Hike today, personal wild harvesting philosophy, thoughts, and where this is going to go
I went on a hike for like four hours today. On the hike I thought about this blog. What I was going to do with it. Where it was going to go.
Allow me to start by talking about why I'm a forager. I forage because of health. I forage because I love it. I forage because while harvesting I feel more connected to the world. I feel more connected because I did not grow this. No one else grew this. Nature simply provided it.
A deep idea I have about this, or feeling, or whatever is respect. The few times I have shown and talked to people about this I tell them that the number one rule for me is respect. Respect the land. Respect the plants. Respect the idea that someone else may need to come along harvest. Respect the balance. Respect.
From that I personally thank every plant I take. I may not say it out loud but I always thank it because this plant has just given it's life to me. I don't believe that it has a spirit, but it is alive.
So while I was hiking today a lot of the spring greens were coming up. I sampled numerous things. I nibbled on all things for a good part of the hiking. And I felt good for doing it. I felt alive doing it. I felt more like me.
There was chickweed, wild onion, wild garlic, mustard garlic, clover, violets, and so much more. I also saw patches of day lilies which are a grocery store of edibles. I checked on a lot of my favorite sites to see how they were coming along.
I splashed out into the water of the river and saw watercress. Though I personally am cautious about taking things from that river.
I checked the site where I found giant puffballs last year, it's still too early. I also checked on a hickory stand which contains both sweet and bitter hickories.
This hike was truly getting comfortable again with one of my favorite locations.
Now the 13 of you that follow this right now. I am not an expert. I have been learning about wild edibles for most of my life and I still have a ton more to learn. If you find something I say that is inaccurate please politely tell me also cite where you get your information so I can look it up. I want this to be about sharing. I am weak on edible fungi so if you have a suggestion for that let me know and edible trees but I found a really good book on edible trees that I will be ordering.
Also from time to time I will talk about something I do that many people find reckless. I am not condoning this behavior at all. I am not going to encourage you to do this. What I am talking about is I do sample toxic and poisonous plants from time to time. I never ingest them. I put them in my mouth, chew them, roll it all over my tongue and get a taste for it. Now there are certain plants I won't do this with. Hemlock is one of them. But I'm telling you all right now as my disclaimer I am not encouraging in the least you to sample things that are potentially harmful. I do this because I personally want to know how it tastes in case I accidentally come across that flavor again.
I want this blog to be fun and as I said I want it to be about sharing. I want this to be something to grow with. In the coming weeks I will be updating this more and more. I may also set it up so that people can submit posts in. I'm still thinking on that one. So here we go. Let's do this.