Wild Picnic

10 May 11

Not a site update, but just to let you know that this month's issue of the marvellous and delicious Taste magazine contains a new article I've written about foraging (page 104).

24 October 10
New super-informative link added to nettle.

Also - Radio New Zealand has collected most of the foraging shows and archived them all on one page here.

19 July 10
Brassicaceae X - the mystery solved - thanks Phil and Mike!

15 April 10
New info added to Kawakawa

The Wild Picnic Library - for reviews of foraging books relevant to New Zealanders

31 January 09
Info about berries added to Kawakawa and Beach Spinach

25 November 08
More recipe ideas added to puha/puwha

5 November 08
Tea recommendation added to Nettle

1 November 08
New recipe added to Puwha
(thanks to Wild Health Food)

Most of the pictures here can be enlarged. I've also added Google Images links - often a help with identifying plants.

The links to Plants for a Future give a good overview of each plant's different uses.

I'd love to hear about ways you've used these plants, so please feel free to add comments.

I welcome questions too. I haven't had room to write everything I'd like to. And if you spot anything that's incorrect, please let me know.

I'll try and update regularly with new plants - as well as extra info on plants that are already here.

* If in doubt, don't eat it.

* Avoid foraging from roadsides and polluted places. (My rule of thumb is - would I plant a vegetable garden here?)

* Avoid areas that may have been recently sprayed with herbicide. (Although harvesting new growth from areas that have been sprayed in the past may be okay - this is one of those debated things.)

* Get permission before foraging on someone else's property, including farmland.

* Get to know as many of our poisonous plants as you can, so you know what to avoid. Here's a great online resource from Landcare Research.

* Harvest sustainably.

* I have had a regular spot chatting about foraging on National Radio's This Way Up. You can hear many of the shows here.

* My foraging article for Good magazine is online - 'Wildly Addicted'.

* World Sweet World has run an occasional series of my articles about foraging. My article about chickweed and puha is here.

* I was interviewed in an article on wild foods in Dish magazine.

I'm open to offers of all kinds! (Well, most.) You can contact me on johanna dot knox at gmail.com

Star-cooked (solar cooking, foraging, fermentation, and general rants)

Wild concoctions (a very slowly growing recipe journal)