Foraging in Late Spring
Here in the Pacific Northwest, we tend to have a sleepy start to Spring. We’ll have warm days and then a random snowfall and freeze. Nature ends up slowing way down to make sure all conditions are good for blooming. Then, all of a sudden, in late April/early May we see a massive awakening. It’s a bit of a jolt for the forager! We’re slowly strolling one minute and running a race the next.
One trick foragers use to extend a gathering window for certain plants is to follow them up in elevation. In most lowland areas Nettles are beginning to bloom which signals the end of the foraging season for that plant. But our mountains are covered in snow until early July, so I could find fresh baby nettles up there weeks from now.
I often hear people say they don’t know what plants are available to gather and when. Below is a shortlist of plants available now and coming up over this last month of Spring. Keep in mind, I’m in Western Washington so what’s available in other parts of the country could be different depending on your area.
In parks and old farmland you’ll find yarrow, plantain, hawthorn, wild roses, and oxeye daisies. Do not gather if these areas have been sprayed
On the edge of the forests, there are cleavers, thimbleberry leaves (our local wild raspberry), wild rose, mugwort, oxeye daisies, and yarrow. Borage that long ago escaped a garden is greeting us trailside in many places as well. St Johns Wort is just about to bloom so keep your eye out!
In the high desert of Eastern Washington, the bright sunshine flowers of arrowleaf balsamroot are covering the hillsides, elderflowers are beginning to bloom, and arnica is blanketing the valleys. Also keep an eye out for mullein, uva ursi, red root, and lomatium.
On the beach, we see plantain, yarrow, wild rose, lomatium, and mugwort. Grindelia isn’t quite blooming yet, but soon!
If you’re a beginning forager it’s best to gather a few books and focus on identification before gathering. I hear the groans of some who think carrying books on hikes is annoying and heavy. I’d rather build muscle than be six feet under from lack of research. Get what I’m saying here? It’s fun to find a plant you’ve never identified before! You can plop down next to it and pull out your books. If you have internet reception on your phone you could start with a plant identification app. These aren’t always accurate but can give you a point of reference to begin searching in your books. Make sure to pay attention to what your books say. Do the plants have opposite or alternate leaves. What do the stems look like? And the leaf structure? How many petals does the flower have? What type of root system does it have? Always make sure you have solidly identified the plant in at least two books, if not three, before gathering. I still have times when I struggle to identify a plant. When this happens I take photos of all the parts and notes about all the details. I then do more research at home with a bit of help from the internet and my library of herbal books.
If the idea of learning to forage on your own feels a bit intimidating, there are plenty of guides and schools sprinkled about. If you’re local to the Puget Sound region we offer day trips for individuals and groups. We also offer seasonal wildcrafting apprenticeships for those who want to dive deeper into herbalism and medicine making.
Once you’ve invested your time in getting to know a plant you’ll never forget it. How cool will you look to friends and family when you start spouting off names of random plants! They’ll wonder how you ever came to be so smart and start asking you about all the plant names!