Foraging: Cultivating a Sense of Place

 God said, “Don’t come any closer. Remove your sandals from your feet. You’re standing on holy ground.”

Exodus 3:5 The Message (MSG)

It’s hard to describe the foraging class experience with Lisa Rose Starner. When I first wanted to learn how to forage, I had an image in my head of going out to the forest, picking some mushrooms, and coming home. Learning to live off the land, getting gourmet ingredients for free. I was exactly the type of forager wanna be who drives Lisa nuts. But I’m learning.

In the first foraging class about a month ago, Lisa said that Trillium Haven Farm is a magical place. I’m beginning to learn what she means by that. The wild plants are not just there to be brush hogged or decimated for culinary delight; they serve a purpose. They are our friends.

Even poison ivy has a purpose. It often defends land that has been disrespected and ravaged. Acknowledge the poison ivy. Keep your distance. Move on to the plants that are our friends. They have so many healing properties. Whenever I drink one of Lisa’s teas I feel so nourished. Perhaps because I usually drink them after a two hour walk around the farm, meeting plant friends and listening to Lisa philosophize about food, pixies, the need for breast massage, the cooling properties of jewelweed, small batch herbal processing, and finding dead bodies while one is out harvesting from the woods. She thinks in a web, not a linear train, as do I. In spite of this there is something grounding about being in nature. Something that reminds us that we are physical beings, tied to the physical world.

In catechism many years ago I learned about general revelation and special revelation. General revelation, in its simplest terms, is being aware of how God makes His presence known in nature. Somehow, spending time in nature and with my co-learners in foraging, I become more aware of my spiritual AND physical being.