Destress and reconnect with nature on a foraging trip that feeds both body and soul.
Let Nature Be Your Guide
After the year that’s been, there has never been a more important time to look after your mental wellbeing. Seeking solace in nature helps alleviate stress, and foraging, in particular, is a great way to focus this time outdoors, while also availing of Mother Nature’s bounty. “Foraging is a great way to reconnect with nature,” says Geraldine Kavanagh of Wicklow Wild Foods. “Sometimes we lose that connection from being indoors, using technology, being in our heads too much. In the past, when I was walking I used to spend my time thinking about what I had to do, thinking about problems, but now I find that I become naturally mindful as I walk in nature. I observe what is going on around me, I taste and nibble my way along without thinking. I am completely immersed in the beauty of nature. It is different to gardening, which is also very good for alleviating stress; wild food simply grows, we don’t have to water it, weed it, feed it, we don’t feel responsible if it doesn’t grow or do well, it is out of our control. We simply pick it and eat it gratefully. Also, foraging involves exercise, mostly off the beaten path, in quiet, green spaces, a million miles from the experience we have when we go to the supermarket.”
The growth in popularity of foraging can be linked to its benefits, including exercise and stress relief. It also boosts health through nutrition. “Many of the wild foods we eat are packed with nutrients, trace elements, vitamins, minerals, essential fats, anti-cancer properties, blood and lymph cleansers, natural pain relievers, serotonin boosters, anti-oxidants, allergy relievers, and much much more. All of the wild plants I eat have medicinal properties too, some we are only learning about now as more wild plants are being used in medical research.” Of course, you need to know what you’re doing before you start and a guided walk with an experienced guide is an essential first step. “Don’t eat a wild plant if you are not 100 per cent sure you have correctly identified it,” says Kavanagh. “I spend a good amount of time working on this on my walks.
I want people to know that even the smallest amount of a poisonous plant, a few leaves in some cases, can be fatal.” She also advises harvesting in clean places, away from busy roads, places where dogs are walked or areas sprayed with herbicides. “One of the best places to forage is your own garden. If you have hedgerows, plant native trees such as hawthorn, elder, blackthorn, crab apple, rowan, wild cherry, hazel. Let some of your grass grow, you’ll be surprised what plants - such as pretty wild flowers - emerge. In our own garden when we let the grass grow we found selfheal (a great healing herb), yarrow, red clover, sorrel.
We have a great patch of nettles in the corner (Ireland’s best super food in my opinion!), wild garlic and more.” This season’s harvest is ripe for the taking. “September is a fantastic month to forage, in fact a few years ago I lived entirely on wild foods for almost a week in September, with nuts (hazel, sweet chestnut) for protein, wild mushrooms (chanterelles, porcini, puffballs and field mushrooms are easy for beginners to identify), greens (sorrel), berries (blackberries, wild strawberries, elderberries), fruits (crab apples, sloes, damsons) and roots (dandelion is great for coffee) - there is so much to enjoy. In October you will still find most of these, haws, sloes, crab apples, mushrooms until the frost comes. In November there is less to eat, hopefully you will be enjoying lots of great preserves you have made in September and October: jams, syrups, liqueurs, dried wild mushrooms and herbs for teas, maybe some dandelion root coffee. And your sloe gin should be coming along nicely, a great gift to give at Christmas.
For more information or to book one of Geraldine’s foraging walks, log on to wicklowwildfoods.com for more details.