A Simple Way to Taste the Wisdom of A Place

Eat Me and Learn My Secrets…

Anika holds some Linden leaves in the photo above – it was soon made into soup and pesto, but just nibbling a leaf as you walk on your way is fine… and beautiful.

I was thinking the other day, how little we eat of the food we grow around us. I mean, the food that grows wild, the real food that belongs to this place. Food that has the vibrations and DNA peculiar to this small spot, where ever it may be on this Earth, that we call home.

I think if we are to heal ourselves, or simply to feel at ease in the cities and towns that we call home, we would do well to eat food that we “belong to,” rather than imported food, even if is it branded as organic, raw or a “super-food.” Even ‘local’ food that is grown 50km away is not so local as the wild food at your feet.  You can harvest this wild food yourself, easily. A wonderful idea is for travelers to eat the wild food they find growing in a new place – what better way to get ‘grounded’ again?

Clean, abundant food is simple to find, providing you know what to look for (learn from someone you trust, and use a guide book). A nibble of a Linden-tree leaf, or a fresh, clean dandelion leaf or stem, a taste of a violet… can infuse you with an unknown amount of living wisdom and soul-nourishment. Just invite it into our bodies with a sense of awareness and gratitude. How easy is that?

In the photo,  Anika holds some gorgeously green Linden leaves – they were quickly made into both a  soup and a pesto, but just nibbling a leaf as you walk on your way is fine, and beautiful.

Follow That Weed!

I’ve been out taking heaps of photos the past few weeks, aiming to capture the first signs of Spring, and I decided to follow them through all four seasons as well. So, this year I’ll be following as many plants as I can manage, so we can practice identifying them in all stages of development. It can be really helpful – and immensely rewarding – when you discover you can identify plants even before they flower, or from the dried stalk.

This tiny little flower is actually a power-house of healing and has many healing properties, but especially is known for it’s ability to help with digestion, and to remove plaque and mucus from the blood vessels and intestines. Good for cholesteral.
There is so much more to say, so I will definitely be coming back with more information… suffice to say, keep your eyes open for this beauty and get down on your knees for a better look! This is a really small flower!!!

As I go, I’ll  be adding more information about special properties of the plant, recipes, habitat and so on. Sometimes I might just post a photograph. At the moment, teaching small groups or one-to-one is my preferred way of sharing… If you can make it to a weed walk, workshop, or event, that’s the best way – get down on your knees to really look at the plant; smell it, smell the soil in which it grows, feel the leaves and stem, perhaps draw it, meditate by it, and, if safe to do so, taste it. This is how one becomes friends with our plant allies.

Remember, if you do plan to forage for food, herbal medicine, or any other wild plant product, please follow the rules of safety, respect, responsibility and ethical harvesting and use of these plants. See here for some guidelines.

Wild in the City Day One!

 

City Walk – The Wild Weeds Around Us

I find it incredibly satisfying each day when I spot – and can correctly identify! – some of the many beautiful, edible or medicinal plants and flowers growing in totally urban places, such as in sidewalk cracks, as weeds in gardens, or along the canals. This walk will reveal those often-overlooked treasures, and offer more opportunities for practicing identification skills. I also find that being on the lookout for plants simply makes me feel more grounded, grateful and “in the moment.” If this sounds good to you, let me know!

Date: Monday, March 25, 2013

Time: 10:00 – 11:30 AM

Location: Le Pain Quotidien at Cornelis Troostplein 2, Amsterdam.

Look for my orange-and-yellow bike – with 2 child-seats on it – parked outside – we’ll be close to the bike!

To RSVP click here or contact me directly: 

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Wild in the City – Food and Medicine From Nature

Wild in the City is an intensive series of four, full-day wildcrafting workshops with two aims: one, to help increase the number of, and care for, long-term food-producing plants in and around Amsterdam; and two, teaching the art of wild-crafting for food and medicine, with a special emphasis on ethical harvesting and supporting ecosystems. Here are some photos from Day 1 of Wild in the City!

Participants will learn to identify, use, and protect the many edible and medicinal plants – many of them considered to be ‘weeds’ — in the Amsterdam area. They’ll be part of a growing movement to respect food sources, and to expand them responsibly: nut trees, hedgerows, and grapevines, for example.

Wild in the City will be offered as full-day classes, on 4 Sundays, for a total of 24 hours: March 17, April 7 and 28, and June 23, 2013.

Some participants will maintain a blog site while in the program to share their experiences and challenges, as well as all the exciting wildcrafting information they’ll be learning, and how they’ll be utilizing it.

Groen en Doen, a project of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, has Wild in the City possible and have essentially funded 12 participants for the Program! All funded spaces are, but if you like what we are doing, and want to join us, please contact me. There are a few, non-funded spaces available at a fee of 125 euros per each 6-hour Sunday.

Yarrow and Red Cover for healing herbal infusions, teas and tinctures.