Foraging in New Zealand

[possum]

I know there are another few on here from NZ.

So what do you forage over here?

So far I have found cherry plums, apples, pears, elderflowers, elderberries.
I found this webside which seems good, but I haven't tried any of the native foods yet
http://www2.auckland.ac.nz/info/schools ... _index.htm

[autumnleaf]

Seems to me the only place to "forage" is the roadside cos most places are private and taking stuff from the bush is frowned upon conservationally. I think its illegal to take anything from the national parks.

I wouldn't take anything from most roadsides anymore where there is a lot of traffic - there's the risk of poisoning from traffic and of course many local councils closer to towns seem to love using sprays. Shame since there's still blackberries and puha and sometimes watercress in some places. Dandelions too.

I've picked up seeds and nuts and sometimes cuttings from various trees and plants for planting - like walnuts, oaks and hazelnuts and such but not for eating. It just seems offputting if they are from public parks and I don't know whose dog/cat has been where.

[possum]

you forget, there is still loads of seafood you can legally collect - I forgot, I often pick mussels.
We are fortunate to live out in the sticks, so there are plenty of roadsides to chose from without heavy traffic.

Oh I found wild fennel as well one day, there is loads of that stuff

[possum]

I would love to find a place where I could get seaweed from, sadly living only 500 metres from the sea we have neither seafood or seaweed to pick on our beach. Good fishing I am told though - I really must try that one of these days

[autumnleaf]

yer you're right...I forgot about the sea

Personally can't eat seafood since I'm allergic to most of it - but fish is good. Just as well I live in the hills.....

[autumnleaf]

also I would be scared of picking fennel cos I don't know enough about it. I would be scared of confusing it with the poisonous plant that is supposed look similar - hemlock? Lethal.

[possum]

They are very very easy to tell apart
the deadliest hemlock is the hemlock water dropwort
http://www.natureskills.com/deadly_plant.html
It tends to grow in damp places - beside streams etc unlike fennel that prefers well drained sunny spots

there is one that you will find growing beside the road
http://www.lib.ksu.edu/wildflower/hemlock.html
where as wild fennel looks like this

they are really quite different, the fennel has feather leaves like dill. Also if still unsure, grab a bunch - if you want to be ultra cautious, use a glove or plastic bag and crush the leaves, fennel gives off an aniseed smell that you really cannot confuse with anything else

[ohareward]

Hemlock has purple spots on the stems. You are right Possum, there is a distinct difference in the smell.
Have you tried huhu grubs. Many years ago we were out tramping and one of the blokes found this rotten log and decided to break it open. There were about twenty grubs in it. We put them in a bag until we stopped for the night and cooked them in butter over the fire. I had six. They had a real nutty flavour. Yum!.

Robin

[Jack]

Gidday

Pork and puha are the most traditional wild foods down here.

[possum]

oharewood, no I haven't tried them I wouldnt know what they look like. I plan at somepoint to get over to the Hokitika wild food festival though and probably will give them a go.

[Magpie]

Been gathering chestnuts here, hadn't tried them before, but was inspired by Hugh F W a couple of weeks ago on tv.

We have watercress growing in our creek, too, but our sheep graze right up to it, so I'm concerned about flukes, so I haven't eaten any. Anyone know thw facts about flukes?

[ohareward]

Hi Magpie. This is a site in UK that explains all about liver fluke in sheep.

www.moredun.org.uk/%5Cpdf%5Cliverflukeinsheep.pdf

If you think that your sheep have it, I would advise to see your vet. Also it is a good idea to fence livestock back from public waterways because of runoff.

Robin

[Bonniegirl]

Foraging back in my day was called 'scrumping' lol! Especially for apples!

I'd love to go forging for mushrooms but I'd probably pick summat that would kill us all!

[Magpie]

Hi Ohareward

I'm pretty sure my sheep don't have it, I'm just a bit paranoid after all I have read about flukes... are they visible to the naked eye? D'you think sheep could become resistant to it? These are sheep we inherited with the place, so they have been there for generations.

I don't have any reason to believe we have flukes, just not keen on eating the watercress due to paranoia!

[red]

if you are using the watercress for cooking - ie soup.. then it should not be a problem, as any flukies remaining.. would be dead ones...