Wild Food & Wild Medicine
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I am convinced that the wave of interest in local flora is not a trend but a kind of knowing. People are slowing shifting from a comfort level with our health care system and realizing a basic understanding of how herbs and local plants can support and heal our bodies may just come in handy.
So, how do you start integrating wild plants into your diet? First, get to know your local plants. Take an herb walk or take a workshop on wild plants (Check out Trillium Herb School's Current Offerings here.) Other options if you’re out of town are a Master Gardeners Clinic or a hike with the Native Plant Society.
Next, start to Eat Your Weeds! Some of the basics of using wild plants is through nutritive plants like Nettles, Dandelion and Chickweed. Add them to your meals and experience how your body reacts to wild plants. Okay, so the Nettle may make you react quickly through its sting! But aside from that , it's great as a steamed green or added to soups or pasta or even smoothies for high iron/high protein addition.
You want to make radical change but you can’t decide where to start? Try this. Be wild, get radical, and add one wild food every day.
Not sure where to start? Easy! Walk outside, pick a dandelion leaf, and nibble your way back to bio-available nutrients. Wanna get crazy? Pick a few evergreen needles and chew the aromatics to open breathing and calm the nervous system.
Want to learn more about the feral foods around you?
Try this exercise to begin your journey with food as medicine.
This exercise is designed to get you tapped into your senses and intuition when working with plants. This will help you continue to be fully present with others, the plants, and yourself.
Pick a wild edible of your choice. Ideally it should be in season. Harvest the wild edible yourself if you have access or visit a farmer’s market or health food store to acquire your new friend. If unable to procure, choose a recipe with spinach or substitute another grocery store plant.
Not sure where to start? Check out the notes below for information on two of my favorite wild foods, Dandelion & Nettle.
Create a recipe based on best seasonality for the wild edible. It’s easy to substitute your wild edible with foods you already cook with. Working with a green, leafy edible? Use it instead of spinach or kale.
Make the recipe. Tap into your five senses while you work with the plant. What scents, taste, touch, sight, or even sounds were of note?
Bonus points for using the five senses while harvesting!
Journal or take note of senses and any intuition or feelings that arise. How’s the finished product? How was the process similar or different from your everyday cooking experience?
Pay attention to any feelings or thoughts that come the day(s) you eat your wild plant recipe. Feel a boost of energy? A sense of calm? Accomplished? Did it taste good or bad? Never want to eat that again? No wrong answers here.
If you wish, journal some steps you can take to implement more wild edibles into your diet.
Not sure what plant to start with?
Here’s some food for thought about two of my favorite common, wild foods.
Dandelion. Taraxacum officinale
What's so hot about dandelion? Well, first off, your liver! Heat in the liver is common in spring when we enter into the time of year that everything is rising, moving and growing so fast. Sometimes we have a hard time keeping up with the energy and heat develops in our body. Heat symptoms in the hepatic (liver) region could manifest as headache, unexplained anger, "hot temper", skin eruptions, red inflamed eyes and muscle stiffness.
Dandelion to the rescue! Dandelion is waking up all around us. The greens in early spring are cooling, tasty and have a pleasant bitterness to the palate. Add them to salads, make pesto, nibble on them while gardening or walking in the neighbourhood. They are everywhere!If you have an abundance of dandelions, harvest the roots for a quick super food to support your liver health. Sauté with a bit of olive oil, onion, garlic and your choice of veggies and add to brown rice for a quick and nourishing dinner. Or decoct the roots fresh by chopping the root and making a strong tea - add one handful of root to 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the water is reduced by half.
Not sure dandelion is for you? Trust your taste buds! Your body knows if dandelion is your ally.
Find some young dandelions and pick off a fresh leaf from a plant that looks inviting to you. How does it taste? Is it pleasant? Does it seem nourishing? After you have chewed the leaf, allow it to settle in your body. How does that feel? Where did the plants energy go? Your head, your belly, your little toe? Remember, there are no wrong answers!
Ultimately, your innate understanding of plants will guide you to an understanding of dandelion and how it can and will support you through the season of Spring.
Nettle, Urtica dioica
Need another option on your wild food /wild medicine quest? Nettles are emerging and soon will be everywhere! Nutrient-rich nettle is the ultimate super food and spring tonic. Check out this list of super star nutrients available in nettle: Iron, Magnesium, Calcium, Vitamins A, C, K, B, amino acids, fiber, and nettle is one of the most protein rich wild greens on the planet!
System Affinities of nettle are just as plentiful as its nurtrients. That makes sense, right? Immune system, urinary tract, respiratory tract, digestion system, adrenals all are supported and strengthened by our friend, Nettle.
Harvest Nettle leaf newly emerging in spring for wild food recipes such as pesto, salts, soups, pot herb, veggie dishes. The flavor this time of year through March is at its optimum, even the sting is reduced!
Erin, this Step-by-Step stuff isn’t my jam. I want a quick fix! What do I do?
I’ve got an answer for you, my friend! Here’s what you do: find a dandelion plant. Eat three to five leaves every day for a month when they start to show up in your neighborhood (Spring is a great time to start!.) The dandelion is one of our most mineral rich plants and is a great ally as we move toward spring.
And remember- Wild foods DO bring wild thoughts. Hooray for wild foods!
How’d your Wild Food explorations go? Comment below.
With Wild Food Love, Erin