First, I'd like to say to those of you who aspire to harvest + preserve your own sustainable food....this transform from a born suburban girl into a modern hunter-gatherer didnt happen overnight. It has been many years driven by passion, curiosity and alignment to be able to walk in the woods with a basket, and return home with a diverse meal of wild edibles. Be patient with yourself and enjoy the learning process. I, myself, am still learning and growing at this way of life and I've been at it for 9 years now...If you stay curious, you will continuously grow.
Now, there are MANY cliche stigmas around foraging so let me cover a few and tell ya a little bit bout my personal experience.
Misconception #1: "You must learn all the names (and Latin names) of all the plants before you should start harvesting."
Although my ability to name plants has grown over the years, I only really know about the ones I have a personal relationship with. Many of friends and members of my family think that because Jay and I have a diet that largely consists of wild food that we ourselves harvest, that I must know all the names of all the plants in the forest. Truth is, my brain only likes to store information that is relevant and helpful to me in real life.
Say I walk into the woods and take notice of an unfamiliar plant that is growing wildly in abundance. I'll return to camp later that evening and do my research. From experience, I know that if the plant is not edible, I will likely forget its name by the next season. If the plant is edible and I have the opportunity to harvest and cook with it, I will likely never forget it.... I personally do not learn well from simply reading books...my brain requires interaction, experience, and an actual relationship.
Misconception #2 : "Is it safe? Arent you worried you've misidentified your plant/mushroom? You know you can Die by eating the wrong one?!"
Yes. And I'd even go just a bit further and say that I believe its safer than the packaged neatly sliced vegetables at the grocery store. I much prefer to see the land and process in which our food is processed than trusting unknown and unseen sources. When you harvest your own, you can see the soil it grows from, the habitat it is thriving in and the conditions of its ecosystem. If you are far from any road, and far from any active human influence such as logging operations, mining operations, etc., then (to me) it's real food! And yes, also plenty aware that if I consume the wrong poisonous mushroom, I can die. As I previously stated, when you build an actual relationship with the mushrooms or plants, it is nearly impossible to mix up with the "evil twin look alike". If ever you cant peg it with 100% certainty, dont pick it, dont consume it. Simple as that!
Misconception #3 : "We live in a time where we dont HAVE TO work for our food, why not just buy your food at the store like a normal person?"
SO many reasons. For cultivating connection to our beautiful planet, to our ancestors, to deepen our sense of gratitude, seeing direct correlation in how and why sustainable practices provide healthy ecosystems, consuming quaility substance that are not infiltrated by GMO, pesticides, MSG, and God knows what else. Foraging naturally inspires you to live in the moment, and occers a perception of time that is verrry differently than what our high stress society demands. It enables you to expanding your awareness, practice self empowerment, tune into all life forms, and to return to a simple life. There is far less waste created in the process of harvesting your own food, less need for added sugars and preservatives, less food trucks to haul their goods burning fossil fuels. Foraging your own food does not promote or fund monocropping (which strips the soil of all its nutrients). Less waste in any and every aspect I can possibly think of, even down to when you go to enjoy your meal. When you sit down to eat a meal that you personally harvested, you cherish every damn bite. You wouldn't dare let it go to waste, and you enjoy it so much more for there is an adventure associated with every bite.
Truly, I could go on and on for days about all the ways in which I absolutely adore gathering my own food but, we'll move along so you can learn a bit about the canning process.
What I love about canning is that it allows you to preserve your food without needing to add obnoxious amounts of preservatives. You are essentially boiling the potential bacteria out and sealing it off with pressure so fresh oxygen cant spoil it. After 4 years of freezing everything we harvested we both agreed there had to be a better way to preserve our goods without battling freezer burn, the need to thaw, and the straight up blandness of our seasoned harvest…..Evolving!!
5 years ago we bought a pressure canner and a few books by Kerr and Ball (the Mason jar brands) to get us started. I was completely appalled by their recipes. For their Jam, they called for 8 cups of Sugar for 1 cup of Blackberries... WTF!!! Needless to say, I sought out different sources. It didnt take long for me to realize that the best way to honor these gifts from the woods, would be to add as little as possible to them. I personally dont like anything too sweet and want to taste the actual berries for their intended flavors created by nature. So! My recipe is intentionly simple, and rich with medicine.
Every batch fills 7 half pint jars
4 cups of Wild Harvested Elderberries
4 cups of Wild Harvested Blackberries
1 cup of Local Honey
1/4 of Organic Chia Seeds
First, I pick the berries. It is important not to gather any rubbish along with them in the initial harvest because it makes it SO much easier later if you patiently pick.
Then gently pluck the Elderberries off all the stems and put them into a bucket/tub (not only would it not be cool to have stems in your jam, but if you consume a fair quantity of them, they are poisonous).
I rinse the Elderberries in a tub of water, letting the waterline sit a few inches above the berries. This allows all the debris and old maids float to the top, easy to skim.
With clean hands I wrench fistfuls of berries into the saucepan on medium flame, trying my best to burst as many berries as possible. I let the the Elderberries simmer for a good 10 minutes before I add the Blackberries because if the Elderberries are undercooked, they tend to have a laxative effect.
I then add the Blackberries.
then marry the two into an even blend of simmery deliciousness.
At the same time, I have large pot on with my 7 half pint jars and lids (brand new ones if the jars are being reused) completely submerged under water going at a low boil.
I add my 1/4 cup of chia seeds, gently stirring them in, and just before I am ready to load the jars, I add my cup of Local Honey. I learned a while back that if you get honey too hot, you diminish the medicinal qualities within it so I try to be mindful of this by lowering the heat and adding it only moments before loading my jars.
With tongs and mittens, I remove one jar at a time and fill it with my jam. Before I seal the lid, I give it a quick wipe with apple cider vinegar (to make sure the seal is clean and ready for a long strong bond)
I then lay each jar full + sealed upside down on a towel for at least 12 hours to cool to room temp.
**as many old timers know, jam is quite special and doesn't need the actual pressure canner to rock to make the magic happen. Just a boiling hot jar, with nearly boiling hot substance to fill it with since the berries are plenty full of natural sugars and naturally acidic.
It depends on what's available but I use this same recipe with many different variations, if I have access to an abundance of Currants, I'll swap out 4 cups of the Blackberries for them instead. Or if you are happy with just the Elderberry, go ahead and make it 8 cups!....you get the idea.
I'd be happy to hear from you if you get the inspiration to try it for yourself, but if you dont think you'll be able to swing it this season and you e made it this far (phewwwww congrats) I'd be more than happy to make a fair trade with you. Anything handmade, home grown, home baked or sung would be a delight!
Because my jam is wild, it does not feel right to exchange it for money. But, labor of love and labor of love in exchange?? I am in!!