This episode is a conversation with Jesse from Feral Foraging about two of North America’s most overlooked wild foods — Wild Plums and American Lotus. Jesse is a skilled forager and educator who shares practical tips on plant identification, wild tending, and cooking with these forgotten staples. His work blends deep ecological knowledge with hands-on techniques that help people connect to their food in a meaningful way.

Episode Overview:

• Jesse’s background and the mission behind Feral Foraging
• The Gather Foraging App — features for plant ID, seasonal timing & lookalikes
• Wild Plum species in North America (American, Chickasaw, Mexican, Pacific, Canada plums)
• How to identify wild plums vs. Bradford pear or crabapple
• Why wild plums are disappearing (invasive species, habitat loss, fire suppression)
• Tips for scouting wild plums in bloom, best harvesting techniques, and seasonal timing
• Wild plum flavor profile, traditional uses, and recipes (jam, wine, sauces, fruit leather)
• American Lotus basics — how it compares to Asian lotus and its overlooked history
• Foraging lotus seeds and tubers: canoe gathering, wading, and digging in mud
• Lotus recipes & nutrition: porridge, bread, flour alternatives, and long-term seed storage
• Why American Lotus and Wild Plums are still worth foraging today for resilience and food culture

Use code “yearofplenty” for 15% OFF at www.mtblock.com

MY ULTIMATE FORAGING GEAR LIST - Check it out

Leave a review on Apple or Spotify and send a screenshot to [email protected] to receive a FREE EBOOK with my favorite food preservation recipes.

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/live/pU2202bP58Q?si=o5_hNZ6Bq7UCNA2k

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Connect with Jesse:
https://www.youtube.com/@FeralForaging

Download the Gather Foraging App:
https://gatherapp.co/

In this episode of the Year of Plenty Podcast, we’re joined by Elspeth Hay — writer, public radio host, and author of Feed Us With Trees. Elspeth takes us deep into the overlooked world of edible trees, exploring how they’ve sustained humans for millennia and why they hold the key to building a more resilient food system today. From acorns and chestnuts to hazelnuts and maples, this conversation uncovers the ancient wisdom and modern science behind tree-based foods and agroforestry.

Topics We Cover

• The inspiration behind Elspeth’s book Feed Us With Trees and why she believes trees belong at the center of our food future.
• Acorns as a staple food: how they’ve been processed, eaten, and valued across cultures.
• Chestnuts and their importance across Europe and North America, including their culinary revival.
• Hazelnuts as both a wild foraged nut and a promising perennial crop.
• Differences between perennial tree foods and annual crops — and what that means for resilience.
• The role of trees in storing carbon and sustaining long-term food supplies.
• Why many tree-based foods disappeared from mainstream diets and what it takes to bring them back.
• Indigenous knowledge and cultural traditions surrounding oaks, chestnuts, and other nut trees.
•  Stories of modern farmers and projects reintroducing edible tree systems into agriculture.

Use code “yearofplenty” for 15% OFF at www.mtblock.com

MY ULTIMATE FORAGING GEAR LIST - Check it out

Leave a review on Apple or Spotify and send a screenshot to [email protected] to receive a FREE EBOOK with my favorite food preservation recipes.

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/live/HXgxNj72rGc?si=92eG2Bi5iqd3HHEX

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www.theyearofplenty.com/newsletter

Support the podcast via Patreon:
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Connect with Elspeth Hay:

https://elspethhay.com/

In this episode of the Year of Plenty Podcast, we sit down with Erica Davis — better known as Wild Food Girl — to explore the fascinating world of wild edible plants. Erica has spent more than a decade teaching, writing, and foraging across the Rocky Mountains and beyond, and she shares her deep knowledge on identification, harvesting, and cooking techniques for some of the most interesting wild foods in North America

Topics We Cover

• How Erica became “Wild Food Girl” and built her online school.
• Dandelion soup (manest), including how to blanch greens to reduce bitterness, recipe variations, and pairing ideas.
• Huckleberry foraging with seasonal timing, elevation tips, species differences, and the regional naming confusion between blueberries and huckleberries.
• Oregon grape, with tips on safe identification, its tart flavor, and how to use it in jelly, wine, and other recipes.
• Tumbleweed (Salsola), how to harvest young shoots, different cooking methods, and the ethics of foraging invasives.
• Kochia “land caviar” (tonburi), including seed processing, rinsing to remove saponins, and creative flavor pairings.
• Ground cherries (Physalis), how to identify species, clear up toxicity myths, know the best harvest times, and find their favorite habitats.
• Foraging safety tips, from avoiding lookalikes to harvesting ethically and steering clear of beginner mistakes.
• The unique challenges and opportunities of foraging in the Intermountain West.

Use code “yearofplenty” for 15% OFF at www.mtblock.com

MY ULTIMATE FORAGING GEAR LIST - Check it out

Leave a review on Apple or Spotify and send a screenshot to [email protected] to receive a FREE EBOOK with my favorite food preservation recipes.

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/live/lH80VIp2b4A?si=yQO1XqW46Dyad8kM

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www.theyearofplenty.com/newsletter

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Connect with Wild Food Girl:
https://wildfoodgirl.com/

https://www.instagram.com/wild.food.girl/?hl=en

Hoosier Forager joins us for a thoughtful conversation about how we approach foraging, why it matters, and how to build confidence with new wild foods. We also dig into two standout plants: chicory, one of the best wild coffee substitutes, and mayapple, a native fruit with a short, tricky harvest window. Plus, we talk about a surprising fungal shift with Golden Oyster Mushrooms happening across the U.S.

Episode Overview:

• The Foraging Onion framework: how to build confidence with new wild foods
• How to safely identify and harvest mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum)
• When mayapples are edible — and what parts to avoid
• Foraging for chicory (Cichorium intybus): ID tips, uses, and wild coffee
• The spread of golden oyster mushrooms across the U.S
• Why golden oysters may reduce native fungal diversity
• How to deepen your foraging practice beyond just identification

Use code “yearofplenty” (all lower case) for 15% OFF at www.mtblock.com

MY ULTIMATE FORAGING GEAR LIST - Check it out

Leave a review on Apple or Spotify and send a screenshot to [email protected] to receive a FREE EBOOK with my favorite food preservation recipes.

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/live/n5Ni_hTKhmo?si=5gpfBCBU4L7r-FTl

Sign up for the newsletter:
www.theyearofplenty.com/newsletter

Support the podcast via Patreon:
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Connect with Hoosier Forager:
https://linktr.ee/hoosierforager

In this episode, I’m joined by my friend Bryan from Healing Ecosystems. He’s someone who’s not just talking about food resilience—he’s living it, experimenting with wild foods, and creating abundance on the land in ways most people haven’t even considered.

Episode Overview:

• Guerrilla grafting edible pear varieties onto ornamental Bradford pears in public spaces
• How to grow and forage wild carbohydrates like turnips, sweet potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, and groundnuts
• Traditional acorn processing through cold water leaching and how Indigenous peoples did it at scale
• Foraging Japanese knotweed: why it’s invasive, how to harvest it, and what it tastes like
• Practical strategies for building food resilience with wild and perennial calorie crops

Use code “yearofplenty” (all lower case) for 15% OFF at www.mtblock.com

MY ULTIMATE FORAGING GEAR LIST - Check it out

Leave a review on Apple or Spotify and send a screenshot to [email protected] to receive a FREE EBOOK with my favorite food preservation recipes.

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/live/ZwbSdmZfjdY?si=aaKO6bVHfTf1zcE-

Sign up for the newsletter:
www.theyearofplenty.com/newsletter

Support the podcast via Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/yearofplenty

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Connect with Healing Ecosystems:
https://www.instagram.com/healingecosystems/

This episode is a conversation with Shane Edwards, also known as Wild Dryad—a self-taught botanist, illustrator, and foraging educator. We explore the lost legacy of the pawpaw, America’s largest edible indigenous fruit, and how reconnecting with this tropical-flavored wild food is also a path to cultural restoration, land stewardship, and ancestral knowledge. If you’ve ever wondered what pawpaws taste like, where they grow, or why they vanished from our food system—this is the deep dive you've been waiting for.

EPISODE OVERVIEW:

• What makes pawpaw fruit so unique—and why most people have never heard of it
• How Shane started foraging and built his knowledge from backyard weeds to edible landscapes
• The cultural importance of pawpaw in Indigenous, African American, and rural traditions
• Why pawpaws disappeared from modern food systems (and how we’re bringing them back)
• Pawpaw identification tips: habitat, leaves, flowers, bark, and fruiting season
• How to ethically harvest, hand-pollinate, and propagate pawpaw trees
• The growing cultural movement to reclaim wild food access
• The risks of overharvesting and why wild tending is crucial for future abundance of wild edible plants
• What ancestral eating teaches us about ecology, resilience, and food sovereignty

Use code “yearofplenty” (all lower case) for 15% OFF at www.mtblock.com

MY ULTIMATE FORAGING GEAR LIST - Check it out

Leave a review on Apple or Spotify and send a screenshot to [email protected] to receive a FREE EBOOK with my favorite food preservation recipes.

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/live/kJtoCvhWNQ0?si=85bZbRQRYpNSmbZh

Support the podcast via Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/yearofplenty

Sign up for the newsletter:
www.theyearofplenty.com/newsletter

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https://www.youtube.com/@yearofplentyvideo

Do you follow the podcast on social media yet?
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X: https://x.com/yearofplentypod

I want to hear from you! Take the LISTENER SURVEY: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KZW53R

Connect with Shane:
https://www.instagram.com/the_wild_dryad/

This episode is a deep conversation about traditional foodways and how food is so much more than calories. We explore how eating seasonally, preserving food, and building relationships with the land and each other can help restore our health, culture, and sense of belonging. From wild fermentation, to foraging, to regenerative land practices, this episode reconnects us with the flavors—and meaning—of food.

Episode Overview:

• How seasonal cooking and local food dinners connect people to place
• Traditional food preservation techniques like cheong and herbal salt blend
• The benefits of foraging wild herbs and flowers for nutrient-rich meal
• Why regenerative food systems rely on indigenous land management practices
• The power of communal eating to rebuild local food culture
• Why we need local food learning centers to restore traditional food knowledge
• A look into traditional cheesemaking, wild rice harvesting, and forgotten local flavors

Use code “yearofplenty” (all lower case) for 15% OFF at www.mtblock.com

MY ULTIMATE FORAGING GEAR LIST - Check it out

Leave a review on Apple or Spotify and send a screenshot to [email protected] to receive a FREE EBOOK with my favorite food preservation recipes.

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube:
https://youtu.be/7ThxpR0E4eQ

Support the podcast via Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/yearofplenty

Sign up for the newsletter:
www.theyearofplenty.com/newsletter

Subscribe to the Youtube Channel:
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Do you follow the podcast on social media yet?
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X: https://x.com/yearofplentypod

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Connect with Antonin:
https://www.instagram.com/soiltosoulusa/

Wild mustard and cow parsnip are two edible plants hiding in plain sight—and they’re packed with flavor, nutrition, and foraging value. In this Year of Plenty Podcast episode, expert forager Orion Aon of Forage Colorado breaks down how to identify, harvest, and use both plants.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How to identify wild mustard plants and cow parsnip in the wild
• Key lookalikes to watch for when foraging mustard or cow parsnip
• Where wild mustard and cow parsnip grow in North America
• Culinary uses of cow parsnip and wild mustard
• How to make mustard from wild foraged mustard seeds

Use code “yearofplenty” (all lower case) for 15% OFF at www.mtblock.com

MY ULTIMATE FORAGING GEAR LIST - Check it out

Leave a review on Apple or Spotify and send a screenshot to [email protected] to receive a FREE EBOOK with my favorite food preservation recipes.

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WygFd1baSHU

Support the podcast via Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/yearofplenty

Sign up for the newsletter:
www.theyearofplenty.com/newsletter

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Connect with Forage Colorado:
https://www.instagram.com/foragecolorado/

https://www.foragecolorado.com/

This episode is a conversation with Savanna aka Foraging_KY who is a lifelong forager passionate about mushrooms, gardening, and native plants. We chat about some of her favorite spring mushroom to forage for and do a deep dive into Pheasant Back (aka Dryad Saddle) mushrooms.

Episode Overview:

• Learn about spring mushrooms like morels, pheasant back, scarlet ear cup, woods ear mushrooms, lions mane, and more.
• How to safely forage for pheasant back mushrooms
• Fun ways to use pheasant back mushrooms in the kitchen
• Where to find pheasant back mushrooms in the US and the habitat it likes to grow in
• And more

Use code “yearofplenty” (all lower case) for 15% OFF at www.mtblock.com

MY ULTIMATE FORAGING GEAR LIST - Check it out

Leave a review on Apple or Spotify and send a screenshot to [email protected] to receive a FREE EBOOK with my favorite food preservation recipes.

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/live/CWkGP7EcOoE?si=37FD5_s6_UwwXlbB

Support the podcast via Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/yearofplenty

Sign up for the newsletter:
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Connect with Savanna:
https://www.instagram.com/foraging_ky/

Cattails are one of the most abundant and overlooked wild foods in North America— providing nutrient-dense food all year long. But why aren’t more people taking advantage of this superabundant plant? In this episode, expert forager Clay Bowers breaks down everything you need to know about identifying, harvesting, and preparing cattails, plus tips for avoiding toxic lookalikes. If you’re interested in wild food, survival skills, or adding a reliable staple to your foraging toolkit, this episode is packed with actionable insights.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How to identify common cattail species and avoid lookalikes
• The best parts of cattails to forage in every season—and how to harvest them
• How to collect cattail pollen as a high-protein flour alternative
• The nutritional value and culinary potential of cattails
• Cattails’ role in wetland ecosystems and how they benefit the environment
• Primitive survival uses of cattails beyond food, from basket weaving to shelter building

Use code “yearofplenty” (all lower case) for 15% OFF at www.mtblock.com

MY ULTIMATE FORAGING GEAR LIST - Check it out

Leave a review on Apple or Spotify and send a screenshot to [email protected] to receive a FREE EBOOK with my favorite food preservation recipes.

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su_PbDpuxPM

Support the podcast via Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/yearofplenty

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Connect with Clay Bowers:
https://www.nomiforager.com/