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EP43: Plants, enchantment and wild words

Show Notes Embark on a captivating journey in this episode of the Eatweeds Podcast as host Robin Harford welcomes Zoe Gilbert, a talented fiction author and folklore expert. Immerse yourself in an enchanting conversation about plants, enchantment, and folklore that will inspire your imagination and deepen your appreciation for nature. …

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EP42: Medicinal forest gardens

In this episode, I talk with herbalist Anne Stobart, who set up the Medicinal Forest Garden Trust, about why we need to grow medicinal and food trees instead of just ornamental trees and shrubs. Show Notes Online Course: Medicinal Trees and Their Healing Properties Book: The Medicinal Forest Garden Handbook …

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EP41: It’s not just for you human

A short audio essay on sustainable harvesting and ethical wildcrafting. Spoken by Robin Harford from Eatweeds. Show Notes Botanical Society Code of Conduct Sustainable foraging guidelines Foraging safety guidelines Careful with that plant ID app

EP40: Plants and colour

In this episode, I talk with natural plant dye artist, Flora Arbuthnott. We discuss her fascination with using wild plants to create beautiful art and how the practice of gathering nurtures creativity and wellbeing. Show notes Flora website: Plants and Colour Find Flora on Instagram: @plants_and_colour About Flora Arbuthnott Flora …

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EP39: What’s that plant

Mark Duffell is one of Britain’s foremost botanists and ecologists. In this episode we talk about: The best way for beginners to learn plant identification. Why the ecology of a plant is important to know before harvesting. Forager or pillager? Which one are you? How to overcome your fear of …

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EP38: Let’s talk trespass

In this episode of the Eatweeds podcast I discuss with Nick Hayes author of the ‘Book of Trespass‘ discusses the many reasons why Right to Roam is so important to the nation’s mental health and wellbeing. How access to the countryside helps people deepen their connection to nature so they …

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EP37: Sound walks

At the end of last year I interviewed Emma Welton. A musician who lives locally to me. She discusses listening as a nature connection practice. Active listening can help us develop a deep empathic relationship with the natural world. Discover how to identify trees by sound, why we need to …

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EP36: Nettle eater

Tom Hirons is a poet and storyteller. He lives with his partner on the edge of Dartmoor in the UK. In this interview we discuss his work and how as creative humans we can all express our inherent wildness through creative and magical acts. Show notes Nettle Eater book Tom’s …

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EP34: Prison plants

In this episode I talk with Nicole Rose from Solidarity Apothecary. Nicole did a three and half year prison sentence aged 21 amidst a decade of state repression against the campaign to close down Europe’s largest animal testing company. In this interview we discuss her plant journey from prison to …

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EP33: Foraging, rewilding and nature connection

Lucy O’Hagan takes us on a journey exploring ancestral ways and rewilding, foraging and nature connection. Why do it and how relevant is it in a hyper connected digital world? Show Notes Lucy O’Hagan Wild Awake Ireland Instagram Facebook Airmid’s Journal Requests for submissions: airmidsjournal@gmail.com Other Resources John Rhyder Lynx …

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EP32: The fantastical delights of fly agaric

Fergus Drennan and Courtney Tyler discuss their pioneering work exploring the cutting-edge of food and medicine using the fly agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria). Fly Agaric Tincture Recipe Click here for Henriette Kress’s original tincture recipe and instructions. The content is for information, educational and entertainment purposes only! Courtney Tyler Fergus …

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EP31: The importance of ethnobotany – an Interview with Mark Nesbitt

Mark Nesbitt is the Senior Research Leader for Economic Botany and curator of the Economic Botany Collection at Kew. In this interview we discuss the importance of ethnobotany and whether there is a place for citizen scientists in this exciting field. Ethnobotany is the study of the interrelationship between people and …

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EP30: The edible city – urban foraging during lockdown

John Rensten (author of The Edible City) discusses how to keep foraging in a city during the coronavirus lockdown. How to stay safe, keep your distance and why foraging is vitally important for mental and physical wellbeing. Show Notes Forage London website. The Edible City by John Rensten. John’s Facebook …

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EP29: Calm ease

A discussion on foraging, stillness and mindfulness as a way to work with difficult feelings during the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. Even if you are a sceptic. Show Notes Tanya Shadrick: Writer and poet. Thich Nhat Hanh: Calm-Ease. A 20-minute mindfulness practice.

EP28: Introducing plant talk

Plant Talk is an occasional supplement to the regular Eatweeds podcast, being the first one I decided to just ‘get it out there’. The quality isn’t up to what I would have liked. Please bear with me while I get to grips with this ‘new technology!’ Also, I would love …

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EP26: Herbalism with attitude

It’s round two with the Seed Sistas. Britain’s most irreverent herbalists. For the past few years, they have been making waves in the plant community. Overthrowing the colonialism that has turned herbalism from something we all used to do, into a profession where you’d think you need a PhD just …

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EP25: Edible acorns – the forgotten food

Acorns are a massive, under-utilised and forgotten food source. Join Robin Harford (your host) and Marcie Mayer (Europe’s foremost acorn food producer), as they explore the edible uses of acorns as a food and in cooking. Show Notes Oakmeal Website Oakmeal Online Store. Oakmeal Facebook Page. Oakmeal Instagram Page. Marcie’s …

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EP24: Nutritional cultural identity

Masanobu Fukuoka’s one-straw revolution inspired Krishna Mckenzie to start his own organic farm in Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India. In this interview he talks about the importance of nutritional cultural identity, wild food volunteer plants, soil fertility, bioregionalism and why wellbeing needs to be collective not individual self indulgence. Show Notes …

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EP23: Wild tea ceremonies & celebrations

How to create your own local wild tea ceremonies and celebrations for community building and wild wellbeing. In this interview, I talk with my friend Mary Morgaine Squire on how to create local wild tea celebrations to reconnect us to plants, place, self and soil. Show Notes Herb Mountain Farm …

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EP22: Foraging the future, sustainability & vital connection

An interview with Miles Irving, author of the Forager Handbook and creator of The Wild Box, on why we must include humans in our conservation models in order to look after wild spaces. Why foraging is sustainable. How foraging can help feed an ever growing population, and how we can …

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EP21: From 19th century famine potherb to 21st century hipster food

The edibility of plants has been discussed in old herbals and economic handbooks since the origins of written language. Inventories of wild edible plants were often created in the hope of alleviating famine and finding new sources of food. Nineteenth and early 20th-century ethnography documented the use of wild foods …

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EP20: Discovering new wild edible plants

That person is Lukasz Luczaj, associate professor and head of the Department of Botany at the University of Rzeszow, Poland. I’d always wanted to meet and interview him. It was self-evident to me that his depth of knowledge of wild edible plants was, quite simply, extraordinary. His pet subject is …

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EP19: The future of farming is foraging

Food pioneers Martin Godfrey and Sara Melendro from Hilltown Organics are revolutionising how we farm. Incorporating wild edible plants into their polyculture farming systems, they grow high-nutrient food plants that are sold at farmer’s markets. According to soil scientists, their revolutionary farming practices have produced some of the richest soil …

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EP18: The wild art of fermentation

Fermented foods are a delicious and rich source of nourishment. The fermentation process can transform the flavour of food from the plain and mundane into delicious flavours enlivened by colonies of beneficial bacteria and enhanced micronutrients. In this episode I talk with former plant biochemist Viola Sampson turned “fermentation passionista” …

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EP17: Busted by the cops for picking a dandelion

Notorious New York vegan forager Steve Brill was busted by the cops for picking a dandelion. In this interview along with his 12 year old daughter, the father and daughter double-act discuss their foraging antics around New York. While revealing how to craft delicious vegan cuisine from their foraged finds. …

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EP16: Herbalists without borders choose love over fear

I was delighted to finally get Becs Griffiths and Annwen Jones. Two members of the collective who organised the Radical Herbalism Gathering, to agree to an interview. This time however I was interested in their new venture called Herbalists Without Borders (Bristol). A cracking example of grassroots herbal medicine which …

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EP15: The handmade apothecary

In this episode I talk with two amazing herbalists about why we need to build ‘health resilience’ using herbal medicine, in an age of NHS cuts and a national health crisis. When is the best time to self-medicate, and when should you visit the doctor? Why modern medicine isn’t always …

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EP14: Why the balsam bashers might be wrong

Home > Plants > Himalayan balsam The transportation of seeds or whole plants is an offence under the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019 in England and Wales and Section 14AA of the Wildlife and Countryside Act in Scotland. This means that no seeds or plants should be …

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EP13: Absinthe alchemy

I’d like introduce you to one of the world’s foremost absinthe experts, and the first person who was able to authentically reproduce the premium quality absinthes from the 19th century. In this latest Eatweeds podcast, T.A. Breaux aka Ted B, takes you on an amazing journey in search of the …

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EP12: Passion potions

Many moons ago I met two awesome ‘herbalistas’ called Karen and Fiona at the first Radical Herbalism Gathering (RHG). RHG is definitely a weekend I recommend you get to, if you like earthy herbalists who talk about real issues rather than just how to make your face look pretty with …

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EP11: Intuitive herbalism

Over the years I have bumped into master herbalist Nathaniel Hughes at various gatherings around the country. We never seemed to be able to spend much time together as our paths where literally criss-crossing. That aside we both recognised that we were on a similar page when it came to …

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EP10: The wild & wonderful world of fungi

A walk in the woods fungi foraging with the wild and wonderful Craig Worrall from Edible Leeds. I recently visited Craig at his home in Leeds, and he kindly took me out to one of his favourite fungi patches to talk all things fungi. In this walk in the wilds …

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EP09: Foraging with Europe’s grand master

Crawling at 5mph it took me ages to drive up the dusty, pot-holed road that led into the depths of wildness where foraging grand master Francois Couplan lives hidden in the depths of Provence, France. If there is one person who I would dearly love to learn more about wild edible …

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EP08: First steps to seeing plants

In this interview Emma Kidd, author of First Steps To Seeing: A Path Towards Living Attentively discusses practical ways to deepen your relationship with plants, by enhancing your ability to ‘see’ plants more fully, in a way that no mainstream botany class will ever teach you. As Emma says: “On our …

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EP06: How to make nettle leaf protein

In Memory of Michael Cole. Michael had a short battle with cancer but in the end died peacefully with his family around him, at home in front of the fire on Wednesday, 3rd October 2018. Discover how to make a 100% leaf protein from wild green plants, especially stinging nettle (Urtica …

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EP05: Remembering Frank Cook

Frank Cook was a herbalist, teacher, botanical explorer, activist and pollinator who turned people on to the abundance nature provides and the ability to self-actualise. In this episode of the, friends of Frank Cook remember the man and his mission, and how he inspired thousands of people around the world …

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EP04: Plant observation & Goethean science

In this interview Craig Holdrege director of The Nature Institute discusses how the methodology of Goethean Science can enhance our ability to observe and experience plants and guide us into a whole different way of knowing and understanding the plant kingdom. His passion is to develop what Goethe called “delicate empiricism” — …

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EP03: Revisioning herbal medicine

An interview with Simon Mills, herbal practitioner and author of Principles & Practice of Phytotherapy, The Essential Guide to Herbal Safety, Dictionary of Modern Herbalism. In this interview Simon’s talks about : Why plants are not pills. Taking back control of our health from experts, and much more. Show Notes …

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EP02: Beyond botany & other ways of knowing plants

In Episode 2 of the Eatweeds Podcast Robin Harford interviews his Russian friend, plantwalker and herbalist Olya Maiboroda about how we can know plants beyond the usual botanical methods. Something that pretty much all indigenous cultures have in common, is that we where foragers before botany was even dreamt up, …

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EP01: Wild dolmades & other things

In this first episode of the Eatweeds Podcast wild food chef Paul Wedgwood from Edinburgh talks about making Garlic Mustard Dolmades (Alliaria petiolata). Research herbalist Monica Wilde takes us through the latest scientific findings on whether comfrey is safe to eat, is it? And finally Alex Laird from Living Medicine talks about …

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