About me
My name is Anastasia and I am a great fan of wild nature food. I have been born above the Arctic Circle where the climate is cold. I’ve spent my childhood in a little town located between lakes and forests and surrounded by hills. So, very early the forest became my best friend. It was the place to enjoy the good weather, to escape from problems and stress and have relaxing walks. And to spend wonderful time picking wild edible mushrooms, berries and plants!
Knowledge on identification and preparation of wild edible mushrooms, berries and plants was passed down through generations in our family. My mother thought me and I will share this knowledge with you.
It is a tradition in my family to take a good care of quality of food we eat. The wild nature gives us more than enough possibilities to enjoy the healthiest food there is. Therefore, wild edible mushrooms, forest berries and wild plants always have their place in our everyday diet. When the season comes I can’t wait to get to the forest to look for my favorite wild edible mushroom Boletus edulis (known as Porcini, Cep, King Bolete and dozen other names) or wild blueberry (home cooked jam out of blueberry is so delicious!). Wild edible plants are a great basis for wonderful aromatic and healing teas that will warm you up in cold winter days. I would not exchange it for anything!
I have moved from my home-town a long time ago and today I live with my family in Germany. But that does not change my love for nature and that is why wherever I am I always look for a forest! I have been foraging and picking wild edible mushrooms, berries and plants in Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, Serbia and Germany for over than 10 years.
Having said that I would love to share my experiences in picking, cooking delicious meals and preserving wild edible mushrooms, wild berries and plants with you!
Perhaps my experience will inspire you to enter this wonderful world and encourage yourself to make a first step in getting closer with the nature.
P.S. All content of this blog is written by me based solely on my experience and knowledge which means that I really do things I describe. Proof reading of my texts are done by my other half (I thank you very much, my beloved half!). Photographs used in posts are done by me, my half or my friends.
Hi, I live in Colorado and we have amazing bolete grows here! And chantrelles. Thank you for sharing your knowledge this way. I am very interested in food traditions! Here in America we face a big crisis because people are being told to eat fake low fat not fat food and foods damaged due to processing, and fear of healthy animal fats. I love foraging, hunting and fishing for food. Thanks for the great recipes, and stories. Wonderful!!
Thank you Valerie for a great feedback! I am very glad that my knowledge is useful not to me only
I will agree with that nowadays people do not have sufficient knowledge on the food given to us by nature. Nature has everything the human would ever need for life. It’s shame that we (humans) have replaced healthy food from nature by some artificial foods. I believe that natural organic wild food can give human much more vitamins and minerals, and all necessary nutritions…
I appreciate your blog. Hunting mushrooms in Europe must be challenging. Here we are blessed with much public land. Today I was hunting for a wild turkey on county land, but keeping my eyes open as I passed an area where some logging had been done the previous year, as I’d found a few armillariella melllea, past their prime after a mushroom hunt with a mentor in the general area. My father had taught me to hunt only oyster mushrooms in the fall, as they are so distinctive, but I’d thought they’d become extinct in our area. I was overjoyed to find a couple of those in this area last year, as well, but excited about having a much more common and very tasty option. Anyway, as I drove through the area I suddenly noticed several clumps of “honey mushrooms”. Having several buckets along to pick Hasselnusse, just couldn’t stopped till I filled them, even though being “choosy” and leaving some older ones behind. Now, because I don’t have enough family and friends who like mushrooms and trust my picking, I need to preserve them. Perhaps I’ll saute some in butter and olive oil and then freeze them, but I think I’ll do most without precooking. Any thoughts on cleaning them as recommended, with a damp cloth and tooth brush and then freezing them on a cookie sheet, so they will remain loose in a freezer bag?
Thanks, Nolan. Yes, it’s not easy to get to right relatively wild places in Europe as most of them are somewhat restricted or private. We are in a kind of constant search for better places
Everyone has his own preferences for cooking and preservation, which I think all are ok as long as mushrooms stay in eatable condition and tasty 
As regarding the honey mushrooms – last year I’ve picked some of those to fill several glass jars. I did not clean them much – just washed all together with cold water. Though when I have opened my jars in winter I have realized that it’s better to clean the caps at least as little hairy pieces on the caps’ surface is not pleasant on the tangue. It does not damage the taste of mushroom although it makes unpleasant feeling of texture. So, this year I will try to remove those little pieces from the top of caps before doing anything with honey mushrooms…
In general, it is recommended to either cook them right away and make soups or fry them with vegetables (for example, potatos) or to preserve in marinade. I did not try to freeze them. Even if I do freeze mushrooms I always freeze them all together in the plastic bag without too much hassle with freezing one-by-one on the sheet or whatsoever
Lovely site!
I have had great success when dehydrating mushrooms. Properly stored, they keep indefinitely, and are quite acceptable when rehydrated.
I really enjoy being able to crush dried mushrooms into powder to add to sauces and soups.
Hi, I’ve had trouble googling about Serbia’s wild edible plants. I’m especially interested in berries. I’m Finnish and here we have many edible wild berries (as you probably know) but I haven’t been able to find out what species of wild berries grow in Serbia (or elsewhere in the Balkan region). Rasberry is the only one I’ve been able to find some info about. Are there others? Thank you very much.
Hi Vakuoli,
I apologize for the late response.
Actually both raspberries and strawberries are being actively cultivated. Now is about the strawberry season in Serbia (in season they are sold everywhere at very cheap price). However, raspberries grow wild too. Also there are wild blueberries and blackberries.
Let me check about other berries and I’ll email you.
I have a turned up, apposed to the hump shaped rusty brown mushroom in my garden the rusty brown is throughout.Four inches in height and six inch surcomprance. I wondered if it was safe to eat?