Ep. 104: Wild Food Year - Mushrooms, Herbalism, Plant Wisdom & the Inner Universe (feat. Monica Wilde)

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of speaking with Monica Wilde. Monica is a forager, research herbalist and ethnobotanist. She lives in Scotland in a self-built wooden house on 4 organic acres where she is encouraging the growth of medicinal and foraging species to create a wild, teaching garden. She is also a Research Herbalist specializing in Lyme disease & co-infections, and a Fellow of the Linnean Society. Monica holds a Master’s degree in Herbal Medicine, she is a Member of the Association of Forager and a Member of the British Mycological Society. I’m excited to learn from someone who embodies such deep natural wisdom on how to nourish both our bodies and Gaia through wild food and wild medicine.   

TOPICS COVERED:    Childhood in Kenya & Connection to the Wild  Disconnection in Post-WWII Western Society  The Wisdom of Plants  The Language & Biosemiotics of Plants  Tenets of Herbalism   Ancient Roots of Herbalism  Herbalism and Pharmaceuticals   Money as a Religion  The Body as a Collection of Microbiomes  Understanding Lyme Disease  Shepherding Wild Plants & Mushrooms  Traditional Ecological Knowledge  Reciprocity with the Natural World  Lessons Learned from a Wild Food Diet  EPISODE RESOURCES:   Monica Wilde Website: https://monicawilde.com/  Monica Wilde Twitter: https://twitter.com/monicawilde  Monica Wilde IG: https://www.instagram.com/monicawilde/  Wild Medicine Substack: https://wildmedicine.substack.com/  Napiers Herbalists: https://napiers.net/  Monascus purpureus (Red Rice Yeast): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monascus_purpureus  Heracleum sphondylium (Common Hogweed): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleum_sphondylium  Heracleum mantegazzianum (Giant Hogweed): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleum_mantegazzianum  Zach Bush: https://zachbushmd.com/  Lyme Disease: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease  Łukasz Łuczaj: http://thewildfood.org/  Pilosella officinarum (Mouse Ear Hawkweed): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilosella_officinarum  Association of Foragers: https://foragers-association.org/  Ganoderma applanatum (Artist Conk): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganoderma_applanatum