In the last week I’ve been picking wild greens and noticing more and more wild foods emerging. Most days I don’t carry a basket or make a plan, but help myself to handfuls of cleavers or wild garlic on my way home, juggling gate latches whilst trying not to drop a leaf. Other times I’ve made a mental note of a patch of nettles, then returned on a morning off to collect a basketful to make a big pot of soup. Whichever way you fit foraging into your life brings huge benefits to your health and our planet.
The nettles I’ve harvested help me combat my springtime hayfever, the bitter dandelion leaves I put in sandwiches kick-start my gut enzymes, the handfuls of cleavers make a juice that cleans my system of toxins, and the wild garlic and few-flowered leeks support my immune system at the same time as tasting great. But there’s another harvest that I took part in a few days ago which is going to help support my body all year round, and it was from a kindly Poplar tree.
A Slow Friendship
I’d learned about the medicinal benefits of Poplar buds over a year ago, but wasn’t particularly confident in recognising a Poplar tree. I kept my eyes open and used books and the internet to identify every tree I couldn’t name for a whole year. And as often happens, it became apparent that the thing I’d been looking for was right under my nose. I can almost see the Poplar tree from my bedroom window, I walk past it at least 3 times a week in the summer and once a week in the winter, and when I’d finally managed to introduce myself to the tree and name her almost a year ago, it was too late in the season for a harvest of the sticky medicine-filled buds that I’d been hoping for. So began many months of greeting her as I walked past, noticing her, thanking her for being there, and patiently waiting.
Not all foraging is just going to the patch and picking. There’s a lot of waiting for the opportune moment, a lot of going with intention and coming away empty-handed…but there’s also a lot of pleasant surprises, and receiving gifts that you weren’t expecting. When it was finally time to harvest I had quite forgotten about the Poplar, but on a sunny day last week, as I walked past the tree, I could smell the medicine in the air. I asked my permission to pick, received a loud yes, and picked my small harvest of buds, returning the next day with a gift of flowers in thanks.
These sticky Poplar buds are full of the same substance that aspirin-deriving Willow trees produce - salicin - which is a wonderful pain-reliever and anti-inflammatory. The smell of the resin exuding from the buds is heady and takes me back to memories of childhood: Germalene or Savlon cream on cuts, or disinfectant, though not as unpleasant! I’ve put this precious small harvest into a jar and covered with some organic oil, and it’s been sitting on my radiator, the gentle occasional heat helping to coax the resins and beneficial components into the oil, that I can soon rub it into sore muscles and joints. The Poplar medicine also has an affinity for the lungs - and the smell certainly suggests this, reminiscent of Eucalyptus or Tea Tree - helping to unblock nasal passages, loosen mucus and assist the lungs in breathing a full, wide breath.
I will be bringing my Poplar Oil along to Wild Hygge on Sunday for everyone to smell and try, and we will be celebrating the new life springing up around us. If you’d like to come this Sunday (17th, 2-4pm at the Scout Hut, Berwick) or to any other session please email me to book your place.
See you outside,
Jo
NB- a note on ethical harvesting. Buds are a part of a plant or tree that contain new leaves or flowers. Please be aware that picking them will result in that plant having fewer leaves for photosynthesis or fewer flowers for reproduction, and that all foraging has an impact on the plant and the wider ecosystem. I harvested just half a jarful of buds, a couple from each low branch, spreading the harvest across the whole tree. Stripping a single branch is not a good idea, so practice mindful consumption and check the plant or tree can cope (or even thrive!) with you harvesting from it.
Cottonwood Buds!!! One of my most favourite smells ~ sticky business making an infused oil but oh so worth it :-)
Spreading the harvest across a tree, or a number of different plants, is a lot like cut-&-come-again salad crops. If you cut too much, you can’t come again!