Wild Edibles Walk

by Gretchen Allen

My walk explores wild edibles and why they are worth remembering. In a time where we can get all our food in boxes and bags, its worth taking time to remember where our food comes from (the dirt!) and get to know a few foods we can eat right out of the ground. While getting to know some wild edibles myself, I questioned why, as a culture, we have lost this knowledge and why it might be important to get it back.

Trailer

Watch and listen to the walk

Where will you go?

The walk takes you around Virginia Tech’s campus. It covers roughly a mile and will take you between 30 and 45 minutes.

View Wild Edibles Walk in a larger map

Who will you hear?

Me! and some wonderful people who helped me make this possible:

Rob Speiden

Jenny Schwanke

Arlean Lambert

Jeff Kirwan

Ian Cobb-Ozanne

What will you see?

Want more wild edibles?

Want to learn more? Field guides can be really helpful. Peterson’s field guides come especially well recommended:

• Edible Plants
• Medicinal Plants
• Trees and Shrubs
• Wildflowers
• Venomous Animals and Poisonous Plants

Also, Newcombs’s Wildflower Guide, Tom Brown’s Field Guides, and Euell Gibbons “Stalking the Wild Asparagus“

Rob Speiden also teaches some wild edible classes through his Natural Awareness Tracking School.

Curiosity is the first step. Go outside, open up your eyes and see what you find!

My favorite quote:
"The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land… In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such.”  Aldo Leopold

Guestbook

The makers of Blacksburg Walks would love to hear from you! We invite you to go to the Guestbook  on our webpage and contribute your thoughts on your experience.