When Gino Ferri takes a walk in the woods, he doesn't see a tangle of plants – he sees food, medicine and pots of tea.
The director of Survival in the Bush, a Hanover-based wilderness school, is so well-versed in the local flora that he can identify hundreds of species of Ontario plants. In his line of work, it doesn't matter what they taste like; all that matters is whether they can keep him alive.
Which leads him to his first point: If you're not 100 per cent certain what you're eating, don't eat it.
The old omnivore's dilemma is all too real when you're foraging. You may be able to eat it, but should you? There are some plants you should be afraid of – the faux chanterelle is a very good example. For that reason, Ferri doesn't even discuss mushrooms.
Another problem is the potential to start a stampede to the forest. "One of my rules of harvest is, you never take the whole thing. You take small amounts."
And you want to harvest in a clean environment since some plants, like the cattail, are filters for pollutants and toxins can be concentrated in their cells.
In the city, a bylaw prevents anyone from moving or removing a plant or flower from a city park, according to forestry manager Beth McEwen.
Then again, "if people were collecting dandelion leaves from a park I don't think anyone would care."
The plants shown here and on page L1 were found in Toronto's Sunnybrook Park in May, and are only a partial inventory of 31 edible plants Ferri identified.
