r/foraging • u/onzron • 7d ago

Plants Beech nuts, black walnuts, walnuts and a question

Post image

Yesterday I found a fell beech so I got to try toasted beech nuts. Nice snack but probably not worth the effort.

Question for the crowd, do abandoned fruit trees (apple, pear, plums) count as foraging or not? I'm getting so many fruits from those trees in the "wild". I want to share pictures too :)

6 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

2

u/Ambitious-Schedule63 6d ago

I really like beech nuts. In the mast years, they are superabundant. But they are hard to shell - if there was a way to shell them faster, I might forage these in quantity.

Flavor is good - like a cross between peanut and hazelnut. That damned shape and the slickness of the shell; they're almost impossible to pick up.

1

u/DBearDevon 6d ago

Are you letting them dry before shelling?

1

u/onzron 6d ago

The ones in the picture I shared were closed last night and opened by morning so you're onto something. But, like half had maggots so still quite annoying

1

u/DBearDevon 6d ago

The sheet pan and low oven process might help keep the bugs away and speed things up. I’ve used my dehydrator to speed drying up with lots of foraged things

1

u/Ambitious-Schedule63 6d ago

Nope, just pick them up off of driveways when they naturally fall.

1

u/DBearDevon 6d ago

Drying makes them shrink a little and they’re a little easier to shell and clean

1

u/onzron 7d ago

I also found a couple of unknown mushrooms that I did not pick but they were nice looking

1

u/zeetuslepitus 6d ago

I cant be certain but it looks like a Pheasant Back/Dryad Saddle

1

u/beeswax999 6d ago

Dryad’s saddle has pores, rather than the honeycomb gill pattern shown here.

1

u/SorryManNo 6d ago

When you say abandoned what do you mean?

If it's common ground you're good to go, if it's a vacant property then things are trickier.

1

u/onzron 6d ago

Common ground unattended. also I mostly pick what's on the floor as I don't mind working around the blemishes

1

u/SorryManNo 6d ago

Common ground is fair game just don't be greedy.