Does anybody grow, forage or hunt their own food?

[Mada_]

Have you experienced any benefits from this?

 

I am becoming interested in this area due to:

- Environmental benefits

- Medicinal properties of some foraged plants

- Useful when hiking or just spending time in nature (if you wanted a cheeky snack)

[mandyjw]

I do, but on a small scale. I have a garden and grow most of my veggies in the summer, but it's only for about a month of two that I have enough that I don't have to buy any. The quality is unsurpassed though. Gardening is also harder than you might imagine and takes a lot of practice and learning, and every growing season is so unique that you'll have new challenges, some things you grow will thrive, some won't, you'll get pests one year and not the next, your soil quality is always changing etc. 

Growing food in healthy soil or foraging for food on undisturbed soil will give you all kinds of vitamins and nutrients you wouldn't get otherwise. A lot of plants that grow wild have really interesting properties and benefits, and it's really ridiculous how few foods we eat, grow and even have studied. 

Foraging has an even higher learning curve than gardening, if you can (especially if you forage for mushrooms or tricky to identify plants) get a mentor to actually show you in person what you're looking for. Be respectful with that though because a lot of your success depends on finding and knowing the right spots to go to, so be mindful of that if someone shows you their spots. Foraging has the extra fun of being like a treasure hunt though. 

Hunting, gardening and foraging can really help you hone your intuition, a deeper kind of knowing and feeling and connection with the earth, nature and your food. It's a ridiculous amount of work for few calories but in my experience the rewards are more than can be measured.  

 

 

[Mada_]

@mandyjw Thankyou very much for your reply. I have ordered two books on foraging, and have some experience gardening as I've been payed to do it as a gig (temporary job). My family also has always had a garden, and I am beginning to take more responsibility for it. 

I love being in nature anyway, so foraging seems like a complimentary skill that will nurture this passion and help my body. I've been visioning as a nature photographer, so having knowledge of the bush will be helpful here if I decide to go down this path.

[mandyjw]

@Mada_ Sounds like it will fit in perfectly with your interests. Foraging and the law of attraction go together quite well, you learn about something, look for it, forget about it and then boom it magically appears. 

When I was a kid we and everyone else tilled the soil but it turns out that the mycellium networks in the soil shouldn't be disturbed for good soil health, and are part of how nutrients from the soil make it into the food. And it's also less work. I was just reading about how you can introduce mycellium to your garden by making a compost tea out of forest soil, it's like witchcraft marries science.   So much to learn and discover. 

[Soulbass]

i used to have a 100m2 garden.

benefits :

- organic and ripe, taste+++
- species you don't find in mainstream markets, like green zebra tomatoes
- it's relaxing

 

[Mada_]

@Soulbass That is so cool!

Did you choose to give it up, or has it just died out due to seasonal change?

[Soulbass]

@Mada_ i rented for 1 year and then i stopped because i wasn't sure if i would still be around, as i was applying abroad (job).

look up for "community garden".

the goal was to learn.