Foraging ~ Nature's Mindfulness Remedy
Wiling away the hours picking fruit and berries, immersed in birdsong, rooted in the moment.
From the footpaths and country lanes around my home, I've gathered apples, pears, walnuts, chestnuts, rosehips, hawthorn berries, quinces and juniper berries.
September and October truly are nature’s months of abundance, with so much to offer in the hedgerow pantry.
I feel like a squirrel preparing for winter. And honestly? I'm fine with that.
And as it turns out, foraging is one of the most mindful ways to spend time outdoors.
When I'm out with my basket I'm completely rooted in the moment - observing, scanning the hedgerows, looking for the best haul.
Nature has always been my sanctuary, particularly when I’m struggling with my mental health, and foraging it turns out, is another of nature’s mindfulness remedies.
It's something that would have come completely naturally to our ancestors. It’s an instinctive skill we've largely lost touch with, but not entirely forgotten.
Perhaps that’s why foraging feels so calming, so right. We’re instinctively supposed to be sourcing food from the hedgerows, wiling away the hours picking berries, immersed in birdsong, rooted in the moment.
While the farm shop sells locally grown apples at a premium, the hedgerows are heaving with organic, seasonal, free food. There for the taking, if you know what you're looking for.
What do I do with it all, you might be wondering.
Over the years I’ve inherited recipes for meals, tinctures and teas using foraged ingredients. Some from books, some from family members and others from herbalists online.
I love spending a cosy evening leafing through my favourite nature books, sticky-noting recipes for seasonal cooking, natural remedies and homemade teas.
Some of my favourite foraged-ingredient recipes are…
Apple pie with lots of warming cinnamon
Pear pudding or poached pear
Walnuts sat on the coffee table for evening snacking
Chestnuts… roasted on an open fire, of course
Sloe Gin
Rose hip tea and moisturising rose hip body oil
Learning what's growing around me right now, what's edible, and what's useful feels like a quietly radical act, a slow remembering of something I was always supposed to know.
Foraging is one of the few things I can think of that’s genuinely good for the soul and good for the planet at the same time.
Imagine how the world would heal if we replaced Temu and Shien hauls with foraging hauls.
So while my neighbours give me and my basket funny looks… I’m fully leaning into foraging as the new mindfulness. Join me?
📍 Save to Pinterest for foraging season…
