That's part of the reason why Sam Thayer loves foraging. He started collecting wild food from the woods when he was a kid, and he still has cravings for delicacies he can't buy.
"Last year I gathered about 30 gallons of serviceberries"blueberry-like fruits that grow on trees and shrubs-"and I make fruit leather and eat it as a snack year-round," says Thayer, a naturalist who lives in Wisconsin, writes field guides, and posts on TikTok as Well Fed Wild. "I have about eight pounds of wapatoo, which is a tuber, in my pantry, and I grind it up into hot cereal for breakfast. I love it, and you can't buy it."
Foraging spiked in popularity during the pandemic, when people who felt unsafe going to the store discovered it was a fun way to collect healthy, nutrient-packed food from the great outdoors for free. It's possible to forage in all sorts of places, even cities: Thayer recalls an excellent salad he made out of leaves plucked from trees in Washington, D.C. Foragers have found a home on TikTok, where millions of people watch videos explaining how to harvest puffball mushrooms, gather and process black walnuts, and make wild-violet syrup.
We asked TikTok's most popular foragers to share their best tips on getting started.
1. Do your homework before setting out
This story is from the May 13, 2024 edition of Time.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 13, 2024 edition of Time.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Exhibition showcases ancient splendor
A captivating exhibition at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco offers a clue to the vibrant Bronze Age cultures that flourished along the Yangtze River more than 2,000 years ago.
Flights of kites
An ancient folk craft tradition floats across time and still soars to new heights in modern times
What does a biopic owe its subject?
AMY WINEHOUSE WROTE SONGS THAT CUT TO THE CORE of heartbreak and sang them in a voice as supple and sturdy as raw silk.
On the road again with Mad Max's mastermind
GEORGE MILLER HAS SPENT MORE THAN 40 YEARS swerving in and out of the post apocalyptic world of Mad Max.
TV'S ENDLESS HOLOCAUST
A surge of World War II dramas fails to connect with the present
your toxic life
AN INDEPENDENT LAB HAS MADE A BUSINESS OF EXPOSING WHAT’S REALLY INSIDE EVERYDAY PRODUCTS
NEXT GENERATION LEADERS
11 trailblazers who are challenging the status quo, leading with empathy, and forging solutions for a brighter future
Uranium dreams
The promise of clean nuclear power brings the West to Mongolia
Why the Westminster Dog Show made me appreciate mutts
I SPENT THREE YEARS AMONG DOGS WITH BLOODLINES like British royalty.
CO₂ Leadership Brief
ON MAY 1, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR Jerome Powell offered a two-part message to eager interest- rate watchers.