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Wild Blessings
Wild Blessings

Wild Blessings

A learning resource that can help you get outside and connect with nature.

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2022 Year in Review

January 4, 2023

2022 Year in Review

A year-in-review slideshow that reminds us of good things we learned

Plant Walks 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

An Eye for Wild Blessings in 2023

January 3, 2023

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How many of the plants in ‘Happy New Year’ can you name?

Happy New Year Wild Ones!  I look forward to 2023 and all the wild blessings God has in store for us.  Start each day hiking to your sit spot, asking God for eyes to see evidences of His love all around you hidden in plain view!!  Here are some ways to expand your wild BUCKET LIST!

Love, Holly

“You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance.”  Psalm 65:11

 
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Look for the unusual
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Listen to the birds singing songs of God’s love to you. They sing no matter what the weather. “I will sing praises even with my soul” Psalms 108:1
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Smell Milkweed blossoms, they have the most heady aroma. Find a Milkweed patch in July and be amazed.
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Lay on your back and watch the clouds kaleidoscope over head.
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Look for rainbows after every storm
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Observe dew and mist as the morning sun illuminates and bedazzles even the grass with jewels
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Walk in the woods and be inspired by what you find at your feet.
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Look for Morels (every April). I am always hopeful that THIS year they won’t evade me!
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If you work remote as many do, remember to make the woods your office. Here is my office pup, Max.
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Read your Bible outside breathing fresh air, feeling cool breezes, listening to bird calls and observing the seasons as they morph and change. Caution, balls and terriers are a huge distraction
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Dogs need outdoor time too.
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Find a shadowy path that beckons you to discover where it leads. “He led her into the wilderness and there He spoke to her heart.” Hosea 2:14
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Bring the outdoors in with essential oils, diffuse them to purify the indoor air quality and to set mood, or use pretty roller bottles to put them on you for all the reasons.
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Bring home your wild blessings
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Watch the sun bite a hole in the horizon and feel it’s rays warm your face. “I stand in awe of Your signs, You make the dawn and the sunset shout for JOY.” Psalms 65:8
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Ask for eyes to see every wild blessing. “Open my eyes that I might behold wonderful things from Your worLd.” Psalms 119:18
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Listen to water rushing every chance you get. “God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved.” Psalms 46:5
Play with nature scraps
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Forage for all the WILD nuts this Fall!
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Pick flowers to give away
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Eat something wild everyday
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Time in nature can be just the adventure we need to reset our focus, heal our bodies, and feed our souls restoring a sense of wonder.
Invest in rewilding yourself by attending Wild Blessings fabulous in-person events – Wild Food Feasts, Foraging Adventures, Plant Walks, Befriending Plants Intensives. Check WildBlessings.com for 2023 dates.
Join me every Teaching Tuesday at 8pm (EST) to surf nature’s wave, herb around, sip virtual wild teas and learn about plants as the seasons roll by!
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“Nature is such a liberating force from the religious fog because it’s God’s and it speaks volumes about His nature.” John Eldredge

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Wild Preparedness – Water

December 3, 2022

My Kitchen classroom counter full of the wildly preserved – jammed and jellied, dried, brined or pickled, fermented, cured, powdered…

We can live without food for many days but only three days without clean water.  Join me for another Wild Blessings class as we learn from a emergency preparedness instructor, Jody Maier, the focus of her teaching is on the most basic need in an emergency: water. The average person needs 1 gallon of water a day to survive. Jody will teach you how to catch water and then purify it for drinking and hygiene.

Preparedness is expecting the unexpected and making needed changes while you have options.   The impetus for becoming self sufficient in emergencies resulted from the Maier family surviving two hurricanes  where they were left stranded on the outer banks of North Carolina for 3 weeks without power or water.

Jody challenges us to shift our thinking into ‘what if?”… even making a game out of brainstorming with ‘Black Out’ Parties.  Her focus in part one of Wild Preparedness is on our most basic human need, clean water.   “It’s best to begin preparing from a happy place when you still have options, time and availability.” affirms Jody.  There are no emergencies for those who are truly prepared.  Being prepared for a crisis before one arises is a wise practice and builds confidence.

I hope this class inspires you. Of course, as always I feature what is on Nature’s Shelves this past week with my Wild Blessings slideshow.  (October 5-12)

In part two of my Wild Preparedness series, Jody will give her best tips on how to cook food, stay warm and provide light in the event of a power outage.  Then I will be teaching on how to create a Wild Intentional Garden by bringing the wild home for the ultimate in food sustainability.

Preparing during times of peace is ‘peaceful’ and whatever efforts you and your family do to prepare are never wasted.  “It is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it!”  There is a powerful, secure feeling in knowing that you chose to take charge of your personal readiness and that of your family because together you made the effort to plan ahead.”  (last two quotes from Making the Best of Basics by James Stevens)

“The wise man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them, but the fool goes blindly on the suffers the consequences.”  Proverbs 22:3

Peace to you,

Holly

Here are some books on preparedness that we appreciate for the non hype manner of presentation and thoroughness of details. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The links below are affiliate links, which means if you click through and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission. It does not affect the price you pay.

Making the Best of Basics Family Preparedness Handbook – https://amzn.to/3imINCH

Preparedness Peace – https://amzn.to/3VMasvf

Sustainable Preparedness (Reclaiming Noble Independence in an Unstable World)- https://amzn.to/3XNHJIx

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Befriending Jerusalem Artichokes

December 3, 2022

Jerusalem Artichokes are in the Sunflower family and grow to enormous heights.

Jerusalem Artichokes (also known as JAs) are one of my favorite wild passions. They are the ultimate survival food. Also called sunchokes, you can grow them with minimal effort, they’re fun to harvest (all winter) and they’re a powerhouse of nutrition. During the Summer this plant is known for it’s sunflower-like flowers and sticky sandpaper-like leaves. The knobby tubers are for ‘sale’ from October till Spring and are like digging for buried treasure.

Digging up JAs is like digging for buried treasure. Some of the tubers are HUGE and all shapes of knobbiness.

The only thing about JAs that is a bit annoying is it’s gaseous effect on your digestion winning it the nickname ‘Fartichoke’. BUT there is a way to tame this quality that I will show you in this class.  Here is the link for my teaching video on Jerusalem Artichokes and their amazing gifts.

 

 

Drying JAs to be ground into a gluten free flour and fermenting them to break down the inulin to make them easier to digest.

Sunchokes can be pickled, fried, mashed, roasted, and used in any manner as a potato substitute only with less carbs and calories. All my favorite JA recipes are on my Patreon page. Enjoy!

Making Clam Chowder with Jerusalem Artichokes substituting potatoes.

Tastes JUST like a potato but is more nutritious and less calories!

 

My best Jerusalem Artichoke recipes are on my Patreon page.  Would love to have you join me as a supporter of Wild Blessings on Patreon.  Along with the added Wild Blessings such as recipes… my Patreon members get a serious discount on my in-person classes.    You can support me at https://www.patreon.com/wildblessings.

If you don’t have Jerusalem Artichokes on your land you can buy them at Whole Foods and just pop them in the ground.  They will thrive and multiply to provide for you and yours!

Be sure to share with me your JA adventures in foraging and cooking this ultimate survival food.

Love,

Holly

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Asian Cuisine Forage to Feast

July 27, 2021

Join me virtually for my most recent Forage to Feasts wild adventures from July 24th .  I have hosted these memorable events since 2007.  Each menu has an international flair and this one featured Asian cuisine.  Enjoy!  I’ll be hosting another Forage to Feast in the Fall.

Filed Under: Cooking, Foraging, July, Kids in Nature, Nature's Wave, Plants, Uncategorized, Wild Food Feasts Tagged With: eating wild, foraging in July, July Wild Food Forage to Feast

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About Wild Blessings

Welcome to my website. My name is Holly Drake and I love to study, teach, and talk about wild foods. I live in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina with my husband Jason and my dog Max where I explore the beauty of God's creation to learn as much as I can about wild foods that are available to us for free.

Recent Posts

  • 2022 Year in Review
  • An Eye for Wild Blessings in 2023
  • Wild Preparedness – Water
  • Befriending Jerusalem Artichokes
  • Asian Cuisine Forage to Feast
  • Asian Forage to Feast – Saturday
  • Wild Fiesta Forage to Feast
  • The Wildly Preserved
  • Befriending Plants – The Presence of Pine
  • You Know You are a Forager When…
  • Wild Food Recipe Secrets
  • Wild Blessings Video of Adventures
  • Befriending Plants: Magnificent Mullein
  • Oils in the Life of Jesus Christ: April 2, 2021
  • Wild Blessing’s Final Fling – Plantasia
  • Thank God for Goldenrod
  • Curses and Blessings…BURdock
  • Befriending Plants…Heal All
  • Wild Shopping Tips
  • Foraging in April
  • The Passing of a Pioneer, Linda Runyon
  • Forage to Feast with Marc Williams
  • A Dandelion Celebration
  • Tapping Maples
  • My Facebook Confession
  • Pine is Fine
  • Paleo Wild and Free
  • A Personal Hero, Linda Runyon
  • Spring Fling March 31
  • Wild Food Lunch w/ Friends

 

Support Wild Blessings

 

Help me offer many resources and classes for free.

 

PATREON – You can become a regular supporter on Patreon.com. Go to their website, or search for Patreon.com/wildblessings and sign up to be a regular contributor.

 


 

PAYPAL – Whether you are paying for an upcoming event or contributing a donation, you can always use PayPal.com. Look there for my account, Holly Drake.

CONTACT:
HollyDrake56@gmail.com
 

          

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A website by Holly Drake

Ph. 828-406-8241

e: hollydrake56@gmail.com

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