"To help some of the newcomers make connections: name 5-7 things that interest you but aren't in your profile, as tags so they are searchable. Then boost this post or repeat its instructions so others know to do the same."
artist, heathen, and living alone in the countryside covers a lot of bases but here’s some more:
#psychology
#archeology
#roleplaying
#mycology / #mushroomidentification
#knitting
#herbalism / #ethnobotany
#gaming
#drone (music)
#writing
#sustainableforestry (lübeck-model)
@ginnungagap Ooh, I’m interested in #beekeeping, too, also for the future.
And chicken-keeping and duck-keeping and some day micro goats.
What/where do you forage?
@aldersprig ahh, that's lovely :D
i want goats in the future too, they're amazing creatures!
I forage in the foresty areas around here mostly, a lot of (seasonal) berries, mushrooms and plants for medicinal and edible purpose.
sometimes I collect sprigs and resin for incense too.
90% of what I forage are nettles and dandelions around my garden though, so it's nothing super fancy.
@ginnungagap One of my best friends raises Boer goats for meat. They are HUGE. (but smaller than her cows)
How do you know what is good to eat and what’s not?
The only foraging I’ve ever done, short of the feral grapes in my hedgerow, was ramps in my grandfather’s forest.
Nettles?
@aldersprig that's awesome! I haven't looked up any particular breeds i want, but i'm more interested in milk (goat cheese!) than i am meat right now.
I've been foraging my whole life, my grandmother and mother taught me the basics when I was a kid, and as I got older, I've used books and the internet as a good source of identification. it takes some practice though.
maybe you can pick up some books about basic plant/mushroom identification for the area you live in?
@aldersprig yes, stinging nettles!
I think they're available almost everywhere on earth, one of the most versatile plants and super easy to identify.
it can be used in food kinda like spinach (the sting goes away if you blanch, boil or otherwise put them in water), dried up for teas or crushed into powder to put in smoothes or on food, the seeds can be collected and eaten too.
just don't pick the large leaves to eat, stick to the buds and the small ones.
@ginnungagap Ow. Ow! but … that makes sense, a sting is a “keep away” developed to keep away from something desirable.
@ginnungagap Milk yes! Me too. I’m not sure about eating something I raised - that’s why we’re doing chickens first, next year.
@ginnungagap and of course everything that relates to #homesteading, like #growingfood and acquiring, preserving, preparing food not from a supermarket.
#foraging
#hunting
#microfarming
#permaculture
#DIY
#upcycling
as well as many different #crafts
also very interested in #beekeeping but that’s for the future :)