Hello everyone!
My name is Julian, and I live in Nelson. As you can see by my username I really enjoy foraging, especially in families like Lamaceae, Asteraceae, Plantaginaceae, and Amaranthaceae. I was wondering whether there is anyone else in Nelson who like to meet up to forage together, perhaps at Branford Park. If so, please reply to this post.
Cheers,
Julian.
Hi Julian!
Most iNaturalist users aren’t on the iNat Forum, so you’ll probably have better luck connecting with local foragers by watching for observations of the plants you’re interested in, and reaching out to those observers directly on iNaturalist. People might be happy to chat when you comment on their observations or help them with identifications! At the moment, it looks like you only have one identification for others.
It also helps you if you add your location to your profile on the iNat Forum. There are a few “Nelsons” around the world, so making your location more clear will help you connect with local foragers.
As a heads-up, iNaturalist isn’t primarily a foraging platform, although some people do use it to learn about edible plants. As long as your focus stays on documenting your interactions with wild organisms, you’re within the spirit of the site, but just know that some people might frown upon certain types of harvesting, as they might have had bad experiences with poaching etc.
I hope you find some fellow foragers in your area. Your plant family list suggests that you know what you’re doing!
Based on the location of observations, this particular Nelson is at the north end of the South Island of New Zealand.
Please be extremely cautious about using iNaturalist or Seek to ID plants that you aren’t intimately familiar with. Foraging can be dangerous if you’re not careful.
Also, you might not want to reveal your location too precisely, for your own safety, but that’s a personal choice. You can obscure locations or upload new observations after you have departed a location, if it helps.
Thank you for the tip!
I take a lot of caution when foraging so don’t worry - I won’t use iNaturalist as a foraging hub.
Thank you though.
Cheers,
Julian.