Hi and welcome back to SurThrival Thrusday! This week I’m going to take y’all foraging with me and my family. Unfortunately my computer crashed mid-edit, so you’ll have to wait just a bit longer for the video! We are going to hike to one of our favorite places in the Monongehela National Forest, and show you a few edible plants along the way. I will speak very briefly about violets, chickweed, nettles, waterleaf, and ramps; if you’d like to learn more about these plants and others please consider one of our summer courses!
Foraging is one of the ways that my family and I deepen our connection to the ecosystem that we live in. While acknowledging that over-harvesting is a real issue with some of the plants that we eat, like ramps, I never want us to feel that there is not a sustainable way to interact with a rare plant. Many wild edibles like nettles or chickweed are unlikely to ever be over harvested so long as their habitats are protected. There is a mindset which encourages those of us who love nature to leave it alone and treat certain areas as an untouchable preserve; I feel that this is damaging to us as humans, it separates us from the animals that we are. Foraging for food in the wilderness is a way to honor the primal being in all of us, and bring us closer to the animals that we should be. Deepening our connections to plants while eating them and using them as medicine is one way to deepen our commitment to the plant communities on which we depend. It encourages us to accept the responsibility to help them to thrive. I want to inspire you to forage your yards, forests, and parks, using it as a way to further explore and develop your connection to the natural world.
Please keep browsing the Mountain SOL page for the video, hopefully I will figure out my computer problems soon!
The video is up! It’s too large to post on this site, so check it out on Facebook!
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