Gathering our own food

This week I had my first experience gathering wild plants. I have been introduced to the world of foraging, well not really, I have gathered wild fruits and mushrooms before, but this has been my first time gathering wild plants and herbs. It was interesting and hard at the beginning because I wasn't sure what I was looking for. But with the help of the group I was gathering plants with and other groups we ended up gathering a nice amount of plants, mainly garlic mustard and wild onions.

Besides this foraging experience, I have had others before; these are some of the things that I have gathered before in the wild:

Mushrooms, though for the moment I have not gone mushroom hunting here in the United States but I have gone mushroom hunting in Spain many times. My favorite wild mushrooms are:

• Red pine mushroom, this mushroom that usually grows next to pine trees during the fall is one of my favourite mushrooms. It has a nice orange colour and is very fleshy. I personally prefer to cook it in a pan with olive oil and then add some garlic, parsley and salt.

• King oyster mushroom, this one in my opinion is the best mushroom to eat, it grows during fall and spring. I usually gather them in areas where the thistle is present. I cook it the same way that I cook the red pine mushroom, but of course there are many different and delicious ways to cook them.

Other foods that I have also gathered outside are wild fruits like raspberries, wild strawberries and redcurrant. I personally love these wild fruits that we can find in forests and fields close to our houses, its fun and entertaining to gather and of course they are delicious.

Gathering edible plants, roots, mushrooms or fruits is an entertaining activity that we can do by ourselves or with friends and family. It is healthy, we walk, breathe fresh air and we end up eating healthy and natural food with many benefits for our body. It is an activity that we, humans, have been doing since we have been on earth and that we should not stop doing because it really has many healthy benefits for us.