Wild and Free - Wrap up

After 5 and a half days, I called it quits on my crash course, because I listened to my body and she said, "I need fat!"

And I listened to my brain, and she said, "Turil, you're not going to learn any more in the next day and a half about wild foods, and you've got too many things going on this weekend to also deal with finding more wild food that you're body doesn't really want right now. So relax and have some chia seeds and go to the raw food potluck with your new friends."

And so I followed my own advice. :-)

The "work week" version of the Wild and Free week was amazing, though. And I learned so much, and got a chance to see the world, myself, and my community, from a wh*** new perspective. The Earth really is a gift to us humans, and she offers us so much that we either take for granted (maple trees and their sap) or ignore (dandelions!), much to our detriment.

So while I may not have been able to go a wh*** week eating only what wild foods I found in my area, I went far further than most people, and I learned enough to easily supplement my diet, and I learned what I'd need to do to ensure that I could survive on wild foods in the spring. (Save nuts and seeds over the winter! And tap the maple trees while the nights are still cold enough to freeze the sap in the tree and the days are warm enough to melt it!). And I weathered a difficult physical and emotional week far better than I normally would have, due to the wealth of fresh, cleansing greens in my diet. (Many of my skin conditions also disappeared or at least diminished, too, which always happens when I eat a healthy, raw diet.)

So, on the wh***, it was a mission that was well worth doing. And I'm so very thankful I had the courage, and encouragement, to do it. And I look forward to doing something similar again, hopefully alongside others, this time.

For the record, I tried the following wild foods during this mission:

cattail shoots (pretty good)
garlic mustard greens (ick!)
dandelion greens (ok)
dandelion flowers (pretty good)
violet flowers (yummy!)
plantain leaves (eh...)
Japanese knotweed shoots (tangy and yummy!)
pine needle ade (pleasant)
pine needle tea (even more pleasant)
mint ade (ok)
mint leaves (ok)
willow tree inner bark (as a medicine - aspirin - worked!)
grass - not sure which kind (ok)
clover leaves (ok)

(Edit: also Sunchokes (excellent!) and wild chives (yummy as a flavoring))

OK, onto the next 5 projects! :-)