Fall Into Foraging

Autumn in the foothills is a beautiful time of transition from the hot dry summer to the quiet of winter. We enthusiastically welcome the refreshing crisp air, brilliant displays of red, pink, orange and yellow hillsides, and meadows of waving bronze. We think of all the critters great and small who are foraging to prepare for the winter when food becomes scarce, when it is time to settle down in a cozy burrow filled with nuts and seeds and fruits that will sustain them to spring. So what are these critters collecting? If we watch we will see not only what they are harvesting for themselves; we will see what humans traditionally—and still—collect, too.

All through our history humans have relied on foraging. The Salt Lake City Foothills are a cornucopia of fruits, nuts, seeds, roots and herbs that inhabitants and visitors have gathered to supplement their diets and sustain themselves through the winters. Indigenous groups, trappers and pioneers, and diverse visitors today still enjoy this bounty that is fun to find, satisfying to collect, and delicious!

What might you find in City Creek? Watch the forest creatures for hints. Look around and you might see bushes heavy with chokecherries, berries, and trees laden with apples. Look down to see watercress carpeting the edges of streams. In the forests Gambel oaks are bursting with acorns, and maples are spreading “helicopter” seeds on the breeze. Squirrels fill their tummies munching the seeds, and stock their winter pantries “squirreling away” the acorns. And gold finches flock the sages for feasting.

Autumn in the Foothills brings a magnificent display of colors as the sun moves lower in the sky and the warm days are followed by cold nights. We relish this beauty and perfect temperatures. As we notice the crickets’ chirping slowing down in the evenings we are reminded that it is time for us, too, to prepare our own nests for a quieter season. 

By Hilary Jacobs