It's almost three weeks into 2012 and progress has been pretty good on the writing projects. My book on foraging, gardening and cooking is going well and I hope to have the first strong draft finished by April. Disciplined writing is so much easier during winter it seems, and especially on wickedly cold days like today (just below 0° and windy as I write this).
When it's freezing outside just the sight of a woodpile warms the spirit.
There are a number of decent books already published on foraging wild edibles, and 2011 even saw a few chefs author cookbooks that focused on wild edibles. It seems that the culinary world has caught up with what many folks in rural areas have known for generations, that there are a lot of fine tasting plants and fungi growing in our woods and cities that have long been ignored as fine table fare by most people. A weed by any other name would taste as good?
At this point I'm incorporating our gardening and self-sufficiency efforts into the project as well, as the whole thing falls under the umbrella of sustainability and self-reliance.
Because we closed our small business last year I had an opportunity to get back into my own foraging lifestyle with the time and energy that I hadn't had for several years while running the business. I shared a fair amount of those outdoor and kitchen experiences with people, so much so that friends and family began to urge me to write something that would help others learn about and enjoy foraging too.
So, what I've always found to be a personally enjoyable and practical activity seems to be growing into something bigger. We also hope to offer a few educational events this year where we take people into the woods, so to speak, to do some hands-on foraging, followed by preparing and dining on what we've harvested. I'm visualizing some wonderfully fun "field to table" events.