05/28/2026
Tara Lanich-LaBrie sees wild tastes everywhere. For her, taking a walk in the Boulder foothills is like a shopping trip to a supermarket.
“I’ve already been running around outside, foraging spruce tips this morning. I’m making spruce tip mochi ice cream. It’s a nice, bright flavor,” Lanich-LaBrie says.
She is the author of the 2024 book “Foraged & Grown: Healing, Magical Recipes for Every Season” (Countryman Press), featuring 100 plant-based recipes ranging from Nettle Gnocchi to Hollyhock Wraps using foraged and homegrown ingredients.
“All you need to get started is to know the basic rules. Part of the joy of foraging is that you’re out taking a walk and find food,” she says.
Lanich-LaBrie advises finding a good, illustrated Colorado foraging guide and taking a class with an experienced forager.
“I do not recommend relying on plant ID apps. I’ve found them to be not correct most of the time. You don’t want to poison yourself or anyone else,” she says.
Start foraging in your own backyard
Novice foragers don’t have to travel far to get started.
“If you have one, your own backyard is the best place to begin, unless you’re spraying it with chemicals,” she says.
“Next, I encourage people to become friends with their neighbors. Like when we first moved here from rural New Mexico, I would say to my neighbors: ‘You have a very nice crop of dandelions there, or lilacs, roses and elderflowers. Can I harvest some of them, and I’ll share the preserves or tincture I make from it?’ You just have to ask permission,” she says.
Boulder and Longmont neighborhood alleys are also often full of fruit, herbs and edible flowers.
You can forage within reason on National Forest sites, but foraging of any kind, including mushrooms, is forbidden in all National Parks.
Welcome to Nibbles, Boulder’s weekly food newsletter. Because of the Memorial Day holiday, we’re arriving in your inbox on Wednesday this week. Typically, you’ll find Nibbles every Tuesday for a smorgasbord of Boulder County food and restaurant news, dining tips and cooking hacks. Encourage yo...
