The healthy forager

While most of the UK was getting an unpleasant battering of wind, rain and (for us here in Scotland) snow, the mushroom mycelia below the tree bark rejoiced! So much so that they all sprung up again this weekend. Fresh Velvet Shanks, rehydrated Jelly Ears, and even a large cluster of Oysters (which the storm brought down from a chestnut tree). On Saturday I braved the snowy roads on my mountainbike to find Chaga – which is so much easier to spot in an otherwise white world!

Sunday John and I went out together on our trikes, down some very slippery country lanes. Maintaining speed whilst trying not to plough oneself into a snowy verge was exhilarating and great fun. Our bravery/madness was rewarded by an ample supply of Velvet Shanks, which we cooked on our camping stove, by a burn.

To be outside together in crystal-white snow under a brilliant blue sky, with the wind around my face and our tummies filled with the freshest of food, is my definition of fulfilment. Finding the Jelly Ears, in the video below, felt like what I imagine winning a lottery would feel like:

I hope I have encouraged some of you so far to go out and forage – have a go! There’s something about this very basic, primeval activity that brings such excitement and peace at the same time. Being part of nature, not detached from it. With nature not as something that simply looks nice, but something that is part of our own essence.