Yes, You Can Forage in the Winter—Even in Your Backyard

Cold temperatures don’t trap Jesse Akozbek indoors. From his home base in northern Alabama, the wild-food educator behind Feral Foraging gains more from the winter landscape than most do year-round. While the foraging fare dwindles in January and February, most places in the South remain free of snow, and what remains becomes easier to spot and collect.

For those new to foraging, Akozbek recommends starting in your neighborhood and looking for readily available items like kudzu and wild garlic (see a handful of suggestions below). “There’s nothing better than just becoming familiar with the place where you naturally are most of the time,” he says. Akozbek also treks into national forests and preserves, armed with a proper rundown of their foraging rules and his own food-finding app Gather.

He urges others to get out and explore, too, and discover the bounty the colder season has on offer. “The winter calls us to be inside,” Akozbek says. “But I love these other things that draw me outside to go on a walk, to go to a new place.” 

Here are seven of his favorite winter finds in the South that are in reach for beginner foragers.