The Foraging Collective

We had a fun forage today and we totally forgot to take any photos! Here's a few I took after everyone had left including a kawakawa with a berry on it and a fine specimen of plantain.

Please share if you took any pics 📸 thanks for venturing out the weather stayed pretty good really.

Sharlene

A couple of spots have opened up for this weekends Herbal Medicine Workshop. Come join us this Saturday and dive into the incredible world of Herbal Medicine Making. Last workshop for the year
https://fb.me/e/3xfinyw9p

Wow I have seen this plant frequently. Have you seen it growing in the undercanopy or under your house. I look forward to getting to know her in my practice.

💚 Medicinal Uses of Bears Breeches 💚

Bears Breeches (Acanthus) is considered a w**d or a forgotten plant, but it has some very useful medicinal properties! And it's flowering again now.

It's just as good a remedy as comfrey (if not better) for dislocated joints, fractures and torn ligaments. A paste made from the roots and leaves of the plant, when applied to a dislocated joint, tends to normalize the affected muscles and ligaments, concurrently relaxing and tightening them to encourage the joint back into its proper place.

Crushed leaves have been used as a poultice to soothe burns and scalds, relieving the pain and healing without a scar. It is said to take the fire out of a burn, so definitely keep this plant in mind for any burn application!

It has also been used very successfully to clean & heal wounds.

Bear’s Breeches has been internally taken to soothe, heal & protect the mucous membranes in the digestive and urinary tracts, purify the blood and to calm the stomach plus diarrhoea.

Incredible how many healing plants are around us all the time! 💚

(it can be invasive though, so best not plant them everywhere)

https://www.kailashherbs.co.nz/blog/bears-breeches

I'm a little bit of a shocker I will admit! Take me to a garden and you may see me nip behind and see if I can take a cutting. Today's appropriations were plonked in a coffee cup for the drive home. Green (light) fingered Herbalist for sure 😅😬🌿🌱🌼

Yum!

🧚 TOAST TUESDAY
INSPIRATION & INFORMATION 🧚
One for the flower fairies, today's toast is topped with nasturtium butterbean dip, flowering minors lettuce, borage flowers, wild mustard flowers, onion w**d flowers and nasturtium petals
🧚
Edible flowers are not only a joy to look at and eat, they provide biologically active substances including vitamin A, C, riboflavins, niacin, minerals such as calcium, phosphorous, iron and potassium, phytonutrients, flavonoids and antioxidants, all of which can help lower the risk of certain health problems like cancer and heart disease
🧚
One of the reasons I share these toast posts is because I want to share an easy way of incorporating more plant biodiversity into people's diets. We should all be trying to eat a rainbow everyday, and it's not just a cute saying, our bodies thrive on the these essential constituents, each colour holds within it a plethora of nutrients grown by nature, which we are also, devine beings of nature, she has grown all these plants to help us thrive, tapping into these is the essence of life, learning to be at one with nature and all she provides us freely, all the flowers on this toast just arrived in my wild garden, do me a favour, go out and eat a flower today, tap in and ground into your earth and be grateful for the flowers, they are life
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Spring has sprung and with it kumarahou flowers keep your eyes peeled on your next walk. It likes to be under native bush sometimes on the outer fringe.

I didn't know that the seasons could be expressed as masculine and feminine. So many plants spinging to life at the moment. I'm really looking forward to spring equinox!

Ooh there are so many ways to get creative out there. There is starting to be new growth on Dandelion greens. https://www.facebook.com/800354758/posts/10160624578399759/

The pictures aren't great but am really impressed with the descriptions and how chickw**d can be used as herbal medicine and in food. Its really prolific right now. You may recognise it from your garden. Use it like you would salad green, cut and it will come away again (so long as you leave enough for it to photosynthesize.

What amazing colour this salad has... so many flowers we wouldn't usually think of using. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=601144954706674&id=100044335244274

A great page to follow if your not already. Today we covered prunella or self heal on our foraging walk but it didn't have any flowers.
https://www.facebook.com/111922717299152/posts/541177471040339/

Self Heal, Prunella vulgaris, is one of those incredible plants that seems able to do everything! It's a great herb to identify around your māra.
It likes dappled shade, often damp areas beside streams, in pastures and under trees, and it's coming back up now (in Northland at least, although not flowering yet) ;-)

Self Heal inhibits the binding ability of a virus, so that the virus can’t replicate, both externally and internally.
So if you have a cold sore flare-up, think Self-Heal! (as well as Lemon Balm for cold sores)

It is a great choice as a hot tea at the beginning stages of a cold with sore throat. In addition to fighting the virus, the demulcent qualities of self-heal will help to soothe and coat a dry, scratchy or irritated throat.

Self-heal has a long history as a wound-healing herb. The fresh leaf can be used as a poultice or compress to heal all cuts and wounds, or skin conditions including herpes, insect bites, burns, ulcers, abscess & boils etc.

Headaches and painful eyes that are worse at night are indications for self-heal.
Self-heal is recommended for many types of eye complaints, including red eyes, conjunctivitis and eye-tearing.

Self Heal shows to be helpful for a number of broad-listing conditions: anti-inflammatory painkiller, for gingivitis, for osteoarthritis, HIV, herpes, diabetes, high blood pressure, even tuberculosis, liver cancer, and endometriosis! And to top it all off, amnesia and dementia.
Clearly there’s something very incredible about this herb!

Internally it has been used for diarrhoea, haemorrhoids, sore throats, mouth & throat ulcers, piles, edema and kidney issues, lymphatics, mastitis, allergies, high blood pressure & gut healing.

Remember, the cells of your digestive tract are the same type of cells that your skin is made of. When you have a plant that can help heal wounds and grow healthy skin tissue, that’s also going to apply to your guts. So whether it’s ulcerative colitis, IBS, Crohn’s, or just the aftermath of using NSAIDs, Self Heal will help get your guts back in order!

Self-heal is also a wonderful general tonic, especially in convalescence.

Self-heal is cooling and its constituent rosmarinic acid has been shown to protect skin cells from UVA and UVB radiation. In one study, researchers looked at self-heal as a herbal photo-protectant and concluded that self-heal may offer protection against the sun when used in skincare products.

Self-heal tastes slightly bitter and slightly sweet with a hint of rosemary. You can enjoy eating the leaves and flowers in a salad blend or as a trail snack, or a fresh herbal tea.

Spiritually/Emotionally, Self-heal can help with spiral growth and help to give people hope, especially those suffering from chronic, long lasting illness. She can encourage self healing and motivation and support self transformation.
Self Heal is the flower of magic and fortitude, with the ability to see the wonder in small things and use those as stepping stones to get you through dark times.

It's an amazing herb that you definitely want growing in your garden!

https://www.kailashherbs.co.nz/self-heal-plants

https://www.kailashherbs.co.nz/self-heal-tincture

The Foraging Collective updated their phone number.

An impressive 26 adults and 32 kids made it for today's foraging walk. We made it through the sunshine and down pours. We got through a lot of herbs and leafy greens and what may seem like just a few sparce specimens will turn into a forest as soon as the weather turns. Sometime in the next 2 months which isn't long. Don't forget to keep it simple just go for 1-2 plants and stick to them until your feeling comfortable branching out and adding another.

Great message on the difference between Pampas and Toetoe ....
https://blog.doc.govt.nz/2022/05/10/pesky-pampas-not-native-toetoe/

Pesky Pampas! Not Native Toetoe Seven year old Eden shares some handy information about an impostor w**d, called pampas, that looks a lot like our native toetoe.

Have you guys seen these about? I'm sure they were at Totrangi Beach on Saturday.

Tawaka | Cyclocybe parasitica

Tawaka is part of Mātauranga Māori, given to those suffering a fever.

A wood destroying semi parasitic mushroom, living on trees that lack health and causing them heart rot. They have evolved to be part of the New Zealand eco system.

On a living tree host and with a little rain you will find flushes of these savoury mushrooms time and time again, enjoying good harvests of the memorable meaty texture and smokey earthy flavour.

The gingko trees in Taihape are about to loose their leaves. It really feels like autumn down the line.🍁🍂

Thought I would share a couple of pics from previous bush walks. The first one is Kanuka in flower - easy to tell the difference from Manuka at this stage! So if you aren't sure, wait for it to flower :) Also the Manuka has large seed heads, the Kanuka has tiny ones, or seems to have none at all.

The second picture is Kawakawa berries - delicious!!

Both photographs are taken on Mount Te Aroha, Waikato.

A fine specimen of broad leaf plantain.. chop up and use in salads for extra nutrition or chew it up and slap it on itchy bites to take away the sting and itch. It's wonderfully calming to any skin condition that needs cooling.
Plantain contains allantoin which is now used in lots of skincare and beauty products.

Mullien. I found this beautiful patch last year when foraging around Taupo. There are more than 200 different varieties. Mullien flowers and sometimes leaves are usually used as an oil for earache, eczema and other skin conditions.

Plant identification. It's not something you can be blazae about. Plants have tought me to be slow and mindful when I meet them, just like they are.

I use a variety of tools to assess the plants for identification, books and botanical knowledge I have gained, to apps on my phone. Sometimes plants are illusive and that's when a trip to the botanical gardens or plant shop can be helpful. So often I can be blind for looking, looking in the wrong place or season.

Saint John's Wart took me a few years but I finally found it down south. I think it needs the cool winter and the heat of summer more than we have here on the coast of Auckland. A trip to the Hamilton gardens helped me be clear on what I was looking for.

Today's walk was so good! Thank you to everyone who came along. I am so grateful for the beautiful energy and joy and wonder over our amazing plants. The blackberry feast at the end was a treat. 😍🫐

We will be doing that track again in two weeks so if you missed today don't fret there will be more🥰💚.

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Hello friends

How are you all doing in the craziness that is our world right now? I hope you are taking time for yourself, I hope you have a special place in nature where you can just relax, let your worries go and connect in with the wonderfulness of mother earth.

She is so potent in her energy right now, rising to support us and the medicine she offers is truly holistic, working in many ways - some we understand and some we are yet to learn. Spring has sprung and Foraging walks are a calling...

How does a day out sound? We can keep it to 25 people and gather outside.. take a little walk in nature and connect with mother earth in all her glory and absorb her healing medicine.

I am feeling into a weekday walk - while the kiddies are at school please let me know if this is of interest.

Pictured below - Manuka and Jasmine

It's a beautiful time for kawakawa tea


Its important to set your intention and to ask the plant if she can spare a leaf or two for you... just take what you need and always make sure there is enough left behind to continue to grow.

Pop a leaf or two into a cup of boiling water ... steep for 20 minutes (for full medicinal benefits) and enjoy 😀

And always discard the old leaf matter back into nature...

How epically cool is this article. Most of the 'w**ds' spoken about we find on our foraging trips.
So jam packed with nutrients and free for the taking. Just rinse and go....well as long as your not in one of Aucklands highly sprayed suburbs.

https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/w**ds-growing-in-poor-city-areas-more-nutritious-than-store-bought-produce/

Weeds in poor city areas have nutritional value - Cosmos Magazine Researchers find an unexploited and surprising wealth of free stuff growing in San Francisco’s “urban food deserts”. Natalie Parletta reports.