There are hundreds of different types of Sumac ( Rhus spp. ) growing all over the world. Sumac produces aromatic sour fruit that can be used to flavour just about anything. I have it on good authority it's one of the vague “herbs and spices” in Arnott's Pizza Shapes! The sumac berries are actually tiny drupes [stone fruits], packed together in a cluster. We even have a native Australian Sumac, Rhus taitensis , that grows in northern Queensland. This doesn't taste especially

Seasoned foragers all have a list. It's the things we’re quietly obsessed with finding, but haven't managed to track down yet. Black walnuts have been on the top of my list for a while. We research it. We beg other foragers to spill their secret spots. We slam on the brakes if we think we’ve spotted it from the car. For many foragers, their bucket list items are so notoriously scarce they go to extreme measures! One of my foraging friends even went so far as to dig through 1

The most famous fig forager is probably Jesus. He cursed a fig tree because it didn't have any fruit. Can't blame him, I'm also mad when there's no figs. It's meant to be a metaphor about people living empty lives, but maybe Jesus also had a hankering for something yum? Figs seem weirdly overrepresented in religious lore. The Buddha reached enlightenment while sitting under a fig tree. Adam and Eve used fig leaves to hide their bums. Islamic teachings say figs are good for c

Any plant with 'stinging' in its name sounds like a menace. Stinging nettles are so damn delicious that, faced with constant threat of being eaten, they evolved little hairy hypodermic needles to deter you. I gotta give nettles some kudos. They're badasses, with a reputation for violence. They know what they want, and they don't want to be eaten. Don't let this frighten you. Their bark is worse than their bite—while yes, they prickle, they're nowhere near as bad as all the