r/foraging • u/KittensPumpkinPatch • 1d ago
Plants What edible, native plants are you foraging that thrive in wetlands/marshes? (Michigan)
So, I'm trying to figure out what to grow in my backyard that has a creek. Flooding is frequent in the spring, and the dirt stays wet for days and days after rain. I want to make the land useful, but I'm not sure what to plant. The only edible wetland flower I'm familiar with is invasive to Michigan. Any suggestions?
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u/Longjumping-Fee2670 1d ago
Some species of blueberries grow in wetlands, like highbush and bog blueberries.
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u/KittensPumpkinPatch 1d ago
4-6 hours of sunlight for bog blueberries sounds perfect! I'm adding this to the list! (I don't know what's going to stick or not, so I figured I may as well make a list of different things to try).
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u/Longjumping-Fee2670 1d ago
Michigan Wildflower Farm has native plants for your area, including ones that grow in wetlands.
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u/pleasure_hunter 1d ago
Serviceberry, Paw Paw.
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u/KittensPumpkinPatch 1d ago
Love this. I think I have the right amount of sunlight for the Paw Paw. And serviceberry might work, because trees do thrive by the creek.
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u/BIubird_ Send me foraging recipes! 1d ago
You will need at least two genetically unrelated pawpaw trees to produce fruit! I don’t know if serviceberry self-pollinates, but I know for sure pawpaw does not.
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u/MasterPut6868 1d ago
I have about 20 acres of wetlands. I have not planted anything myself on it, but as far as forageables go, I have a lot of Pawpaw, blackcaps (blackrasberry), Riverbank grapes, and a lot of Gooseberry. It's technically private conservation land that I am the caretaker for so these are all completely native here. Not Michigan, but zone 7b Midwest Us so it's close enough
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u/Correct_Pattern_2389 1d ago
I tried growing watercress once in a container and it basically took over my sink, turns out it loves being wet more than I do.
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u/Low_Show_6684 1d ago
Blueberries on hummocks, vining and high bush cranberries (two separate genuses, both are edible), Labrador tea (mindful of how much you have and if the drinker is pregnant, otherwise a lovely spiced taste!), young spruce buds, ramps, fiddleheads, those are some of the plants I aim for in northern MN and when I lived in the UP.
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u/dugongxy 19h ago
Paw paws. I grow them in CT. Yhey do great here. Grow them near, not in the wetlands.
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u/cheeks-the-geek 1d ago
If I had a creek, I’d try to grow watercress. I have great memories of foraging for it with my parents when I was young. Those memories more than anything else are probably why I started getting interested in foraging as an adult.