Discover Wild Foods with Foraging!

There is something exhilarating about connecting with our heritage. Our ancestors depended on hunting, fishing, and scouring the landscape for native plants as tactics for survival. Today, most people luckily can enjoy these activities for leisure rather than survival. 

Our ancestors relied on foraging to sustain themselves. Foraging consisted of tracking, identifying and experimenting with foliage, fungi and fruits. Today,  foraging has become unnecessary as grocery stores provide all the food we need – but when you explore this skill, an exciting adventure awaits! 

The Ozarks are filled with native mushrooms, plants, fruits and herbs which can serve as vital nutrition and support to our bodies. You would be amazed by all the edible and medicinal benefits that lie under our noses. Bo Brown is a naturalist who has spent years searching, identifying and collecting native plants and food sources uncommon to the human palette. His knowledge consists of a menu you can only find outdoors in the natural landscape. 

Did you know all parts of an orange day lily are edible? Bo’s book, Foraging the Ozarks: How to find, identify, and prepare edible wild foods, contains pages of information regarding plants, herbs, fruits, fungi and flowers. He shares their benefits, habitat/range, warnings, and even recipes!

Dandelions, commonly known as pesky weeds, are targeted for elimination annually. As millions of dollars are spent to get rid of dandelions from lawns and croplands, many other countries grow them commercially for culinary and medicinal use.  

Their leaves, flowers, buds and roots are edible. Young leaves are great mixed with milder salad greens; their flowers can be fried in batter for fritters; and young taproots can be dried, ground, and roasted as a coffee substitute or additive. 

The flowers, leaves and seedpods of the Eastern redbud are another edible delicacy. Found throughout the Ozarks, they are a great addition to salads and Bo’s book contains a recipe for how to make redbud flower jelly! Raw flowers can also be plucked for a trail snack – just be sure not to damage the twig bud. Their flowers are high in vitamin C and antioxidants and the seedpods contain 25% protein.

At Dogwood Canyon, you can experience a unique walk through the park as Bo shares his knowledge and even lets you sample some of nature’s delights. You can check out our events calendar to see when Bo Brown is hosting “Foraging the Ozarks”. We may not need to rely on this skill for survival, but you can participate and learn more about how our ancestors survived through foraging the Ozarks!