Chapter 3 preview

CHAPTER THREE

GROWING & GATHERING

YOUR BOTANICAL WORLD We all have our own version of the botanical world, the way in which we personally relate to the Plant Kingdom. Growing or gathering your own plants – for food, as ingredients for recipes or remedies, for the home, inspiration or simply because of a love of nature – can deeply enhance that experience.

Whatever your relationship to plants, growing or gathering will at some stage have something to do with it. Perhaps cooking is your thing or concocting herbal remedies? Any plant-based ingredients you use will have been grown and gathered at some point. The same goes for crafting with plant-based materials or experimenting with floral design – and, of course, the most obvious ‘growing and gathering’ activities: gardening and foraging.

This chapter explores the latter two elements in more detail from planting suggestions that can directly benefit humans (see page 150) or nature (see page 156), to introductory guides on foraging for food (see page 162), provisions (see page 170) and naturecraft (see page 174).Then, if you’re interested in knowing more about a particular topic, there’s an extensive Further Reading list at the end of the book (see page 392) with easy-to-navigate sections to help you find the perfect companion for your botanical world.

Or, for instant gratification, turn to chapters 4, 5 or 6 for carefully curated collections of delicious botanical recipes, remedies or nature-inspired art, design and craft, compiled with the help of an international selection of experts. Hopefully there’s something here to stimulate a deeper connection or new interaction with plants, or perhaps revive a latent one.

If there’s one message to take away from the remainder of Collins Botanical Bible, it’s that there’s no set way to commune with nature. Nor do you need to know

everything there is to know about plants to enjoy growing, gathering or any related pursuits – although deepening your understanding of the natural world can enhance your experience.

The plant-inspired experts featured in the coming chapters, from grow-your-own aficionados to wild food educators to botanical artists, will confirm that the best way to learn about the many facets of the Plant Kingdom is out ‘in the field’ – whatever that chosen field may be. Read more about our experts’ ‘botanical worlds’ next to each feature-length recipe, remedy or profile to get a sense of what has inspired them to feed, heal or create with plants.

Quotes accompany these contributions, and offer a fascinating read, perhaps even more so when read collectively.

There are no set rules that say you have to find a plant-loving niche, however.

For many people, exploring and harnessing the botanical world is a basic instinct, an intuitive or spiritual engagement – which is no surprise when you consider that growing and gathering have been part of the human experience for tens of thousands of years, from the first huntergatherers through the Neolithic Revolution to variables of farming and foraging in present-day times – while for others, the Plant Kingdom serves as a wonderful prism through which to simply observe what it means to be alive – to grow, gather, survive, thrive and ultimately connect with the natural world. Enjoy the journey.

Opposite ‘Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)’ by Sonya Patel Ellis (see page 386) for Herb Garden at The Marksman (2016) pays homage to this wonderful wild and cultivated culinary herb.

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GROWING FOR YOU

Planting for inspiration

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ature inspires on so many levels, providing the theme, focus, motif, backdrop or materials for countless creative works as well as inspiring many of science’s most important Eureka moments. From Claude Monet’s Giverny to Carl Linnaeus’s botanical garden at Uppsala, plants provide a rich tapestry of ideas and inspiration.

‘Green spaces provide areas in which to stop, think, and dream up new ideas. A garden full of tantalising fragrance, colour and texture is the perfect foil to the hustle and bustle of daily life,’ advises landscape designer, Miria Harris. Indeed, many of her designs have been commissioned by fellow creative types dreaming of a space where they can switch off and be re-inspired.

Harris achieves this by creating year-round interest, via plants that continue to enthral through autumn and winter – the late-flowering blooms, evergreen shrubs, foliage that turns from green to red or gold, textural tree trunks, vibrant stems or sculptural seedheads.

Sensory elements are also key – think deeply-scented flowers to induce feelings of nostalgia, the rustle of grasses or trees to aid relaxation, or herbs for moodenhancing dishes, tinctures or teas. Each design is personal, attests Miria, so plant for your personality and allow your inspiration to run wild.

MAKE THE CONNECTION

Wild abandon Love-in-a-mist Nigella damascena ‘Miss Jekyll Alba’ The white variant of this lacy border lovely is ironically named for colour-loving gardening guru Gertrude Jekyll. Scatter seeds and let nature take its course.

Instant exoticism Chinese wisteria Wisteria sinensis Claude Monet’s garden at Giverny starred in many of his most famous paintings, its iconic bridge arching under a canopy of fragrant wisteria.

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Escapism and romance Common jasmine Jasminum officinale So-called for the heavenly fragrance of its blooms, plant this ‘Gift from God’ near a bedroom window for the sweetest of dreams.

A plant for all seasons North American redbud Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ Year-round colour comes via purple-pink buds in spring, then heart-shaped leaves on elegant grey stems that go from green to purple to golden-bronze.

Peace and harmony Olive Olea europaea This all-powerful, peace-bearing symbol of the Ancient World – the ‘tree of eternity’ – is also drought-tolerant and can yield delicious fruits.

Sculptural interest Bearded iris Iris germanica From religious icon and royal banner to a favourite subject of the artist Georgia O’Keeffe, the regal iris naturally stands out from the crowd.

Creative flow Common grapevine Vitis vinifera The rambling grapevine, or rather the fermentation of its luscious fruit, has probably inspired more creative flow than any other plant.

Pay homage up a wall or in a conservatory.

Think pink Chinese meadow rue Thalictrum delavayi Placing striking pink flowers such as Chinese meadow rue against an inky background instantly contemporises the colour, first named after the original pink Dianthus plumarius.

Opposite In this detail of Chinese meadow rue (Thalictrum delavayi) from a garden designed by Miria Harris, the elegant pink petal parasols and creamy stamens are a dramatic foil to the black backdrop of the house.

‘It is a golden maxim to cultivate the garden for the nose, and the eyes will take care of themselves.’

Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish author, poet and travel writer (1850–1894)

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GROWING FOR NATURE Growing for nature is all about choosing plants or planting combinations that could positively impact the environment or its wildlife. The most obvious way to do this is by selecting specimens that attract pollinators. Better still, you could weave such plants into a wider planting scheme that promotes biodiversity. Think about specimens that provide shelter to a variety of wildlife, are heirloom or native species, can tolerate a range of conditions for yearround greenery, or return nutrients to the soil. The Earth will thank you for it.

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Planting for pollinators

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ollinators are the caretakers of much of the Plant Kingdom, ensuring the fertilisation and thus reproduction of pollen-bearing plants by transferring male sperm to the female egg of the same species. The majority of flowering plant species rely on such pollinators to make seeds that will become the next generation of plants. Thus it’s vital that the insects – the bees, butterflies, moths and hoverflies – birds and animals that provide such a service have ample incentive to fulfil their role. That incentive is nectar, and there is a lot that gardeners can do to help provide it.

As Josefina Oddsberg, co-founder of Bee Urban Sweden (www.beeurban.se) explains: ‘Planting flowers for bees is all about letting your garden burst with flowers rich in pollen and nectar throughout the season.

In early spring, that’s crocus, scilla and allium, during high summer, herbs such as lemon balm, mint and thyme are perfect, in late summer bees love heather, wild oregano and orpin. Make sure you use organic seed and plants, and avoid hybrids of any kind, as these are often sterile. If you want to keep it simple, choose aromatic plants such as lavender and herbs, and bushes and trees that give fruit and berries. They are always a good choice for our pollinating friends.’

MAKE THE CONNECTION

Easy pickings Argentinian vervain Verbena bonariensis Verbena’s nectar-rich, luminous purple flowers on tall elegant stems bloom from summer into autumn offering easy, inter-season, perennial pickings for bees.

Wild style Coneflower Echinacea purpurea Sterile outer petals draw a host of insects into the central cone of tiny, nectar-filled florets, while the seedheads are loved by birds.

Go wild Common poppy Papaver rhoeas Try throwing some wildflower seeds around, then wait for the big reveal. The black-on-red centre of the field poppy is a magnet for bumble and honey bees.

Honey-making shrubs Strawberry tree Arbutus unedo So-named for its strawberry-like autumnal berries beloved by birds, this glossy evergreen also contributes to honey production via its late creamy blossoms.

Fragrant attraction Guelder rose Viburnum opulus A good, mid-height screening shrub that fills the air with scent from an abundance of white or pale-pink flowers; a draw for humans and pollinators alike.

Nature and nurture Switch grass Panicum virgatum Butterflies love to lay their eggs in swishing clumps of frothy-flowered switch grass, providing caterpillars with protective cover and an instant leafy feast. (Though it will attract pollinators, switch grass itself is wind-pollinated.)

Early offerings Early crocus Crocus tommasinianus Bumble bee queens are often starving after a long winter hibernation and need all the nectar they can get. Lay on an early spring feast for them with a clump of these crocuses.

Companion planting Borage Borago officinalis Plant blue starry borage around monoecious vegetable crops, and bees, butterflies and hoverflies will help ensure that pollination, and thus fruiting, takes place.

Opposite Help support local bee communities and thus the wider issue of worldwide bee decline – and the production of many vital food crops – by introducing bee-friendly, nectar-rich flowers that bloom across the seasons.

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REASONS TO GATHER Acorn Quercus Hazelnut Corylus avellana

Blackberry Rubus

Elderflower Sambucus nigra

Borage Borago officinalis

Wild garlic Allium ursinum

Stinging nettle Urtica dioica

Wild strawberry Fragaria vesca

Viola Viola

Dandelion Taraxacum

Onion Allium Ginger Zingiber officinale

Parsnip Pastinaca sativa

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REASONS TO GATHER

There are many reasons to give foraging a try, but one stands out above the rest: creating the space, time and impetus to explore ‘gatheredness’ and thus reconnect with the wild has immeasurable mental and spiritual benefits.

‘Most of us are still related to our native fields as the navigator to undiscovered islands in the sea. We can any afternoon discover a new fruit there which will surprise us by its beauty or sweetness. So long as I saw in my walks one or two kinds of berries whose names I did not know, the proportion of the unknown seemed indefinitely, if not infinitely, great.’

So begins Henry David Thoreau’s epic literary work Wild Fruits, an unfinished text that was finally published in 2000.

Thoreau, one of history’s finest nature writers, began to formulate the idea for the book in the early 1850s. By 1859 his concept of wildness – in short, ‘in Wildness is the preservation of the world’ – was sufficiently honed to begin writing Wild Fruits in earnest. Into the book went lyrical accounts of his wanderings through the nature of New England, along with stores of botanical knowledge and advice on how to identify, gather and eat the ‘wild fruits’ that he came across on his travels: wild apples, cranberries, huckleberries and chestnuts among them.

Richard Mabey, author of the more contemporary wild food classic, Food For Free (1972), later said in Weeds (2010) that Henry Thoreau’s Wild Fruits ‘. . . celebrated that mysterious quality of “gatheredness” that clung like a savour to foraged wildings’.

In his book The Perfumier and the Stinkhorn (2011), Mabey also refers to Morel Tales (1998), by the American sociologist Gary Alan Fine, about the culture of wildmushroom hunting in the United States, in

which interviewees talk about the same quality of ‘gatheredness’ that Thoreau sought to promote. As Mabey explains, it is that which ‘makes wild foods taste different from shop-bought ones, and about the ecstasy of discovery’.

Gatheredness, then, is something that we should all potentially aim for, or at least try, not just in the gathering or foraging of wild foods such as fruits, nuts, seeds and roots but also materials for herbal remedies, natural dyes, botanical pressings, naturecrafting or, indeed, whatever sparks your interest. Do ensure that you adhere to any relevant countryside codes, as some plants, plant parts, or even whole areas of landscape are off limits in order to protect wild species or avoid biodiversity loss.

Even if you have no interest in foraging food or materials, the wild is the perfect place to simply gather inspiration, letting ideas form as you walk through nature. For just being in nature is a tonic, especially valuable in the constant buzz and virtual reality of today’s ‘Digital Age’.

It’s also amazing how much plant knowledge can be subconsciously gathered simply by regularly immersing yourself within a landscape, more still by looking closer with the help of a site- or interestspecific plant identification guide – for inspiration see our Further Reading list (see page 392), or search through the various recipes and remedies in chapters 4 and 5.

At the end of the day, the more frequently you gather, and the better company you keep, the greater the gatheredness you should find.

Opposite There are many reasons to gather – for food (see page 162), provisions (see page 170) and naturecraft (see page 174) for example – but also to connect with nature.

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FORAGING FOR PROVISIONS Our hunter-gatherer ancestors would not just have been scouring the wild for food. They would also have been on the look out for medicinal herbs, materials to make shelters and later, as life became more civilised, provisions that might further enhance their lives such as cut flowers for the home. Thankfully, some of the traditional wisdom required to identify, gather and make use of such provisions has not only survived, it continues to inspire.

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Medicinal herbs

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rom Ayurveda to the monasteries of the Middle Ages and to hedgerow herbalism, plants as medicines provided historic civilisations and cultures with the means with which to survive, endure, strengthen, grow and potentially modernise. Enquiries into the properties of plants for medicinal purposes also revealed their non-medicinal properties, such as culinary ingredients and natural dyes.

Today, herbalism continues to be practised in many parts of the world, by some indigenous peoples, but also as an increasingly accepted form of holistic healing in places where Western medicine usually prevails. In commercial form at least, preparations containing herbs such as echinacea, evening primrose and milk thistle are commonplace.

The number of herbalists trained to create bespoke preparations from freshly sourced plants and flowers also appears to be rising with demand, as Chapter 5: Botanical Remedies’ and the Further Reading section (see page 392) reveal. In this case spot-on plant identification and handling is key. Administering the wrong plant or part could have serious consequences, as could treating someone who should avoid certain herbs or ingredients (children, pregnant women, or those with serious medical conditions for example). If you do wish to try out a remedy for therapeutic reasons or for an ailment, always consult an expert first.

leaves of lady’s mantle combined with the tiny chartreuse flowers make a soothing ‘monthly’ tea that reduces menstrual bleeding.

Evening primrose Oenothera biennis The seeds of this sun-loving, fatty-acid-rich plant were sent home by early English settlers of America as early as 1614. Collect petals and make your own essential oil.

Feverfew Tanacetum parthenium Native to Eurasia but now found worldwide, feverfew tea is said to help relieve or prevent migraines. Test it before you drink it all, though, as fresh leaves can be bitter.

Juniper Juniperus communis Juniper is famed as the primary flavour of gin (see page 246), although only a few species yield edible berries so use a guide when out foraging.

MAKE THE CONNECTION

Yarrow Achillea millefolium The genus Achillea nods to Achilles, who reportedly used yarrow to treat battle wounds.

Herbalists still use it today to treat numerous, hopefully less-bloody, ailments.

Pot marigold Calendula officinalis Found growing wild in southern Europe, the bright orange flowers of calendula have antiinflammatory properties that are well known to help soothe skin.

Ribwort plantain Plantago lanceolata A common weed of cultivated land, a tea from plantain leaves is said to be a highly effective cough medicine, while the brown flowers taste like mushrooms.

Lady’s mantle Alchemilla vulgaris Native to Europe and beyond, the dew-collecting

Goosegrass Galium aparine Kids love the sticky stems of goosegrass, but the bruised plant can also help relieve nettle stings.

Or try weaving the stems together to make a rough sieve or basket.

Opposite Women gather medicinal plants in a 15th-century copy of a manuscript by the Andalusian Arab physician Albucasis (936–1013) entitled Observations on the nature of different alimentary and hygenic products.

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LIVING WITH NATURE What is nature? Is it, as is most often the Western view, those parts of the physical world that are not human or manmade: the plants, animals and landscapes? Or do you believe, as many indigenous peoples of the world do, that humans are very much a part of nature, intrinsically connected to the land and its spirits? Either way, the more we live with nature – urge ourselves to get outdoors and spend time with plants, flowers and the landscape – the greater our chances of connecting with and ultimately respecting it. Nature is, after all, our home.

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Growing home together

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ature is not somewhere to visit, it is home,’ wrote the American poet and conservationist Gary Snyder in a collection of nine captivating essays entitled The Practice of the Wild (1990). The quote is often shared minus a reference to Snyder’s insightful investigation into the human relationship with nature, which is a shame. Weaving together aspects of mythology, history, anthropology, etymology and spirituality, plus Snyder’s own personal experiences and interpretations of ‘wilderness’ and ‘wildness’, this is environmentalism at its most inspiring – a lecture-free, beautifully lyrical exploration of what it means to live in harmony with nature. It is also a vital reminder of our collective responsibility to safeguard our ‘home’.

The Practice of the Wild came 35 years after the famous Six Gallery reading of 1955, at which fellow poet Allen Ginsberg read Howl, and Snyder A Berry Feast, a poem he had written while staying on the Warm Springs Reservation in the summer of 1950.

Native American culture shapes much of Snyder’s work; he grew up as neighbour to the Salish peoples of Puget Sound, and witnessed their close relationship to the land. In 1969, having spent more time absorbed in the Native American culture and that of Zen Buddhism – especially the principle of Ahimsa, or non-harming – he published Four Changes, a widely-circulated environmental treatise that warned of overpopulation, pollution and consumption, particularly of fossil fuels.

Some of Snyder’s green-living solutions were a little far out for those not involved with the counterculture movement, but others laid the foundations for the kind of ‘environmentally-friendly’ advice that is finally infiltrating the collective psyche: carpooling, using your own shopping bags, opting for natural fertilisers and using less water among them. While his ‘total transformation’ of ‘the five-millennia-long urbanizing civilization tradition into a new ecologically-sensitive, harmony-oriented, wild-minded scientific/spiritual culture’ still has a way to go, there is at least a new global awareness of what needs to be done, including how to conserve ‘wilderness’.

A Western concept largely denoting a place of pristine natural beauty untouched by Man, ideas about wilderness were particularly prevalent in the writings of the nineteenth-century American author Henry David Thoreau, the American poet and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson and Scottish-American naturalist and ‘Father of the National Parks’ John Muir.

Muir was particularly vocal about the preservation of the wilderness, and his observations are wonderfully poetic, describing not just the spiritual beauty of the wild landscape, but also the devastating effects of deforestation caused by the over-logging and the ravage of meadow ecosystems by ‘hoofed locusts’ (grazing sheep). His adventurous, literary activism certainly struck a chord with the masses, and his legacy includes the creation and extension of Yosemite National Park, the co-founding of the Sierra Club (inspiration to visionary landscape photographer Ansel Adams, see page 339) and, not least, the cornerstone of the modern-day conservation movement.

Today, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; www.iucn.org) and its associated database Protected Planet (www.protectedplanet.net) count more than 160,000 protected areas dedicated to the long-term conservation of nature. In total these areas cover over 12 per cent of the world’s surface and include national parks, nature reserves, terrestrial and marine zones, and sustainably managed public and private landscapes. It’s a huge and vital achievement, yet not without debate: the first national parks sought to protect ‘the wilderness’ but in doing so displaced huge numbers of indigenous communities who had lived in and shaped such ecosystems for millennia – peoples who called the wilderness home; while the idea of humans protecting the wild somehow places humans outside of that very wildness. Can we really conserve nature if we retain a stance of being separate from it?

This is a fine line that needs treading carefully but surely one we’re collectively capable of. Hopefully, as Snyder puts it in his poem For the Children, we can ‘Stay together learn flowers go light’ – a motto for growing and gathering if ever there was one.

Opposite The Ansel Adams Wilderness in the Sierra Nevada, California, near Yosemite National Park and Mammoth Lakes has been inhabited by Miwok, Monache, Mono, Washo and Shoshone peoples for thousands of years.

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