Canada Day foragings...

Canada came this year with less of a bang than it often does. We chose to stay home, and not do any public things at all! ( oh, yes, it is a few days PAST Canada Day,, which was July 1)

It was great to just let go of the pressure I often feel when it come to going to any kind of event. Especially BIG events. I am not really a crowd person. My kids are not either, so it works out pretty well.

So, what do you do on Canada Day if you are not going out to celebrate in a big way ?

You go to the forest of course! How much more 'Canadian' can you get ? Well, I will be really honest here , this is the very first time I chose to do my most favourite thing and combine it a holiday.

I marveled at the spectacular trees and ferns. Felt so grateful to be among such grace and beauty. How lucky I felt to be living just minutes walking distance from this incredible forest so full of life! I saw a magnificent buck when I rounded a corner at the early part of the hike. He was beautiful . Local people (I am local too, but those who have lived here much longer than I have) often tell me to be cautious around bucks, so I did not stick around to chat, as I would have with a doe. His antlers were fabulous. He just chewed his green leaves and looked at me.

I foraged for berries and greens too. I found a great big patch of Thimble Berries. These berries are so delicate looking. They grow on bushes that have huge leaves, somewhat like a massive maple leaf, just soft and somewhat different shape. The berries are red, and taste like applesauce. There were not too many that were ready yet, so I just ate the 10 or so that I found on the bushes. I will go back this week for more!

I carried on, wandering and admiring through the forest. I walk fast when on pavement but in the forest, it is slow going as I scan for things to eat, or harvest either to take home or to eat right then and there.


When I came up a stand of Salmon Berries I was in Heaven! I found sooo many of them. It was Salmon Berry Bonanza. I did not bring a bucket, or container with me. What was a girl to do, so many berries and nowhere to put them.

After picking as much as I could hold in one hand, I went to see if I could find or fashion some sort of basket or container. What would my ancestors have done in this situation ? ( I often wonder that, and love to look at what first nations people's did when they lived here long long ago.)

I found some very big stinging nettle leaves, so I picked a few of those to put the berries on, and then I found some blackberry leaves and finally a comfry plant. Between all these leaves, I made a container big enough to hold the berries in. Success!

I picked more nettle to add to a smoothie when I got home and weaved my way through the rest of a walk and then home.

Dani and I made lots of cakes that day too! At the top is one with Happy Canada Day on it, and put on a tray with a penguin in honour of my nieces in Baffin Island for the Summer.


And Here is an amazing recipe for a Super Energizing Wild Berry and Green Smoothie. It kept me up ALL night long, totally energized. I am not kidding. I went to bed at 7 am , and I was NOT even a bit sleepy, I had to force myself to get to bed! I think it was all those fresh, wild things. No cultivated plant even comes close to the energy you can get from wild ones. ( Not even organic).

Super Energizing Wild Berry and Green Smoothie
* warning, if you want to sleep the night you drink this, drink in the early morning!

2 cups spring water
1-2 Frozen Bananas , depending on how sweet you like it.
1/2 cup of Salmon Berries ( or other wild berries)
1 cup frozen Strawberries
1 big handful Stinging Nettle (fresh)
1 tsp Maca powder
1 tsp Spirulina
1 tsp Bee Pollen

Place all in blender, and blend until all smooth and creamy. Drink right away.

Foraging for Wild Greens

Today my new friend Shine and I went for a walk on the wild side.  We went to find some wild greens to add to our smoothies. He said he was interested in going for a walk with me to learn more about foraging for wild things. I am so happy to share this passion of mine with people and extra excited when someone actually ASKS me! 

I may be too enthusiastic about wild greens... or weeds,to some people.

 I get all fired up about how great they are ! They are fantastic source of nutrition,  full of minerals and vitamins, non gmo, non- hybridized, and  they have MORE nutrition than any green leafy vegetable you can find in the market, even organic ones!  Wild greens are hearty plants, they grow anywhere and will withstand conditions that cultivated plants will wilt and even die , under.  Best of all.. ( if all those fantastic above mentioned items are not enough) they are FREE!!!  At this point, some people's eyes glaze over and don't want to hear anymore about the weeds  as very often they are trying to eradicate them  from their yards and have no knowledge of the immense value they have. Though once educated, many people love the free food they now have access to.

 The only investment you make is time and learning what plants are safe to eat.   

 There are great resources online here is one that has a great list.. but does not have pictures readily available with the list. They give terrific information about each one. If you look up wild edibles on a search engine you will find many sites. 

When I go to look for plants to eat in the wild, I take a book along with me, I find this far simpler than trying to bring a computer. Books are more portable, I can add my 'finds'( which is a leaf of the plant) in between pages so I know that I have found them once before. This has helped me tremendously . Sometimes I think I don't know what a plant is and then I look in my book and discover that I have picked some in the past. It helps jog my memory. 

My very first book on wild edibles was called  Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants by Bradford Angier. I took this book everywhere with me for years. I lost my copy a few years ago, and this summer found one secondhand ! When I opened the book and started to read through it, I remembered why it was such an important part of my learning. It has so much great information. Pictures, different names to the same plant, what to do with the plant and where to find them are all included in each individual plant section. 

When I moved to BC I bought a copy of Guide to Common Edible Plants of British Colombia from the Royal BC Museum downtown.  This has been  a wonderful resource here as it is specific for where I live now. It is now full of leaves and scribbles about the plants.  

Today we found some chickweed , dandelions, clover , stinging nettle, and as a bonus ( but not green) some Rose hips. 

Rosehips are very high in Vit. C.  You can make a tea out of them, or dry them and grind them up to a powder in a coffee grinder and use as a vit. c supplement. You can also put them in your smoothie. Rosehips are the seeds that are on the rosebush after the rosepetals fall off. They get more nutritious after a hard frost.  Only pick ones that have not been sprayed. 

Only pick greens that you know for certain have not been sprayed with pesticides or herbicides. 

There is so much more about Wild Greens I can say, but I will keep posting about them in the future, as not to overwhelm you now. ( are your eyes glazing over yet??? )

So you may be asking now what am I going to do with all these greens that I found? 

Make a smoothie of course!!! 

Here is a recipe for a green smoothie . You can put any kind of greens in it you like. The fruit takes the 'greeny' flavour away that many people don't like. A good rule of thumb to start off with when you are just beginning to drink these powerhouses of nutrition.. is 60% fruit and 40 % greens. As you get used to it, and develop a love of all things green, you can add more greens to your smoothie. 

Wild Green Smoothie

2 cups  wild greens ( stinging nettle, clover, chickweed, plantain etc.)

1 banana (frozen makes it creamier) cut up 

2 apples cut up

2 cups water

ice if wanted colder

Put all the ingredients in a blender . Blend on high until smooth.

 

And to finish this post off.. one cannot talk about green smoothies with a mention to Victoria Boutenko and the Raw Family. They have made such contributions to the Raw Food Community. Check out Victoria's Book Green For Life. I refer to it all the time! 

I have learned so much from reading her books and going to her talks.