Foraging for the Rest of Us: A Pre-field Guide

By Nina Interlandi Bell

In this pocket-sized, "pre-field" guide, Nina shares how she got her mind right and transitioned to "forager brain"-something she believes to be more essential than memorizing plant IDs and that anyone can mostly do before even setting foot outside. You'll also learn her methods for safely identifying wild foods, over-arching ideas for how to th

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nina Interlandi Bell
• Release date: Jun 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798988411246

Nina Interlandi Bell

Ten years ago, Nina and her family ditched city life for a 5-acre homestead in rural Maine. She still dresses like the guitar player for her band that never made it, but these days you're more likely to find her rocking out with a fistful of dandelion greens than playing a gig at a Brooklyn dive bar. She runs around in the woods making weird music videos and hunting trout lily, sheep sorrel, and the occasional wild turkey. Nina and her family tend chickens, horses, cats, fruit trees, and an enormous garden. And they eat food. LOTS OF FOOD. But you don't have to be like them to get into some wild grub. Wherever you live, whatever you do, whoever you are-you can make wild food part of your life. Nina wants to get you excited about wild food so you'll be inspired to protect wild places.

Book preview

Preface

     You might think, "But Nina, you make salt from seawater and graze breakfast from your yard. I am not like you." Fair. You might not be—not yet. But that’s why you’re here, right?

     Actually, that’s not it. You might not ever be like me or even want to be! I want you to do you—just with a little more wild food in your life.

     You don’t have to live entirely off-grid, have a career as a professional forager, or get 100% of your food from wild or homegrown sources. I certainly don’t. I have as much Imposter Syndrome as you do when I see those hardcore, geared-up survivalists on TV or social with their massive mushroom hauls and jars of wildcrafted vinegars in neat rows.

     But Nina, you might then think, "you did move your family to a 5-acre homestead in the middle of nowhere, Maine, and you do do some pretty hardcore stuff." Again, fair. But prior to this decade, I lived stints as a theater geek, hippy, big city college kid, goth, punk rocker, yuppie, duplex dweller, crafty mom, new parent, and suburban cubicle vampire—to name a few.

     I was urban for the first 3.5 decades of my life and then decided to change that drastically. Maybe you want to do that, too—that rocks! But you don’t have to do anything drastic to get a little more wild grub in your life. You can stay exactly where you are, play around a little, and see where things go.

     In fact, go ahead and circle all that apply:

I live in an apartment or condo with no yard or direct access to nature

I order takeout at least 3-5 times per week

When I look at a yard, I’d be hard-pressed to identify anything potentially edible

I follow some hunting and foraging shows but am definitely not as cool as those people

I am a busy parent and have enough trouble cleaning up my slimy kids

I did not grow up in a family that regularly hunts, fishes, or forages

Super not into bugs or outdoorsy activities that screw up my makeup/hair

I think this whole thing is interesting, but I am worried people will think I’m weird

I can’t even pay my electricity bill this month, and you want me to buy expensive gear??

I'm fairly outdoorsy, but don’t have enough time to become an expert and I’m afraid wild plants will kill me

Seriously, another thing I’m supposed to do? I already can’t stick with all the yoga, meditation, therapy, forest bathing, superfood smoothies, and self-care I’m supposed to be doing…

Super not in shape and vastly prefer the taste of Sour Patch Kids to bitter greens

I’m pretty comfortable with my life as is, but there’s a tiny nagging voice I try to ignore

     Spoiler: If you circled even one of those things, this guide is for you. It might surprise you to learn that I could have circled every one of those at some point in my life. Some of them I would still circle. But we have to start where we are.

***

Why Pre-Field?

          This book is small enough so that you could take it out into the field with you if you wanted, and I’m sure it—and I—would be thrilled if you got a bit of dirt between the pages. But we’d be just as happy to accompany you on the train as you commute or to the water cooler in your office—wherever and whenever you find your brain wandering away from the glare of real life.

     All that said, I'm hoping that even the most experienced outdoors people will find a few nuggets of truth here—or at least a few angles they hadn't considered.

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Why Wild Food?

     But…wouldn’t it be a lot easier just to buy salt at the store?

    "That looks like a lot of work! Why would you spend all that time