Wild Edible World: A Foraging Podcast

In this loose and silly episode, Steve and Michael discuss their gratitude for the past two years of the show and set out some goals and plans for what they'd like to see in the future for the show! This episode has almost nothing to do with foraging but we wanted to take a moment to feel so lucky to be able to make this show where we get to meet and work with so many awesome and talented folks. Love you guys! here's to two more years!!!

Wood Sorrel has been featured in our wonderful logo by Laura Feller (@laurafeller.creates) since the start of our show over THREE YEARS AGO (!!!) and we still have never done an episode on it. So here it is!! It is an extremely common plant and one of many people's first experience with a wild food so Steve and Michael do a speed run of identifying factors & flavors and in the second half provide a personal update of the hosts' lives. We've been a little slow to update the show but we are in the process of making a permanent studio to seriously upgrade the show so stick with us!!!!!(content warning: some cursing)

WE'RE BACK! A FORAGER'S STORY!! We return to the show after an extended hiatus to chat with JJ Reich (@blackwalnutdaddy ), author of "Nuts About Black Walnuts". JJ's self-published book all about black walnuts offers a detailed and in-depth analysis of almost every topic you could possibly imagine involving ye olde Juglans Nigra. Available on Amazon, this collection of essays is definitely a must-have for anybody curious about black walnuts, whether you're an old experienced forager or a new one!! JJ is such a pleasure to chat with and has such a great attitude and sense of humor; we loved having him on the show and we hope you enjoy our conversation!We know we couldn't cover everything about black walnuts in one episode so look forward to hearing from JJ again in the future!!!

"Re-peopling Prairie: History, Ecology, & How They Can Bettter Inform Prairie Science" is available for pre-order on Dr. Liz's Etsy page so give her a follow @chase_prairie to keep up with her exploits and awesome art!! We're back from "Summer Break" (AKA Michael had a baby) with an awesome interview with Dr. Liz Kozik @chase_prairie about her incredible comic dissertation: "Re-Peopling Prarie". Her dissertation is full of incredible information about Illinois' past as "The Prairie State" and suggests directions moving forward that harmonize with the pre-colonial history of this land. Not only that, it is only of the most visually stunning and comprehensive works of science we have consumed with our own eyes. Congrats on successfully defending your thesis and we are so grateful you are sharing your work with the rest of us!!

Ben (@4plexdining) is a chef in Missouri that overcame the difficulties during the pandemic by wielding foraged ingredients to create a a baked good/fermented beverage pop-up out of his kitchen. Most recently he helped start and lead Temperence Kitchen, a dining experience whose proceeds are forwarded to "Ben's Friends" an awesome organization that offers support to members of the food and beverage industry that struggle with substance abuse or addiction. Ben is such an inspiration and we hope you find his message as hopeful and encouraging as we do! Check out the new episode on all streaming services (yes ALL) and give Ben a follow!

Danny Pejsa is a Chef working in the Lansing, MI area! Chef Danny is passionate about close-to-source dining and there's plenty of overlap with foraging within that scope. We also chat about his experience cooking with previous guest Alan Bergo @foragerchef at the Midwest Wild Harvest Festival in 2023. Say "YES, CHEF!" to this episode of WEWP!!

Spencer Lowery is the Treasurer for the Alabama Mushroom Society and a lifelong forager. We got to know Spencer more in our conversation, like his favorite mushrooms to eat and his upcoming mushroom events! He's not on Instagram, but catch him on TikTok or Patreon at "foragenorthamerica" to follow his exploits and recipes across the country! It was awesome to chat with Spencer and if YOU want to talk to us about foraging, hit us up!!!

We have the distinct pleasure of chatting with Orion about cheeseburgers and books... I mean foraging!!! Nah, we cover it all in this awesome episode with @foragecolorado ; content creation, his natural resources degree and occupation, and of course all of his favorite foraging stories!! Orion is the best- but if you are in the online foraging community already you probably already knew that! Listen to the new episode out now! Love y'all

Come with us on a culinary journey exploring Biagio DiSalvo's past and current experiences with foraging. We discuss his history in science, his favorite recipes to make and, of course, all about his foraging path!! Follow him at @bscucina We can't wait to see what else he cooks up and maybe a future collab?? 👀 Love you guys, thanks for listening!!!

Allen is a pure spore force and is obsessed with eliminating food waste. In this fresh new episode, Michael and Steve talk about Allen's history in Big Mushroom and what foraged ingredients he's currently into. Allen is also an integral part of Colorado Essence Festival with several other major mushroom creators!! We hope you enjoy this dope episode and check out Allen's projects!

We have an episode from the WEWP VAULT today- here's a previously unreleased phone call we had with the dynamite Colter Barnes from History's ALONE season 8! We talk a lot about his foraging during the show, the adversity he faced, as well as his lifestyle and plans in Alaska!! This is such a good episode and went on the shelf for a while due to the less-than-desireable audio quality. However, listening back through this Colter has amazing insight, and hindsight, on nature and his time on the super popular survival show and this will prove to be another valuable episode of our show. Thanks to everybody for listening and extra thanks to @colterwambachbarnes for chatting with us, sorry it took forever to release! super triple thanks to @keweenaw_apothecary for being a sponsor of the show and for making this connection!!

Time-travel back to fall with this special episode of WEWP where Steve and Michael talk about SCRUMPING and taste-test several wild varieties of apples and compare them to a few "control" grocery store apples. This is an ASMR-heavy episode with just the boys out in the woods that will leave y'all wanting to go scrumping!! This is a late release meaning it was recorded in the fall, during peak apple season. *Scrumping is a term used to describe the act of collecting wild apples

Brad is a wetlands scientist and reached out to talk to your two favorite foraging hosts! In this new episode WEWP#65 with Brad Earnest we chat about his favorite and least favorite plants, his experience with helping homeowners burn or select plants for wetland restoration! We met at a local library to chat so enjoy this NPR-vibe heavy episode, haha!!

Get pecan crazy!! We talked with Farmer Dave of @rockbridgetrees about the diversity in pecans and how accessible and beneficial nut trees are to our environment, our bellies, and even our pocketbooks! Dave is such an inspirational nursery grower with a lot history and personality and we barely scratched the surface with this interview! Hope you all enjoy the new episode and get the urge to plant some nut trees! As they say, the best time to plant a tree is 30 years ago but the second best time is today!

We're back to our classic format!! Interviewing foragers is fun and all but we wanted to bring it back to our core with just Michael and Steve this episode. A couple of sweeties discussing a sweet sweet plant, the honey locust! Listen to them discuss the visual varieties this tree possesses as well as the awesome sweetness it contains!! Hope you enjoy it! Remember to support our show by visiting our merch store and checking out our awesome custom t-shirts and seasonal hot sauce!! Thanks so much for being the coolest listeners in the podcast world. We love you!!!

Doug lives in the Chicago suburbs and wanted to call in to chat with your resident foragers Michael and Steve about raising Icelandic sheep, foraging, and finding new passions!! We love chatting with our listeners! Douglas doesn't have a social media @ but still streams our show (thanks Douglas!!!) and sent us a bunch of photos of his different projects which will be featured in this post! Enjoy the new episode, we're slowly but surely working behind the scenes to bring you a better and more accessible show this year so thank you all for listening!!

WOWEE-WOW were we excited to chat with Shane Alden Edwards @the_wild_dryad ! Shane is a multifaceted forager and artist in the Chicago suburbs so he met up with Michael and Steve for little to talk plants! Check out his art on his website and his myriad of videos on his socials, Shane is super cool!

In episode 60 (!!) Chef Lorenzo Tavani @lorenzo__cooks schools Michael and Steve on his history in the culinary field and his inspirations to start foraging. Lorenzo has all sorts of dinner events in Colombus throughout the year so follow his IG and check his website for scheduling updates!! You're definitely going to want to gobble up his food AND his videos!!! Cheers to your PASSION, chef!!

The fellas had an awesome call with musician and forager Sean Rowe about his history with foraging! Sean has a deep history with music and foraging and the two come together with his new YouTube series "Can I Eat This, Sean" where he hosts a fellow musician through a new foraging experience and then have a jam session. He's certainly one of the coolest foragers out there with a wealth of experiences to draw from. Listen to the new episode and get groovy!

The boys have a long chat with Wade Fox, @foxamongbears , to chat about all things Koji, fermentation, the maillard process, and of course foraging!! Wade is an absolute creative force of nature and weilds his skills like a master in the kitchen, yet humbly and hungrily learns from his peers. We can't wait to taste more of his wizardry - listen to the episode and get inspired to make your own alchemy!!!