From swampy milkweed buds that taste like capers to stir-fried hosta shoots, Heather Arbour is showing that forests are full of flavor. Her monthly forage walks combine education, sustainability, and a touch of culinary adventure
Heather Arbour jokes that if she had a bumper sticker, it would read, “Caution: Will brake for herbs.”
Arbour is the brains behind the Frolicking Forager Facebook page. She’s also been doing monthly forage walks this spring and summer in partnership with Seasons Pharmacy in Gatchell.
The premise is that you walk and educate yourself on edible plants and herbs grown in nature.
Arbour, who previously worked as a pharmacy technician for 12 years, admits she has always loved mixing creams and powders and compounding, so studying herbology and foraging was a natural fit.
As she strolls through the gardens on this forest walk, she highlights the many benefits of various plants, including bee balm, sweet sicily, milkweed, borage, cilantro, chamomile, calendula and raspberry bush leaves.
Arbour turns much of the botanical ingredients into creams and boiled down tinctures for supposed medicinal benefits, but there are also lots of edible benefits in the forest, too.
These students learn that purple milkweed that grows in swampy areas is edible. Unopened flower buds can be eaten like capers after the boiling process, and the milkweed flowers can also be deep-fried and taste like broccoli or green beans in early summer.
“In fact, hosta plants are also edible when the chutes are still closed in May or June and taste like asparagus in a stir fry,” Arbour said.
The homemade cookies we later eat are made from calendula and lemon thyme, along with piping hot tea from bee balm petals, which taste like mint and/or oregano.
Arbour added that lemon thyme is a great pollinator and adds flavour to dishes.
“You can pick these bee balm or bergamot petals because they grow back. I believe in ethical foraging so you only take what you need,” Arbour said.
She knows the subtle differences of herbs like borage, with its cucumber taste, and fireweed mint, as well as Queen Anne’s lace, also known as wild carrot.
She has a collection of books, cue card sets, and even an app that helps her explore unfamiliar plants, like the balloon flower, a popular Korean vegetable used in rice, alcohol and tea recipes.
She’s still trying to reap the rewards of evening primrose these days, too.
Arbour is studying herbology and has an uncle in London, Ontario, who has developed meals, wines and beers from his forage walks.
Arbour is working on a greenhouse at home for specific plants that need containment over cold, harsh winter months in the North.
During that time, she will also focus on making more tinctures, creams and poultices with plants like echinacea, cat mint and comfrey, otherwise known as “knitbone”.
She’s also leading another forage walk next month at Junction Creek, exploring goldenrod, Fireweed, mushrooms, St. John’s wort, sweet fern, and joe-pye weed — loved by birds.
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