Just coming back from harvesting wild elderflower, foraging etiquette is on my mind. I hope that by reading some of the recipes here on The Blue Heron Project, you might feel inspired to go out and forage for some of the wild bounties your land has to offer. It is so fulfilling to head out into the wild with an empty bucket and coming back home with a bucket full of wonderfully delicious things.

The truth is though, the act of foraging must be done responsibly. If you want to come back year after year to the same stinging nettle patch, or the same elder bushes, you need to make sure that you are harvesting in a manner that is sustainable.

You know, sometimes, I feel like I am going to get that reputation for being that crazy plant girl. People always stop and ask me what I am doing when they catch me with my black medical gloves, basket, fully clothed from head to toe heading into the forest. They usually interject, “Oh, are you heading to harvest mushrooms or berries?” It’s always fun to watch their face change when you tell them you are heading into the forest for stinging nettle. It is always an immediate reaction of a nose wrinkle and “Why?”

One of my absolute favorite springtime soups, this bowl of emerald green feeds my soul.

I dropped a batch of homemade pasta off at a friend’s house, and her wife answered the door. She looked incredulously at me as I told her the pasta was made with stinging nettle. She is a huge trail runner and only knew the plant as something you didn’t want to stumble in. She almost looked like she wanted to hand the container back, and I don’t blame her, but I urged her to try it. Later I got the text. “Rachel, the pasta, it’s so incredible.” I felt like I had just won the plant a new friend, and put a huge smile on my face.