Blackberries are not particularly common in my area. They are not normally found growing in the wild in the desert or my relatively dry mountains. They are usually found in the valley, near streams in places where they have probably escaped from cultivation. They need a lot of water, so they are mainly found in the pacific northwest, where they can be a problematic weed, and along the coasts.

But I have been foraging blackberries longer than any other wild plant, because we found and identified them in a local wilderness park years ago, and starting going back every year to pick a bunch of blackberries. We would eat them with cheesecake, or some other pastry, and freeze any remaining for later. 

Blackberries are one of the easiest fruits to identify. Just look for the aggregate fruit, which is typical of blackberries and raspberries. All of these aggregate fruits are in the Rubus genus, and all are edible. In most Rubus species, the fruit come off the receptacle, like raspberries do. In blackberries, the receptable is also edible and comes off with the fruit. Some botanists will divide the blackberries into multiple species, so you might find blackberries called Rubus discolor or Rubus bifrons, etc., but they all have the edible recepticle which remains with the fruit. 

If the fruit isn't ripe yet, there are other ways to identify the plants. They grow long canes which tend to bend over as they get too tall to hold their own weight. They have dangerous thorns, so leather gloves are highly recommended for picking wild blackberries. (The common raspberry, Rubus idaeus, has smaller, less dangerous prickles.) The thorny canes tend to form dense entangled masses, so another common name for blackberries is brambles. The leaves are compound, and usually lighter colored on the underside. The white flowers and fruit appears at the end of second year canes in loose clusters.

Ripe blackberries are black, but they proceed from green to red to black as they mature.The red ones are very tart instead of sweet, and while I don't like eating the unripe red ones by themselves, when I am crushing up blackberries to use as a cheesecake topping, including a few reddish ones can add some delicious tartness to the mix.

Of course the very best use of blackberries is to eat them right off the vine as soon as you pick them. But if you can resist that, there are so many options for them. Besides the cheesecake topping already mentioned, they are great in fruit cobbler and mixed berry pies. The ones we freeze are often used in frozen fruit smoothies. And if you have a lot, jam is always a good way to preserve fruit.

Anthriscus caucalis, commonly known as bur chervil or bur parsley, is a close relative of chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium), the french spice. Bur chervil is not widely used for food or spice. In fact it is difficult to find any references for it at all, except as a weed which is not as problematic as wild chervil (Anthriscus sylvestris). But because it is closely related to a culinary spice, chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium), and a well known wild edible, wild chervil or cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), I think it is worth trying it out.

Identification: It is a plant in the Carrot (Umbelliferae) family, so it has compound umbels. It looks a lot like chervil, being 1-3 feet tall with tiny white flowers and finely dissected leaves. The main difference from chervil is that the seeds are shorter, with hooked hairs on them, making them look like tiny burs. (Chervil seeds are smooth.) Note that there are no purple spots on the stem.

It has a smell I would describe as sweet parsley. The taste of the leaves is kind of like parsley, but with a small bit of a spicy bite to it, and just a hint of bitterness (just enough to make it "interesting" instead of "bad-tasting"). When eaten in soup, it imparts a flavor which is much like parsley, but not as strong. I have never eaten chervil, so I cannot compare it that. 

The leaves are the main part used for food or spice. The root is small and quite woody, so not useful for food. I made a tea from the stems, flowers and seeds, after removing the leaves. The tea tastes a lot like the plant smells, like parsley with a hint of something sweetish (possibly anise) flavored. It would add a good flavor to a soup, but the stems are too tough to eat, so they would have to be removed.

Anthriscus caucalis is widespread in Europe and the United States. While it is little known or used as a wild edible, I think it can be a passible substitute for parsley.

Anthriscus sylvestris has medicinal uses, including as a diuretic, and is helpful for headaches and coughs. So watch for similar effects from Anthriscus caucalis if you use it.

Barbarea vulgaris has a lot of common names, but the most common of the common names is Yellow Rocket or Wintercress. It is a member of the mustard family (Brassicaceae or Cruciferae), so it has yellow, four-petaled flowers less than a centimeter in width. (Each with 6 stamens, if you want to look very closely.) The leaves are smooth, slightly glossy, and thickish. They have a large lobe at the end, smaller lobes near the base, and usually a pair of lobes which clasp part way around the stem at the very base (auricles). Like many mustards, the leaves at the base of the plant are larger than the leaves near the flowers, but unlike most mustards, the stems and leaves are smooth, without any hairs.

When eaten raw, it has a strong, complex flavor. There are hints of spicy-mustard, and a pronounced bitterness, but the main flavor is something of a cross between broccoli and kale. There are many stories about it being a popular food in Italy, where they learn to tolerate and even appreciate the bitter flavor. It can be used in recipes as a substitute for Broccoli Rabe or Rapini (one of the cultivated forms of Brassica rapa). But it is too bitter for American tastes, and I definitely want to stop eating after a few leaves or flower clusters. I have used it in salads to give more variety of flavors, but I would not risk more than a small amount.

Fortunately, if you boil it for a few minutes, the bitterness is removed, and you have a much milder tasting vegetable. Two minutes of boiling is sufficient, followed by a cold water rinse to stop the cooking. The best part for eating is the clusters of unopened flower buds, which make a good broccoli substitute. The leaves are also good after boiling, but lose their substantialness and can be mushy if cooked too long.

I have used this in a stir fry as a substitute for broccoli. I boiled young flower bud clusters and leaves for a few minutes to remove the bitterness, and then added it to the stir fry at the very end, since it was already cooked. The flavor is not quite as good as broccoli, but it was definitely good enough for the stir fry.

I also tried frying it, and after reading other accounts that this cooking method did not remove the bitterness, I chose a strongly flavored oil (bacon grease). It is not too bad this way. The bitterness is still there, but it can work when cooked in bacon grease and combined with other vegetables. However the boiled flavor is much preferred.

Note that the stems of this plant are very tough and fibrous and quite difficult to break with out using a knife. Remove the leaves from the stem. And for the flower clusters, only use a small amount of stem. The tender top of the stem should break off easily with the flower cluster.

In spite of the common name Wintercress, I could find no sign of this growing in the winter, even during a mild Utah winter with relatively little snow. I went to the places I had seen it growing in the summer, and found no sign of it, at least until it started growing in the spring. Some plants will keep a basal rosette of leaves alive under the snow, in order to get a head start on growth when spring come. The name Wintercress made we wonder if this plant did that, but I did not find evidence of that.

Blue Camas is a good edible bulb which was a staple for Native Americans in the northwest. The botanical name Camassia quamash comes from the Anglicized name for the plant, camas, and a Native American name for the plant, quamash. It was important enough that they started a war over it.

"Most settlers had passed on beyond the Bannocks’ Camas Prairie but near harvest time in May 1878, some careless travelers turned their hogs loose upon the prairie to forage to their hearts’ delight. They were soon followed by several more itinerant settlers who let horses and cattle graze upon the blue-flowered field. May was gathering season but suddenly for the Bannocks, after thousands of years, there was nothing left to gather. A series of raids unleashed outright war for the Bannocks and those other affiliated tribes who hoped to rebuke the settlers." -- Important Foods: Camas, Mary Rose, 2017

Camas seems to like growing in meadows which get plenty of water in the spring, but dry out in the summer. It does all its growth in the spring, and then the dry summer makes it less hospitable for competing plants. True to what the above information implies, I found Blue Camas growing where cattle were not allowed to graze, but nearby past a fence, where cattle could graze, I could not find any Camas growing.

It is easily recognizable when flowering in the spring from the blue or purplish flowers with long thin petals. It is important not to confuse it with Death Camas (Zigadenus species) which can grow in the same area, but have smaller white flowers. For that reason it is best to dig them when in bloom, so you can be sure of the correct species. But if you observe them well over time, you can learn to recognize them when in seed as well, since the blue petals dry up, but often do not fall off, remaining as thin blue lines on the outside of the seedpods. But you should be careful to only keep bulbs which are attached to a flower stalk, so that you can be sure to get the right root.

Digging the bulbs is not very hard. The are about 4 inches beneath the surface. By pushing my hori-hori digging tool down on all four sides I loosen up a clod of dirt, which comes out easily if there is not too much grass around. The bulb is then found within or at the bottom of this dirt. Take the bulb, and refill the hole with the dirt.

The bulbs have a dark outer layer which comes off fairly easily. The inside is white, but the last thin light brown dried layer may not come off very easily. This can be left on for cooking, since they need to be cooked for a very long time.

The reason they need to be cooked for a long time (at least 18 hours), is because they contain a lot of an indigestible starch called inulin. The long cooking converts this starch into simpler starches and sugars which we can digest and which taste sweeter. The Native Americans would gather a year's supply in the spring, cook it in a roasting pit, and then dry the bulbs to be used throughout the year. For a smaller amount, a crock pot works well for cooking, since the roasting pit keeps a lot of moisture in with the food. You can cook them either in water or by steaming above the water. I tried both ways. The steamed ones turned out a bit dryer, in that the sticky texture of the fully cooked bulb is less pronounced.

Using this method, they are cooked in about 18 hours. You need to add additional water occasionally when it gets low. I cooked mine for 22 hours because I turned it to low at night to be sure the water would not boil off entirely. When raw, the bulbs are white and very mild tasting. They will darken as they cook, and stay bland and starchy until fully cooked. 

When fully cooked, the bulbs are dark brown, and have a sweet nutty flavor and a sticky texture. They are good this way. Some of us liked them even better fried with fat and salt, which lessens the sticky texture. The water the bulbs were cooked in is dark and has a syrupy taste, similar to the how the bulbs taste, but also reminiscent of butterscotch. I used this as an addition to sauces.

I have not tried it yet, but John Kallas has used pressure cooking to fully cook Camas bulbs in only nine hours, if you want to find a faster way to process them.

On October 15th, 2025, I lead an edible plants hike for the Utah Outdoor Recreation Summit at Aspen Grove Trailhead. This is a annual conference put on by the Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation. It brings together government agencies, nonprofits, businesses, and community leaders to talk about how outdoor recreation supports Utah’s economy, communities, and quality of life.

On the second day of the summit, they offer a variety of outdoor sessions, doing activities such as hiking, mountain biking, off-road vehicles, rock climbing, boating, and environmental preservation activities. They asked me to lead a foraging hike this year. They told me that out of all the available activities, the foraging hike was the first to fill to capacity. This shows that foraging has the interest of many people, and even with all the recent books which have been published, is probably still lacking enough experts to serve the needs of those who are interested in learning more.

Before heading off to their various locations the groups met up at Rock Canyon. While waiting for stragglers, I was able to teach them about hackberries which grow at this location and are one of the most important plants for winter foraging. We munched on a few berries from the trees there, and tasted hackberry milk, which I make by blending up the berries with water, in the same way one would make almond milk.

We all drove up to the Aspen Grove trailhead parking lot, where I gave a short introductory talk about foraging. Then we proceeded to look at edible plants near the parking lot, such as elderberries and oregon grape. After that, as often happens in the mountains, the weather started to turn on us, and did a few things, including rain and hail. The participants braved it all rather well, as we looked at raspberry bushes with no berries left. And as it rained on us, I was able to show milkweed and mullein, and explain the many edible, medicinal, and other uses for those plants. They are two of my favorite natural sources for firestarting materials, but unfortunately with the rain, there were no actual firestarting demonstrations that day. 

The weather cleared up as we made our way up the trail. As with many of these hikes we did not get very far, because we stop so often to learn about the plants. As we progressed up the trail, I was able to show them edible plants such as oak (acorns), chokecherry, serviceberry, as well as medicinal plants such as yarrow and motherwort.

October is very late in the season for really good foraging, but there was still a good variety of plants around, even as the leaves were changing colors and falling off. We were able to find several kinds are berries, which are always the highlight of fall foraging, including elderberries, serviceberries, chokecherries, and oregon grape. Some of the braver people also sampled mountain ash berries, which are nominally edible, but taste terrible. There were rose hips, a few acorns, stinging nettle. The raspberries and milkweed were far past their edible stage, but the milkweed in the fall is excellent for making cordage and starting fires, at least when it is dry.

The medicinal plants we talked about included the yarrow, motherwort, and mullein mentioned above, but also catnip, juniper, deer brush, and goldenrod.

We did not get far enough up the trail to see everything I had seen when I scouted out the area a few days previous. But farther up the trail there was fireweed (dead), thimbleberry (dried), mountain gooseberry (very few left), bittercress, and brook saxifrage. Most of these were old or dead, so while it may have been good to see the plant, they probably didn't really miss out on anything good to eat this late in the year.

I lead at least 12 edible plants hikes this year. This was the highest profile hike I did. But I'm planning on doing more next year. Click on the subscribe link to receive notifications of events.