Spread the love

Strolling under a canopy of leaves, inhaling the smell of trees and earth, and watching how forests and meadows flourish with life all teach you one undeniable truth — Mother Nature is a gift that keeps on giving. Basking in the great outdoors acts as a balm in anxious times, as spending just 20 minutes connecting with the greenery can help lower stress levels. But apart from its therapeutic effect, it offers us so much more than that.

If you ever come back from the hedgerows carrying a clump of plants or emerge from the woods with a heavy handful of mushrooms and fruits, you know it can also make your stomach happy or, at least, full. And although attitudes toward foraging — identifying and harvesting wild foods — have been fearful for a long time, this seems to be a thing of the past.

Just take a look at these two delightful and informative corners of Reddit, the ‘Foraging’ and ‘Mushrooms’ communities. Members of these online groups enthusiastically take advantage of everything their local area can offer and share their beautiful discoveries with everyone online. We wrapped up an exciting collection of pictures featuring their best finds to share with you all, so continue scrolling! Upvote your favorite ones, and if you’re a fellow forager, be sure to share your passion with us in the comments below.

#1 My 10.5 Year Old Lab Recently Learned To Truffle Hunt. So Proud Of Him!

Image credits: tripnthewoodsrn

#2 Massive Bolete

Image credits: GreasyTony68

#3 When You Know Where The Blueberries Are

Image credits: Leafs6991

#4 Made Some Ice Cubes With Freshly Foraged Lilac. Looking Forward To Some Summer Cocktails With These!

Image credits: Mad-Berry

#5 This Counts As Foraging, Right?

I drove to Maine and collected 10gal of seawater, boiled it down over the course of 3 days, and got 2 quarts of sea salt.

Image credits: musicals4life

#6 I Harvested Cloudberries In The Arctic Last Week!

Image credits: whereisthenarwhal

#7 First Noble Fir Pine Cone Of The Year In Denmark. So Tender, So Delicious!

Image credits: Proud-Gas-1450

#8 Me With My Baskets That I Made From Foraged Willow – I Took Them To Take Pictures Now That The Willow Is Leafing

Image credits: casiloca

#9 I Was Just Walking Down A Trail And Saw 2 Small White Truffles Poking Out Of The Ground

I couldn’t believe it when I cut it open and saw that beautiful marbling! Incredibly lucky find.

Image credits: GuntherSam

#10 Having My Cake And Eating It Too!

Image credits: MapleTrust

#11 Eating My Morel Pasta Alone After Failing To Convince Any Of My Family To Try It. Somebody Please Appreciate It With Me

Image credits: cactilife

#12 Aloha From Hawaii! This Is By Far The Coolest Things I’ve Ever Foraged

Image credits: SlightlySpicyCurry

#13 I Made Nettle + Wild Garlic Soup Today, With A Spring Garnish

Image credits: faochag

#14 This Is The Amount Of Salt I Got From Rendering Down Just Under 2 Gallons Of Clean Sea Water. Banana For Scale

Image credits: squitchsquatch

#15 Every 4 And 5 Leaf Clover I’ve Found In My Garden During Quarantine

Image credits: ChullaVida1

#16 This Is The Time Of The Year Of High Temp And Nice Grapes. Grandpa’s House Has Great Bunch Of Grape

Image credits: ALMAAKS

#17 New Favorite Fermented Drink: Unripe Pinecone Wild Soda

Image credits: Ecowarriorgoddess

#18 Good Friend Found The Mother Load

Image credits: Cdigamus

#19 Found Some Chicken

Image credits: juicyfinger

#20 So Today I Have Found A Couple Dozens Of Asparagus Or So

Image credits: Mashinito

#21 Salmonberry Season Is Crazy This Year!!! Yum!! I’ve Never Seen Them This Big And Tasty Before

Image credits: shell253

#22 Made Fried Chicken Of The Woods Sandwich With Foraged Chicken Of The Woods

Image credits: lipslikesugar8

#23 We Found A Few Chantrels Yesterday

Image credits: Filthy510

#24 Foraged Some Mushrooms Today And Then A Weird Primate Tossed Broccoli At Me

Image credits: musoem

#25 Found Some Porcelain Fungus, I Haven’t Tried Cooking Any Yet But They Are Fun To Look At. Anyone Tried?

Image credits: lcalexander00

#26 Why I Love Fall Foraging

Image credits: brachiomyback

#27 Spring Has Sprung

Image credits: brachiomyback

#28 I Made Bread From Acorn Flour, Cattail Starch, Salt, And Water. NY Z6

Image credits: Tamias-striatus

#29 Found Salmon Berries, Wine Berries, Osoberries, And Red Huckle Berries All Within A 5 Minute Walk Of My Front Door!

Image credits: wtuknwbtgrneggsnhm

#30 Sometimes You Have To Take A “Mental Health Day” And Just Get Lost In The Woods

Image credits: brachiomyback

#31 Friends Dad Found This

Image credits: MayhemMaddie

#32 Made A Galette With Wild Blackberries, Lavender, And Chocolate Mint

Image credits: ElizaCrofts

#33 I Made Honeysuckle Ice Cream And It Was So Good It Almost Made Me Cry

Image credits: geranium_maculatum

#34 Here In Hungary, Elderflower Is Everywhere In This Time Of The Year, So We Went Out To Get Some For My Mother’s Elderflower Syrup

Image credits: Organic_Log_5071

#35 Eye Of Sauron Shroom

Image credits: koyfox

#36 Midwestern Forager’s Pb&j: Black Walnut Butter And Black Raspberry Jam

Image credits: yogen_frozert

#37 My First Chicken Of The Woods! 15 Lbs

Image credits: Growinggrowing-gone

#38 Poaching Isn’t Just A Crime That Affects Wildlife

Two USFWS Federal Wildlife Officers (FWO) recently stopped palmetto berry poaching on Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The officers recovered nine, 200 lb bags of berries that have a high market value.

Image credits: Ed_Trucks_Head

#39 Salmonberries Starting To Get Ripe Along The Pacific Northwest

Image credits: YouNeverReadMe

#40 Stumble On A Blueberry Field

Image credits: antitoute

#41 My Favorite Wild Raspberry Site Is Being Bulldozed To Build Some Houses ? So, I Rescued As Many Plants As I Could! …does It Still Count As Foraging If I Transplant Foraged Plants In My Yard?

So, I rescued as many plants as I could! Does it still count as foraging if I transplant foraged plants in my yard?

Image credits: allaspiaggia

#42 What Is In There?

Image credits: petroleumjellyrub

#43 Had To Repost Bc Of How Cute It Is

Image credits: Myceliumwhore

#44 Collected Some Wild Honey From An African Bees Nest. Got 4l Worth!

Image credits: MrChallenge2020

#45 Neighbours Garden

Image credits: Whatuseeistrue

#46 Freshest I’ve Found

Image credits: jrid77

#47 Today Was A Good Day! Brought My 71 Year Old Father Out For His First Time Picking Mushrooms

Image credits: Whatuseeistrue

#48 Late Autumn Haul!

Image credits: Ollymamabevaniomplow

#49 15 Km Walk In The Arctic Tundra And I Gathered 15kg Of Porchini. Enough To Eat For The Whole Winter And Share With Neighbors. Bilberries Were My Snack

Image credits: Warmregardsss

#50 Your Girl Foraged For The First Time

Image credits: Positivity_Slut

#51 And My Favorite Season Has Started In The Arctic

Image credits: Warmregardsss

#52 A Fungal Zombie Deer Emerges From The Leaf Litter. Please Roll For Initiative

Image credits: Techi-C

#53 Flower And Morel Breakfast Tacos

Image credits: Depressiongoblin

#54 When The Mushroom Gods Bless You With A Huge Bolete And It Turns Out To Be 100% Bug Free

Image credits: casiloca

#55 Little Private Oyster Feed At An Oyster Bank In Denmark

Image credits: schleykov

#56 These Were All Surrounding One Dead Elm

Image credits: pedaldownthefoothill

#57 The Stump Carvers Near Me Have Leveled Up

Image credits: Damselfly45

#58 I Made A Acorn Shaped Mushroom Pendant

Image credits: Catharsius

#59 Mushrooms Are The Most Beautiful Living Thing

Image credits: Lopsided-Giraffe9653

#60 Never Thought I Could Combine My Favorite Summer Activities, But This Is Me Picking Blueberries On A Kayak

Image credits: pressureshack

#61 Just Found This Sub From A Cross Post. Thought You Guys Would Like My Chanterelle Haul From Last Season

Image credits: Jackal95

#62 I Finally Painted Mushrooms On A Mushroom Using Only Mushrooms

Blond morels, painted on an artist conk, using the ink produced by shaggy mane specimens.

Image credits: MycomaniaCreations

#63 Nothing Better Than A Bucket Of Alaskan Blueberries

Image credits: creamofbunny

#64 During Midwinter In NY Z6 When There Is Little Foraging To Be Done I Like To Process The Acorns From The Year. Today I Had Acorn Bread!

Image credits: Tamias-striatus

#65 Parasol Mushrooms On The Cornish Coast

Image credits: aricooperdavis

#66 I Always Get Jealous About All The Mushroom Picking That I Can’t Do In South Texas But At Least I Get Prickly Pear!

Image credits: wifeofahunter

#67 I Got This Omelette Goody Bag When I Visited My Bff’s Homestead

Image credits: whothefuqisdan

#68 The Trifecta: Mushrooms (Porcini And Butter Boletes), Berries (Mixed Vaccinium Species), And Trout (Westslope Cutthroat). Foraging Goals While Backpacking In The Mountains Last Summer!

Image credits: Kaylasulak

#69 Another Day Well Spent

Image credits: Ollymamabevaniomplow

#70 I Present To You: Tomato Of The Woods

Image credits: Much-Jelly-3027

#71 My Younger Son And I Harvested Almost A Bushel Of Very Large Chesapeake Bay Oysters Yesterday

Sunday night dinner will be fried oyster po’ boys on homemade rolls with remoulade, oven potatoes, and a mess of greens from the garden.

Image credits: Machipongo

#72 Now For Something Different: My Sister Foraged This Summer’s Cicada Shells For Her Bff’s Soapmaking Business

Image credits: iowan

#73 Happy Indigenous Peoples Day!

Here is my celebratory breakfast of pawpaw rice pudding and maple syrup sweetened sassafras tea. I collected the pawpaws and the sassafras and my parents made the maple syrup.