The South End Guide to Foraging Your Food: Summer 2024 Edition

by Amanda Sorell

We're past the moments that typically signal the start of Seattle summer — the summer solstice, the Fourth of July — and have settled into the season's (mostly) hot, sunny days, when an array of forageable fruits and flowers burst forth.

Foraging involves gleaning from the plants you encounter outdoors — even some thought of as "weeds" — for snacking, cooking, or crafting. Summer brings so much to eat, every venture outdoors a chance to snack from a berry bramble. And when done ethically and safely, foraging is a way of paying attention to seasonal cycles, building interdependent connections with plants, and resourcefully procuring food, one root, fruit, seed, or weed at a time.

Skip right to our Summer Plant Profiles:

• Bramble Berries
• Fennel
• Figs
• Lemon Balm
• Roses

Ethical Harvesting

To forage responsibly, consider the health of the plant, the health of the ecosystem, and the cultural implications of harvesting specific plants.

Don't pull from plants that can't support a harvest, and leave them in good enough shape to propagate. If a plant seems stressed from bitter cold or a drawn-out drought, leave it be. In Braiding Sweetgrass, in her chapter "The Honorable Harvest," Potawatomi scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer lays out a list of harvesting considerations, including: "Never take the first. Never take the last. Take only what you need. Never take more than half. Leave some for others. Never waste what you have taken. Share. Give thanks for what you have been given." Kimmerer emphasizes how true gratitude involves reciprocity: giving in addition to receiving. This reciprocity could involve picking up trash in the plant's vicinity or otherwise stewarding the land on which the plant grows.

Many different kinds of people can claim a cultural heritage of foraging. But in the context of colonization, foraging may carry additional significance for some. Indigenous people who were forcibly separated from their foodways may see foraging as a reclamation of traditional knowledge and sovereignty. People of Color who face food insecurity or whose ancestors were actively banned from gathering may see foraging as a revolutionary way to find fresh foods. When certain plants, such as white sage, trend and are then overharvested, this can deepen existing discrepancies. Before you forage, check which plants are at risk and research the sacred sites and plants of the land's original inhabitants. In their resource "Best Practices for Foraging and Harvesting Indigenous and Wild Plants," Linda Black Elk (Korean/Mongolian/Catawba) and Lisa Iron Cloud (Oglala Lakota) recommend following local Indigenous protocols, which "were put into place over thousands of years of lived experience with the landscape on which we all reside. These protocols exist for important reasons. … So, talk to local indigenous peoples to find out what protocols best serve sustainability and overall plant and human health."

Urban Foraging

While I've heard foragers say "anything hanging over the fence is fair game," if the plant you want to pick is on private property, knock on the owner's door and ask whether you can have some. They may be happy to see the surplus go to use, or accept an exchange of whatever you make with it. Either way, it's an opportunity to meet your neighbors and locate a consistent source of forageable food.

Harvesting from city parks is technically illegal. The municipal code reads, "Please leave plants, artifacts, flowers, and features for everyone to enjoy!" That doesn't necessarily stop urban foragers from proceeding at their own risk. In summer, you'll see people feasting on invasive blackberries all across Seattle, parks included.

And some parks have spaces dedicated to the practice. Visiting the Beacon Food Forest in Beacon Hill's Jefferson Park is one way to forage in a place where it's not just legal but accessible and encouraged.

Foraging Safety

Common foraging wisdom advises harvesting at least 30 — or even 50 to 100 — feet away from busy roads. This might stump someone attempting to forage in a city, which can feel like one giant roadside. But in general, the closer a plant is to a vehicular thoroughfare, the more contaminated it might be, so harvest as far back from highways as you can. Runoff tends to flow downhill, so harvest uphill from busy roads. Quieter neighborhood streets and alleyways may be your best bet.

Bring scissors or shears for harvesting and gloves for handling thorny plants. If you're foraging low to the ground, remember that a pet might've been there first. But pet contamination is less of a concern than soil laced with heavy metals or pesticides. Eating foraged food — as with eating any food — comes with some risk. To minimize risk, steer clear of Superfund Sites, railroad tracks, and golf courses. As for pesticides, the City of Seattle claims to use chemical controls "as a last resort, and least-toxic chemicals are preferred." And a 2019 study on wild edible greens done by academics at the University of California, Berkeley, found that after rinsing in water, none of the foraged plants tested "had detectable levels of pesticides or PCBs, and their level of heavy metals per serving were below EPA reference doses, even though they were harvested from high-traffic and mixed-use areas." The researchers conclude, "This does not mean that all edible greens growing in contaminated soil are safe to eat. … But it does suggest that wild greens could contribute to nutrition, food security, and sustainability in urban ecosystems."

Finally, never eat anything you can't 100% identify. When in doubt, ask for help from an expert forager or refer to a field guide. The following plant profiles are not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. If you're pregnant or take medications that might have contraindications, consult with your physician before adding foraged foods or herbs to your diet. And no matter your health, add any new food to your diet slowly to monitor your body's reaction.

Summer Plant Profiles

The plants listed here represent just a fraction of summer's bounty. They're widely available throughout the city and aren't at risk of overharvest. When you're on the move or lounging beachside, summer's pickable, portable, ubiquitous fruits can offer flavorful hydration, and plenty of nutrients too. Be sure to identify them correctly and, if necessary, ask for permission to pick.

Bramble Berries (Rubus spp.)

This genus of fruit includes blackberries, black and red raspberries, salmonberries, and thimbleberries — none of which, botanically, is technically a berry at all. Each little lump, or "drupelet," on these "berries" is a fruit, with each fruit developed out of a different ovary of the same flower. Together, these "aggregate fruits" form what we recognize as a "berry." Rubus fruits grow on robust brambles that tend to spread easily. Invasive Himalayan blackberry, in particular, has overtaken significant swaths of the Pacific Northwest, and you'll find berry bushes lining alleyways and tangled thickets at the entrances of parks.

Identify: Look for little lumps clustered to form oblong berries dangling from woody, prickly stems. Ripe blackberries and black raspberries will be dark purple to black; ripe red raspberries and thimbleberries will be burgundy; ripe salmonberries will be orangish-red. To distinguish between blackberries and black raspberries, open one up; raspberries will be hollow, whereas blackberries will have a white core. Raspberries are also covered in fine hairs, whereas blackberries are smooth. But in the case of Rubus fruits, you don't need to worry about getting it wrong; all bramble berries are edible and have no known toxic lookalikes in North America.

Harvest: The berries will be full and dark in color and will detach easily from the stem when they're ripe and ready to be picked.

Use: Bramble berries — rich in antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins — are fun to eat fresh as you find them, but if you fill a bucket or bowl from a nearby bramble, you'll have endless uses for these sweet, juicy jewels. Turn them into spreads, jellies, and jams; bake them into cobblers, crisps, and pastries; eat them atop yogurt or ice cream; add them to salads or smoothies; drop them in water for a fruity infusion. If you want to freeze them for later use, lay them out on a rimmed sheet pan and slide it into your freezer so each berry freezes individually; once they're frozen, take them out and combine them in a bag or container before placing them back in the freezer, where they'll now stay separate instead of forming an impenetrable clump. And Rubus uses go beyond berries. The leaves also have several traditional medicinal applications; raspberry leaf tea is often used to regulate the menstrual cycle and relieve menstrual cramps, and blackberry leaf decoctions have been used to treat gum inflammation, sore throats, mouth ulcers, and more.

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)

Wild fennel grows vigorously throughout the city, often in areas where the soil has been disturbed, such as roadways, embankments, and vacant lots. It's also easy to find growing along sidewalks, its feathery, fragrant fronds towering over other plants — it can grow up to 6 feet tall. The wild types don't grow the edible bulb that's typical of cultivated fennel, but its leaves and seeds are abundant.

Identify: The fine, needle-like foliage of fennel looks like dill and smells like licorice. Its small yellow flowers grow in a flat umbrel atop hollow stems. You'll often see bees, bugs, and butterflies swarming these blossoms before they go to seed.

Harvest: Pluck or cut the leaves from their base along the stalk. You can also eat the seeds right off the plant once they start to form. After the umbrels mature and the seeds darken, but before they're snagged by birds, snip off the seedheads and remove and clean the seeds. While toxic hemlock doesn't look or smell like fennel, it's in the same family and has similar flowers, so one might be mistaken for the other when the foliage falls away and the flowers mature to seeds. Fennel's foliage and smell are unmistakable, though, so gather seeds from wild fennel with characteristics you can still see and smell.

Use: The leaves, shoots, stems, and seeds can all be used to flavor food. Add the leaves to salads and the seeds to stir-fries and sauces. Both the leaves and the seeds are suitable for tea, and in many places, the seeds are frequently enjoyed as a post-meal digestive. (In some restaurants, you might see a bowl of fennel seeds sitting by the door for patrons to take on their way out.)

Figs (Ficus carica)

While these fruits are a little less conspicuous in the city than bramble berries, plenty of fig trees contribute to the urban canopy, and a fresh, ripe fig is a special treat.

Identify: Fig trees grow large leaves with deep lobes and form teardrop-shaped fruits that vary in color but tend to start green and ripen to brown or purple. Split them open to find rich red flesh ringed with a yellowish pith and embedded with many seeds.

Harvest: Pull figs from the tree when they're drooping, with darkened skin and soft necks. Beware the milky-white leaf and root sap of the tree, as it may irritate your skin, though harvesting fully ripe fruit from the tree won't pull sap from the scar.

Use: If you don't eat the figs right off the tree, you can dry them or make fig preserves. They pair well with both sweet and savory flavors — try caramelizing them, drizzling them with honey or balsamic vinegar, and serving with goat cheese.

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)

Lemon balm is a member of the mint family, and it looks and acts accordingly, spreading zealously in alleyways and beside sidewalks. Once you notice it, you'll start to see it everywhere. It begins growing in spring and continues through summer.

Identify: Lemon balm grows oppositely paired spade-shaped leaves on a square stem. Its leaves are deeply wrinkled with toothed edges, and they smell strongly of lemon or citronella. Later in the season, the plant will send up clusters of tiny white flowers.

Harvest: With scissors or a knife, trim off the top few inches of the plant, leaving at least 6 inches of growth to encourage regrowth.

Use: Lemon balm earned the second part of its name through its traditional use to soothe the nervous system, uplift the mood, and ease digestive issues. If you plan to dry or dehydrate the leaves, do so immediately after harvest, laying them out in a single layer on a mesh screen in a shady location. You can use the fresh or dried leaves in tea; just add several fresh leaves or 1 to 2 teaspoons of the dried herb to each cup of boiling water. You can also draw out lemon balm's properties with cold water; to make a freshly flavored cold infusion on a hot summer day, add some fresh or dry leaves to a jar of water that you place in the fridge for a couple of hours before consuming.

Roses (Rosa spp.)

These flowers are the summer counterparts to the hips that emerge in fall and winter from fertilized flowers left on their thorny stems. And though we may think of these beauties as decorative more than edible, rose petals have a multitude of food uses. Both cultivated and wild roses can be eaten, but you'll need to make sure the cultivated kinds weren't sprayed with pesticides and that you have permission to pick them.

Identify: These ornate flowers vary in size and come in many colors, including red, pink, white, and yellow. Cultivated roses often grow multiple sets of petals that spiral around their centers, while wild roses grow five petals that lay open. All roses grow on prickly stems that send out alternate leaves with toothy edges.

Harvest: Pull petals from freshly bloomed flowers, when their fragrance is most potent, or gather petals that fall away from older flowers when touched. Don't take the entire flowerhead, as that's what will form the hips.

Use: Dry or dehydrate the petals for use in desserts, drinks, and more. Air-drying works just fine; place them in a single layer on a mesh screen in a shady location for a few days. Rose is popular in the cosmetics industry for its scent as well as its ability to tone and retain moisture, so you can incorporate it into homemade hydrosols and creams. If you go the hydrosol route, spritz the rose water on your face for a freshening effect, or add the rose water to rice pudding for a chilled dessert that's suitable for hot days. With some egg white, sugar, and salt, you can candy the petals for a delicate confection. Or, turn the petals into a unique jam.

Foraging Resources

The following organizations and resources support the growing and harvesting of fresh foods throughout the city.

• Alleycat Acres is a program that "reconnects people, place, and produce by transforming underutilized urban spaces into neighborhood-run farms."
• Beacon Food Forest in Beacon Hill works to "cultivate a community dedicated to building equitable food systems for all people, and stewarding our environment for the benefit of all species."
• City Fruit gleans thousands of pounds of fruit from city trees and redistributes the harvest "through food banks, meal programs, and farmer's markets."
• The Danny Woo Community Garden in the Chinatown-International District is "an essential place for the surrounding community to engage with nature, access safe and healthy food, and build cohesion with neighbors."
• Falling Fruit is a "​​massive, collaborative map of the urban harvest" that's searchable by ZIP code.
• Yes Farm in Yesler Terrace is developing 1.5 acres "for community building, educational programming, and growing our farm co-op."
• The South End Guide to Foraging Your Food: Winter 2024 Edition
• The South End Guide to Foraging Your Food: Spring 2024 Edition

While we don't expect you to share your top-secret foraging spots with us, you can email us at Community@SeattleEmerald.org with other foraging resources and tips or recipes for foraged foods. We'll be back in fall with a fresh foraging guide as the heat dissipates, cool-weather weeds return, and late-season fruits appear.

Amanda Sorell is a storyteller who lives in Seattle. She's an editor for the Emerald. Read her newsletter at eClips.Substack.com.

📸 Featured Image: Blackberries growing from an alleyway bramble in Hillman City. (Photo: Kate Flaming)