An Embarrassing Foraging Story

Many years ago, I became obsessed with finding wild cranberries. At the time, I had only read about wild cranberries in foraging books. I had never seen a single cranberry in the wild.

On my quest to find wild cranberries, I somehow ended up in northern Pennsylvania. A friend told me that a bog existed several miles north of I-80. “You can’t miss it,” my friend said. When I arrived at the location and stepped out of my car, all I could see was a deciduous forest.

“A bog must be in there somewhere,” I thought. Rather than consult a map, I immediately hopped on a trail leading into the woods.

A closed-canopy forest surrounded me for many miles. Large trees prevented sunlight from reaching the understory. The forest exuded dark beauty, but it lacked wild cranberries.

I continued walking deeper into the forest, constantly scanning the ground for wild cranberries. No luck.

Hours passed before a realization dawned on me. Earlier in the day, I saw an extensive opening in the forest. It was way off in the distance near the beginning of the trail. Unfamiliar with bogs, I thought the opening might’ve been a field or a meadow, so I ignored it. Several hours later, I realized my amateur mistake. Could the opening have been a bog?

With daylight fading fast, I headed back toward the opening and eventually walked into a sphagnum-rich ecosystem bursting with wild cranberries. “So this is a bog,” I thought to myself. “How could I have overlooked this?”

In hindsight, it’s easy to see how I missed the bog. I had no idea that a bog was an open habitat. I had no idea that finding a bog in a forest could be as simple as looking for light.

Today, I see things a bit differently. I certainly don’t consider myself to be an expert forager, but I understand the importance of developing ecological literacy — something that specialists often disregard.

To improve any outdoor skill — foraging, botanizing, birding, hunting — it’s essential that we learn the ecosystems in which our desired organisms live. I’m not sure why ecological thinking is undervalued today, but I decided to do something about it.

Exploring Wild Ecosystems is my newest online course designed to help you gain ecological literacy. If you want to be able to read landscapes more effectively, consider enrolling today. Enrollment is currently open until Monday, September 30.

To learn more, and to register, click here.

I hope to see you in there!

—Adam Haritan

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Exploring Wild Ecosystems — New online course coming this spring!

There’s a hidden benefit to joining nature clubs that few people discuss. Once gained, this benefit can be wasted if you don’t take action on it. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, let me explain.

Early on, I realized that an easy way to learn mushrooms is to join a mushroom club. An easy way to learn plants is to join a botanical club. This is true for nearly any skill that can be taught. Join an organization and participate in its activities.

This sounds pretty obvious, but what is the hidden benefit that I mentioned earlier?

The hidden benefit is this: Nature clubs often take you to places that you’ve never been to before. A botanical club might botanize a rare northern white-cedar fen. A mushroom club might explore a remote red spruce forest.

The reason I call it a “hidden” benefit is this: many nature clubs never mention it. In fact, some nature clubs never draw attention to the place itself. Instead, they devote their attention solely to an isolated group of organisms that inhabit the place.

Now of course, organisms are vital components of a place, and we must learn them. But the place itself, and the relationships that build the place, are things we also must learn if we are to improve our ecological literacy.

What is this place? Why does it look like this? Who is responsible for its existence? How is this place any different from other places with similar names?

If we don’t ask these questions, we fail to see how any of its organisms are connected. If we don’t see the connections, we don’t see the place. If we don’t see the place, we act in strange ways — almost like hungry people who taste only ingredients, but not the meal itself.

All this to say, I decided to bring awareness to this issue by creating a new online course devoted to this topic. Exploring Wild Ecosystems is an educational resource I spent all of 2023 creating. I am excited to announce that it will be released in May.

If you want to improve your ecological literacy while studying fascinating ecosystems (alvars, barrens, bogs, glades, prairies, swamps, and more), consider joining the notification list.

I’ll have more information to share in the upcoming weeks.

Thanks for your support!
—Adam Haritan