Author Archives: Rachel Jamison

Is A New Year A New Beginning?

RewilderLife Posted on by

 

A reflection on 2023 at 4 am on January 1, 2024

Is a New Year a new Beginning? Of course it is!

I’ll be honest, I’m ready for 2024.  2023 was rough.  I’m bruised, battered, beat up, defeated, and exhausted.  I battled pneumonia or RSV for weeks and weeks (my doctor is not even sure), shingles, and more.  There were several deaths in my immediate circle and I didn’t make some of the progress I wanted to on the land and in my personal life.  BUT I endured.  I made it. I got back up.  I battled through illness and exhaustion. I grew from the experience and have gained some tools and resolve to become the healthiest and most productive I can be (more on that later). I saw a meme about the New Year, it said, “It’s okay if all you did was survive last year.”  Thankfully I did way more than survive. Despite some of my biggest failures and my biggest obstacles I had some of my highest and most humbling experiences.

I will name just one weekend that I still have to pinch myself over.  I spoke/taught at The Indiana Homestead Conference on canning (a link to see my presentation).  I met Harold for the first time in person at the conference, but it felt like we were old friends (if you don’t know who Harold is, he is my co-host at The Modern Homesteading Podcast). I also met and got to share some lunch with Joel Salatin. I enjoyed a conversation with Shawn and Beth Dougherty. Amazing people who have been mentors through video and books for years, even if they don’t know it. This was a huge victory for me in overcoming using tech, I made a slideshow!! A huge victory in overcoming fear of public speaking!! And a highlight of a year that as I said above, was pretty rough.

So I guess, if your 2023 was littered with bad news and struggles, look for the nuggets of success and happiness.

IF a New Year is a new beginning, so is every single day.

When we made goals and resolutions that didn’t stick remember we have a new day, even new moments all throughout the day. Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress when it doesn’t need to be.

Starting is progress!

AND

Failing is progress!

When I started giving myself permission to fail that was one of the best personal breakthroughs I ever accomplished. It has allowed me to do more, experience more and be healthier and happier. I have stopped that negative self talk and instead I have started to give myself pep talks. I have accepted that failure would happen. AND that has helped me pick myself up and try again. Do I still want to quit, HECK yes (and sometimes that is the right thing to do, more on that another time).

So go out there and start 2024 by DOING and FAILING.

 

Go be untamable…

unstoppable…

GO BE WILDER!

 

 

Hey, these are affiliate links to Amazon, I do get a bit of compensation on things you purchase once you follow that link. I do not see who purchased any items, so your privacy is still intact.

 

Shawn and Beth Dougherty’s The Independent Farmstead

Joel Salatin’s Polyface Micro (he has many books, this one is just geared toward a smaller scale)

 

Also, a link to my canning series over on The Modern Homesteading Podcast page…

https://www.modernhomesteadingmembership.com/how-to-can-bundle

We do have a membership over there if you are interested.

https://www.modernhomesteadingmembership.com/

Making Wildcrafted Greens Powder

RewilderLife Posted on by

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.

Fig Leaf

Mulberry Leaf

Raspberry Leaf

Strawberry Leaf

Nasturtium Leaf

Nasturtium Flower

Brocoli Leaf

Chicory Leaf

Sweet Potato Leaf

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.