The Forager’s Treasury by Johanna Knox is brilliant. It was released in May last year and since then it has influenced me to do strange but wonderful things.
I once found myself coming back from a 7km run with a handful of nasturtium cuttings. When my husband asked what I was doing, I explained my plan was to grow nasturtiums so that I could stuff the nasturtium flowers with delicious fillings and eat them as a snack. I still have a lot to learn from the book, but it’s changed how I see all wild spaces. The opportunities are endless!
Nowadays, when someone tries to pluck a weed from my garden, I growl at them because they might be wasting a food source. I feel like an idiot buying onions from the store when onion weed is often prolific along the banks of our local park and I save money by avoiding placing cucumbers in my shopping trolley and using the leaves of borage (they taste like cucumber) instead.
Some of the key tips I’ve learnt about foraging are to wash things thoroughly before eating, avoid parks where sprays are used, eat a little before you eat a lot, and start simple. For example, forage for chickweed. It is a relatively easy plant to identify, packed with nutrients, and you can use it to make all sorts of sauces and pestos.
Don’t be afraid to forage, but also take it seriously and do your research before you dine on random plants from the side of the road. That’s why The Forager’s Treasury is such a gem; it’s specific to Aotearoa New Zealand and presented in a way that’s easy to digest. Pun intended.
