But this wasn’t just about the physical impact of a wild diet. Living closer to nature feeds the soul and this is a take home from this book. In an age of over consumption and linear timelines, it’s a call for traditional cycles, to reconnect with nature and to demand less of the planet and of ourselves.

The Wilderness Cure - Mo Wilde - Google Books The Wilderness Cure - Mo Wilde - Google Books

I found The Wilderness Cure to give a fascinating insight into the world or wild food and foraging throughout the seasons. I would love to be able to ditch supermarket shopping and live off the land which is exactly what the author of this book did for a whole year.Bratman GN, Hamilton JP, Hahn KS, et al. Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2015(112);28:8567-8572. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1510459112.

Videos - Monica Wilde

It shows rather than preaches, as we follow Mo on her own journey. She teaches foraging, but had been mulling over the efficacy of living entirely off the land for the whole year. This book is her diary of that experience. The writing is beautifully descriptive; however, I did find it a little repetitive in places (we’re told several times at the start that she won’t eat butter) and I also felt that it was a little ‘preachy’ in places too, which was off-putting at times. Further to this, I think that some people might be put off by the many extraneous historical details, but I really, really enjoyed them (especially as I live near to the areas being described). This is a fascinating book. Mo Wilde sets out to eat only foraged food for a whole year. She starts quite spontaneously, without much planning or storing of foraged foods. And she starts in the winter when there is least availability of natural foods to collect!Mo Wilde has had a life-long love affair with plants. She teaches foraging and is a founder member of the Association of Foragers, a member of the British Mycological Society and a Fellow of the Linnean Society. She also has a Masters degree in Herbal Medicine and runs a clinic specialising in herbal treatments for diseases. Monica lives in a self-built wooden home on 4 acres in central Scotland that she shares with 259 species of plants, 83 of insects, 62 bird species, 51 fungi, 13 wild mammals, 3 ferrets, 2 humans and 1 elderly cat. Scotland has been my home since 1995. Now my childrenhave left home, I find myself unsupervised and getting wilder day by day! Reverting to my ‘weed state’. June 2022: The Wilderness Cure by Mo Wilde: Part 2. Mo Wilde, author of The Wilderness Cure, talks about the year she spent eating only wild food with Ken Greenway at Tower Hamlets Cemetery. https://monicawilde.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/in_pursuit_of_foraged_flavours__the_first_islay_foragers_summit-360p.mp4

The Wilderness Cure by Mo Wilde | Book review | The TLS The Wilderness Cure by Mo Wilde | Book review | The TLS

However, too much of it was taken up of descriptions of her meat, squirrel and fish eating for my taste. I didn’t somehow expect those included in the concept of foraging. June 2022: Mo Wilde on The Wilderness Cure: Ancient Wisdom in a Modern World. Mo Wilde, author of The Wilderness Cure, talks about the year she spent eating only wild food Stressed: Nature presents scenes that gently capture your attention instead of suddenly snatching it, calming your nerves instead of frazzling them. 3April 2022: YouTube. Lyme Disease: The New Great Imitator by Monica Wilde. The role of integrative medicine in the management of persistent Lyme disease symptoms. Disconnected: One of the most basic human needs is to feel that you belong and you’re part of a larger tribe. But studies show that this concept goes beyond human relationships alone. Time in nature results in a sense of belonging to the wider world that is vital for mental health. 9 There’s so much in this book which is inspiring and exciting and daunting (will we all be relying on these foods in the near future? I also think the answer is yes) . All I can say is go out and buy it, read it and keep it close to your heart. I’ve also bought a foraging book now and am planning to do a course in my local area as soon as possible.

The Wilderness Cure (Audio Download): Mo Wilde, Mo Wilde

The Wilderness Cure is an immensely readable book, whether you're sold on the idea of foraging or not doesn't really matter as there is still plenty to take away. Predominately a diary of how the author lived for a year consuming wild food that she foraged and bartered for with friends and neighbours but there are a few personal anecdotes in the book that provide humour and entertainment. Apart from the ‘brief history of food’ introduction, the book is written as diary log entries, filled with really fascinating details of the foraged food resources around all of us. I made lots of notes on what to look out for in my wood or hedgerow as well as considering alternative options to my present diet. I think a lot of us would like to think we eat seasonally and locally, but this book showed me that there's a lot more I could be doing to tread more lightly on the earth. One scene from the book has had a profound impact on me - when Mo floats the idea of making a video to encourage people to eat organic food. She proposes making a gorgeous dinner full of organic produce, then placing it in front of people who aren't convinced of the benefits organic food, along with a shot glass of the legal amounts of pesticide and herbicide that you'd typically ingest with non-organic food, to pour over their food like a dressing. What a brilliant idea. I think such a video would go viral and have an incredible impact. Mo, if you're reading, crowd-fund for this video to be made!Mo Wilde made a quiet but radical pledge: to live only off free, foraged food for an entire year. In a world disconnected from its roots, eating wild food is both culinary and healing, social and political. Ultimately, it is an act of love and community. Using her expert knowledge of botany and mycology, Mo follows the seasons to find nutritious food from hundreds of species of plants, fungi and seaweeds, and in the process learns not just how to survive, but how to thrive. Nourishing her body and mind deepens her connection with the earth – a connection that we have become estranged from but which we all, deep down, hunger for. The Wilderness Cure by Mo Wilde is an inspirational and fascinating journal encouraging us to disconnect from our phones and reconnect with nature and our ancestral past by foraging for foods that will help us thrive rather than merely survive.