Bug checking methods- by the book or by logic?

Seraph

Wed, Jan 12 2011, 9:06 am

Foraging isn't onerous. Olive picking and pickling absolutely is. The other stuff are a breeze. It takes no time at all to forage greens, and the bugs on these greens are very easy to see, making it go very quickly. I'm just saying that foraging greens is much easier in comparison to foraging and preparing olives. That's all.

HindaRochel

Wed, Jan 12 2011, 9:08 am

Ruchel wrote:

http://foragingfamily.blogspot.com/2010/04/cattail-rhizome.html

Now that looks fun! (If the temps were warmer) I like water...probably would have fun, though I can't see myself doing that a lot. But that's a very interesting blog.

MagentaYenta

Fri, Sep 30 2016, 2:04 pm

I'm a forager, former farmer and avid gardener. Right now I've got a bag full of dried sumac blossoms that need processing and on Sunday I'm driving out to the country to forage for apples. In the spring I love foraging for fresh wild mustard, this summer I had an opportunity to forage for wild currants and red huckleberries. I'm also a gleaner.

The bug thing really depends on where your produce is grown, and how it is grown and what time of year it is. Last night I went out to my garden to pick some kale. It's almost Oct. so I know the aphids and whiteflies are gone as well as the cabbage moths. It got a quick look and a rinse. In the spring, I'll soak it a bit in salt water before rinsing to loosen any tiny insects that may be present.

I can recognize the damage of a leaf miner on a garlic plant but also know that it will not infect the bulb, same with thrips. I can recognize the damage of nematodes on a garlic clove but it's impossible to see them without a microscope so I cut the damage off the clove.

My grandmother didn't have power in the Ukraine, she didn't have windows in her cabin as we know them now. She grew up learning how to recognize an insect infestation without the the luxury of a light box. I do the same. I can tell the difference between harvest damage on an organic potato or damage due to borers.

So I use the rule of thumb, visible to the eye under natural lighting.