Last week, I had the privilege of meeting the Queen of wild foods and my mentor, Linda Runyon. It was the first time I’ve met her in person, though I have read all of Linda’s books, listened to her radio programs time and again and have communicated via countless emails with her. Her leadership and encouragement in my ‘wild’ adventures has had a significant impact on me.
Anticipating a sunny Spring day I packed a wild picnic. And since it rained…we ate inside.
Linda no longer melts icicles for laundry water, mud does not cover her exposed skin to protect from the black flies and she does not forage for breakfast, lunch and dinner… all of which she did for decades. Rather, she lives in a lovely retirement center in South Jersey. Wild reflections are evident in every corner of her room, plants (rather weeds and moss) grow on her window ledge, wild plants and seeds line the shelves in her cooking corner and scrapbooks of wild memories are stacked about.
Linda’s Wild Plant Walk, Crafts, Linda & Holly
Treasuring past memories yet embracing each leg of her journey Linda lives a rich life. Her 15th book on foraging for edible plants came off the press last Fall and her current book projects look fabulous. Doodles are on scraps of paper capturing some new idea or other. Passionately wanting to help people to prepare for any eventuality, Linda makes it easy for those of us following in her wake. Her books were born from necessity to survive off the grid and thrive off the land.
P. S. More about Linda and her remarkable life can be found at this link. https://wildblessings.com/2011/09/03/wild-woman-linda-runyon-eats-the-trees/
