry Plant and Berries with a Black Eyed Susan Flower (150630)

First Year Burdock, Burdock Basil Leaves (150507)

Cultivated Nasturtium Flowers, Yellow Nasturtium Flowers (150625)

Cattail Stalks, Cattail Hearts with a Small Cattail Lateral Shoot (150606)

Milkweed Flower, Milkweed Plant in a Field of Milkweed (150705)

American Elm Seeds, Early May in Michigan (150504)

Ripe Oyster Mushroom, Oyster Mushroom Underneath, Oyster Mushroom Critters (150605)

More to come!

Sincerely,

Outdoor Gathering

Evergreen Fruits (Nearly) All Year Long

Is Wintergreen Edible? Yes
The little red berries with small green, smooth, oval leaves on the forest floor are edible.  

Best Wintergreen Identifier? The scent of a pinched leaf smells like wintergreen.  If you are not sure what wintergreen smells like, the closest smell I can relate to would be peppermint.  It doesn't smell exactly like peppermint, but they both have that toothpaste-flavoring type of smell.

When I think pack to the first time I tried the wintergreen flavor, it was a Wint O Green Lifesaver.  I am sure it was because of my best friend as a child, and it definitely had something to do with the idea that if you chew them fast, they will spark.  I like the flavor because it's not a fruity flavor, but it's not mint or cinnamon either.

Wintergreen Plant (Teaberry) Up Close

Wintergreen covers the forest floor and is most noticeable after the ferns die back.  In Michigan, this begins late summer (September) and are fully died back by mid-October.  Both, the leaves and the fruits of wintergreen plants, are edible.  

It is an evergreen, meaning it is around all year long.  Wintergreen is also known as Teaberry, and less commonly as Checkerberry and Boxberry.  

Notice the little five-star pattern on the bottom?  Zachos (Backyard Foraging) wrote, when referring to showing her nephew that a juneberry was safe, "I showed him the five-pointed crown on the top of the berry, and explained that any berry with that feature was safe to eat."  

Wintergreen Berry (Teaberry) Underneath Up Close

There are so many different berries in the woods, I use this as a safe reference when I was just starting out on my outdoor gathering adventures.  You can only learn so many things so quickly, and its best to start out with some of the easy ones first, wintergreen being one of them.  First comes teaberry, then comes bunchberries, and later wild grapes and elderberries.  

If you grew up with 'regular' berries, such as blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and the like, eating a teaberry will not be what you expect.  

Texture and Flavor

Some people describe the berries as mealy (a poor texture, kind of like a bad supermarket peach).  For me, the texture and flavor of teaberries change throughout the year.  The berries are tastier after winter (Spring (best) > Summer > Fall), and the leaves are better prior to winter (Spring < Summer < Fall (best)).  When deer hunting, I like to grab several leaves off the trail on my way out to the deer blind and chew on them while waiting for deer to come along!  It's a good, healthy alternative to chewing tobacco or sugary gum.

See how the foliage is darker?  New growth is a light green and usually has fewer blemishes.  

Wintergreen (Teaberry) Previous Years Growth in the Spring Season

Uses

I keep reading about different ways to extract the wintergreen oil from the leaves.  I have not tried any of them yet.  Usually some sort of liquor has the ability to extract the flavor the best, with alternatives being cooking oil or even just water.  I do not want to make any recommendations having never utilized any of the methods myself.  I do intend to extract oil from the leaves this winter to make wintergreen ice cream though (I will keep you updated).  Search How to Extract Wintergreen Oil for some ideas in the meantime.

Hungry Native has an interesting way of making ice cream with the berries.

A common use is drying the leaves and using them as a tea.  May seem complicated, but isn't.  Simply lay the leaves out on some surface (paper plate, napkin, baking sheet, etc.).  You want there to be some air flow under the leaves if possible, which will prevent molding.  Don't set anything on top of the leaves, especially any surface that is NOT breathable (glass, rubber, heavy paper, plastic wrap, etc.).  These will trap moisture and create moldy conditions.  Let the leaves dry for a few days.  They are done when they are crunchy.  It is best (for all herbs actually) to keep the leaves whole until you use them in order to retain the most flavor possible.  Use just like a loose-leaf tea.

Oi, everywhere I read about wintergreen, there is always a warning.  Wintergreen contains methyl salicylate (like aspirin).  So don't consume if you are allergic.  Additionally, due to the susceptibility of Reye's Syndrome, hold off on eating if under 18 years old.

Good luck with your wintergreen endeavors, and keep us posted.  Thanks!

Sincerely,

Outdoor Gathering

Introduction to Outdoor Gathering

Hi.

If I had to describe my profession in one word, it would be ‘analyst.’  I find myself often working with data and figures.  I used to file and type, but I have moved on to reading repair claims to look for correlating factors.  Anyways.

I love to learn.  When a question arises, I like to find the answer.  It’s nice in this day and age that we can usually compute our way to the answer easily.  Before, you would just ask your parents.  When your parent’s ideals do not necessarily align with yours, you are stuck with many questions for a long time.  Some of those questions fall to the background, only to arise much later.   A few years ago a word came to my mind that I had long forgotten.

Foraging.

I still forget it sometimes because it is so foreign to me still.  Foraging is defined as, “to search widely for food and provisions.”  Based on those definitions, running to the store across town is foraging.  Foraging is the word in the ‘industry,’ but the more naturally known word is to ‘gather’.  Gathering is defined as, “to pick or harvest (any crop or natural yield).” 

So whether it is foraging or gathering you are looking for, so was I.  And still am.  If you look at something growing on a small plot of ground and wonder aloud, “What is that?” you may be a gatherer.  I have often wondered, and a few years ago the ability to find and define these items we so find on small plots of ground became a reality. 

For most people, these things may start in the field.  But then you have me.  I am the one who reads the directions.  So of course, it naturally started with a book. 

I love plants and I had recently started hunting as well.  I also have a strong will to make things and to create things of value.  I wanted to learn something, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.  I was between classes for school, so I was a little more ambitious than usual. 

I stumbled across Backyard Foraging by Ellen Zachos.  She is from California while I am from Michigan, but I am glad I started here.  The book opened my mind up to many simple things around me that I never noticed before.  It also showed me a lot of fruits I had never even heard of that I would be interested in possibly growing indoors later on.  The difference between this book and other foraging books is that she focuses on the edibility of plants that people grow for looks (whether it be wild or purchased).  I was consumed by the book, reading and looking at the pictures while sitting in a deer blind (don’t worry vegetarians—no deer made it to my dinner plate… that year at least :).  

Sometime that fall, walking in the woods, suddenly the pictures from the book clicked.  At least one picture in particular—WINTERGREEN.  It was… everywhere!  I had never noticed it, but it was there.  It covered the ground floor of the forest.  

Wintergreen (Teaberry) on a Forest Floor

When I said, “I think that’s wintergreen!” to my SO, who practically grew up in a forest, they replied with, “Yep, I know.”  

Wintergreen (Teaberry) Up Close

I picked a few leaves and berries and brought them home to investigate to ensure I wasn’t poisoning myself.  I quickly flipped through those glossy pages to confirm the edibility, and sure enough it was there.  So there it was: My first confirmed case of outdoor gathering. 

I suppose now that I brought up the subject, I should share a little bit :).

See next post for more information!  Thank you.

Sincerely,

Outdoor Gathering