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And tune in Thursday evenings at 8pm CST for Merriwether's World! over on Facebook LIVE.
I'll be answering all your foraging, herbal medicine questions as well as whatever else you send my way!

Your most humble servant,
-Merriwether

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    To Become A Forager...


    How will you learn? On the left you'll find details posts on over 200 edible and medicinal plants, each with multiple, big pictures and information you need for proper identification. To the right side of this page are upcoming live classes where we actually will walk side by side as I show you the useful plants around you. You'll be able to hold them in your hand as you learn the structural features you need to recognize the plants on your own...before popping them into your mouth!

    Follow the Foraging Texas Facebook page and/or Instagram account for daily introductions to the edible, medicinal, and poisonous plants of Texas (and other, equally important places!)

    Check out the books and gear from the Foraging Texas Amazon Shop specially picked out to help you progress from scared novice to master forager, able to take care of yourself and your loved ones from the bounty of nature.

    Watch the YouTube videos of my live show and from many plant-walks, great for bing-watching!

    Email your questions to Merriwether@ForagingTexas.com and I'll answer them in a day or so (okay, maybe three days).

    In the end, the secret is to identify the most common plants around you then look up if those plants are edible, medicinal, or toxic. The resources I'm sharing with you will simplify that process down to one plant at a time rather than drowning you in a sea of green. Trust me, you can do this. Humans have been doing it for 200,000 years!



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    As an Amazon Influencer I earn 0%-6% from qualifying purchases.

    Recommended Foraging Books & Gear from Amazon:
    Step 1. Beginning Foragers
    Step 2. Digging Deeper
    Step 3. Building Strong Roots
    Step 4. Foraging Mushrooms
    Step 5. Returning Home
    Step 6. The Healer Awakens

     Buy my book Idiot's Guide Foraging from Amazon.com 
    70 easy to identify, easy to use wild edible plants and much more!













    Buy my Foraging Bandana from Wazoo Survival Gear
    Designed to be a learning primer, field aid, and emergency reference. North America's top 12 edible and/or medicinal plants!

     

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    How to Use This Website

    There are three ways to find a plant on this blog.
    1. By common name as listed in the sidebar to the left.

    2. On the right sidebar you can look for the plant based on the environment it grows, season, plant type, flower color, fruit or seedpod color, use, and Geographic Location in North America. Note in that last one plants tagged "All USA" won't show up under the individual USA regions.

    3. The blog search box at the top of the page can be used to search for key words such as scientific names.

    Foods edible raw have been marked with the Raw label to make them easier to focus on by raw foodists. Please read the plant details to identify which parts of the plant can safely be eaten raw and thoroughly wash any plants, especially if collected from ponds, streams, marshes, or swamps.

    As to where to start when trying to identify a mystery plant, please check out Identifying Unknown Plants & Mushrooms. This will lead you to a number of great resources that I use when trying to identify a new plant.

    Finally, please read and take to heart the Foraging Ethics. This is to insure that the joy of wild foods remains available to all.

    Foraging Ethics

    1. Respect the law. You must have permission from the property owner to collect plant matter. To forage without permission is considered stealing and you can be arrested. Most state and federal land prohibit gathering plants except in survival situations.

    2. Respect the land. Leave no trace. Fill your holes, pack out your garbage (and garbage left by others), don't hack/slash/smash/burn your way through nature. Don't harvest a plant if there are just a few around.

    3. Respect the plant. Please harvest sustainably so that there will be plenty of plants year after year. I've coded each plant with an Abundance tag which are defined as follows:
    Plentiful - harvest up to 50% of this plant from the location
    Common - harvest up to 30% of this plant from the location
    Uncommon - harvest up to 10% of this plant from the location
    Rare - harvest only in an emergency or one small bit to taste
    Very Rare - harvest only in a dire emergency

    Also, don't strip all the leaves from one plant, just take 1 shoot or 2-3 leaves from many plants. Minimize damage to the plants by cutting leaves off the plant with a sharp knife or shears rather than tearing them off. Harvest inner bark using long, thin vertical strips on one side of the tree, do not cut a ring all around the tree which will kill it. Sterilize your cutting tools with alcohol or bleach to prevent transfer of diseases.

    4. Respect yourself. Please positively identify any plant before eating it. Eating the wrong plant can lead to illness or in rare circumstances, even death. Also be aware of any environmental hazards in your foraging location such as snakes, bears, or chemical hazards from old oil fields, roadways, lead paint around old buildings or areas subject to flooding from sewers.
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