by Mia Andler

Originally from Finland, Mia Andler has studied the regenerative practices of earth-based cultures around the world. In this excerpt from her second book, The Sierra Forager, Your Guide to Edible Wild Plants of the Tahoe, Yosemite, and Mammoth Regions, Mia shares her expertise in wild plants and her ethos for harvesting them respectfully.

How to Forage with Respect

I invite you to sample this amazing Sierra taste that I’m talking about, but also to pause and consider the impact of your choices when you set out to enjoy the plants of the Sierra, especially if you are a visitor. So many people come to enjoy the splendors of Tahoe and the Sierra that if every one of them picked just one rare edible flower, it could exacerbate the challenges already faced by our remaining native flora in the face of development and climate change. This is something to be aware of especially in the Yosemite region, which already has an overabundance of traffic. I just ask that you stop for a minute right now and promise me that you will learn from this book to harvest with utmost care only for your own purposes, because our wild plants are a shared resource that we all must tend to and protect. If you do want to start a plant-focused foraging business, please harvest invasives only, or plant a wild garden!

When you are foraging on wild lands, watch your step just as you would if you were in your garden. I was once part of a film shoot for a travel channel where I was talking about juicy miner’s lettuce. While I pointed out the plant, another forager stepped on several patches, effectively killing the plants. Don’t do that, please. This is our big garden—you wouldn’t step on the tomatoes you grew with great care, would you?

I have included a sustainability section in each plant description to indicate when a plant is abundant and can be readily foraged in most places, or when it is more sensitive and should only be sampled, not collected in bulk. I have intentionally left out some rare wild edibles, because part of being a respectful forager is knowing where we can do harm and holding back. Even an abundant plant population can be overharvested.

So unless you’re harvesting invasives and you are being part of the solution of restoring our wild meadows and forests, please only take what you need or a small sample. When you do harvest invasive plants, such as salsify, dandelion, and mullein, please be careful not to spread their seed. (Most plants are best eaten before seeding anyway.)

With all this said, I believe that knowing about the uses and edibility of our local plants is extremely important. That is why I’ve written this book.

Fireweed, Chamerion angustifolium. Photo by Mia Andler

Mindful Foraging

We have already lost too much of the deep knowledge allour ancestors carried. We can only restore it collectively. I believe that

knowledge and connecting with the plants through eating them will be an essential part of restoring and protecting our local landscapes. I also hope to see us integrate a lot more local foods into our diet again—for our own good and the good of the environment. Food plants adapted to local conditions often require far fewer inputs and energy and cause far less environmental damage than introduced species. If we find that a plant we want to eat is dwindling in numbers, I hope that discovery will serve as our call to action to restore it to abundance.

We humans have a great capacity for taking care of this earth. Foraging can connect us to place and inspire that caretaking. My hope is that you will proceed with that attitude. “Leave it better than you found it” is my motto. Pick up some trash, pour some water on a patch of plants you harvested from, and remember to say thank you.

Horsetails, Equisetum spp. Photo by Mia Andler

Ethics and Rules of Foraging

The following are some general foraging rules I like to go by for any location:

• Don’t harvest a plant that is the only one or one of only a few of its kind in that spot.
• An often-repeated foraging rule is never to harvest more than one-third of the entire quantity. In my opinion, however, one-third is far too much; I would suggest more like one-seventh.
• Watch how the animals engage with the plants. Don’t harvest something that wildlife clearly prefer.
• Consider the current condition and health of the plants.
• Don’t harvest struggling plants at drought time or in the winter.

Most public lands have rules with regard to foraging. Please make sure you look into those before foraging on public land. Here are a few specific regulations relevant to the Sierra:

In the California State Parks, harvesting of wild foods is severely restricted: “No person shall willfully or negligently pick, dig up, cut . . . any tree or plant or portion thereof, including but not limited to . . . flowers, foliage, berries, fruit, grass . . . shrubs, cones, and dead wood, except in specific units when authorization by the District Superintendent or Deputy Director of Off-Highway Motor Vehicles to take berries, or gather mushrooms, or gather pine cones, or collect driftwood is posted at the headquarters of the unit to which the authorization applies.” Some exceptions may exist, so check the rules before you go.

In national forests, which are federal lands run by the US Forest Service, in general harvesting “incidental amounts”—often defined as one gallon—of mushrooms and berries for personal use is allowed without a permit. Check the rules for your specific national forest. Harvesting from wilderness areas is prohibited.

With regard to Yosemite National Park, the following fruits may be gathered by hand for personal consumption, up to one pint per person per day for immediate consumption: blackberries, raspberries, elderberries, strawberries, thimbleberries, and huckleberries. Himalayan blackberries can be gathered in unlimited quantity. You can read the rules in more detail at Yosemite’s website.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land and national wildlife refuges may be more permissive. If you intend to forage on private land, it is prudent to ask the permission of the owner.