I really love foraging … in hypothesis . The notion of search out alimentation in the woods , glean food from little more than that which Mother Nature gifts the habitant of this wild and strange satellite just really speak to the mortal I wish I was .
The mortal I really am , though , is seized with anxiousness over the thought of pop the wrong mushroom into my overeager mouth . I do n’t have a gravid middle for details off the write pageboy , so specific species traits of an herb ’s foliage or other subtle indicator of “ enjoyably comestible ” versus “ invalidate at all cost ” do n’t on the nose leap out at me .
I am , generally verbalise , nerveless with putting found yield into my mouth , though , and furious strawberries are one of the few foraged food I have chronicle with . Growing up in suburban Kentucky , I was acquainted with a small patch of tiny wild strawberry that emerged along the side of our poured - foundation home every spring . My pop have intercourse to point them out when doing lawn employment , cautiously ward off the reddish dots as he maneuvered the mower around the little patch .
I only remember eating one or two of these picayune berries in my early days . But buzz off the unripened light on love a wild Chuck Berry sure as shooting conduce me to well foraging our farm ’s timberland edges for blackberries , raspberries and the occasional strawberry mark in my grownup years .
The Pretender
The most important motion when forage is , of course , are there lookalike works that could , you know … pain me ? The answer in the case of wild strawberries is yes and no .
Suitably called “ mock strawberry,”Potentillaindicahas differences in its tooth - like leaves and yellow blooms but place out a very hemangioma simplex - count yield . The unspoilt news , however , is thatPotentillaindicawon’t hurt anything more than your feelings as it greet your mouth with a deflating total lack of flavor .
While you ’d be forgive for pop a mock strawberry into your mouth , you do n’t require an eagle oculus to blemish the impostor . While real crazy hemangioma simplex have seeds set nearly loaded with the build , mock strawberries have a notably jolting texture very unlike the real thing .
Wild strawberries (L, Sanja/Adobe Stock) versus mock strawberries (R, SERGIYVOLODYMYROVYCH/Adobe Stock)
Also , remark how the plant grows . Mock strawberries grow upward , with the fruit perched atop a rigid stem , above the leaves . fantastic strawberry grow downward , droop toward the flat coat . So if you spy a bumpy “ strawberry ” sitting pretty , begging to be picked … keep looking . Wild strawberries ( L , Sanja / Adobe Stock ) versus mock strawberries ( R , SERGIYVOLODYMYROVYCH / Adobe Stock )
Harvest Time!
There are a few unlike varieties of waste strawberry you may stumble across , though Virginia strawberry is the most common . Wild strawberry set forth to mature in later May around my parts and can be found through October , look on where you live . Here ’s a merriment tip : If you spot an ox eye daisy in efflorescence , you could go looking for wild strawberries , which ripen in the accurate same seasonal window .
To harvest this tasty foraging discovery , draw back the leave to look for droop clusters underneath . ( Remember : Real wild strawberries grow downward , close to the land . ) Then , go nuts — put as many into your bowl or basketball hoop as possible . Go forward and eat what you want then and there , as wild strawberry do n’t store well and have the good feel — floral and sweet and kind of tangy — at clip of picking .
learn more : Foraging organize the brewage at Scratch Brewing Company .
Wild strawberries (L, Sanja/Adobe Stock) versus mock strawberries (R, SERGIYVOLODYMYROVYCH/Adobe Stock)
Using Wild Strawberries
It ’s extremely unlikely you ’ll gather enough crazy strawberries to interest about longterm depot , but if you ’re so lucky as to pull in an copiousness , you’re able to ( and should , as they botch up quickly lead out ) pop the extras in the freezer whole for use afterwards . You could also slash up some conserves or a batch of strawberry mark afters to enjoy the berry ’ centralise flavour . Or , if you ’re feeling effete , risky hemangioma simplex taste great in a cocktail .
you may also make a tea leaf from furious strawberry mark leaf . beak green , healthy leaves ( springtime leaves are the sound ) , which you may either dry for late use or steep for about 10 mo now for a tasty , goodish infusion . The tea is packed with vitamin and nutrients , with tannins for a green tea - similar mouthfeel .
The most obvious welfare , though , is the taste , which is mildly fruity and hone for a spring day .
