How to Forage Free Food in Your Own Backyard!

Today I'm in a random backyard in Southern France to demonstrate to YOU how to forage in your own yard (or any yard near you). I'm introducing you to plants that are growing freely and abundantly all around us. Plants that others see as weeds, but with this video you'll learn that you can eat the weeds! After learning that these plants are often more nutritious and delicious than many of the foods that you buy at the store, you may never look at a yard the same.
Your backyard is likely to be a source of nutritious, medicinal and delicious plants.
For foraging resources visit www.robingreenfield.org/foraging
Filmed by Brieuc Agnus
Edited by Daniel Saddleton
Robin Greenfield is a truth-seeker, activist, social reformer and servant to Earth, humanity and our plant and animal relatives. He lives simply and sustainably to be the change he wishes to see in the world. Through living closely connected to Earth, he rejects the status quo of consumerism and demonstrates a way of being in gratitude, mindfulness and presence. His life is an experiment with truth and integrity.
Robin’s public activism involves dramatic actions designed to provoke critical thought, self-reflection and positive change. His activism creates nuanced conversations on the critical issues of our time, with a focus on solutions for living in harmony.
His life’s work has been covered by media worldwide and he has been named “The Robin Hood of Modern Times” by France 2 TV and “The Forrest Gump of Ecology”.
Robin has committed to earning below the federal poverty threshold for life and donates 100% of his media earnings to grassroots nonprofits, with a focus on supporting Black and Indigenous women-led organizations.
This channel is a resource for all who seek to liberate themselves, to live in truth and integrity, and to live in harmony with Earth, humanity and the plants and animals we share this home with.
Robin Greenfield and Dear Friends share means of achieving liberation and harmony through sustainable living, simple living, tiny house living, foraging, growing food and medicine, minimalism, zero waste, earth-skills, food sovereignty, community resilience, compassionate communication, activism, Black Liberation, Indigenous Sovereignty and living in service.
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Robin Greenfield’s work is offered as a gift to the public domain. This content is Creative Commons and is free to be copied, republished and redistributed. Learn about Creative Commons and follow the guidelines here: www.robingreenfield.org/creat...
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[@Robin.Greenfield]

For foraging resources and to find a forager near you visit: www.robgreenfield.org/foraging

[@posiden72_9]

You could make this a series and do it as you travel call it forage around the word or something!!! It’s pretty fun to watch and learn

[@tracysteele6698]

Have you ever foraged in the desert? I live the high desert in Nevada, wonder what we have around here

[@annawu9540]

Check out garlic mustard, another good wild edible vegetable.

[@thebotanicalfetishist]

Rob, The plant at 5:43 is called garlic mustard. It is an edible weed that spreads like wild fire. The name comes from how it tastes. Enjoy! 😊

[@Robin.Greenfield]

Wonderful! I will be looking into this today. Thank you!

[@magischepflanzen758]

@@Robin.Greenfield That one grows everywhere in Germany, too. I love it. The roots can be used as a horse raddish substitute, the leaves are great for a salad (if cooked, they lose their taste) & the seeds are very intensely hot & mustard-like. They can be crushed & made to a paste, as a great mustard alternative.

[@ashleytewksbury1751]

Ah I was thinking that was garlic mustard! I have a ton of it in my yard, looking forward to trying it!

[@MarysMakesandMends]

Yes! I usually make a pesto sauce with garlic mustard and some walnuts, very delicious!

[@baddriversofcolga]

Yup, it's a terribly invasive species in the U.S. so the more of it that people eat the better.

[@rharrington8669]

It's amazing that there's food everywhere. We should all know how to get it

[@jdbjoshua]

Right after the dandy-lion when you were showing the sorrow you are almost stepping on the malva, the seed pods taste like okra, the leaves are great in a salad or stir fried

[@erwieherb3687]

Really good video, thank you! A few more things: 1. Raw nettle is one of the best thing in the world! Just mix it with some oil and vinegar and if you toss it enough, it will break all the stinging hair and it won't sting anymore :) Also if you pick it in the sense of the hair, from stem to top, it won't sting you. 2. The plant at 5:43 is garlic mustard, it is edible, but the big ones are really bitter. It is a biennial plant and the one-year old plant is way better than the second one. You can eat the leaves, they taste (and smell) like garlic. 3. The acorn from most oaks in Europe, you need to boil it and change 5 times the water to remove the tannin (soft poison) in order to eat it. Than you can use it as a flour :) (there is an oak that makes ready-to-eat acorn but I've never seen it) 4. 14:33 You can also eat daisy, the leaves and the flower :) 5. 16:20 it is red dead-nettle, also edible, but more to use as a spice as it has a really strong taste. The flowers are a nice decoration and are a bit sweet :)

[@leahv.2537]

Hi Rob, thanks for pointing out that plant in the mint family. I just looked it up it's called purple deadnettle and there's a TON of it all over my yard!

[@erikeparsels]

I noticed that one of the plants you looked at that you said you wanted to learn more about looks like garlic mustard. It has sort of toothed heart-shaped leaves and sends up a stalk with little white flowers. It's a native of Europe that has naturalized widely in the US because the colonists brought it over for their kitchen gardens. I've got a ton of it growing in my back yard in western North Carolina. It's generally listed as a pot-herb.

[@healingecosystems]

Cleavers are great for making pesto - the food processor will smooth out the rough texture. Also great for tea & tincturing - helps move the lymph system along and clean the body

[@theclumsyprepper]

The one you called cleaver (?) is called chickweed in Ireland. Makes fabulous pesto and you can also eat it raw on salads or steam it. Has to be really young though, before flowering or it gets tough.

[@epicerielegarde-manger1589]

Really good video. We use the stingy nettle to make Quiches, you just need to quickly boil the top leaves to stopthe the sting. We can also use it to maje jam or beer 😋

[@tinwhistle4367]

You're a star.. Am letting my field grow wild with some edible trees and bushes.. Just love the Nature so much

[@planetwalker798]

Tin Whistle me too. not servicing the lawn - letting it “rewild” ! Yes- local and given from God.

[@aviah6620]

Thanks for sharing! It is also good to mention that it’s very important to leave some of the flowers for the bees and insects. Especially it is critical in early spring. Please, don’t pick wild flowers just to smell them or put them in a vase!

[@DeonBraun]

Howzit Rob! Agree that lambsquarter is an amazing leaf plant, with a unique savoury, meaty taste. I had several plants producing regular crops in my garden this year. Greetings to you and all foragers worldwide from a locked-down South Africa!

[@astasaidak7736]

Yes! This is exactly what I want more of! Love it! Excited to see more free edible foods! Maybe recipes with those foods would be cool too!

[@TheNymphillon]

Hi, Here in belgium we make soups with stinging nettles, also some mix dandelion leaves in there coffee. Thank you for all the time you spent in this great videos. Coralie

[@healingecosystems]

Hey Rob, great content always. That second plant you refer to as sorrel is curly dock (Rumex crispus), sorrel could be a common name in some places but is very broad. Dock leaves, flower shoots, seeds and roots are used for food/medicine. Thanks and keep it coming

[@shreshthmohan]

Lamb's quarter is called Bathua in Northern India and we make delicious raita (yogurt dip) with boiled leaves of Lamb"s quarter. :)

[@dailinh4104]

Truly amazing what you are doing! During these times where I have more time, I'm planning to learn a thing or two from you and start my own garden :D

[@judyevans6074]

We have a narrow leaf variety of plantain here in the desert of central New Mexico. We use it as a tea for soothing sore throats, and I add it to my mixed greens salads. It looks identical to the variety you were checking out. When I lived in Denver, we had both the broad leaf variety near streams and other watery areas and the narrow leaf in dryer areas.

[@bobbilynngibson302]

Thank you........that really helps a great deal. I experience doubt and fear identifying plants. Your video helped me with confidence. Many you mentioned were ones I've been puzzling over. The wood sorrel, dandelion look a likes, nettle, plantain-i thought was a banana 🤷‍♀️. Thank you again. I've been trying to explore and I think I've found a nettle in my yard and WAS EXCITED about it. Lol! People think I'm crazy but I know it's so nutritious. But I havent been certain what the plant us. I'll go try your method. 5hank you for the resource. I'm so happy about this. I've been able to use the Mallow plant in several ways too. Roots for throat meds, leaves and little cheeseheads in salad, and I pickled a jar of cheeseheads as capers to go on my salad. Thanks for promoting.

[@DelphineHUGUEL]

I live in France and know many of these plants because I played with them in my childhood, but didn't know most of these were edible ! Gonna try to identify the plants in my backyard and behind it (there's a unused communal land out there)

[@quiverfullmomma137]

We love wood sorow, my kids call it snake food. Dandelion, plantain, goldenrod and nettle are my go to for so many thing. Thank you for so much info and for teaching so many to forage

[@PierreMiniggio]

Thanks a lot for this video. This is the kind of vegetation that will be around me when ever I'll get a field to settle on (I live in the south of France). So that will help me a lot :P

[@pointlessvideomen]

16:23 I think thats purple deadnettle (in the mint family)!

[@nototrafficking]

I love love everything about this video. Food and lots of food everywhere and it’s free! 😍😍😍

[@Happy-lk9yr]

I'm in Love with plants that meet those 3 criteria: Edible,medicinal and Loved By insects,dandelion IS a good exemple 🌱💚🐝🐝🐝

[@CRHall-ud9mq]

Thanks for this video Rob. Dandelion, my birth plant :-) and favourite, flowers can make dandelion honey using organic natural sugar (actually, I'm keen to also try with a healthy/healthier sugar alternative, and/or considering method is key to culinary success with any dish). Dandelion roots can make a coffee when gently roasted, and not treated, but fresh or gently dried are remarkably medicinal and protective for lymph system, liver, and water system too, said to be anti-tumour. Leaves are a great vegetable (considering everything in moderation).

[@LeavilC]

For everyone now thinking you can forage buttercups for consumption... please dont they are poisonous. ( i know you only picked them up and smelled it, but you never know)

[@juliebuhite3723]

Good to know. Thanks!

[@VampguyN85]

Don't forget to hold a buttercup under your chin. But don't eat it.

[@noah786]

Thanks, this is great. Looking forward to more foraging with you.

[@gretakittok9512]

Thank you for this foraging video!!

[@sophievandenkerchove1577]

Hi Rob! Awesome you're discovering the wild foods of Europe! You've been passing garlic mustard (with the white flower) a lot, which is a beautiful edible - I use it for making pestos. Weaner (has a yellow flower and grows in more humid places) is I think the one you have been showing and recognizing as a plant you know from Florida, which is also an edible.. The square one with purple color could be prunella vulgaris, which is an edible indeed. Stinging nettles seeds are great source of proteine too, and you can make great rope from the nettles. Another one is wild strawberry leaves, they are great for medicinal tea.. And daisies are great in salads.

[@PITTMAN277]

Im very thankful for you! May Yah bless you!

[@kplg6]

Love watching your foraging videos! I feel like there's so much to learn from our surroundings! :)

[@joshuagolembiewski5383]

Rob, you are one of my spirit animals. I love you man!

[@Zpayne]

Love your videos and energy thank you for all the positivity and education 💚

[@LhistoireDeWill]

Thank you Rob! You are an inspiration!

[@greenwoman3424]

Rob, I thought I spied something in the mallow family as the camera went over the ground, somewhere near the first several plants you were showing. Mallow is an edible and medicinal plant as well. And cleavers(Gallium sp.) is one of my dearest herbal allies! After it gets sticky you can still harvest it and make a tea from it. It has incredible lymphatic support qualities. And you may want to look into trying the young shoots of the berry plants, outer skin peeled back, the inner is tender and can be eaten much like asparagus! Don’t you just love the adventure of discovery that plants give us!?

[@mahendran412]

You are brilliant rob

[@MrBrotherEarth]

The plant with the white flowers is garlic mustard. You can tell by its hot mustardy taste. It makes great pesto. The purple flowered plant is purple deadnettle, in the mint family and closely related to henbit. Most of the plants you showed grow in my area in Maryland.

[@Blessing927NJ]

Really loved watching it!

[@rosbegitano16]

Thank you Rob I love all your videos!!!!

[@ianaycock1370]

Love ya Rob, keep up the good work

[@ASerreCoggins]

So happy you are in France. Will go to Provence as soon as the confinement is finished. I am near Genève on the french side

[@thirdygambalan519]

You are an inspiration, Sir!

[@isabellezablocki7447]

I am from France. I have no idea of the name for lambsquarter in French. Stinging nettle = Ortie. The yellow flowers you picked are called "Boutons d'or" (golden buttons). France countryside is so nice around Toulouse.

[@NormanAllan53]

Wow ! Leaned more in minutes compared to a whole life trimming my back yard. Thanks.

[@oikoslove]

Thanks you, Rob💗💗💗

[@sueyoung2115]

Hi Rob! Great video. These days, when everything is expensive and not always very fresh, it's worth knowing some basic weeds to forage.

[@BingBangBooKangarooStudios]

Great stuff! I love bush tucker! Puha is my favourite. 😊

[@renate4198]

Wow, great. Thanks you! Like to learn more about foraging!

[@wordsbymaribeja1470]

I live in London, UK, while on my daily ration of exercise I found some wild garlic and picked a bunch, I'll go back when I finish it. There are a few spots near me that I knew wild garlic grew but this was a new area was a pleasant surprise. I really want to try dandelion but I can't find a spot where I'm confident dogs haven't cocked the leg and released themselves.

[@lovingdeanthegodmachine5622]

You can always rinse it and boil it into a tea if your scared of a lil pee or poo!

[@Robin.Greenfield]

Just wash the dandelion. Nature urinates. It' s ok.

[@wordsbymaribeja1470]

@@lovingdeanthegodmachine5622 I'm not confident a "rinse" will do the job 😁

[@wordsbymaribeja1470]

@@Robin.Greenfield 😂😂

[@magischepflanzen758]

I like to eat nettle raw, I just rub the leaves in between my fingers, so that the stinging hairs snap. To make a salad with it, I wash the leaves & rub them against the strainer.

[@niamtsevxeemlaujlauj5003]

The green plant with tiny white flower is edible and nutritious and its seeds are used to make brownish noodles. The one that you discover in Netherlands is edible and it's red/orange roots are good medicine for menstruation problem for women.

[@pablodubourdieu1870]

great video 👏👏 i live in toulouse and if you rub the lanceolate plantain leaves on your skin it removes nettle burns almost instantly, besides you can eat the raw nettle leaves by folding them so that the upper part (or there are the quills) is inside, but I advise you to eat the most haired leaves because deer and foxes urinate on those at the bottom

[@tanyapineda7212]

Pretty sure the plant with the little purple flowers @16 when you're talking about the onions is purple dead nettle. My daughter & I found some foraging dandelion the other day & started learning about it :).

[@bobotten9085]

Hey Rob, I'm pretty sure I saw some 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧 behind you as well. It's a very common weed in Europe that's used medicinally and as spinach. It tastes similar to parsley. Thanks for this video.

[@marcelobarefoot3549]

Great class, my friend!

[@Sanips]

Good video! On 16:20 it’s Lamium purpureum, edible weed.

[@annawu9540]

Hi Rob! Love to watch your videos. In this video I saw a lots of Garlic mustard around you, and your didn't mention. They are very good wild edible vegetable too.

[@justTJRoots]

Hey Rob, The plant with the white flowers and the nettle shaped leaves is called "Jack by hedge" or "Garlic Mustard" here in the UK. The flowers and leaves are edible and it has a spicy garlicy flavour.

[@Robin.Greenfield]

I had a feeling it was edible. I will look more into it tomorrow!

[@helencorry2104]

Yes I spotted the Jack By The Hedge too!!xx

[@joycesumer6073]

Hi, I'm from NE India, Shillong. We enjoy eating most of those plants you've introduced with mash potato.

[@DeterminedDIYer]

I started a couple aeropods in my house with salad greens, and herbs. Then I planted some tomatoes and cucumbers on my deck in a raised bed. and a strawberry plant. I have a lot of those plants in my yard but I wouldn't eat them because my dogs pee and poo back there haha. Maybe the front yard though!

[@hey_iam_harshita]

I am from india i like gardening i am all time watching these plant in our field and some of them is used like a vegetable which is called in india sag o love your videoes

[@samtheoutdoor]

Hey Rob, I the nature is reclaiming the farm chair behind ya.

[@KAKALaundryKh]

Good to share 👍👍🏻 I really like your vids 7 Thanks ❤️❤️🙏🙏🙏

[@HaphazardHomestead]

I eat quite a bit of Cleavers (Galium aparine). It's sticky from the time it's only a microgreen, even an inch high with its first set of true leaves in that distinctive whorl. I'll eat it as it gets bigger and bigger. But eventually the stems take up too much silica from the soil and there's no amount of cooking that makes it tender. But the growing tips are good even then. There's so much to eat out there, so much.

[@pablodubourdieu1870]

I think that after confinement you should go to around Nogaro in the Gers in the south of france there are a lot of trees and medicinal plants that taste good

[@rhondabajan7809]

Omg. You are so brave to touch and pick nettle with your bare hands. I pick nettle (wearing gloves 😀) from my backyard most mornings and make the most delicious tea. Thank you for this video, and especially for including nettle.

[@Robin.Greenfield]

Try just touching it with your hand a tiny bit more each day and you will get used to it. I love the tingle.

[@ingeleonora-denouden6222]

You are right, Rob. I pick stinging nettles since my youth, with bare hands, and I am used to the itchy feel of it. I like it as a vegetable, in soup or stew.

[@ajaydraper8667]

you're like a wise ol medicine man, voice of knowledge lol. thank you so much

[@hallief9082]

The plant you saw at 16:21 was deadnettle I believe! There was so much of it on a farm I lived on, I was so enamored with it

[@cupofcappuccino8139]

This is really interesting

[@bevcandelario1035]

nice backyard 😀

[@Happy-lk9yr]

Young yarrow leaves are Tender and are good in a Mixed salad in spring💚🐝

[@sabineandra1710]

Greatttt, as I live in North of Spain, the surroundings look very similar !!

[@Robin.Greenfield]

Yes, absolutely!

[@kathyhenry8932]

Shalom ( Hello ) Rob. My name is Kathy I live in West Virginia. I too like to get out in my yard and forage. You commented in the fielded on the plant that is in the ment family that you didn't know what the name of the plant was. It has little purple or blue flowers on it and has kind of heart shape leaves or arrow shaped. It is called purple Dead Nettle. Usely when you find it growing you will some times find a plant called Hinbit growing side by side. It has a little blue flower but the leaves are not spear point shape, or arrow, or heart like leaves. They kinda look like a mitten and the st in is red. I too don't know all of the plants that we can eat out of out yards but love to get out and have a batch out fresh greens. I hope that I was of some help. Thanks for shearing and be safe. Kathy from West Virginia

[@tracyvernon2426]

I'm so pleased you are doing foraging videos!! That plant you spotted earlier with the tiny white flowers is all over the uk and that one that sticks to you,has it got tiny little round things on it? We used to have a dog and he always came back covered in them lol. Can't wait for the next video :)

[@gingermarie1760]

Thank you!

[@nouseforaname182]

Next to the dandelions was a species of "mellow", related to "marshmellow" (what marshmellows originally were made of) Also from what I've read people ised to make a tea out of cleavers to cool down after a hot day. The unknown "mint" may be "catnip" (also a mint).

[@carlymaher8581]

"If you've ever mowed your lawn and smelled onions, it's because you're mowing onions" - Rob Greenfield. lmao Idk why but everything in this video is cracking me up ;D

[@wildedibles819]

Your right on the plantain just like celery strings lol...I get more of these than plantago major

[@honeykai8274]

Your personality is so adorable and cute!

[@rinpuiitlau2414]

13:41 we ate that bitter leaf 🍃 a lot, it tasted really good as a salad mixing with peanut 🥜 and red onion 🧅 with a bit salt 😋 and we believe that it’s healthy

[@jimwilleford6140]

Rinpuii Tlau Sounds delicious.

[@frankkrischick3906]

@5:45 this plant is called mustard garlic , during the spring month it tasted like cabbage and onion with a hint of garlic while slightly bitter but in the later summer period it doesn't taste so well. The clevers need to be slightly coocked but the best is you need to find it in a young state because the older ones get woody and stick in your throat and then it is commonly too late to pick them , lest you only use the leaves. To me they are very good to eat so i cock them well

[@bingochea05200221]

Cleaver and mustard mostly they use for salad, watching you from taiwan and I have done subscribes

[@scarlettvi4642]

Love your videos! And nice to see some european plants!

[@treesagreen4191]

If you want to learn the French names, there is a guy who has a French foraging KZbin channel. It's called le chemin de la nature. He forages in and around Paris.

[@olderrol1968]

Thank you

[@Yeshuaschosen]

Greens picked in the shade are usually less bitter . If the plant has thick dark stems you can strip off the leaves and only eat them.

[@fotyfar]

Pleasant brave guy, thank u :)

[@wildedibles819]

The herb by the onion is dead nettles with purple colored leaves kinda

[@matthewsherriff-growingfoo3110]

I usually leave some nettle for the bees, they seem to love thie big purple flowers

[@juditheilebro1886]

The one with small white flowers is garlic mustard. you can eat the whole thing, flowers, leaves, stem and roots, and it is (according to a swedish foraging site) rich in magnesium, kalcium and protein.

[@Robin.Greenfield]

I will be looking into this today. Thank you!

[@rafflesiaarnoldiifaniguess9426]

16:20 that is deadnettle, specifically purple deadnettle. pretty nutrient rich. good for tea and salads.

[@jacquec9768]

For those first eating wild the dandelion is less bitter if eaten before flowering or if soaked over night in salt water.

[@raycordero9214]

Hey Rob I’m a beginner in Gardening I own property in Okeechobee Florida I listen to your videos to get ideas that are very helpful to start my farm land and I want to thank you I’m Puerto Rican I watch your videos and I never heard you say nothing about el Dulce de Lechoza is a desert that’s made from green papaya you would love it look it up let me know what you think after I’m sure you would make a video out of it let know thanks

[@posiden72_9]

We have a version of that cleaver plant but it grows on the ground like a vine and sprouts white flowers the problem is it’s sticky from the moment it sprouts so idk if it’s edible but it grows super fast also some peeps are allergic to stinging nettle so be carful

[@pablodubourdieu1870]

You can also prepare the paquerettes buds with vinegar like capers

[@MrBugman2525]

I eat the dandelion flower and use the flowers for a tea,you reminds me of cody lundine

[@Green.Country.Agroforestry]

Hey there, Rob! the plant you encountered at 16:29 is called Lamium Purpurea, or Purple dead nettle. It is often found growing next to its close relative Lamium Amplexicaule, or Henbit .. both are edible - and good for early season pollinators!

[@tanyapineda7212]

I have a question about raspberry plants. We are blessed with many in our new yard & they have a lot of new leaves. Is there a best time to pick the leaves for tea, how best to dry & preserve them & does picking the leaves encourage more fruit production? Thank you, love your channel🙏🏼💚