At some point midway through the COVID-19 lockdowns, a whole lot of people looked around their houses and thought, “I’ve gotta get out of here.” If you’ll recall, the usual gathering places were closed to the public and supermarkets became Disneylands of the Upside Down, with timed entry and socially distanced masked shoppers winding through cordoned-off aisles. For some, myself among them, that meant learning how to forage for food.

Much like the Pokemon Go craze of the before times, urbanites started wandering parks and side streets, playing at Apocalypse and living off the land. Sort of. Turns out it takes a few years to get good at subsistence farming, but foraging? Find some helpful Instagram influencers (Try Philly’s own @LadyDanni1 or the brilliant @BlackForager), download a reputable plant-identifying app (Seek, iNaturalist), step outside, and you’re off! 

Our region, with its abundant parks, woodlands and reliable rainfall, makes foraging for food a breeze, and even though supermarket aisles are wide open these days, they’re also pricier. Plus, once you’ve been conditioned to see all that yum falling off trees and poking through lawns, it’s pretty hard to ignore.

Foraging isn’t a free-for-all, though. Conscientious reapers leave some of whatever they find behind for the birds and bees to sow. It should go without saying, but just in case: always ask permission before hunting and gathering on your neighbors’ property. And when it comes to foraging in Philadelphia or Montgomery Counties’ public parks, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s “Ask PHS” website advises, “You’ll probably need to ask a park ranger or manager at the specific park you’re considering foraging in. When you do, consider politely asking for the specific written park rules/guidelines pertaining to foraging, because the person may not actually know the rules.”

While it’s illegal to forage on city property in Philadelphia, as long as you don’t dig up or destroy anything and gather lightly (a few dandelion leaves, a handful of wineberries as you stroll), it’s unlikely that anyone will complain.

Some foraged plants are easy to find and safe for beginners. One helpful bit of trivia is that there are no poisonous compound berries native to the United States. Think raspberries, wineberries, and mulberries. Mushrooms, however, take a little more experience and fell (as in kill) more than a few enthusiasts every year. 

A few varieties of mushroom don’t have any toxic lookalikes, such as the delicious autumnal favorite Hen of the Woods, several pounds of which I once found just sitting out in the open at the foot of a landscaped oak tree on an area college campus (I’ll never tell where). But it is very, very easy to be fooled by other varieties, and with fabulous local organizations such as the Philadelphia Mycology Club and Wild Foodies of Philly organizing outings and information, why take chances? 

About those easy pickings, look at your lawn. And about that lawn? Make sure you’re not using pesticides, because neither you nor the creatures around you want to eat anything that’s been marinated in Roundup. 

Onion grass, that hollow tall green weed that smells like onion, of course, makes a great substitute for chives. Out of scallions? Try digging up some wild onion or garlic. They look like onion grass but have a bulb on the bottom and that telltale oniony scent. 

Dandelion leaves are entirely edible, as are the yellow flowers that grow atop their bitter, but edible, stems. I toss out the stems but keep the leaves and flowers for salads. Young leaves are less bitter and can be substituted for basil in a pesto with a squeeze of lemon thrown in to round out their flavor.

Some of my favorite foraged treats are Japanese Honeysuckle, an invasive vine that also happens to make a fantastic simple syrup (your neighbors might thank you for helping clear some off their property) and mulberries, which nobody in my neighborhood seems to eat and everyone complains are “too messy.” Fine, more jam for the rest of us.

Honeysuckle Simple Syrup

Try it in cold beverages, lattes, tea, ice cubes, and cocktails

Gather one cup of Japanese Honeysuckle flowers without stems or leaves. Rinse well by dunking in a bowl of cold water a few times and then draining. Add the flowers to a pot with one cup sugar, one cup water, and one navel orange peel. 

Simmer for about five minutes while stirring occasionally to be sure everything is well-blended and the sugar is melted. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for one hour. Strain the mixture and refrigerate the liquid. Honeysuckle Simple Syrup will last refrigerated for roughly one month.

Easy Mulberry Jam

Gather roughly one pound of mulberries. Rinse well and snip off any remaining stems. Place a small plate in the freezer for testing cooked jam. Measure 10 ounces of granulated sugar and one tablespoon of fresh lemon juice. Put half the mulberries in a flat casserole pan. Sprinkle half the sugar over the berries. Add the rest of the berries on top and then sprinkle on the rest of the sugar. Allow the berries and sugar to rest and combine on their own for 4-6 hours.

Add the berry and sugar combo to a saucepan, heat on medium high for 20 minutes, and every now and then stir and/or mash the berries with a potato masher or whatever will work to squish the berries into your favorite jam texture. Add lemon juice and cook/stir/mash for five more minutes. 

Take your small plate out of the freezer and drop a teaspoon or so of jam onto it. Check after a minute and see if you like the jam’s consistency. When loose, it tastes great over ice cream or in yogurt, but won’t work for a PB&J. If you want it less runny, put your testing plate back in the freezer, keep cooking the jam for a few more minutes, maybe add a teaspoon more of lemon juice, and test again. 

When everything is just right, you can add the jam to your sterilized jars and seal them in a water bath. Or glaze a chocolate cake with it. Or eat it with your fingers right out of the pot, like a bear ransacking a cabin. 

It’s not my business how you decide to get creative; after all, the best part of foraging is the wonder of discovery. Somehow, it makes the world’s complications fall away to reveal nature’s simple, freely available joys.