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I get questions often about where I forage since I don’t own l any land, and how I know where to find things. So today we’re talking about how to forage when you don’t own large chunks of land!
Private Property
The first option is foraging on private property. It’s VERY important to note, I do NOT condone trespassing to forage! Always get permission from the landowner first.
Within the realm of private property, there are a few avenues:
Acquaintances
Maybe you have friends, family members, fellow community members, or coworkers who do own property. Ask them if they’d let you forage for wild foods on the land.
Local Businesses
Often people overlook local businesses. A lot can be found on an urban lot, and often local businesses have large swaths of land that they don’t use for anything. I’ve found that just going inside, asking who is in charge of the property, and explaining that I am a forager is often enough for them to say “Take whatever you want!” I found my favorite wild apple trees this way.
Real Estate Investors
Another often overlooked option is asking real estate investors. They own large chunks of property and often won’t care if you go and harvest chicory or wild invasive berries on the land. After all, they won’t use it.
Private Parks
In some places, a private entity (such as a school or organization) may own a park or nature center. Often they won’t mind you asking to forage as long as you make it clear that you will take good care of things.
Churches & Non-profits
Often churches and non-profit organizations will own large pieces of property as well. I have found that they are particularly willing to let you take whatever you want! I have found wild grapes, pears, mushrooms, and mulberries all this way among others!
Public Land
Public land is a slightly different story. Here are some options:
County Parks
In my area, the county owns many parks. In most places it is ok to forage, in some areas, it is prohibited. ALWAYS check the park rules to verify that you won’t get in trouble for picking berries or taking leaves.
State Forest
The state also owns a LOT of forests. This can be a great place to forage, but the rules update all the time, so be sure to check out your state’s website to know what you are and aren’t allowed to do.
Urban Lots
Sometimes the city owns urban lots. Most of the time this is a safe bet because the chances that they will care if you pick something is extremely slim, however, make sure it isn’t a contaminated site (like an industrial plant, a dump site, near a bad water source etc).
Highways
This is one I’d be careful with. Highways can have a lot to offer, but you have to be careful to follow a few safety protocols: Always harvest from the uphill side of a highway (where water runs down to the road) and not the downhill side. When you are downhill, you risk harvesting plants that have been contaminated by oil runoff, and brake dust, but when you are uphill you are generally pretty safe. The other thing is if there is no hill, try to stay at least 200ft away from the road itself to avoid contamination.
Government Buildings
Again, this is one you may want to ask someone about. Some places won’t care, some will. Just ask someone at town hall, or in a local office if it’s ok first.
Okay so now we know what kinds of places we could forage at, but what kinds of places have the good stuff?
Generally, your foraging guide can tell you where to look for specific things, but here are some places you might want to avoid in general:
Major stretches of lawn. These areas often have almost nothing but grass, and occasionally mushrooms (if you know what to look for).
Polluted areas. This should go without saying, but don’t forage behind a chemical plant or waste treatment center. The things you harvest will likely be contaminated and can be unsafe to eat.
Areas with road runoff. Stay away from major roads! A lot of contaminants can run off into the plant life on either side unless there’s a hill.
Try to keep an eye out for the following:
Dense forest
Old growth forest
Meadows/fields
Edges of woods
Fallen trees and piles of logs
Digital foraging tools
There are a handful of resources that can help you these days, and here are a few of my favorite digital resources:
iNaturalist is a wildlife identification site where users can report sightings of any species, and get it verified. I like to use the map feature to tell me what potential edible species are in an area. Even if people haven’t reported their secret mushroom spots (they often don’t) you can sometimes tell what you might find in an area based on what else is growing nearby.
I like to use Google Maps to find areas that might be good for foraging. For example, I might use satellite maps to find a massive swath of forest, then see if it’s a private property and go talk to the owner etc. I also use it to find parks, nature preserves, and public land that I haven’t been to before.
I would generally say do NOT trust plant identification apps especially when it comes to mushrooms. Yes, they can be fairly accurate, but they DO make mistakes! I tend to use Google Lens to figure out what species I should be researching if I don’t know where to start. For example, I might find a flower I’ve never seen, then use Google Lens, then see if what I saw fits the plants it thinks I’ve found. Never use it as a complete foolproof way to find food!
Foraging Guides
Websites:
Here are some recommended websites that I enjoy learning from:
Books:
*Some links earn me a commission at NO COST to you!
For other regions of the U.S., I also recommend:
Foraging the Rocky Mountains (Any of the Falcon Guides are good, find one that fits your region)
YouTube Channels:
He has some general off-grid/self-reliance information, as well as some foraging videos.
He has some very thorough and comprehensive information on foraging, especially mushrooms!
Lots of good foraging content, he dives deep into uncommon toxic plants as well as recipes and identification content.
While a lot of the content is geared towards general homesteading, there are some good foraging videos as well.
This channel has great information on foraging specifically as it pertains to living off of a wild food diet.
While I don’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things with this guy, a lot of his content revolves around activism and visiting gardens and communities, he does have some solid foraging videos and his videos on eating a full wild diet are very inspiring to watch.
Courses
I love the foraging course from Herbalacademy. Full disclosure: I do earn a small commission when people purchase the course at no charge to you!
The course is professional and comprehensive and they have several modules to help you advance your knowledge further as time goes on. You can purchase the course here:
Hopefully this list of resources helps get you into the wild foraging lifestyle and makes it more accessible to you!
If this helped, be sure to get friends to subscribe to the newsletter! I’m still trying to reach my 100-subscriber goal! Also be sure to use my affiliate links to buy the foraging guides, or even to get other items on Amazon since I get some commission to help support the newsletter that way!
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