The Hungry Forager

I'm thrilled to see that people have enjoyed my first book, FORAGING KENTUCKY. The support and outreach since its publication this past April has been more than anything I could've ever imagined. In 2025, I'll be speaking at several events throughout the state of Kentucky to spread the word on foraging for wild foods in your local community and becoming a more aware and pragmatic land steward in the process.

All my best,

George Barnett

Some of our Bestsellers in 2024!

Foxing Books has signed copies of FORAGING KENTUCKY available, support local this Holiday season!

End of year Announcement & Gratitude:

Our 2024 classes ended last week, and I couldn't be happier with how this season went. I figured this would be a good time to reflect on this year and discuss a bit of what the future looks like. 2024 was a big year for me and my family in general. We welcomed our third son into the world on Easter Sunday, my book FORAGING KENTUCKY was published in early April, I turned 32 in July, my oldest son became a teenager in August, I officially broke ground on my tree nursery this autumn (more on that to come in 2025), I’ve began working on a second book, and a fifth year of hosting events for The Hungry Forager came and went. Between the classes and the book events, I was fortunate to meet hundreds of people who share some of the passions I work hard to express and share in my own work. It’s amazing to me that I’ve been able to continue this work with my community, and it’s all thanks to you.

In 2025, our class offerings will be somewhat similar with some of our renowned traditional events such as spring and autumn foraging classes. However, you will notice that several of our event’s dive into not only foraging for wild foods, but will also cover natural history topics, beginner to advanced tree identification, landscape interpretation, and ecological principles. All these components of knowledge when combined makes for one incredibly versed naturalist and/or citizen ecologist. I feel that among my many purposes in life, the ability to bring this material to people in my community is amongst the most important. I will always offer foraging classes for as long as I can, but foraging isn’t the end of our relationship to the natural world. There’s always more to learn and more to contemplate while we inhabit this magical planet. All the classes for 2025 are now posted to our website and are ready to book.

Lastly, on November 2nd at the 43rd Kentucky Book Festival, I’ll be included in a panel alongside Brooks Lamb and Mary Berry, discussing the “The Good Health of the Land”. This will be my final public speaking engagement in 2024 and will likely be the most memorable of the year. I encourage you all to attend, if you can’t, I’ve been told that this panel will be recorded and uploaded onto YouTube. Which I will be sure to share when made available. Thanks again to everyone who has supported my work over the years, it’s a real blessing and one that I don’t take for granted.

All my best,

George Barnett

https://www.thehungryforager.com

Louisville Tree Week starts tomorrow!

We are excited and honored to be a part of this year’s agenda. Come out and see us Thursday for a discussion and book signing with George Barnett author of Foraging Kentucky. And go give a follow to catch all of the events happening this week.

I’m honored to be a part of this panel next month at the 43rd Kentucky Book Festival taking place at with author Brooks Lamb and Merry Berry from / I’m a longtime reader and fan of Mary’s father, Wendell Berry, and have had the chance to read LOVE FOR THE LAND by Brooks and know that this will be a meaningful and engaging conversation.

The book festival is taking place on Saturday November 2nd from 9:30am-5:00pm, where I will have a booth to sign copies of FORAGING KENTUCKY (Brooks will be signing copies of his book at his booth as well). The panel discussion begins at 1:00pm. I hope to see you there!

September and October have been filled with abundance. I hope you are able to get outside and enjoy the many gifts from the heavens.

-George

Bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) acorns are plentiful this year and I'm looking forward to gathering them next month! I'll be planting several dozens and will process many hundreds for food. What is your favorite species of oak?

Titles I have OR have had:

- Forester
- Agroforester
- Backcountry Ranger
- Consulting Arborist
- Horticulturist
- Gardener
- Urban Agriculturist
- Sustainability Consultant

Notes/thoughts on applicant eligibility in these roles:

I have not a single day of college to my name, but a decade of collective experience and a great deal of independent education in all these disciplines listed above. I believe that employers in these fields would do well to conduct an interview with applicants not over a ZOOM call to simply confirm college degrees, but by instead walking into a natural landscape and asking the applicant questions on the identification of plants, and/or by discussing one’s thoughts or opinions on what varying roles of ecology are taking place on the specific landscape. You get the picture here, what do they actually know?

I find there to be a notable issue when someone who has a college degree that can't readily differentiate a maple from a mulberry tree, nor who has any relevant experience, is considered eligible for let's say an arborist or forestry job. I find it increasingly bothersome (and in making my point) when an individual in the exact same applicant pool isn't considered eligible due to not having a degree but having only 4-10 years of feet on the ground experience. How could this be?

I've had several positions over the years that listed a bachelor's degree as a qualifying requirement. Unsurprisingly, during my time in these roles, my worth as a high school graduate never resulted in my performance being less than those who had an unscratched college debt hovering over them. I'm not stating that college isn't worth the education or the experience, but I am stating that it isn't necessary for those who are truly passionate about the fields listed above.

The employers in these fields should take notice of this truth and concern themselves with hiring people that have AN EDUCATION, not a receipt of an education. This entire idea isn't popular to have, much less to share publicly, which is exactly why I've decided to bring it up.

Now is a great time to pick up a copy of my book FORAGING KENTUCKY, the ideal reference guide for folks who are new to foraging for wild foods found in the southeastern region (and elsewhere). With autumn getting closer, equipping yourself with a resource like this will allow you to safely harvest wild foods such as hickory nuts, black walnuts, beechnuts, autumn olives, lion's mane, turkey tail, hen of the wood's, and much more. I've included a link below to find and purchase a copy for yourself.

Ps. They make great gifts too!

Link to FORAGING KENTUCKY:

https://amzn.to/46rkLM4

My summer foraging events ended this week and I'm off to being just another laboring horticulturist again until September. To celebrate my break, I went on a walk this afternoon with my three boys and discovered that American persimmons are coming along nicely here in Kentucky, I'm already looking forward to gathering them come September. Speaking of which, I'll be hosting two autumn foraging workshops this year that currently have several spaces left. On September 22nd, I'll be hosting a "KY tree crops" class and on October 13th, I'll be hosting an "introduction to autumn foraging" class (though both classes will have a bit of overlap of information). During these programs we will discuss and taste autumn delicacies like hen of the woods, lion's mane, persimmons, hickory nuts, acorns, black walnuts, autumn olives, and more.

You can find these events here:

https://www.thehungryforager.com/product/foraging-kentucky-tree-crops-september-22nd-2024

https://www.thehungryforager.com/product/autumn-foraging-october-13th

Phenology report from a walk in the woods (Eastern Kentucky):

July 20th, 2024

-Wood nettle is in flower.
-Waters levels are low.
-Chanterelles are fruiting along floodplain slopes.
-Mayapple fruits are the size of small plums (still hard).
-Black huckleberry on sandstone cliffs and ridge tops are at their peak of this year's fruit production. Fruit varies in firmness, in flavor from sweet to tart, and is uniformly crunchy (due to their 10 seeds).
-Joe-Pye w**d in full sun is standing roughly 9-10' tall.
-Autumn olives are beginning to ripen on ridges in full sun.
-Indigo milk caps are fruiting in uplands dominated by oak (particularly mountain chestnut) and hickory.