Wild Harvesting: Developing A New Intimacy With Nature
There is a wealth of wild treasures in Quebec; you can pick many aromatic plants that can be useful in cooking or, in our case, for making aromatic recipes for alcohol. You don't necessarily need to know all the plants to go wild foraging; you just need to take an interest in them little by little, one plant at a time, and your repertoire will gradually expand.
However, the harvesting of forest products must always be done with respect for the flora and fauna.
Here are some important tips for ethical and sustainable harvesting:
- First, make sure you only pick plants you know you recognize, as some plants are toxic. It's also recommended to pick plants in healthy, unpolluted areas, far from cities, roads, pesticide-treated fields, etc., to ensure your harvest won't harm your health. A plant whose flowers produce edible fruit can be eaten whole, and some plants even have properties that can help restore the body's health.
- Furthermore, we should only pick what we need, as not all plants are 100% unlimited resources. It is also best not to pick all the leaves from a single plant, as this could harm the plant's growth. Some fragile and slow-growing species are vulnerable, including wild garlic and wild ginger, so we should avoid picking them too much. Also, these are species that are prohibited from being sold in Quebec, which is why it is recommended not to pick them for personal consumption.
- Furthermore, the right time to harvest plants differs depending on the part of the plant desired. Regarding the leaves, it is mostly spring since this is the time of year when they are full of active ingredients and nutrients. Then, to benefit from all the nutrients from the roots, it is recommended to harvest them in the fall. As for the flowers, they should be harvested at the beginning of flowering, when the bud is in the process of opening. However, it is also possible to harvest the flower buds; this is the part richest in minerals, vitamins, and trace elements.
- Afterward, you can dry your herbs and even freeze them to keep them longer and be able to use them as is out of season. Drying must be done quickly after picking, because otherwise, the leaves will wilt and lose their color. It's a fairly simple process, but it will just take patience, as it takes a long time.
- First, you need to clean the plants with a damp cloth and find a warm, dark, and dry place to preserve them. Then, if you have kept the stems, you can make bouquets of about 7 branches attached with a string to hang them downwards. However, if you only have the ends of the plants (flowers, leaves, etc.) and you cannot tie them in a bouquet, it is not the end of the world; just lay them flat with a space between each to prevent them from molding. Finally, once the drying is complete, you just have to store your herbs in glass jars, away from light and humidity.
Some examples of interesting aromatics for making your own gin at home:
Spruce (Conifer with round needles; take the pale, soft shoots for a refreshing, non-bitter taste; bud picking in mid-May)
Balsam fir (Conifer with flat needles, particularly sensitive to pollution, therefore picked in coniferous forests far from cities). The needles and buds are a great source of vitamin C, while fir gum is very rich in minerals.
Wild mint (Found in the alluvial section of the St. Lawrence shores, wetlands—ditches, roadsides, meadows, riverbanks—picked in July-August or fall)
Tea and Wintergreen tea (Parts of the plant to harvest: fruits, leaves, and flowers). It grows in fresh, moist soil, in coniferous forests; they are harvested from the beginning of July to mid-August.
Red Clover (Very common in fields, harvested early in the morning before bees and insects forage on it, contains lots of minerals and protein)
Sweet gale (Seeds and leaves collected for infusion, found in large colonies in floodplains of lakes and rivers, July-August)
Lavender (Found in hot climates, dry soil). It is harvested from late June to late August, preferably on a dry, sunny morning.
Juniper berries (very common in boreal forests in Quebec, harvest in the fall before winter, preferably with gloves, because the thorns are prickly)
You can get plant identification guides to help you recognize plants by their physical characteristics, including The Big Book of Aromatic Plants by Laurent Bourgeois, The Herb Bible by Stefan Buczacki, and Aromatic and Medicinal Plants: 700 Species N. ed. by Lesley Bremness.
Additionally, if you're not entirely comfortable starting wild foraging on your own, there are several places that offer workshops and introductory activities to help you get started. In fact, the Le Semoir website lists various instructors offering nature-related workshops. You can also browse the Floèm website to learn more about herbs.
Happy picking!
