While the vast majority of people who use store coupons will only carry a few of them in purse or pocket, the dedicated coupon clipper needs a much better way to organize their money saving endeavor. A well constructed coupon binder gives many benefits to the person who wants to pump up their couponing to professional levels. The binder is rather easy to make and the better you organize it, the easier to use and more profitable it will be.

You will have to purchase a few items. To begin with, you need a good quality 3-ring binder. Since your binder will become rather thick, a D-ring construction will be much more effective. You will also need to visit your local comic shop to purchase a few dozen of the plastic trading/baseball card sheets. These provide easy to access pockets to hold your coupons. These type of clear pocketed sheets can also be found in horizontal three-pocket style. You may want to add a few to your binder for holding oversized coupons or vouchers.

Now you will have to determine how you will organize your coupons. Do you want them separated by product type, (food, toiletries, sundries, auto, etc.) expiration dates, or some other system that makes sense to you. This is a highly personal and customizable project. Once decided, you will want to place dividers with a few of the card sheets in each section. This way you can see at a glance what coupons you have available.

You will also want to add a section where you have looked up and printed out the coupon policy sheet from each of the stores you shop at. You will inevitably need to use these to prove to clerks or managers that you are allowed to use the coupons in the various ways they can be combined. Remember to be nice when educating them though. You do not want to alienate the people who you deal with as they could become very hostile to a demanding couponer. In most cases, regardless of the policy, the manager will reserve the final say-so. If you have to appeal to officials higher up the corporate chain, then you have lost not only the coupon savings but probably a store location to shop in.

If your binder has a couple of side pockets, you can keep up with store fliers there. If you mush, you can add a few pages of top-loading folders to the binder to serve this purpose. The same works for rebate paperwork if you are also utilizing this as part of your coupon strategy.

Another specialty sheet you may want to add, which should be available in the stationery aisle, is a pencil pouch where you can also keep scissors, a small calculator, and a pen or pencil. As you can see, this binder is growing all the time. You may also want to add a large, strong rubber band or Velcro strap around it so that if dropped, it will not explode your coupons out onto the floor.

An optional section can be added for keeping a meal planner. With this you can coordinate items you have coupons for with other items already in your pantry. It can help you from buying too much of a ertain item that may spoil before it can all be used. It also helps you to keep an eye on nutrition as well, so your money saving does not risk eating poorly.

On the off chance you lose your binder, it is good to have your name and phone number located in the front. It is not so safe to add your address so that strangers can find it. A phone call and meeting at a public location will keep you safer for the return of your property.

Have you ever made a coupon binder?

The primary focus of Valentine’s Day is for couples to demonstrate their love for each other. Traditionally this is done by exchanging gifts and candy. While this holiday, like most others, has had a heavy element of commercialism overlaid on it, some of the most treasured gifts are those that have been lovingly handmade. For those couples who truly love each other, it really is the thought that counts. The possibilities are nearly endless but to get the creative juices flowing, here are a few ideas for homemade Valentine gifts.

A wonderful gift that can be enjoyed as much by the giver as the recipient is a romantic movie basket. Starting with a simple straw basket you add a DVD movie, either a popular favorite of your loved one’s or an unseen (as yet) movie within their favorite genre. Add to this a couple of bottles of wine or champagne, and a small box or bag of their favorite candy. This makes for the beginning of a romantic evening for you both. If you have a fireplace, you can add some marshmallows and roasting sticks for even more fun by the fire.

A variation on this theme would be to instead make a basket of your partner’s favorite cookies. Wrap with ribbon and add a printed monogram or name for the personal touch. If your loved one has more carnivorous tendencies, you can use a selection of cheeses and summer sausages. Such baskets are not just for Christmas.

yet another candy oriented gift is the simple brown lunch bag full of candy. You can pretty it up with a strip of construction paper with foil covered hearts glued on. This label can be attached to the bag with a clothespin. It can make a great surprise treat placed inside your loved one’s briefcase or lunchbox.

You can frame your Valentine message. Beginning with a wooden picture frame, use red and pink construction paper and make a background pad of hearts. Then over this background place photos, romantic messages or whatever will fit under glass to create a framed Valentine’s Day card that can be hung or placed in your home.

Both useful and pretty, you can start with a tea mug and put several foil-wrapped bags of your partner’s favorite tea inside. Top the mug with a small grouping of roses and a message card. Placed in a conspicuous place on the breakfast table, it is sure to get the day started off in a very good way.

For a slightly more traditional touch, it is hard for a man to go wrong by giving his lady a bouquet of flowers. This does not necessarily need to be an expensive bunch of roses from the florist, a hand-gathered and tied bouquet of flowers can be assembled easily. It is best to use flowers that have compact blooms. Roses and ranunculus flowers work very well for this. Begin by gathering the flowers in your hand, one blossom at a time until you have a group the size you want. Using a rubber band gently fasten them together then tie a colorful ribbon around the stems. Double back and tie the ribbon off into a bow. Trim the stems to a uniform length and you are ready to present them to your loved one.

If live flowers are more your mate’s ideal than a handful of dead ones, you can use your computer printer to create a montage of photos and loving messages that can be cut out and wrapped around a flowerpot. Whether you give her a flower or a young herb plant, such as rosemary, this small token of love will grow with you throughout the year.

Coupon clipping has evolved over the years from a simple way to save a dollar or two on your groceries to a complex industry. For the dedicated coupon clipper, the strategies developed to maximize savings have become many and varied. They require research and dedication as much as that required by full-time career jobs. Since most clerks are poorly trained on coupon policies, look up online and print out copies of each store’s coupon policies and carry them with you as a quick reference to prove a strategy is legal. Always be polite when showing your proof if a strategy is questioned. People can be easily defensive if they think you are too pushy or self-righteous, Remember, the store manager can always say no, even if he is wrong but will usually even bend the rules to help keep a pleasant customer happy.

While it is possible to save a great deal by finding  a strategy that works for you, this is countered by manufacturers who try to offer incentives without being taken advantage of. As example of this are coupons with specific stipulations. Some may not be combined with other coupons, others may be limited to a specific region or store. The following are a few general tips on coupon strategy. You will have to investigate where and if they can be used in your location.

The simplest place to begin is the local paper. You should also make sure to pick up papers from any other place you may be traveling through. Since coupons vary from region to region, this can help you acquire more useful deals. Also pick up extra copies of papers that have a number of coupons of items you regularly buy. Even if limited to one per customer, you can be a customer several times a day or at separate branches of a chain store.

Again, you have to read the details on the coupons you use. It is great if you can combine a “buy one, get one free” coupon with a “2 for 1″ sale. This gets you both units of the product for free. This is one form of “stacking” coupons. You can sometimes find stores or coupons that can be combined with others, for example a store coupon and a manufacturer’s coupon may be used together on a sale item for triple savings. Stores that accept competitor’s coupons are also great places to stack so long as their coupon policy does not specifically forbid this practice. Remember, if they do not specify you can’t do something, that is an implication that you can.

For the adventurous person who likes to try new things, look for coupons that do not specify the size of the product. By then matching that to a small or trial size of the product you can get something new to try for little money if not completely free. This idea also works well at the clearance section. Since stores are trying to get rid of these items quickly, there is nothing wrong about using a coupon to make the sale even more desirable.

Look for coupons online that can be stacked and shop online. Some retailers such as Dell and others can use stackable online coupons to help you save.  Visit sites like couponloco or webcouponcodes to find online coupons.

Looking for coupons can be considered something of a treasure hunt. Coupons can be found in many unusual places. You can find them on store receipts, event tickets, with free samples, and even the phone book. You can even find coupon sites online where you can print out coupons with a printer or load them directly to a store’s rewards card. The biggest drawback to couponing is the potential to become too obsessed. But so long as you don’t lose sight of the primary reason for coupon clipping, saving a few dollars, you should find it a stimulating and rewarding practice.

The old saying “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” is a simple statement of a very powerful truth about human nature and mental health. Without the release that some form of entertainment provides, we can develop a number of debilitating conditions both physical and mental. Entertainment provides a stress release that keeps our blood pressure down and reduces the chances of stroke or heart attack. A mind that can balance the necessities of the day with the fantasies of narrative indulgence can better balance itself and withstand the hardships life can throw our way. Even a frugal lifestyle needs some play in the day, some form of entertainment that allows these healthy benefits in without destroying your budget.

The most popular form of modern entertainment takes the form of television. Whether our tastes run to movies, serial episodes either dramatic or comedic, documentaries, or sports, television can provide them all. But the problem for the extremely frugal minded is that since over the air transmission of television waves has ceased, we must think in terms of cable delivery. This is a rather expensive way to get our entertainment. There is also the inherent problem of having to pay for too many channels and programs that we are not interested in and do not want. The most common justification for having cable television in your home is to couple it with a high-speed internet connection.

Don’t try to say that a frugal person doesn’t require the internet, there are just too many ways to learn how to or to make or save some extra money on the web. But the question is, do you really need that high priced cable. DSL runs quite fast enough for just about any internet need. Even an account with only 3 megabytes of download speed can stream video as smoothly as cable transmission.

Now lets look at some of the entertainment possibilities if you give up cable and just go with the internet. If that television experience is what you want, investigate some of the streaming video sites. Some, like Hulu, offer free access to movies and television shows in exchange for looking at the advertisements on their sites. My personal favorite is still Netflix. You can try out a free trial of netflix from offer sites like couponloco.com. While you do not get the absolute newest episode or movie, for a mere $8.00 per month you will still have access to thousands of movies and hundreds of television shows offering multiple season’s worth of entertainment. All the major networks and some of the cable channel networks provide streaming of select current episodes. Sports enthusiasts can find many places where the game is streamed either live or prerecorded.

The DSL connection you get will include a land line phone to go along with that internet connection but you can drop the cell phone and keep in contact with local swap groups, food banks or second-hand shops.

The other, and more old-fashioned form of entertainment a frugal person should indulge in, is books. Your first and largest money leak when seeking entertainment in books is the cost of them. You need to learn patience if you must actually buy books by a special author. Rather than spending $20.00 to $30.00 on a new hardback, wait a while and find it for 50 cents in paperback in a couple of years at the second-hand shop.

You can even avoid the expenditure of that used book if you make it a habit of perusing your local free library. There you can usually find copies of the latest release from your favorite author. You may have to get on the list and wait your turn, but that is usually much quicker and more sure than waiting to see if it turns up in the second-hand shop. Still, there is a potential money leak even using this potentially free resource. You must make the effort to return all books (and DVDs as well) on time. Habitual procrastinators can find themselves spending more in late charges and fees than if they had gone on and bought the book in the first place.

By looking dispassionately at the different ways to bring entertainment into your life, you can find ways to keep this essential facet of life from overtaxing your budget. It also helps train you to keep up with things on a day to day basis.

For the conservative and frugal home owner, any extra help with the required resources to keep it functioning is welcome. It is surprisingly easy and
relatively inexpensive to convert the wind in the eaves into an extra line of electrical energy that comes completely free.

Detailed schematics and parts lists can be found in many places online. YouTube videos follow the creation of functional electricity producing windmills for as little as $150.00 to $200.00. Some even show how to salvage the majority of the parts required to make the windmill and electrical converter. Even if you decide to go completely commercial, kits are available for as little as $1,000.00 that need only be bolted together to be done. There are some very important similarities in all the designs of these  remarkable Do-It-Yourself windmills.

Location is very important when you contemplate harnessing the wind for electricity; you need wind. According to the United States Department of Energy, you need an approximate 12 m.p.h. average wind flow to power an average small generator windmill. If your wind flow is too intermittent to provide continuous current, alternate methods of harnessing other elements would include building a water wheel in a stream or runoff way through your land, or at last resort, onto a stationary exercise bicycle.

Each windmill, of course, has blades made to encourage spin when wind passes by the device. They can be made from such diverse materials as HDPE or PVC piping, or organic materials such as bamboo. After forming the blades you will have to attach them to a hub that can turn on a gear wheel. Each windmill has a tower support that holds the blades of the mill into the breeze. They may be either free-standing or attached to pre-existing structures.

Once you have the blade assembly done you can add a “tail” on the blade. This long piece with its fin helps direct the wind flow into the blades most effectively. An electrical generating motor is the only bit of the windmill assembly that requires major machined parts. The wires off your generator lead down the tower supports and are attached to your converter unit and the storage batteries that are the heart of your wind powered electrical generating system.

A single windmill is easily capable of generating as much as 13 volts of charge. As the load increases beyond this, excess energy is dumped into the battery for later discharge. Do not be under the impression that these small self-made windmills will power all the electrical needs of a modern house. They are designed to supplement existing current for economic savings or as electricity in an environment that is not wired through the utility company.

A couple hundred watts will keep a refrigerator going and maybe a light. You could use it instead for any other small electrical appliance including power hand tools while building a home or shelter far into remote areas. If your total electrical requirements are more than one windmill can provide, the answer is simply to construct a second or even third windmill to increase the available power.

It is possible for large enough systems to produce more current than can be used and can then be sold back to the utility company if you are still hooked into the grid. It is always a possibility that is worth investigating.

Harnessing your own electrical power is a lot easier than you might at first think. Considering the ever increasing rates charged by utility companies, the addition of a self generating system is both practical and frugal. Besides, even if the main power goes out, your private windmill can still give you a light in the dark so long as the wind does blow.

Another quite small and frugal tool that can provide health benefits far beyond the modest monetary savings that can be had, is the grain mill. This simple grinder turns whole grains into flour for baking breads, pastries, and more in the “making it from scratch” kitchens.

While it may seem that flour is cheap and easily available at the grocery store, there are many benefits to avoiding preprocessed and preserved commercial flours. Grain mills are quite affordable and well worth the bit of time spent in creating your own freshly ground whole flour.

Commercial brands are necessarily laced with artificial preservatives just to give it a long enough shelf-life between factory and store. Cumulatively these chemicals can cause long-term damage to the body. There is also the issue of food allergies. There are people allergic to specific grains. Others suffer increasingly from a condition known as celiac disease. Gluten, whether from wheat or the other gluten containing grains like oats or barley, can cause damage to the lining of the small intestines. Not only does it adversely affect your daily health, it can lead to stomach cancers as well.

By milling your own grains you can control what you are putting into your food. Not only will you be subjected to unlisted ingredients or air born contamination from gluten in otherwise gluten-free foods. For those who have food sensitivities, they are usually used to preparing food for themselves. The extra step of milling your flour fresh as you need it is not that excessive and can be well worth the extra effort to achieve such pure and health foods in your diet.

You can add unusual grains or your own enhancements to your diet for the extra nutritional benefits of trace vitamins and minerals. By using whole grains you can add beneficial fibers and other nutrients to your food. You really are what you eat and taking the small extra time to eat cleanly is easily reflected in a more healthy life. Much of the commercially available flour is “enriched.”

This sounds good until you realize that the original nutrients have been bleached out of the flour and replaced by less digestible and absorbable chemicals and minerals.

Since this creates excess starch, the body does not burn it as effectively. By the time you add in the damage this can do to your health, that supposedly cheaper store flour isn’t much of a deal after all.

As a secondary benefit to milling your own grains to avoid commercial additives, is the benefit found in some grains, oats especially, which make a soothing cleanser. Oats can be used to treat eczema and as an exfoliant for the skin, both face and body. By controlling the purity of the grains you use yourself, you can avoid any potential problems.

A small grain mill can easily be included in the compact kitchen of a traveling van or recreational vehicle. The whole grains were easier to preserve while on the road and then the amount of flour needed for any particular meal was ground at the time. A small but adequate grain mill can be found for as little as $150.00 online with any less expensive possibilities on action sites or private sales. The one we had was about the same size as an old-fashion style meat grinder. It even had bolt fasteners to move it to whatever table we found in camp each night.

So long as you make sure to have three basic grinding blades to make course, medium and fine flour textures you will be able to make any bread or pastry necessary for whatever you want to cook. Even moved back in to enjoy civilization again, we still have our old camp grinder attached to the counter in the kitchen since we are stationary right now.

Whether the economy is driving you out of your home or you just want to cut living expenses to the bare bone, going homeless is not a necessity. Some years ago I found myself in the situation that I could afford either a home or a vehicle but not both. The solution I found, which I maintained for five years, was to combine the expense into a van I made into my home.

While it is good if you can get it, a conversion van with all the gimmicks of civilization would have been nice (although quite more expensive than my budget allowed), my wife and I learned to do very well in a simple panel van. This won’t work if you have children. It is not that kids aren’t flexible enough that they may do better at it than you, it’s just that our government will not let you.

The first thing we did when we began our van odyssey was to get rid of all the excess junk we had accumulated in our home. This was mostly through flea marketing and roadside sales but that is for another tale.

For storage areas I wired some cheap metal shelving to one side and fastened strips of paneling across the bottom few inches of each. I got cardboard boxes that fit the shelves and cut the tops off to make bins. Since the “house” would be mobile, this kept all our possessions from flying out at every turn. A futon pallet mattress worked quite well as a bed and had the added benefit of being rolled up during the day and used as a comfortable seat,

For food storage we picked shelf-stable products. Without an electric refrigerator we learned to do with powdered milk and eggs. For short-term storage of perishables on grocery day we had an ice cooler. Meats were mostly canned or jerky. Admittedly, cooking required us stopping somewhere and breaking out a small metal barbeque grill. Charcoal is expensive so I got good at gathering a bit of dead fall wood from the area for fuel.

Water was kept in refillable gallon jugs. We got very good at finding and utilizing public restrooms but for only a couple hundred dollars the more “private” person can find a miniature chemical toilet that would sit in the back of the van. For bathing we sometimes used public showers at gyms and swimming pools and other times just used a wash basin and cloth to keep the dirt down. A camp washer was used to keep us in clean clothes. Living small doesn’t mean you have to live filthy.

We didn’t have to go to sleep with the chickens. A couple of candles worked quite well and much less expensively than battery lights. Now you can find the solar-powered lights that are used to line sidewalks. These are safer and even better light than the old ways.

Insurance on the conversion vans is usually at least twice that of an ordinary panel van. While you had to keep up with local ordinances, an ordinary looking van won’t draw nearly as much attention as a recreational vehicle. There was also the freedom of changing your front yard whenever you wanted.

The biggest disadvantage was the winter time. While moving further South could solve some of this problem you have to be careful. Florida for example has a powerful hotel lobby and has made it illegal to sleep in a vehicle unless it is in a paid RV park or campground.

This type of living arrangement won’t fit everyone but for those who like a slightly more mobile lifestyle it offers greater freedom and less expense. It is much better than having to rely on homeless shelters to keep the rain off your head. Once you get used to it you may not want to go back to house living. I know we stayed on the road in our van for two years longer than our financial fortunes required.

We as a society are subtly trained to believe that the grocery store contains all the food that is fit to eat. Admittedly traditional food crops consist of some of the more common and flavorful plants available. They are not, however, all the tasty and nutritious foods we can find. There is one much maligned and under-appreciated plant that is very healthy, tasty, and probably growing in your own front yard right now. It’s time to look more closely at the fine and tasty dandelion.

The dandelion has been considered the terror of the manicured lawn throughout
Western civilization’s fixation on grassy lawns. Despite their cheerful yellow caps
glowing in the sun, gardeners despise the soft white seed heads and far traveling seed parachutes. The dandelion does grow just about everywhere and in all seasons. This fact was what once made the dandelion so popular among earlier hunter-gatherer societies, the flower-heads are an excellent source of Vitamin A and C, especially useful in the winter when these essential nutrients were hard to find.

The young leaves and shoots make a delicious addition to a salad. Be sure to harvest
only the young leaves as they become bitter when they mature. Be careful when
foraging for dandelions. You must be sure the area has not been sprayed with
pesticides or weed killer. This does eliminate most of suburbia from the hunt but any abandoned waste place or open field should provide an abundance of safe food.

The roots of the dandelion can be dried, roasted and ground up to make a flavorful hot drink. It is usually advertised as a coffee substitute but really it does not taste that much like coffee and there is no caffeine in it. Still dandelion roots blended with chicory roots does come very close. Among the health benefits of dandelion root is choline,
taraxacin (a liver stimulant), insulin (as a sugar) and anti-cholesterol phytosterols. It also contains potash so you do get the same diuretic effect as coffee.

Those beautiful little yellow flowers have several uses. When plucked whole the flower heads can be batter-dipped and deep fried for a flavorful snack. But as with the roots, the flower heads come into their own as a drink. Even if the leaves are too old to use, the yellow centers can be made into a light, citric flavored tea rich in nutrients. As well as the Vitamins A and C, the flowers are one of the best sources of lecithin. Lecithin helps increase aceylcholine in the brain, a nutrient thought to aid memory and focus.
The tea also helps sooth liver problems.

These same flower-heads can also be used to make a very pleasant wine. Whether you use only dandelion flowers for flavoring or a mix with white grapes for a gentler
traditional wine, the golden color looks like sunshine in a bottle.

Medicinally, the humble dandelion provides a number of benefits for those who appreciate it. The milky juice squeezed from the stem of the dandelion flower has been used for centuries. Applied on the skin, it helps to soften and minimize warts and aids in the healing of blisters. Drinking the coffee-like root drink helps rid the body of the hormones and androgens that cause acne flare-ups. Its diuretic effects work without leeching vital potassium from the body. New research shows contains starches and sugars that are easily assimilated by diabetics.

However much you may be frustrated by dandelions growing in your lawn, you can reap many benefits from harvesting them out of a country meadow. Whether you are foraging wild food for frugal reasons or just to inexpensively experience the bounty of nature, you will come to love dandelions more than ever.

Having spent three years living wild in the woodlands close to the Daniel Boone National Forest in Northeast Kentucky, I rediscovered some of the Earth’s bounty that my ancestors survived on. Despite the depredation of the flora and fauna in the region caused by the clear cutting of the forests in the early 20th Century for pig-iron furnaces, a goodly number of edible plants still survive. Mushrooms are still fairly common and are an excellent source of minerals and other trace nutrients necessary for good health.

Realize that before you go ‘shrooming, you need to study the types that are supposed to grow in the area you hunt and take along a good illustrated field guide even then. Always double-check and be sure you know what you are eating since it truly can be a matter of life or death if you make a mistake. But when you know what you are hunting, you can find choice mushrooms that are better than anything you will ever buy in a grocery store.

The most well-known of the wild mushrooms is the morel. Locally known as the “dryland fish” it is mostly found in the spring. The honeycomb-like heads look like little brains sticking up from the leaf-mold and are colored from a golden yellow to tan to dark brown (called black morels). It is very important to thoroughly wash morels as the multitude of folds and crevasses are perfect hiding places for small insects. They are best when they are sliced, breaded and then deep-fried.

If you are lucky enough to have an area rich in morels, you can find eager markets for the ones you have to sell. There is a toxic look-alike (as most edible mushrooms have) that you need to avoid as more than a few will cause gastrointestinal distress and a loss of muscular control, including the cardiac muscles. Of the three ways to distinguish false morels, looking in the stalk is the easiest method. The stalk of a false morel will be filled with a cotton-like substance while a true morel has a hollow stalk.

My personal favorite is the Gem-Studded Puffball! While these choice mushrooms grow less edible the older they get, the heads of the young ones are about as big around as a quarter. They are off-white and the top of the ball is covered in darker bumpy formations that can be easily brushed off to leave a depression in the surface. The interior of the young gem-studded puffballs is a very homogenous spongy material. As it ages this turns yellow and eventually into a liquidy grey-green mass that is totally inedible.

Studies on the nutrient value of these awesome little tidbits show them to be highly nutritious. They contain high amounts of protein, carbohydrates, fatty acids and other micronutrients. The gem studded puffball tastes like the deep woods in early morning smells. Be warned, however, that there are several look-alike species including an immature form of amanita. Study this one well and you will be in for a real treat when you can find them.

It is a matter of personal opinion if the bracket fungi Laetiporus actually tastes like chicken. Its most common moniker is “Chicken of the Woods” and it is prepared and used just like you would chicken meat. Growing in shelves ranging from 2′ to nearly a foot across, the fungus is bright yellow on the bottom and edges with a soft orange top. Young brackets are the most edible with the individual shelves growing more brittle and inedible with time.

This tasty fungus can even be frozen and stored if you are not living electricity-free. Not only can it be cut up and prepared like meat, the bright coloration adds a pleasing aesthetic to your meal when added to rice, soups or stews.

In addition to the nutritional value of the fungus, laboratory tests have shown that Laetiporus is extremely good at inhibiting the growth of Staphylococcus aureus. It is best to start out with a small portion of chicken of the woods as there can be various allergic reactions depending on the type of tree it is growing on. This is most common if found on cedar or eucalyptus trees.

I could go on about more great forest fungi but these three top almost everybody’s lists if they forage wild food in the Eastern woodlands of the USA. They are well worth it to me to use them as an excuse to dive back into the woods even though I do live back in civilization again.

This was a contributor post by Doug.

n addition to saving some money on your food bill, foraging for edible wild plants and mushrooms can have beneficial effects on your sense of personal accomplishment and well-being. We have evolved from hunter-gatherers and the “get back to nature” aspect of this increasingly popular endeavor provides fulfillment of a basic instinct.

There are rules, both common sense and legal, that must be followed before you head out with a gather bag and knife. First, educate yourself about the types of edible plants that can be found in the area you live in. Invest in a couple of good guide books about edible plants and fungi. The Audubon Field Guides are very good although you will want to supplement their information with extra online research to study more pictures and details of your chosen target plants. One excellent source is the http://plants.usda.gov/java/ website. You can also visit Wildman Steve Brill’s website as well. You need to learn what the plants look like at all stages of growth so you can come back for the ones that have not reached the harvestable stage yet.

Never over-harvest regardless of how tasty you may find a plant. Always leave at least half of the standing growth so the population can recover and replenish itself. Also make sure to put the ground back. Fill in holes dug for root crops and replace leaf matter over the area. Make it look as close to undisturbed as possible so the habitat is not damaged and made uninhabitable by the food plants growing there.

Research the laws in your area that cover possible endangered species. There are many places where foraging is prohibited. Few parks or nature preserves allow any removal of plant matter and always get permission before going on to private lands to look for food.

While it makes it harder on the urban forager, never harvest plants near roadways. The constant pollutants emitted from car exhaust settles in the soil and on the plants and thus into anything that consumes them. Avoid other developed or farmed lands as they may have been sprayed with pesticides. Especially avoid areas under power lines. While easier to access, the defoliants used to keep these areas clear are usually toxic to life, both vegetable and animal.

Always keep in mind that there are plants and mushrooms out there that can kill you dead. Despite all the books and information you have learned, play it safe when foraging. “When in doubt – DON’T” is a vital maxim to follow. When you do start eating wild foods you should start with small portions. Keep some of the collected plant matter set back so that if you do have an adverse reaction, it can be more quickly identified and the proper treatment given. Slowly build up to a full portion so that you can monitor the plant’s possible effects on you.

Always be sure to wash and inspect the plant matter you gather for food. While some wild greens can be eaten raw, mushrooms should first be cut open to check for worms or insects and then cooked. Plan your meals according to what is available. You may not be able to create a 100% wild-found meal but when added to other ingredients from your pantry you can enhance your eating experience and absorb nutrients and trace minerals that can be lacking in processed foods.

Wild edible plants are not always unknown species. One example of an under appreciated wild food source is the common dandelion. The young leaves are great in a salad. The flowers (The yellow part removed from the bitter green) make a great lightly flavored tea rich in vitamin C. You can also brew a delicious wine from dandelions. Before long you will quit thinking of dandelions as lawn pests and start salivating over them.

Have you ever been foraging for food?