Episode 195: Foraging Retrospective

Tracey Testo-Smith returns to Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley to share her knowledge and experience about foraging. In this episode, Tim and Jean sit down with Tracey Testo-Smith, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Program Manager at Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Columbia and Greene Counties, to discuss the practice of foraging. This interview was originally recorded as part of the Digging In With Master Gardeners radio show on WGXC 90.7FM and now repurposed for a podcast format.

Tracey reviews some of the misconceptions about what foraging actually is. Foraging doesn't need a vast array of information about everything in the forest. The main thing to know is whether a plant is useful, either for food or medicinal purposes. Tracey leads foraging walks in the spring at the Hudson CCE campus and in the fall at the Acra campus. Her classes before the walks teach folks how to identify individual plants before they even step into the woods. She often brings in co-presenters to expand their access to expertise. The public can enroll online and sign up for quarterly newsletters at ccecolumbiagreene.org.

There are always common sense caveats:

• know the history of the site you're collecting from... for example, a former farm may have residual pesticide contamination.
• don't forage along a roadside where contamination happens daily from passing cars.

Another factor to be aware of is the name of the plant. Often a common name will be misleading. Hemlock, for instance, can be a benign evergreen tree or a poisonous weed. Knowing the botanical name avoids any such confusion and danger. To start as a forager on your own, Tracey suggests that you really get to know a plant, even for as long as a year. Familiarity with the plant's different stages lets you know the most useful times to “harvest”, She cites the dandelion as an example, whose different parts are useful in different seasons. Then leaves can be harvested first in early spring, then the flower buds, then petals, and finally the roots. Their values range from food to dying tints to medicinal, all varying according to part and season.Some plants, like pokeberry and elderberry, have certain parts that are edible while the rest of the plant is poisonous.

Tracey finds salad greens in chickweed and blue violets, and bittercress. While these can be eaten raw, always stay aware of the possibility of pollutants when using plants near water. Ramps are famously a popular dish in restaurants, in season. These are wild leeks, and very specific as to their growing conditions. They are very slow growers, taking up to a decade to reach maturity. Tracey advises that you be exceptionally thoughtful if collecting in the wild. The leaves and bulbs are both edible. Don't try to take them home to grow because they will not survive the removal. There are now growers who can sell you bulbs to start at home without disrupting fragile populations.

Teas are another way to use foraged plants. Most mints are amenable to teas, as are clovers and yarrow. These are all amenable to drying as well, so can be stockpiled for winter use. Plants are not the only target of foragers. Tracey covers the practice of mushroom hunting. Different seasons produce wild crops of different varieties of mushrooms. Early spring is for Morels, midsummer for Chanterelles, and autumn for Chicken (or hen) of the woods. Tracey reviews what the warning signs are of poison mushrooms, and reviews the possibility of growing your own, with CCE classes available. Every mushroom, by the way, is safe to handle, even if toxic.Going deeper into the subject of what's poisonous, the environment can alter the nature of a plant. Stinging nettle can absorb heavy metals from a polluted site. Know your location's history if possible. There are plants that are a contact risk, like poison ivy or water hemlock. It's wise to know the plants that grow around your foraging target plants. 

Tracey advises to harvest moderately, so as to insure the future of the plant. The exception to this practice is invasives. If a plant is invasive... eat it all. The example she uses is Japanese knotweed. Sprouts taste like asparagus blended with rhubarb, it's full of antioxidants. The leaves can even be utilized in a paper making process.

Hosts: Tim Kennelty and Jean Thomas
Guest: Tracey Testo-Smith
Photo by: Jean Thomas
Production Support: Linda Aydlett, Deven Connelly, Teresa Golden, Tim Kennelty, Xandra Powers, Annie Scibienski, Jean Thomas

References:

• Making Paper from Invasive Plants
• The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants by Samuel Thayer,
• Forager's Harvest
• A Community for Naturalists iNaturalist
• Catskill Fungi
• Mushrooms: Information and Resources

Last updated October 16, 2025