For years farm-to-table has been in the forefront of the movement toward local, fresh and sustainable ingredients. Restaurants and at-home cooks proudly rejoice in the freshness, the ability to identify the farm where each ingredient originated and tout the relationship with farmers.
Now, a growing number of today’s professional chefs and foodies are taking it a step further to forage their own ingredients. Yes, a trip to a forest or field can yield a healthy crop of mushrooms, onions, nuts, berries, flowers, seeds, bark and plants that can be used for cooking, teas, medicine and beauty products. As a byproduct, foraging classes and tours are becoming a growth industry.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
“Foraging is really a lifestyle,” said Dana Nahai, who teaches cooking with foraged ingredients at her farm, the Barn at Stillhouse Creek in Ellijay. “It’s really about being in love with nature. There’s a big difference between consuming wild food and food that has been cultivated in gardens and farms. You can feel the vibrancy, the vitality of the food.”
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Drew Belline, vice president of creative for Rocket Farm Restaurants, which operates Atlanta restaurants including the Optimist, St. Cecilia and BeetleCat, has foraged for mushrooms for about 20 years. An early breakthrough came when he was working at Bacchanalia, and a man came to the back door and sold him chanterelles picked in north Georgia.
“I had no idea chanterelles grew in Georgia,” he said. “A couple of months later, I went out to Lake Rabun and I could see and smell the chanterelles right away. It was super intense, oaky. It was a whole different experience of mushrooms.”
Today, he forages not only for chanterelles but blackberries, muscadines and other mushrooms, such as hedgehog, black trumpet and morel on his farm in Mansfield.
Different reasons an adventure
Motivations behind the foraging trend vary. Some, like Belline and Todd Mussman — one of the founders of Atlanta-based Unsukay restaurant group, which includes Muss & Turner’s and Roshambo — appreciate the fresh-from-the-ground, nutrient-rich taste.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
“I went for a walk up a hill by a creek on Lavista Road and there was whole hillside covered with chanterelles,” Mussman said. “I was hooked and then we went out again and got about 30 pounds. You can go up to Blue Ridge [90 miles north of Atlanta] and forage for mushrooms, wild mountain leeks and bring back amazing produce.”
Others seek a deeper connection with nature.
“The majority of my people come because they felt a void in their lives that they didn’t understand,” said Mark Warren, who teaches foraging and primitive skills on his farm, Medicine Bow in Dahlonega, “They recognized they never enjoyed an intimacy with the forest. And they feel more self-sufficient.”
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Morgan Strickland, whose company, Flourish & Flora, offers intown foraging tours, believes it’s “empowering.
“It feels that you could survive if you’re out in the wild,” she added. “It’s also taking back your power from doctors. If you have a condition doctors are having a difficult time treating, cultivate your own medicines and treat yourself.”
Anne-Marie Bilella, aka the Forager Chick, holds mushroom walks and professional foraging workshops at her Monroe farm. “People want to know where their food is coming from, especially since COVID,” she said. “It’s the old saying, ‘If you teach a man to fish, he has fish for life.’”
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Making healthy choices while on the hunt
Foraging seems simple. Go out into the woods. Pick something. Eat. Well, not so fast. As any scout leader advises, sometimes what looks like a nice plant may be poison ivy; same with other vegetation.
Chris Bach, who owns Zoe George Farms in Monroe. and sells produce to metro Atlanta restaurants, learned that hard lesson when he came across a patch of what he thought were wild onions. “They didn’t taste like they’re supposed to,” he recalled. “About 45 minutes later, we started getting cramps and violently ill. We picked lilies of the valley, which are very poisonous. Know what you’re doing and only pick something that’s very easy to identify.”
More sound advice: Don’t just rely on a book or app to identify a plant. “Don’t mess around with anything that you can’t identify right away,” Mussman advised. “Every mushroom is edible once; very few will kill you, but some nasty ones will make you sick.”
Credit: MARIA JARA
Credit: MARIA JARA
Atlanta chef and wholistic nutritionist ZU Keeper recommends identifying three to five aspects of a plant before picking it. “Queen Anne’s lace looks like water hemlock, which is poisonous,” he said. “If you don’t know the differences, you’ll be in trouble.”
Certified in nutrition, ZU Keeper uses his herbalist knowledge as a chef and to heal. “Use ginger or wild willow bark for a headache,” he said. “I use violets for cough medicine, and dried white clover flowers can be an alternative to tobacco. Broadleaf plantains are good for insect bites.”
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Caleb Arnold hosts plant walks on his Ellijay farm, Ever Wilder, where he teaches how to identify and forge plants and use them for food and medicine. “People want to be connected with the environment,” he said. “My personal foraging is specifically geared toward health and getting super nutrient-dense foods.”
Once you’ve identified the plant, it’s just as important to pick it properly so to not hurt the ecosystem nor damage the produce. “Don’t rip mushrooms from the ground and take the root ball,” said Belline. “You want to harvest in a sustainable manner. If you rip it all, the dirt falls into the mushroom’s gills and adheres to it. You can’t clean them. And with the dirt, you’re probably going to have bugs in there. Either harvest properly or not at all.”
For those interested in learning more, a variety of classes are offered around metro Atlanta, including from Dunwoody Nature Center in partnership with University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. In addition, there are foraging groups such as Mushroom Club of Georgia and farms, such as those run by Arnold, Warren and Bilella, that host classes and walks.
Know before you go: foraging rules vary
Just because it’s in nature, doesn’t mean it’s yours for the picking. In fact, foraging is illegal in Georgia State Parks.
“Since Georgia’s state parks preserve natural environments for future generations, foraging isn’t allowed,” said Kim Hatcher, public affairs coordinator. “It’s important to leave mushrooms and wildflowers where they are growing because they help support entire ecosystems — plus they add beauty to everyone’s hike. It’s easy to think that taking just one flower won’t matter, but the next several hikers might do the same, and that adds up.”
For national parks and forests, it’s a bit more complicated. Most allow foraging but you must first register with the park and obtain a permit. “There isn’t one national policy; it’s specific to each forest,” said Laura Fitzmorris, spokesperson for the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest supervisor’s office.
Local parks have their own regulations but are similar to Cobb County where foraging is illegal — kinda. “If we see kids or someone’s picking berries in park, we’re not going to bring the wrath of the cops down on them unless they’re reselling them,” said spokesman Ross Cavitt.
While there are urban foraging spots, such Morningside Nature Preserve, consider environmental toxicity issues. Plants can absorb harmful chemicals from drainage runoff, car fumes and insecticides. “Look for places that are more organic,” Belline advised. “You don’t want to pick stuff near a dog park.”
Ultimately, Arnold takes a practical perspective to foraging.
“Everybody’s gotta eat,” he said. “For me, foraging is getting access to free food that is healthy. I have gratitude for that. It’s that connection to nature that brings me an abundance of joy.”
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
FORAGING RESOURCES
Bella Vista Farm teaches sustainable living through foraging, herbalism and plant identification. $40-$200. 595 Stock Gap Rd., Monroe. 770-355-8562, foragerchick.com
Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine offers online classes on foraging and herbalism. Various prices. 73 Sanford Way, Weaverville, N.C. chestnutherbs.com
Dunwoody Nature Center presents Master Naturalist, a 10-week course, Sept. 18-Nov. 20, that includes foraging. $400. 5343 Roberts Drive, Dunwoody. 770-394-3322, dunwoodynature.org
Ever Wilder Farm. By appointment only. Plant walks: $18 adults; $5 children. U-pick apothecary events: $65. Also, classes and workshops at various rates.10092 Big Creek Road, Ellijay. everwilderfarm.com
Flourish & Flora. Seasonal Foraging Tour. Sept. 7, Oct. 12. $55 for tour and picnic; $30 tour only. 270 Arizona Ave. 770-504-6840, flourishandflora.com
Georgia Foragers Group is a Facebook group interested in foraging. https://www.facebook.com/groups/926211112222892/
Kings Apron is Chef Zu’s business of teaching holistic nutrition and urban agriculture. 404-436-7242, www.kingsapron.com
Medicine Bow. Hosts foraging and survival skills twice a month. $60-$75. Dahlonega. 706-864-5928, medicinebow.net
Mushroom Club of Georgia hosts lectures, workshops and mushroom walks. gamushroomclub.org
The Barn at Stillhouse Creek offers cooking and nutrition education classes, with some foraged ingredients used, twice a month. $200. 428 Stillhouse Creek Road, Ellijay. Email: dana@thebarnatstillhousecreek.com. thebarnatstillhousecreek.com
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