Corrigan's City Farm

Joerg Mueller Corrigan City Farm’s Foraging expert

Joerg Mueller is a Master Tea Blender & Medical Herbalist, living and working in Galway. Awards include Semi-finalist in the World Awards for Creative Young Entrepreneurs, and Galway Young Entrepreneur. He blends speciality teas, and herbal teas for specific ailments and gives courses on foraging and the medicinal aspects of plants. For more info see www.solarisbotanicals.com

The beautiful thing about foraging is that it can be done with the whole family. Make it an adventure of discovery. I started going out with a wild flower guide of Ireland and started observing plants in their natural habitat in different seasons. Lots of weeds are actually quite useful mineral supplements. Foraging for me is not about gathering all your food from nature, it is about supplementing your daily diet with small amounts of healthy and vital stuff--- it is fun and reconnects people to their surrounding.

Some Foraging Do's and Don'ts:

Do:
*Use all your senses in identifying (smell, touch, taste, visual, etc)
*Think of how you can creatively include specific taste into your daily diet
*Memorize the plants in their specific habitat
*Observe plants in different growing seasons
*Make it fun

Don't:
*Taste anything you cannot 100% identify. If not sure, do not eat (and ask your kids to always ask you first)
*Harvest protected plants
*Give up identifying plants too quick--- it takes time, but you will be rewarded with a knowledge of your surroundings