30 Days of Wild Herbal Tea Foraging

Recover our lost common knowledge of medicinal herbs, right here on our doorstep!

This April, from 1st – 30th, I’ll be challenging myself to forage a different herb every day specifically to enjoy as a drinking tea.

A Challenge

I did this last April so I know it can be done, however, it is still a challenge because no April is ever exactly the same.  Weather-wise affecting herbal availability and Easter Holiday-wise influencing my whereabouts.

I’ll be based in North Somerset, Bristol and Devon; however, I believe most of the herbs I find will also be found all over most of the UK.

A Sense of Adventure

I want to approach the challenge with a sense of adventure, so I won’t be repeating day for day what I found last year, but I will be following the same basic principle. Each day I will go out into a local green space and harvest whatever herb I fee drawn towards.

With my flask of hot water and my mug for added luxury, I’ll combine water and plant to make my tea. I’ll select a place to enjoy a peaceful pause, sit back and relax into the sensory delight of drinking wild tea!

A Celebration

Each spring feels like a celebration of returning friends, so going out to greet them like this feels very exciting. I’m never sure who I will bump into from one day to the next.

Last year I noticed that I stayed close to home for the first two weeks, exploring further afield in the latter half of the month by foot and bike; always within a 20-minute radius.

My movements were influenced by the weather and a camping trip, both of which will be different this year.

A Commitment to My Health and Wellbeing

It was a daily commitment that got me moving, exploring and connecting. Through connecting to my local green allies, I felt better connected to myself. The sense of freedom, adventure and spaciousness was very liberating, and the daily exercise a cleansing bonus.

And that’s even before considering the benefits of ingesting a daily array of fresh green phytonutrients!

An Alternative to Dry Tea Bags

I’ve noticed that lately I’ve lost enthusiasm for tea bags. Dried herbs are so lifeless in comparison to the fresh green ones growing outside my door. Just as the birds notice the bareness before spring, I too am longing for the return of abundant and live nourishment.

This week I’ve started putting a garden in my teapot once again! Gathering all the herbs in my garden into one tea cocktail!

I just love the ritual of stepping outside to make this valuable cocktail of living greens. It makes me feel so much more alive. All those thousands of plant nutrients feeding my body, nourishing and uplifting my spirit. I’ve not found anything comparable to that feeling.

A Deeper Nourishment

Nourishment through my senses, through movement, through assimilation and through feeding my soul with the beauty and serenity of nature.

Nature is a great way to settle the nervous system from all the overstimulation of modern-day living. It floods us with happy hormones that restore our capacity to manage what life brings with more ease and creativity. Both my experience and supported widely by scientific studies you can read about in a book called Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative, by Florance Williams.

Taking on this challenge is of great value to me. It’s a way to enhance my health and well-being, giving me a daily boost that leads to a cumulative increase in happiness.

A Deeper Purpose

As a keeper of the commons herbal knowledge, it’s important to me to share it as best I can. Nothing beats an in-person herb walk and so I encourage you to seek one out. If you are local to me I have one planned in April, (please see link below).

A Shared Journey

Last year I shared the “30-Day Wild Tea Challenge” through a dedicated Facebook group. Each day I went Live on my camera phone to share what I’d found. This year I am experimenting with this Podcast facility on Substack, (to include those of you not using social media).

Again, I will highlight some defining characteristics to support correct plant identification, as well as talking about medicinal qualities. After the video or audio, I will share some photos of the herbs I foraged, and a written review of how I found it as a drinking tea.

I welcome you to join me in whatever way works for you. Obviously, I have the benefit of being a qualified herbalist and know I can trust my plant ID skills after 20 years of wild herb foraging and running herb walks.

Please DO NOT ingest any plant you are not 100% sure of. You may feel more comfortable sticking to the ones you’re already familiar with but have yet to forage for yourself, e.g. nettle.

An Invitation

I am very happy to receive any ID queries on the Facebook group, Substack comments or on my website photo journal.

I’d love you to share your explorations. It feels a bit like an alternative to wine tasting in a vineyard, but with much more scope and wildness. Perhaps we could make up our own descriptive words to share our tea tasting experience?

Join me:

• Join the Facebook group here for daily lives: https://www.facebook.com/groups/30daywildteachallenge/
  

• Access the Substack Podcast here for daily audio: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/1942636.rss
  

• View the daily photo journal on my website here: https://www.healthneedsthyme.co.uk/post/30-day-wild-tea-challenge    & on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/herbal_healthcoach/
  

Each video or audio should be under 5 minutes.

I’m a little nervous about beginning this year as I will be staying in Devon from 1-5th with family. I’m feeling unsure of which herbs I will meet in these new green spaces, but confident that I will find some delicious wild drinking teas so I will be sure to pack my flask of hot water and my mug come rain or shine!

Let’s Get Started!

I’m really looking forward to this spring’s wild adventure and to welcoming you in your own quest to discover the wild teas of our local land.

Together let’s recommon our lost heritage to a once again reciprocal relationship with our local wild herbs. One where we receive their route to health and wellness, and they are known to us and receive our appreciation, respect, and protection.

For those Local to me:

My next herb walk is at 6.30pm on Tuesday 9th April. Meet at the entrance to Peel Park, on the Community Centre side in Long Ashton, North Somerset, BS41.

https://fb.me/e/b6z7rlFPH

£7 cash on arrival.