When I first started foraging back in 2006, there were no smart phones. I didn’t even own a digital camera– I had a 34mm with film in it that I had gotten for my 14th birthday. If I could find photos to show you, I would, but back in those days we didn’t take pictures of every minute of our lives…
Looking back, I feel like even though I was able to look some information up online if I really wanted to, those really were “the days.” I could go out with a bucket, a tiny cell phone that barely emitted any EMF in my pocket, and a pocket knife and see what I could find in the woods near my apartment. I didn’t have to worry about filming myself or every single plant I found, or making sure I got good photos of everything I cooked with my haul.
I’m not saying I regret being able to do that and teach people now, but it was a lot less stressful when I was doing this just to feed myself or enjoy my time outdoors alone.
I got to enjoy a lot of alone outdoor time when I was a farmer. I’m still a farmer, just a very small scale one. But being alone, barefoot in the soil, out in a big field of plants I’m cultivating is so relaxing for me!
I LOVE teaching people what I have learned over the last 18 years. I’m not a botanist, and I’m not a mycologist, I’m a FORAGER. And it’s the one area in my life where I feel that even if I don’t know “everything,” I still qualify as an expert. I learn something new about wild food, plants, and herbalism every single day. I don’t have to film that.
What I DO have to document on digital media is plant identification. This is part of developing my credibility as a forager and proves to people around the country (and world!) that I know what I’m talking about. What it has brought me is a LOT of followers on social media. What it has not brought me is peace.
Again, I don’t regret it. But I’m taking a break from social media for a few days starting this afternoon because I have been feeling very stressed out lately. Any time a post of mine goes even a little viral, complete strangers come out of the woodwork in droves. Sometimes they’re grateful for what I have to say, many times they shit on me as a person and I end up blocking them.
The most difficult thing to get people to understand is that yes, you CAN learn how to forage wild foods and medicines for free. I bought a few books here and there, but a lot of my learning process was through the internet as well as trial and error on my part. OVER EIGHTEEN YEARS.
Professional foragers like Samuel Thayer (a friend of mine), Euell Gibbons, and Alexis Nicole have made foraging an “in” thing to do, but they are also making a living doing it. You have bought their books, and they have made a living because of that. I want to follow in their footsteps. And I know people enjoy my teaching style because I do this the way ANYONE can do it, once you know how!
Some people have asked me to write a book. I still am not sure what I’d write a book about. There are hundreds of foraging books out there that cover the same things I talk about online. My story is different than theirs, and I do tend to focus a little more on wild herbal medicines as opposed to edibles, but otherwise what can I say in print that I couldn’t say online?
The very first digital product I created for foragers is my Commonly Misidentified Plants eBook. It works great as an eBook because I put all sorts of links in there, mainly to videos I have made that show you the plant I’m talking about in greater detail than a single photo ever could. It’s the next best thing to learning with me in-person.
What I’m looking for is the people who have seen what I can do and realize that they don’t WANT to spend 15-20 years of their lives learning for free or via trial and error. They want to fast track to being able to do it themselves as soon as possible.
With the state of the economy and the world right now, I don’t blame them!
If YOU are one of those people who trusts my knowledge and wants to learn how to do exactly what I do, then this year you’re in luck! I created a membership that’s going to follow me the entire 2024 foraging season. It’s called Forager’s Shadow.
In this Membership, you’ll get:
- 2 Live Zoom meetings every month where we show off our foraging finds, discuss what we’re making with them, and share recipes, techniques, or other information
- Access to the Members Forum AND my personal email so you can post or send me photos of what you find to make certain your identification is correct
- 1 email Q&A where you ask me whatever questions you have that month and I record all my answers on audio for you to keep forever
- Free access to my Black Walnut Guide, Eating Acorns mini class, and Blending Herbal Teas webinar class
- and whatever else I can do to help you learn to be an expert forager and herbal medicine maker!
Membership is open now through March 15th. This is going to work best for you if you live in the Northeastern region of the United States (Maine down to North Carolina, as far west as Michigan or so).
I want to create a community of people who know and trust me and are willing to put a little money where their mouth is. Yes, I also have some fantastic online classes where I teach you everything I know about foraging, herbalism, and more.
But if you don’t want to spend the next 15+ years learning for free, join my membership today!