Four Season Foraging teaches people how to safely and sustainability identify and harvest wild edibles. I connected with Maria, the founder of Four Season Foraging, to learn more about the Minneapolis-based company.

In the interview, learn more about urban foraging and how to get started foraging in your area.

How to start foraging:

• Follow Four Season Foraging on Instagram and Facebook.
• Take a foraging class. Maria teaches classes in the Twin Cities, or look for options in your area. Search by your city and the term “foraging” or “foraging class.”
• Watch Learn Your Land on YouTube.
• Read Samuel Thayer books. Three books: Nature’s Garden, The Forager’s Harvest, Incredible Wild Edibles.
• Read the Peterson’s Edible Wild Plants Guide.
• Look for foraging Facebook Groups to learn about foraging and find foraging opportunities in your area.
• Live in the Twin Cities? Learn how to get started foraging with this Four Season Foraging blog post.
• Community gardens are a great place to forage for edible weeds, either by finding in your own plot or by asking plot neighbors if you can pick their weeds.
• Look for foraging rules for the parks in your city. Example: In Minneapolis parks, you aren’t allowed to forage everything, but you can pick nuts from nut trees. Also, think about contamination where you plan to get your wild edibles. Consider pesticides, and contaminates (such as dogs going to the bathroom!). Forage with caution!
• Learn about where you can legally forage in Minneapolis on the Four Season Foraging blog.
• Ask your neighbors if you can forage in their yards. Many people would loveto have someone take excess berries or pick dandelions (weeds) for them.
• Learn more about plantain, what I got to try when I went foraging with Maria.
• It's important to spend time in nature, especially if you live in a city. Here are a couple good reads about why nature is important: read this, read this, and read this.

Four Season Foraging

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Photo credit: Greenie Guide Podcast music credit: Blue Dot Sessions