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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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Wild ID Bags

June 1, 2011

Stairway to heaven

Had the coolest IDea….ย  Since identifying a plant accurately is sort of KEY in the wild business… I am always trying to find ways to make it easier to learn and remember.ย  Photos are great but sometimes they are confusing unless the plant being showcased is filmed against a contrasting background.ย  Drawing a picture is helpful, more for the exercise in observation and awareness, but my drawings don’t look anything like the real deal.ย  I’ve tried pressing the leaves under stacks of encyclopedias but that takes a long time and the leaves are brittle to work with..

What to do?

Wild care package

Well, I got the idea from my obsession with sending ‘pretty’ care packages to friends and family.ย  Whether it’s Autumn leaves, Spring greens or Summer flowers I love to decorate them with these green gifts sealing in their beauty with packing tape.ย  Not yet sure how long they last but they sure look happy to the recipient!

In preparing for my Wild Foods Survival Workshop I kept thinking how I can best pass on my knowledge to these people to help them make it their own and I came up with Wild Bags!ย  They are easy to make and look pretty cool.ย  We can even have contests to see which ‘team’ can collect one of each leaf first (with two identical bags, that is)

While foraging this morning I got the idea of having bags with different ID purposes. Such as a bag with only:

  • edible tree leaves
  • edible root leaves
  • Spring greens
  • Summer edible flowers
  • the possibilities are endless…. ๐Ÿ™‚

I label each wild gift with it’s common name and it’s botanical name.

So whether they last long or not, I am having FUN.ย  Oh and some of the flowers such as the lovely Buttercup are NOT edible, just felt compelled to put them in for ‘color’.ย  In the future, I will ONLY put wild edibles on my wild ID bags.ย  Promise!

Wild blessings abound!ย ย ย ย  Holly

Wild IDea BagsThe other side
The STING can’t be felt from Urtica dioica under the tape ๐Ÿ™‚

 

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About the Author

Holly Drake

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. [READ ALL ARTICLES]

Reader Interactions

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Comments

  1. Linda Runyon says

    June 1, 2011 at 8:27 pm

    Holly, what a wonderful, and lively site you have created. This site will bind like-minded people together in a way that only YOU can do! My heartest congratulations to the best teacher I know. The world we know must be shared. PS, I love the ID Bags!!
    Many Blessings will shine through this site! Linda Runyon

    Reply
  2. Pamela Torres says

    June 6, 2011 at 1:16 am

    Holly… your new website is sooooo beautiful. You are truly blessed. I have vision for it reaching people far and wide. …………..p

    Reply
  3. Victoria Stringer says

    September 3, 2011 at 4:02 pm

    Hi Mrs. Holly!

    I LOVE that idea! The bags are so pretty, and so useful. Great job! ๐Ÿ˜€

    Reply
    • holly says

      September 3, 2011 at 4:14 pm

      Hi Victoria, I’ll be giving workshops this Fall where the participants make Wild ID bags for edible trees and a different workshop where the ID bags will feature leaves from edible roots. In the Spring we’ll do bags with early edible leaves and in the Summer edible flowers.
      I resorted to this idea since I am not the artist in the family but this way I can capture God’s art permanently as an ID reference.
      They would make fun gift bags too!
      I hope you become a wild woman and learn to live off of the land on God’s free provisions!

      Reply
  4. Kendallina says

    June 8, 2013 at 7:14 pm

    Hi Aunt Holly!
    Remember that foraging trip we went on with the Claffey girls? We made bags JUST like those! Sooo much fun ๐Ÿ™‚ suuuch pretty bags ๐Ÿ˜€
    I sure hope we’ll see eachother again really soon. I miss you!!! Can’t wait for camp!
    hugs and kisses.
    K

    Reply
    • holly says

      June 9, 2013 at 3:28 am

      Kendall dear of course I remember! I’ll have to post the pictures of you girls and your Wild ID bags and Forest Fairies! Good memories.
      I love you! Aunt Holly

      Reply

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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.

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