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

by Amanda Sorell

Seattle spring sometimes teases us with a stretch of sunny days that then give way to more rain. But let the flowers lift your spirits: Spring has officially arrived, say the camellias, cherry blossoms, daffodils, and tulips. And emerging from slumber alongside these showy flowers are plenty of nourishing plants to forage.

Foraging involves gleaning from the plants you encounter outdoors — even some thought of as "weeds" — for snacking, cooking, or crafting. In spring, weedy greens, such as nettles and sorrel, are the stars of the show, ideal for making pesto, or salads you can top with seasonal petals. 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 Spring Plant Profiles:

• Dandelion
• Magnolia
• Nettle
• Purple Dead-Nettle
• Sorrel

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.

Spring Plant Profiles

The plants listed here are widely available throughout the city and aren't at risk of overharvest. These plants appear just when we need them, to revive our sluggish post-winter systems and contribute a boost of nutrients. Be sure to identify them correctly and, if necessary, ask for permission to pick.

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

The dandelion made our winter list for its roots, but in spring, you can gather its long, serrated leaves or cheery flowers.

Identify: Dandelion is readily recognizable and grows nearly everywhere; you likely won't have to venture far from your front door to find some. Look for bright-yellow ray flowers atop a slim hollow stalk rising from a rosette of smooth, toothy leaves. Be sure you're not picking catsear instead, a dandelion doppelganger with lobed, furry leaves.

Harvest: To harvest the leaves, cut the base at ground level, or hold the rosette at its base and twist as you pull. Harvest the petals using the same motion: Twist the petals and the sepals in opposite directions, like you're wringing out a little towel.

Use: In her book Backyard Foraging, foraging expert Ellen Zachos says the greens, high in vitamin A, calcium, and potassium, taste best in early spring before the flowers form. Even so, they're bitter — and thus often used to stimulate the appetite and aid digestion — so you can mix them in salads with milder greens for balance, or cook them to tame the bitter flavor. I enjoy eating the leaves sauted with eggs. To try the flowers, fry them or turn them into a batch of dandelion wine. Though, speaking from experience, what begins as a fun activity may soon turn into a formidable task when you realize just how many flowers you have to gather, how many petals you have to pluck, and how long you have to wait for your wine to ferment. So for something a little faster, Zachos writes, "add a cup of petals to oatmeal cookies in place of raisins, or to a loaf of savory bread, for a splash of color and texture."

Magnolia (Magnolia x soulangeana)

Magnolia trees are common in Seattle — we even have a neighborhood named after them (though apparently erroneously, by someone who mistook madronas for magnolias). Their pastel petals can be eaten fresh or pulled into the kitchen and preserved. Magnolia trees can be deciduous or evergreen, and all varieties form edible flowers with no known toxicities, but saucer magnolias are especially common in the city.

Identify: As spring arrives, the fuzzy pods on saucer magnolia trees fall away from the vertical cones of folded petals inside, which open into cream-and-pink-colored cup-shaped flowers. On deciduous trees, these silky flowers often appear before the leaves. Magnolia tree bark is silvery and smooth.

Harvest: Collect the tightly wound buds or the open, fresh-smelling flowers.

Use: The flavor of magnolia is potent, reminiscent of clove or ginger. Delight your friends by showing them you can eat the flowers right off the tree — just avoid the bitter base of the petals, and remember that the blooms become more bitter with age. Add a few fresh petals to a salad or pickle the petals for a pungent preserve. Infuse simple syrup or honey, or steep the dried flowers in hot water for tea. They add a complementary zest to chai. Zachos even grates the buds "with a microplane to use as a spice. You won't need much … these flowers pack a spicy punch."

Nettle (Urtica dioica)

Nettle patches are prolific in the Pacific Northwest — nettles love moist soil, and we've got plenty of that in spring. I've spotted them spreading vigorously along forested park paths in the city. According to Elise Krohn, writing for the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, "Skokomish elder Bruce Miller taught that nettles are an important traditional spring food and medicine. After wintertime when Salish people traditionally ate more dried foods and less fresh plants, nettles were a source of powerful nutrients and cleansing medicine that helped people to enter the new season with vitality."

Identify: Nettle grows 3 to 7 feet tall on a square stem that sends out opposite ovate leaves with serrated edges. The leaves are covered with small stinging hairs.

Harvest: This plant goes by "stinging nettle" because of the hives you'll get if your skin brushes against it or you pick it bare-handed. Wear long sleeves and thick gloves to harvest the leaves. Cut or pinch the stalk, leaving some leaves at the base of the plant so it can keep growing. Place them in a bag instead of a basket so their hairs don't accidentally contact your arms or legs.

Use: Like most other wild edibles on this list, nettles are best earlier in the season, when they're tender and less bitter. In her book Body Into Balance, herbalist Maria Nol Groves says nettles are "one of the most nutritious and safe herbal remedies on land," offering highly bioavailable calcium as well as magnesium, potassium, and silica. "You can cook, dry, or juice the nettles to remove the sting," she writes. Steam or saut your nettles, or add them to casseroles, cookies, pasta, sauce, soup, or tea. The plant is also rich in fiber, and its fibers can be twisted or braided into cordage.

Purple Dead-Nettle (Lamium purpureum)

This low-growing weed commonly dots lawns and landscapes — as with dandelion, you won't have to go far to find it.

Identify: Look for its square stem and opposite spade-shaped leaves colored in a gradient from green to purple, topped with tiny, light-purple tubular flowers. It's often confused with henbit, which might be growing close by, but henbit has stemless leaves. Though in this case, a mixup isn't dangerous — henbit is edible too.

Harvest: While this member of the mint family shares some visual characteristics with nettle and carries "nettle" in its name, it isn't related to Urtica dioica and won't sting — no need to wear heavy gloves or be careful when collecting it. Pinch off the top of the plant and it'll grow back, like mint does.

Use: Purple dead-nettle is traditionally used to ease allergies and inflammation. Like many other wild spring greens, it's perfect for pesto, and can be added to salads, smoothies, and soups. The Herbal Academy shares, "Dead nettle's somewhat fluffy texture lends itself especially well to fritters. … The plant has an earthy odor that may be disagreeable to some but is dissipated upon cooking; the taste is fairly mild with slightly bitter undertones."

Sorrel (Oxalis stricta)

For foragers, common yellow wood sorrel is a welcome sight in spring, its bright leaves spreading bountifully across the ground in parks, fields, and woodlands, as well as gardens (where it may be less welcome).

Identify: Sorrel grows in partial shade, with several stems sprawling from the base. Look for its trio of bright-green, heart-shaped leaves, each creased in the center. The leaves shutter at night and open during the day. Later in the season, wood sorrel will grow small edible flowers that are usually white, yellow, or pink, depending on the species.

Harvest: Cut or pick leaves from the plant.

Use: Sorrel leaves, high in vitamins A and C and magnesium, have a tart, citrusy flavor, and can be used accordingly to brighten salads, salad dressings, sauces, and soups — or eaten as a satisfyingly sour snack right off the sprig. Sorrel contains oxalic acid, which shouldn't be consumed in significant amounts, so use it sparingly.

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

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 summer with a fresh foraging guide as berries begin to hang heavy from brambles and warm-weather flowers are in full swing.

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: The moon rises behind a magnolia tree in Beacon Hill. (Photo: Amanda Sorell)