Last updated on April 13th, 2021 at 09:21 pm
The holidays are a time to show loved ones just how much you care to support their interests. And, if you’ve got someone on your list that appreciates foraging or wild crafting, we’re here for you. Nature is ripe for the harvest, whether it be wild herbs, fruits, fungi, or starches. Whatever their passion, all foragers can agree on one thing, respect nature and appreciate its bounty. So, to help you navigate the season we’ve compiled a list of our favorites and the 15 best gifts for foragers.
1. Bags for the Haul
Foraging the forest is hard work, and improper gear makes it a nightmare. But, with the Barebones Harvesting and Gathering Bag your friends will rucksack around in style. Not only that, the design is jam packed with serious function. Foragers will love its waterproof liner, drop-out bottom, and intuitive compartments.
2. Good Reads About Weeds
Entirely inspiring and thoughtful, the Wild Remedies Herbal Medicine Guide by Rosalee de la Forêt & Emily Han is a huge hit for everyone from beginner to hardened forager. Filled with beautiful illustrations, recipes, and expert information about nature’s looked over bounty.
3. Preparing Wild Meals
For many foragers, cooking and crafting medicines can be the most rewarding way to celebrate the harvest.
Whether it’s grinding wild garlic for pesto or milling seeds and spices the Tera Mortar and Pestle is a perfect kitchen prep tool. We love especially love ours for powdering dehydrated mushrooms.
4. Preserving for the Winter
When the seasons start to change, the Hamilton Beach Digital Food Dehydrator swings in to rescue your abundance. Dehydrating is a fantastic method to store items for later use. For wild mushrooms, herbs, fruit leather, and drying medicinal plants, this Hamilton Beach dehydrator is the best!
5. Hobby Turned to Lifestyle
Whether or not your forager friend has dabbled in brewing, The Wildcrafting Brewer will open new paths to enjoying nature’s best to its fullest. This page turner is filled with valuable recipes and tips for tantalizing concoctions. Pair this with a set of glassware or herb sheers for a fun gift.
6. Cleaning Wild Finds
Not only do they have a keen eye, herbalists and foragers love things that make their life easier and greener. Introducing the Salad Sling Towel. We love this for many reasons, but for starters, it replaces hundreds of paper towels in the preparation of wild greens and mushrooms.
7. Tools for Forager Chefs
There’s a strong connection between a a forager’s hunt for wild food and a passion for cooking.
And for the perfect holiday gift, we love the Dalstrong Chef’s Knife in the foraging kitchen. We would pair this with the butting board below or our favorite forager’s cookbook.
8. Meal Prep at its Finest
One of my personal favorites in our kitchen is this Mevell Extra Large Walnut Cutting Board that I received from my mom. It’s beautiful, hearty, and ready for anything I throw at it. Your loved ones will also love chopping chanterelles and wild ramps for their Sunday meals.
9. The Perfect Harvesting Tool
The most important tool in our hiking bag is a handy knife that handles well and slices with ease. For that we trust the Opinel No. 8 Mushroom Knife. Not only is it crafted from beautiful oak and stainless steel, this knife has a boar bristle brush at its end to delicately clean forest finds. This is a must have item!
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10. Digging, Chopping, Cutting
For those deep roots and tubers, cutting medicinal bark, and slicing wild onions at the bulb, the BareBones Ultimate Garden Tool is a winner. Foragers will love the dual duty blade and the gorgeous included sheath for easy carrying.
11. Hiking and Foraging Aids
Wild foods sometimes lay hidden beneath leaves or fallen logs. In these cases the Foxelli 4 Season Trekking Poles are the best of the best for moving debris in the search. And, they’ll help your friend travel with the weight of their bountiful harvests on the way back.
12. Satchels for the Perfect Score
Ahh, the elusive morel. It’s a treasure of the forest and many foragers are ready and willing to spend many hiking hours in search of these beauties. Come springtime, your friend will love the Mushroom Hunting Bag for gathering their finds and letting them breathe.
13. Preserving the Season
There are so many ways to treat your nature-loving chef this season. And Wildcrafted Fermentation by Pascal Baudar is a fantastic journey through fermenting wild foods and taking foraging to the next level. Whether they’ve got extra ramps, turkey tail mushrooms, or berries, this book has over 100 amazing step-by-step recipes.
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14. Fermentation Aids
And, for beginners and those looking for a new hobby, the Masontops Complete Fermentation Kit is the perfect entry into fermenting your favorite foraged foods.
15. Distilling Nature's Bounty
And the best for last, the Trulystep 3 Quart Home Distiller is great for a variety of wild harvests. Not only is this bad boy capable of making grain alcohol, your forager buddy will be able to make hydrosols and essential oils with their wild finds. Color them impressed.
Image Credit: Glacier NPS|(source)|Public Domain Mark 1.0 — reduced file size and image