Foraging as a frugal living lifestyle

I wish I could forage, too. I live in the metropolis and I don't think there's any place here that's good for that. In farther places, I know that people go to the forests to gather food. Also, we're a nation surrounded by water so I know, too, that people can fish for food. But, like I said, that's in the countryside part.

Yep, foraging is just like grocery shopping, so maybe if you told your friend, I have to go shopping, she would understand ..lol... I forage when I can, and I do some of my foraging right before I use it, like this one clover I love in my salads. Because the fresher the fruit/vegetable/herb, the better..:)

We often went out to pick choke cherries to make jam. It is better than any jam you can buy. We also picked wild currents for jam. My grandmother taught us to use lambs quarters in the spring for greens before the garden came up. we also ate dandelion leaves in early spring from the yard.

There are many things that people consider to be hobbies that actually are more than that. Things like earning online, or cashing in recyclable cans or bottles depending on where you live. There are many ways to extend our income and our provision, but they need to be taken seriously. Not just hobbies.

She may not realize what rosehips are, as I thought it was a flower. She might not know that you were talking about gathering food so I would not say that she was simply being rude, but she may not have known the importance of what you were doing. However, I suggest that you simply could have said bye and shut the facebook chat off and signed off to avoid missing your time to gather food.

I think we have dandelions starting to grow again here, since we have mild weather in autumn. I guess I should grab some of those tender leaves. That's about all we have now that's wild, except some not-so-good-looking purslane and mallows, but my chard is about ready to eat, and I still have a few little cherry type tomatoes ripening. I think I will forage more seriously next spring.

We did a lot of berry picking this summer, and it did supplement our groceries. I have been using them to make muffins for lunch snacks, that sort of thing. It really does cut costs.

i live in a somewhat urban city and the closest i come to foraging for food is at my sister in law's farm. i have an orchard (apples) and its great to make apple sauce and cider with. foraging for clothing is another story. i take all things given!

I use my own garden for the things I don't care to have to buy at the store anymoe. Like tomatos. I get groceries anyway I can that isn't steeling them. I would like to know what rosehips are and what are they used for?

hi m ashihi this reminds me when I was a kid of the dandelion greens, the fresh mushrooms and lambs quarter greens my mom picked on our farm and fed us. She knew her mushrooms but i not knowing the safe ones from the poisonous ones would not venture on that. but the dandelion greens and lambs quarter greens I loved with a touch of lemon juice,they are still delicious. we had a huge veggie garden plus orchards so we fared well growing up during the thirties depression era in the US. but now days its hard to find fresh things like the greens here in Southern California as most all land here is already used for housing and for business uses. There are no places to forage like that.But rose hips oh I would be so careful as so many roses bushes in modern times are sprayed with all sorts of chemicals. Oh yes and chokecherries we would go out to Horse creek where there dozens of wild chokecherry bushes and pick them. but those berries if eaten with milk can almost kill you as they curdle the milk and form a mass in throat and intestines that shuts off the circulation.you must not drink milk when eating them. usually we made jelly out of them instead.Its nigh impossible to forage here in Orange county CAlifornia. sad.

Hi Masihi, when my children were little, we spent part of our days in Summer gathering blackberries. Then, each day I´de make the awesome blackberry preserves and jams. I don´t do that anymore because blackberries are a long way off from where I live. But I traded that work for my work at my vegetable garden. Each year I get more out of it.

Foraging for food is an amazing skill to have. There are so many free foods out there in the wild that it is really incredible. So many plants that people pass by every day not even knowing that they are edible. People are spraying highly nutritious plants in their gardens that they call weeds. Not only are they wasting money on these chemicals, but they then go to the store and buy leafy greens that are mainstream, but nowhere near as nutritious! Most people have lost touch with nature and do not realise how much food is out there. People in cities are homeless and going hungry when there is food all around them. It is a real shame that this knowledge has been lost by mainstream society. I too am learning this valuable skill at the moment and have been for the last few years. Luckily there are people teaching these skills again now and there are websites, Iphone apps and loads of books on this area. Free food is always good!

my family growing up gardened and while it was a learning experience for the kids it was also a budget saver for the grown ups. I think that the family garden is starting to include more veggies, not just flowers especially as the economy does not seem to be moving anywhere good anytime soon.

Even though I live in town, I forage wild edibles all the time in spring, summer and autumn, I see the woods and the field as being just like the supermarket, have aquired wild garlic, wild leeks, sweet cicely, (very nice liquorice/aniseed flavoured leaves for salads), dandelion leaves, lime leaves, hawthorn berries, elderberries, sloe berries , rowan berries, bags and bags of apples,wild strawberries, beech nuts, whitebeam berries. Our ancestors ate this stuff all the time but today people think you are nuts if they see you picking food from a tree, they can't seem to understand that food does'nt have to come in a plastic wrapper from the supermarket.Foraging saves me lots of cash on my grocery bill and combined with growing my own salad and other veggies, is a healthy money saver....

I have not ever foraged for food but I would love to learn more about it. I do let my friends and family know that we will take all their extra garden stuff from them and it has given us a good amount of extra stuff. I would love to go into the mountains and get some pinenuts. They are so expensive in the stores and would be such a great learning experience. You have inspired me. Thank you.

Hi Masihi, at this moment i don't have the chance to forage in the wild areas for my grocery needs. Because i was living in a town area, far away from forest area. Besides that, it is not safe to forage in the forest, in my country. Hope you manage to save quite a lot of money for other expenses needs by spending less money into your daily grocery needs.