(Nimue)
We're shifting towards autumn in my corner of the UK. Mostly the trees are still green, but there are other colours creeping in here and there. Elderberries are ripening, along with other fruits. I recently picked up a handful of windfall crab apples and used them to make the topping for a cheesecake. This might be my new autumn thing.
I'm careful about what I bring home. Humans put far too much pressure on the wild world as it is, without adding to that. As a Pagan I want to connect with the seasons and with the wild world, but my Paganism also calls for care and respect.
Windfalls are good for bringing home. Especially the windfalls that drop on paths and roads, and would be destroyed quickly enough if left in place. I try to make sure that what I gather in the way of autumn bounty does very little harm, and often I return things later in the year anyway. If I haven't eaten them.
There's a tension here. Foraging, knowing the wild things, interacting with them and eating them all helps us connect to the wild world. We need to do that, and doing it should lead us to reducing our impact on the world and becoming better citizens of the Earth. At the same time, if too many of us do this in one place, we'll harm the ecosystems around us by taking too much. It's important to connect, and vital not to do things in the name of connection that cause damage.
I made one jar of blackberry jam this summer. I made quite a lot of teas from things that were abundant – nettle and plantain especially. I find something very powerful in gathering a handful of wild, windfall apples, cooking them and eating them. This need for connection is so human, so important, but we have to find measured and unobtrusive ways of doing it.
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