Do you ever gather herbs from the wild?

[Sage]

A friend of mine recently discovered an area where burdock was growing. All I ever seem to find is wild ginger. Do you ever gather herbs from the wild?

 

[jovan107]

Yes, I do gather herbs from the wild as long as I can recognize which herb it is. I think it would be better than store bought herbs because its natures finest.

 

[shaunche]

I'm fortunate enough to live near a wildlife reserve. The forest is a 5 minute walk away and there are lots of foraging opportunities. We forage wild mint, wild fennel, wild sorrel, wild chives and stinging nettles. I love foraging, wild food tastes better and it's free!

 

[dissn_it]

There are not a lot of wild herbs growing near us but we do get wild asparagus, wild berries and wild mushrooms. We do have stinging nettles but I just can't bring myself to try to consume the darn things. I have been stung by them before!

 

[Jessi]

I have never picked them from the wild. I'd be afraid of picking the wrong thing, but I guess with enough research, it would be fine. I wouldn't even know what grows around my area, though.

 

[jason]

I used to in NY. But I knew all the herbs in the area. Down here it is a little different. So I do not right now collect any wild herbs.

 

[writer811]

I do pick herbs from the woods sometimes but I am and advise others to be extremely careful while doing so. Lots of herbs look like other herbs and sometimes the doppelgänger herb can be poisonous or otherwise harmful to your health. So watch out!

 

[Jessie]

I live out in the country, and find wild herbs pretty often. I only harvest the herbs I can recognize. So far this year I've found chamomile, dill, rosemary, and wild mints. I agree with what a lot of other people are saying about being carefully harvesting in the wild. Always try to identify the herb as closely as possible. On a side note, I have personally found that the local wild rose hips taste a lot better than the cultivated ones I normally have.

 

[gina121]

I haven't come across any identifiable herbs when walking in the wild. When in doubt, I'd rather not pick them. I did, however, came across a hibiscus shrub in SE Asia while traveling and collected a few leaves and flowers, and used them to make tea infusions.

 

[plsargent]

Wow okay I feel dumb. I never even thought about looking for them in the wild So now off to the world wide web so I can learn how to identify some that might be native around my area. We pick wild berries all the time but never thought about herbs. I keep trying to grow my own, but in the end I just end up killing them.

 

[xenon]

I grow most of my herb needs but I do gather rose hips as well. They make great tea and easy to dry. Simply thread on cotton with a needle.

 

[plsargent]

Is there a good link to help to learn to identify wild herbs? I did some looking online last night and could not find a lot of things with pictures. If I could find a link with a description and photo all in one place that would help me out a lot. Also next time I go to our local thrift store I will be checking their book section out for herb identification books.

 

[Jessie]

As far as finding a good site to identify wild herbs it might be better if you focus on finding out what grows wild in your area. National parks and wild life reserves are the best place to find this information, and from there you can look for how to identify those herbs. I normally look up one herb at a time to make sure I could properly identify it, and I also make sure to look at a number of different sites so that the information I find matches up.