gatherer/hunter

being vegetarian i became fascinated with the idea of gathering wild foods while i was a teenager.

the maori arrived with limited resources but were keen hunters, and the land produced an abundance of fish and birds- but humans cannot live by flesh alone.
they imported kumara, or sweet potato which they cultivated but their fruit and medicine had to be found in the bush. obviously this knowledge took generations to accumulate- without universities or google the knowledge was passed down through story-telling.

this knowing became part of my yearning. bushcraft and survival, selfsufficiency and living 'off the grid' became the basis of my studies.

in classrooms i studied horticulture via modern means; although i served the time honoured method of learning as an apprentice these teachings made me even thirstier.

i wondered -what about plants and peoples in other parts of the world? what about their relationships, their medicines...

i gave a lecture to fellow apprentices on 'native edible plants' and from that moment forward i would always be searching. can i eat that plant? what's its nutitional value? does it carry any medicinal qualities?

finding plants in their native habitat has always delighted me, although i've been satisfied many a time by plants in cultivation. p can tell you a nearly notsofunny story involving a steeperthanitlooks rock and someone who is slightly passionate about orchids and carniverous plants... (photographing it from below and using a digital zoom afterwards is not enough!)

i spent a coupla months living with this greek dude. a former bio-medical engineer and fervent vegan this guy taught me about wild foods. at the time i wasn't so enthusiastic. i was volunteering on his farm as a wwoofer (willing worker on organic farms) for my bed and food and after working for 7 hours i fancied something a little more substantial than a plate of weeds! but he managed to convert me to being vegan (which i continued with for a number of years- until i discovered french cheese, actually) and taught me a thing or two about foraging, about gleaning, and about finding medicine in the plants around me.

i took this knowledge with me.

a few years later, coupled with the rest of my botanical knowledge, it really came in handy.

while traversing the mongolian steppes i soon discovered that there was not a lot on offer for your average vegetarian. i ate snickers because the peanuts had protein, pascal introduced me to chocolate on toast, i could have bought shares in la vache qui rit cheese and ate approximately 250 individual serves of instant chinese noodles.

but one day sheltering under the heavy coat of our mongolian friend during a down-pour i noticed wild onions growing. i pointed them out, our mate shrugged. i noticed thyme growing, creeping across the rocks. not interested, at all. one morning i noticed a field full of mushrooms.
oh the delight!
- my mate told me that if you can peel them, you can eat 'em! i said, knowledgably

this sort of knowledge isn't always sage advice.

we didn't get ill, luckily. it turns out there is no rule for identifying mushrooms other than to know what you're doing. i read my girlfriend's blog the other day and was very interested when she mentioned doing spore prints. i feel the need to investigate further. (have a read of this: http://theroadislife.blogspot.com/2009/10/spore-prints-for-mushroom.html )

and this brings us to this stage in my 21st century tale. mushroom hunting on the internet. aquiring knowledge that would be much better learnt in the field.

i am confident identifying herbs, trees and other miscellanous weeds and taking them home to make meals, tissanes, compost tea, or food for the chooks. but those little champignons that grow on our lawn, in the forest down the road.... aiie.
i guess i need to learn a little more to become a confident hunter of fungi.

xx
mama b