Peppermint Twist: The Roots of a Favorite Holiday Flavor

peppermint tea

The holiday season is full of all sorts of iconic foods and flavors, from Christmas oranges and braided breads, to latkes and gelt at Hanukkah, to holiday feasts featuring favorite dishes on tables around the world. Perhaps the best-known taste of the winter holidays, at least in the West, is peppermint. It infuses sugary candy […]

How to Forage: All You Need to Know

Learning how to forage is a rewarding skill that connects us with the surrounding natural world. Whether you’re a novice forager who once collected blackberries at the age of 10 or an amateur in need of a refresh, this article will hopefully inspire a deeper appreciation of the human history of foraging, and the amazing […]

Eating Weeds – Everything You Need to Know!

At eattheplanet.org we have been eating weeds for a long time. Foraging for wild edibles can be a safe and fun way to strengthen our relationship with the natural world and each other. Eating weeds, in particular, is a great place for a novice forager to begin since weeds are abundant and somewhat familiar. Weeds […]

Giant Puffball Mushroom, a Soft and Tasty Delicacy

Giant puffball mushroom (Calvatia gigantea)

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in September 2019. Updated April 2022. Puffball is a name often given to mushroom species with a rounded shape. But, in this article, we’ll focus on one specific puffball, the giant puffball mushroom (Calvatia gigantea). As its name suggests, this wild edible mushroom can grow up to a […]

Sourwood Tree, Gorgeous Foliage and Tasty Flowers

Sourwood Tree (Oxydendrum arboreum) in the fall

Sourwood tree (Oxydendrum arboreum) is a small deciduous tree that’s native to eastern North America. This tree is especially common in Southeastern US. You can find them growing in oak-heath forests, near riverbanks, and along roadsides. This tree can easily be identified by their lush dark green foliage which turns a striking fiery red in […]

Ground Ivy, an Aromatic, Evergreen Wild Edible

Field of Ground Ivy (Glechoma Hederacea)

Despite its name, ground ivy (Glechoma Hederacea) is actually not related to the true ivy. Instead, it’s actually a member of the mint family. This aromatic, evergreen plant grows perennially is many parts of the world. Native to Europe and Western Asia, it was carried over to North America by the settlers.  In North America, […]

5 Easy to Forage Edible Winter Plants of the Northeast

Berberis thunbergii, Japanese Barberry fruits and leaves

Foraging interest and activity always peaks in the fall. Then inevitably it declines quickly with the cooler weather. There is a lot of interesting plants to forage that are available in the winter and for some such as hairy bittercress they even continue to grow on days that are warm enough. Getting familiar with these […]

5 Easy to Forage Edible Spring Plants of the Northeast

Japanese Knotweed

At Eat The Planet we love to teach people how foraging for wild edibles can be easy, safe, and rewarding. This article was written to get people out there and eating edible wild plants safely. There are 3 things that you need to be able to do first and this article is meant to make […]

10 Wild Edibles, You Should Know

Elaeagnus umbellata, Autumn Olive fruit

This is a list of wild edibles that are abundant, easy to identify, and significant in one way or another.  These are some of the basics that are good to know if you’re stuck in the woods in a survival scenario or simply camping and hiking.  There are some basic identification features mentioned here but […]