Foraging Sundays - Weeks 7-10

In spite of the hectic pace of our modern lives, Wendy and I have continued to challenge ourselves with foraging all of our food on Sundays.  We are learning quite a bit, perhaps more about modern life than about foraging, but there are certainly some incredible moments.  For instance, one lesson that echos very clear each week is that one must have the time to actually go out and find food, unless one knows where it is and when it will be there.  The native people in this are had such knowledge and the time to gather the foods and store them for the coming winter.  We, on the other hand, are still learning and growing.  We follow along the best we can.

Three of the last four weekends have been consumed with my participation in a local production of the Full Monty.  It was fun ... I love theater ... but it is incredibly time consuming.  This often meant having only an hour to go find food on Sunday before leaving for the show.  And, try as we might, we could not seem to find the time to plan ahead.  Thankfully, we have been given many fish throughout this adventure.

In keeping with the spirit of the challenge, we are trying to learn to fish, we are learning new plants, and we are checking new areas (or old areas) with our newly found skills.  I am brushing up on hunting skills and paying attention to what is growing (or moving) in the areas I visit.  We are storing extras when we can, like the 1.5 lbs of blueberries we picked this past weekend.

So, without further ado, here are the meals we have eaten.

Week 7

Wood sorrel soup with blueberries

Week 8

Chanterelle, jerusalem artichoke, purslane stir fry with blueberries.

Week 9

 Blueberry and jerusalem artichoke cobbler

 Blue gill fillets, purslane stir fry, with blueberries

Week 10

Blueberry, chanterelle, purslane stir fry with spicy wood sorrel soup

As you can see, we have relied on the blueberries and greens with every meal.  We have added them to stir-fry, we have eaten them raw, and we have baked them into a pie with Jerusalem Artichoke flour crust!  Our staples have been chanterelle mushrooms, blueberries, purslane, dandelion greens, wood sorrel, and jerusalem artichokes.

While we are not eating nearly as much as we would normally on Sunday, we are getting enough.  It has shown us that we don't need so much.  Most Sundays, we have been satisfied even with only a single meal. That is not to say that we will not be trying harder to fish and find new foods.  We know that the blueberries will be around for another week, the raspberries are ripe, and that the blackberries are coming soon.  There is food.  We have even stored up some dehydrated blueberries for the winter to come.  We will not starve, but we are watching ... hunting season opens in a month.

Next week, Saturday is currently open ... no weddings, shows, and such ... we hope to spend more time fishing and gathering.  Maybe, we'll be able to scrounge together 2 full meals!

We are truly blessed to receive what we have.  The Universe has so much to offer!