Connecticut is home to a wide variety of wild edible plants and medicinal herbs year-round. In spring, look for stinging nettle, greenbriar shoots, and serviceberries. Summer brings elderflower, chanterelle mushrooms, and St. John’s Wort. Fall is ideal for rose hips, sassafras roots, and hickory nuts, while winter offers evergreen barks like wild cherry. With diverse habitats — forests, meadows, wetlands, and field edges — Connecticut is one of the most foraging-rich states in New England.
It might be a small state, but Connecticut is packed with wild edible plants and medicinal herbs. Once you start paying attention, you’ll realize this state is one big apothecary disguised as woods, swamps, meadows, and messy backyards, and you’ll quickly become as obsessed with learning more as I am.
I’ve spent years enjoying the thrill of watching someone’s brain finally make the connection between the flavor of the plant I just asked them to chew on and the flavor of their favorite soda, or handing someone a piece of a plant that has grown in their yard for 20 years and watching their eyes light up when they finally taste the edible part.
Why I Love Foraging in New England
My little corner of northeastern Connecticut’s rich diversity of habitats makes it possible for many plants to thrive in the temperate climate. Here’s a taste of what we’ll find together, season by season:
- Spring: tender greens you can nibble right on the trail
- Summer: fragrant herbs and juicy berries (you’ll taste them, trust me)
- Fall: roots and nuts perfect for hearty foods and deep medicine
- Winter: resinous, bright evergreens and barks that heal your tired lungs
I always encourage people to taste, touch, and smell as we go—because that’s how you actually learn a plant, not by memorizing a photo.
The No-BS Foraging Rules
If you’ve ever been on a walk with me, you know my rules are simple:
- Identify the plant with 100% certainty
- Harvest from clean places (no roadsides or sketchy runoff zones)
- Ask permission before you harvest
- Take only what the land can spare (leave enough for others)
- Don’t yank roots unless the plant is invasive
How to Get Started
Honestly? Step outside. Walk slowly. Look at the edges of things—forest edges, trail edges, fence lines. Connecticut plants love to grow where two habitats meet. Bring a small notebook or just your curiosity. Even beginners will find all sorts of plants. Just don’t put all your trust in Plant ID Apps— they can be faulty. Once you learn a handful of common plants, the land stops feeling mysterious and starts feeling generous.
The list of Connecticut State Forest and Parks will help you find foraging opportunities for wild edible plants and mushrooms.
The Magic Happens When You Learn By Doing
You can’t learn to forage from reading alone. Instead, you learn by getting your hands dirty, popping a wild berry into your mouth, smelling crushed leaves on your fingertips, and turning your finds into real food or medicine — often with an experienced guide who can tell what’s safe and what isn’t. That’s how I teach my foraging students, and that’s how you build confidence — with your senses leading the way.
If you’d like to learn more from me, you can book a private or group Foraging Walk in Connecticut for the near future! I travel throughout the Northeast and teach foraging classes in Connecticut and Rhode Island from the beginning of April through November.
You can also get started by reading my book, Forage and Heal or taking my Foraging Bundle online video class.
BONUS: I just released my new foraged foods cookbook, Wildcrafted Eats!