October 21, 2022 at 11:33 a.m.
'Learn Your Land' videos focus on foraging and species identification
'Learn Your Land' videos focus on foraging and species identification
Being one who enjoys spending a lot of time in the woods, foraging has always been of interest to me - even though I am not sure it is something I will ever be into heavily. But it is interesting to learn plant identification and know what is, and is not, edible in the forest.
Haritan is based in Pennsylvania, so not all of the plant species he talks about are found in our forests, but a great deal of them are. One of the things I found interesting about this young man, who you can almost watch grow older in his videos, is that he is not prejudiced against a non-native or invasive species simply because of that status. While he mentions whether a species is native or not, he focuses more on its nutritional properties and even possible medicinal properties.
As I said, my interest in his channel started with a mushroom video. I will admit that I am quite the novice when it comes to identifying mushrooms. If we are ever lost in the woods together and I say a certain mushroom is "likely" edible, do not believe me. I have no clue. I know what morels look like. I know what chicken of the woods looks like. I also know there are other mushrooms that look similar that are quite toxic. I have grown mushrooms in the past, and those are really the only ones I have trusted myself to properly identify. But, as they say - all mushrooms are edible. But some of them only once.
I enjoyed Haritan's presentation style and ease of disseminating information, to the point that I wanted to watch more of his content. I will caution that there are some pieces that get borderline "preachy," regarding how one should eat in order to be healthy and do the best things for their body. Of course, no one wants to be sick or to eat unhealthy, but I, for one, am definitely not above a chili dog here and there. I wanted to mention that before I get too far in.
Haritan's videos are all between 10 and 15 minutes long, which are the perfect length for someone like me with a short attention span when it comes to YouTube and rabbit holes (there are always so many videos along the side I would like to see if I do not put my current video in full screen mode!). The next video of his that caught my eye was about stinging nettle. I had heard before that the plant is actually very nutritious. Haritan said the stingers of the plant are actually part of its defense mechanism. Because they are so nutritious, if they did not have a way to keep herbivores away, it is likely they could be completely wiped out of an area. They are not only high in protein, but they also have four times the amount of Vitamin C as oranges. They also provide calcium, magnesium and several other things we need to be healthy.
He said that foraging for stinging nettle in the spring will lead to far less stings, which sounded like a good idea to me. One of the things Haritan did well in every video was give detailed information about identification of plants in various stages of their lives. Yes, it did help that the medium was video, so he could show the plants as well. But to remember that stinging nettle had directly opposite leaves that are serrated or coarsely toothed and that they grow in sunny openings, is important and makes identification in the field easier.
Haritan also spoke about potential medicinal properties of the species for which he forages. Some of those are of great interest to many people. I reserve judgement on a lot of that type of thing, I know some plants have been used medicinally for centuries, so who can say what "works" and what does not. A simple fact, I think, is that if a person eats more natural food, they will be healthier in general. I am not sure I will stretch that out to stinging nettle, but I suppose I might. As some readers know, I got into dandelion honey and eating dandelion greens just last year, so who knows what might be next.
Not all of Haritan's videos revolve around things to forage in the forest, however. One I watched with great interest was actually about poison ivy. I cannot remember a time that I was affected by poison ivy, even as a kid. With the number of things I was allergic to in my youth, I would think, had I ever come in contact with it before I knew what it was, it would have been incredibly painful. I think I remember my sister or someone having a mild case, and it certainly did not look fun.
I remember hearing, "leaflets of three, let it be," as a way to keep clear of poison ivy. Haritan came up with many, many more little rhymes to keep people safe from this itchy, blister-causing bully, many of which I had never heard before.
Poison ivy, he said, is not always a woody vine, but it is always woody. It can look a lot like other plants at different times in its life cycle. Again, he went in-depth into identification during all of the seasons, from early spring through to late fall.
In the way of invasive species, Haritan spoke about eating autumn olive as well as garlic mustard, both of which are restricted species in Wisconsin. It was interesting to see him almost neutral to the fact that both of these are invasive species. I believe he did mention it and how they can take over places, but he was also excited to see them and forage them where available.
He had a few different videos where he talked about different species in the mustard family, but the only one I remember identifying with immediately was garlic mustard. I have seen many recipes that use this invasive species, but have yet to try it. I will try garlic mustard long before stinging nettle, but I simply have not had the opportunity yet.
I did learn one interesting fact about garlic mustard from Haritan's video on this invasive species. Garlic mustard secretes a chemical that keeps natives from growing and spreading. That is how it is able to take over and area of the forest floor, for instance. There is some research out there that indicates the garlic mustard will, in time, stop secreting this chemical compound, he noted. It can take 20-30 years, and that is a long time to put up with an invasive species, but it is interesting to think that garlic mustard has somewhat of a half-life, where it will stop secreting those chemicals and native plants will, once again, be able to take hold in an area where garlic mustard has reigned supreme for decades.
Haritan has been creating "Learn Your Land" content for several years now, so even attempting to mention it all in this column is impossible. But those cold winter days are coming, so for those looking for some entertaining and informative foraging videos to hold them over for the winter, I would recommend bookmarking "Learn Your Land."
Beckie Gaskill may be reached via email at [email protected].
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