Foraging Season in Minnesota!
Enjoy the Outdoors and Have Fun Foraging Up North in Minnesota
Spring is the start of foraging season Up North in Minnesota. Many people love foraging because it’s adventurous and gives them a chance to get out, hike around, and pick delicious, local, wild food.
If there’s one critical thing to know when foraging, it’s to be 100% positive you know exactly what you’re harvesting! A misidentified food can make you sick or worse. The second important thing to keep in mind when foraging is to know the land you are harvesting from. Don’t trespass on private property! Rules are different for city and state parks, National Forest land, and BLM land, so do some research ahead of time to figure out where foraging is allowed.
The early foraging season in Minnesota is all about the greens and early mushrooms. Here are three early-season foods that foragers look for during the spring:
Ramps
Otherwise known as wild leeks, ramps are among the first plants to emerge from the ground in spring. Many people don’t know that Minnesota ramp flushes are dwindling due to the uptick in foraging, so please gather these sustainably!
Fiddlehead ferns
Look for fiddlehead ferns in low areas on the edges of marshes and other waterways. Cut the heads before they unfurl; the closer they are to the ground, the better.
Mushrooms
Up North in Minnesota, morels can appear as late as mid-May when the ground temperature reaches at least 50 degrees. You will want to start foraging them when the air temperature gets to around 65-70, and there have been a few to several days of rain.
For more information on foraging in Minnesota, click here. Have fun and be safe!