One of my goals has been to get diversity into my diet this year. So I have been foraging, wildcrafting, wild harvesting…or whatever you want to call it all year. It has been a great way to add variety into my diet and to learn about wild and not so wild plants.
There are many benefits to adding a wide array of plants into your diet from your garden, yard and the wild. One reason to reach outside your yard and your neighborhood is the soils, bacteria, insects, birds, animals and plant relationships change. We know that plants talk to each other, insects and animals pollinate and fertilize, trees fertilize but also mine nutrients from deep within the earth. All these things effect the nutritional, enzymatic and bacterial make up of plants. That can change with each neighborhood. So collecting food from many areas could possibly add a lot of good stuffs to your belly and in return feed your body. We also know just being out in nature is such a boost to our mood, immunity, and overall health that it is worth it to carve out the time to do it. I am placing a link to a video presentation by a Professor of Genetic Epidemiology and it may help you understand the importance of diversity in the diet.
I have put so many things into the greens powder and because of that I have probably forgotten all that I have included. However, here is a list in no specific order of some of the plants I have added as I harvested from the wild or my garden throughout the year. Each one has a link for you to visit so you can learn about the beautiful bounty that surrounds us.
You can add any of these, none of these, dried fruit, dried vegetables…anything you wish! This is your experiment! I will add these to a smoothie or a soup.
As with anything you should probably start small, introduce one at a time to make sure you don’t have issues with one of your choices before combining them all and having to toss the whole batch. Anyone of these can be used alone, some are used commonly in cooking and as teas.
Anyway, I have taken all of these, washed them, dehydrated them in my Excaliburs and then pulverized them in my Ninja. You may have to sift out some woody stems once you are finished. This is probably not going to dissolve like a nice purchased powder would but for me thats okay.
-RWL
As always, foraging and eating strange foods are done at your own risk. Make sure you have consulted someone with knowledge about foraging wild plants.
Links to the products I talk about are affiliate links, I do get a little bit of financial reward if you use my affiliate to purchase items using it.
Speaking of this year has been a year of foraging for me. I continue to learn about wild edibles, their uses and when to harvest. I am a long way from being an expert but I am using so much variety now. We harvested a small amount to wild blueberry because the bushes don’t produce much. I did add some compost to a few bushes near the fodder trees and it worked! We got more berries on those bushes than the others, so I will do that again this fall. I harvested tons of mullein, mulberries and the leaves, sorrel, chickweed, dandelion, thistle, yarrow, plantain, blackberries, goldenrod and so much more. The blackberry and mulberry harvest were amazing. I have gallons of each in the freezer. In fact, the blackberries are still coming but we have stopped picking them. We have left those for the wildlife and for Mama Bear and her cub so they can get enough calories for winter.
Another update is we have been talking more and more about moving to the acreage. It is our dream. I will miss the abundance we have created at the suburban homestead. I will miss the stunning sunsets and moons reflection on the lake. I will miss amazing neighbors. But our time here at the suburban lot is coming to an end. The house is too big and the lot too small. We need space to grow and have livestock. Space for the grandkids to come and run free. Space to hunt and forage. And while I have worked and helped on other farms for over two decades it is time I have a forever home and a farm of my own. A place to grow old and sit on the porch snapping beans in the breeze while the chickens run around catching bugs. It is time I fill my inner Laura (if you don’t understand this see 