Fall is a bountiful time of year for foragers, with a wide diversity of mushrooms, nuts, and late-season fruits ready for harvest. It’s also a secret season for greens; while spring is generally considered the prime time of year for leafy greens, in many cases plants produce fresh leaves in fall that are equally tasty. Read below to learn more; and if you like learning in a community of like-minded folks, check out upcoming workshops from Four Season Foraging!

Sochan

Sochan has many monikers, including cut-leaf coneflower, green-headed coneflower, golden glow, and the scientific name Rudbeckia laciniata. A native plant of moist fields, woodland edges, and floodplains, it can reach a stately height of 10 feet. The name sochan comes from the Cherokee sochani, and this plant is revered among the Cherokee as a cooked green. Many recipes recommend cooking the leaves in bacon fat, but their unique flavor also makes them an excellent garnish or addition to salads. Somewhat reminiscent of parsley, the taste becomes more pronounced and bitter as the weather warms and the plant grows. However, in many instances you can find fresh leaves sprouting in fall near the base of the plant. Alternatively, you can look in areas where the plant is mown to find fresh growth.

The yellow flowers and large, divided leaves of sochan are quite distinctive, but there are a few plants that look similar. Other coneflowers are sometimes confused with sochan, particularly the gray-headed coneflower (Ratibida pinnata). This plant is not considered edible and can be distinguished from sochan by its more deeply divided leaves and dark brown disk florets. Buttercups (Ranunculus spp.) can also be confused with sochan, especially before the flowers bloom. But most buttercup species have five yellow petals per flower (versus the 6 to 12 yellow petals/ray florets of sochan), and their leaves lack the light yellow-green veins of sochan. Buttercups are mildly poisonous and should not be consumed.

Hackberry

Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) is a native tree of eastern and central North American woodlands. It is also commonly found in yards, parks, and boulevards – the city of Minneapolis contains a huge number of planted hackberries. Though sometimes disparaged as a “junk tree,” hackberries have enormous value as a food source. The fruits (which are typically referred to as a berry but are technically a drupe) have fed humanity for much of our existence; remains of hackberry fruits have been found in Paleolithic and Neolithic archeological sites around the world. Hackberries ripen to a brownish maroon color in late summer and early fall, usually the end of August or beginning of September in Minneapolis. But I like waiting until the leaves fall off the tree to pick them, which makes them easier to harvest. When eating hackberry, you should crunch through the hard pit in order to eat the edible nut meat within. This is fine for most people, but if you have delicate teeth you might prefer to grind them at home, or make a delicious nut milk. Due to the combination of a sweet layer of pulp and a nutty center, hackberries contain carbs, fat, and protein – all the macronutrients necessary for survival. The flavor and texture of hackberries is often likened to dates or figs; they are not a juicy fruit like raspberries or strawberries.

Hackberry can be identified by its heart-shaped leaves with serrated edges and asymmetrical bases, small fruits (a bit larger than a pea), and very distinctive bark with corky ridges. Furthermore, the leaves often have wart-like projections on them called nipple galls; these are created when an insect called a psyllid lays its eggs on the leaf and young nymphs emerge to feed on leaf tissue.

Hen of the Woods

Hen of the woods, AKA maitake (Grifola frondosa) is a distinctive polypore that grows at the base of hardwoods in the fall. Different from chicken of the woods (Laetiporus sulphureus), this mushroom has dark to light gray-brown caps that overlap in a rosette pattern and join together at the base to form a branched, stemlike structure. Each cap is only around 1 to 4 inches across, but the entire fruiting body is typically quite large – specimens are commonly 12+ inches in diameter. Underneath the caps is a whitish pore surface – hen of the woods does not have gills. Look for this mushroom in oak forests in September and October. It will often appear year after year in the same location.

There are a few mushrooms that look similar to hen of the woods, such as black-staining polypore (Meripilus sumstinei), Berkley's polypore (Bondarzewia berkeleyi), and umbrella polypore (Polyporus umbellatus). While none of these mushrooms are dangerous (they are considered edible while still tender), it is important to always practice identifying wild edibles with 100% certainty before consuming.

Mushrooms should almost always be cooked to render them edible. Hen of the woods is delicious simply fried in butter; it also makes a tasty addition to many recipes, including stir fries and soups. Some people even like making vegetarian jerky from hen of the woods! It is also considered a medicinal mushroom, with studies indicating anti-cancer, immuno-modulating, and anti-inflammatory properties.

Community-oriented practice

Learning from books, articles, and other written material is an important part of developing accurate foraging knowledge. However, foraging is best practiced in community, learning from and with other people while sharing foraging finds. One way to get involved is through a Four Season Foraging workshop! Class participant Hanna said, “I enjoyed spending time in nature with good company, while learning new things and exploring somewhere entirely new to me.” Four Season Foraging's workshops are not just about gaining knowledge; they're also an opportunity to connect with others who share a passion for the natural world. Join us today!