Upcoming Class Next Weekend in Somerset NJ – We will explore plants, trees, and mushrooms to harvest and work with as medicines, foods and shelter for survival in winter situations. You will be surprised how much abundance is present. Ill bring a nice hot tea – Dress warm and RSVP required. Email: Dan@returntonature.us
Here’s a short video I took foraging in a park in New Jersey. This area I was walking is located at the tip of the Pine Barrens; there is sandy acidic soil and a heath forest including rhododendron and blueberries, oaks, sassafras, etc. That means you can find wintergreen growing wherever you find that habitat.
The berries make a great snack, and the leaves make a wonderful tea, but should be harvested with respect to sustaining the plants life. After harvesting 1-2 leaves of each plant, I usually break the leaves up, maybe 6 to a cup, and simmer with a lid on for 10 minutes. After that if you want to increase the delicate but healing flavor you can take the leaves out and make a decoction.
This plant makes an incredibly delicious, refreshing, and medicinal tea which is anti-inflammatory as well as cleansing for the blood. It can also be found in mid winter when not much else can be found.
2013 was a year of abundant classes and adventures for my work at Return to Nature. I’m currently planning the schedule for the 2014 class season. I am seeking to symbiotize with people and organizations who run and collaborate with. This includes yoga to community centers, health food stores, farmers markets and farms, gardening organizations, homesteads and back yards, and any others who are interested in learning these skills. All classes I teach are community organized, and a focal point for feeding back to community gatherings, resource sharing, and re-skilling. Anyone who is open to host or help organize workshops please be in touch.
Also, I am looking to expand the Return to Nature team by asking for people to help post flyers, help organize classes, and help with further promotional work, funding opportunities, and/or video editing. If you are able or willing to help with this, please be in touch.
This 2014, let us gather, build community, and reclaim our herbal, foraging, survival, and healthcare skillsets as the new thriving paradigms we seek grow and become more commonplace. Hope to see you in 2014…
Dan Farella is a Forager, Herbalist, and Musician dedicated to working with Nature to further the healing of the connection between the planet and the people. Dan teaches classes through Return to Nature (http://returntonature.us), which provides workshops in foraging, herbalism, making medicinal preparations from herbs, Fermentation classes, thriving in nature, as well as gives nutrition and health consultations, mentorships, and group or private in-home custom herbalism classes.
Please do share this around, as you are willing. All classes are community created, and my work and service is enlivened and supported by community. And, if you feel inspired by what I am doing and are able to help financially support this work, please consider making a donation at the following link: http://returntonature.us/donate
Return To Nature – on – TV – It was fun to get an email from someone from Verizon that wanted to come film at a plant walk. I decided that surely he was welcome and that I would share what I could. Hopefully someone watching public access gets a bit of a wake up call…
I meet Dan De Lion when I come to attend a plant walk with him in Eatontown, NJ. In his comfortable-looking free-flowing cottons and long dreadlocks, he seems very much at ease and at home among all of the wonderful greenery surrounding us, almost being an extension to the tree we are sitting under. Behind his back is a sizable forager basket with a curious specimen selection, dried mushrooms, paw paws, seeds, herbs, all in attendance.
A few minutes later, he is surrounded by a bunch of light-bulb youngsters, listening in utter amusement to captivating stories on common dirt and the six inches of soil out of which all of our sustainment comes; about fruit pits and seeds being the essential currency of the future; about the irony of recycling and the amounts of fossil fuel it takes to recycle a glass bottle; about the function and importance of the ‘weeds’ root systems in irrigating the soil for nearby plants. Dan is totally absorbed, in the blissful state of fun and calmness, satisfying natural curiosity of his listeners’ inquisitive minds, making jokes in the process.
Gradually, the focus shifts to medicinal mushrooms, herbs, and wild edibles. As we examine the fragrant contents of Dan’s basket, the recurring thought keeps popping into my head “I didn’t know one can eat that.” Next, the magic paw paws come out, and I catch myself drooling over the delicious native fruit, musing at my ignorance of not suspecting of its existence before.
While I listen to this man unfolding the wonder-world of greenery in front of us and observe him bending the boughs of trees and bushes with natural gentleness and gratitude, I make my re-acquaintance with the plants I loved as a child, wondering how disconnected I am in my everyday life from these direct experiences and creative interaction with Nature. It seems that almost everything that surrounds us has some culinary or medicinal application. How many of us nowadays use plantain leaves, so common under our feet, as a first aid for scraped knees and insect bites; yarrow, with its powerful astringent properties, to stop bleeding; jewelweed to relieve a poison ivy rash. Back in the day when I was a kid, we did that all the time.
Over an hour passes, yet we barely travel a few hundred feet. What I expected to be a trekking expedition into the forest, ended up being a very informative, eye-opening gathering in the middle of a developed park, listening to a man with this magical capacity of experiencing the world around him from the perspective of the things growing around, seeing the universe’s workings in a single leaf or a flower.
Dan’s path is far from traditional. His knowledge and understanding of plants, their medicinal qualities and nutritional values and their role in nature is extraordinary. His work and visions are inspiring and attract conscious people from all over. Currently, Dan is teaching multiple classes and workshops on plants, edibles, medicine making, foraging, while also working on various permaculture and sustainability projects. If you would like to learn more about Dan’s work or attend any of his classes or workshops, please visit his website: www.returntonature.us
Last night, while I was driving, suddenly I witnessed that there was a young and adorable raccoon frozen scared in the middle of the road and cars were whizzing by it. Not wanting this beautiful beings life to end so senselessly, I pulled off and parked, and headed towards the road. As we stood there for a moment looking into each others eyes, both wondering what the next step was, I entered into a moment of eternal contemplation. This being was so adorable and was so young it seemed it wanted to cuddle, or defend itself, or run – and it seemed to assume all of these 3 postures at once, obviously utterly confused at my presence. In this simple moment of connection, I felt a deep sense of reverence and appreciation for such a divine and innocent creature that just cannot be experienced in any other way than directly engaging Nature as it is.
This great evolutionary mystery before me; so many questions could be asked… Why this specific body design and markings? How did it evolve and from what? How are we related genetically over millions of years of growth? How is it delicately still thriving in the middle of suburban New Jersey, and will enough people in suburbia be conscious enough to watch their numbers disappear? Will it come a time for this creature to also be forgotten? Just a story among our generations of the suburban masked messenger that once existed amongst our highly spastic village-in-overdrive.
In these engagements with the wild, for me, and I’m sure for many, it’s difficult to know the balance between help and interfere. I decided it was best to give it a sense of fear of people and the road and started shooing it off the road. The raccoon eventually ran off to the side of the road and I got back into my car and decided I would watch the area for about 10 minutes.
Eventually, as I suspected, it poked its head out from the divider again, potentially thinking of making another go-or just wondering what kind of crazy animal I was. At that moment, knowing that Nature works through reciprocity, I reached into my basket of wild pears that were on the passenger seat, and of course I pull out 3. So now with my wild pear trinity I brought them to the side of the road, and made an offering and a prayer, “Hopefully you can be satisfied with these instead of running all across the road little guy.”
I returned to my car to go home and leave his fates now to the great mystery, I did what I felt I could and it felt complete for my presence. I turned my car around and instantly I spotted money in the middle of the street. Ok Nature… Thank you. I picked it up and it was 10 dollars. Feeling thankful for the teachings of raccoon medicine, and Nature for guiding such a beautiful experience, I once again had it shown to me that service to the divine in nature will provide what we need if we do our own inner work the best that we can.
Sincerely,
Natures New Paid Employee
Alex Greys Tree of Life – The Choice is in our hands.
This tree meant a lot to me over the years. Growing up it was the highest tree that we could climb. I climbed so high up and remember the wobbly feeling as gravity felt that it had less of a hold on me. The view was beautiful, peaceful, serene and meditative. One year, they cut the limbs off so people couldn’t climb it. I suspect that these big arm wounds on the tree is how it got inoculated with oyster mushrooms in the first place, that’s how it happens. It’s almost as if a tree gets a mushroom infection by exposed skin, just the same as what happens to a human who gets an infected cut.
I’ve had some great hauls from this beautiful tree. It’s provided me and many friends with lots of delicious and medicinal mushrooms. Did you know that this commonly sold mushroom grows in your back yard and is also being shown to have medicinal effect on the body!
“Pleurotus ostreatus [oyster mushroom] extracts may inhibit cholesterol biosynthesis, as well as having potential anticancer and immunomodulatory activities” *. And since mushrooms consume hydrogen and carbon they can break down lethal hydrocarbons (environmental pollutants) into harmless substances, as has been shown with Paul Stamets work, and with the mycoremediation project.
I hope that one day we can see the ecosystem as something that shares with it an incredible amount of sustainable resources if met with the right awareness and attitude.
In Summer of 2014 I filmed my first pilot episode called “Hunting the Medicine; Stalking the Wild Spirit”, during a 2014 journey to North Carolina for 2 months where I packed my car and hit the road to learn from elders and teachers with the plants guiding the way and to strengthen my self reliance of foraging and survival skills while traveling throughout the mountains.
This was a deep and powerful journey and brought me much closer to living with the earths cycles, as well as connect to the deeply rooted plant traditions alive in North Carolina while constantly foraging, mushroom hunting, drying and storing herbs all over my car, visiting teachers, communities, and elders with the primary purpose of following my intuition.
Within those forest wanderings I was blessed to eat some of the most wonderful wild foods, an drink and bathe in some of the most nourishing spring water in the country. I also visited with mushroom identification teacher Ken Crouse, a mushroom mystic of sorts. Ken and I got to walk around the woods discussing everything from mushrooms, to plants, to ceremony, to times in palenque with Terence Mckenna while I filmed and recorded and walked the forest seeking mushrooms.
Here is a look at the basket o shrooms we ended up with, smooth chanterelles (Cantharellus lateritius)
Fortunately, we got to eat them several ways for several days at the Green Path Gathering hosted at Kens Farm in Boone, NC. They were more than delicious! I also spent the weekend with Ken and other students at Sunnybanks Inn, in Hot Springs, NC where he holds an amazing mushroom retreat every year around late Summer. Heres a look at a video with Ken teaching mushroom identification at a workshop I attended the previous year, back in 2013..
After spending time with Ken, I then headed to Celo, NC with a stop at Joe Hollis herb farm at Mountain Gardens, looking through their library, stocking up in their apothecary, and helping around the farm until attending the South East Permaculture Gathering where I got to interview and film Alan Muskat on foraging, picking, and plant teaching ethics, of which I’m super excited to release on video. I also got the chance to visit and interview with Richard Cleveland of Earth School, and spent alot of nourishing time meeting and conversing with the friends and family of the late Frank Cook, and closed with a visit to the pawpaw stand.
Here is an excerpt from my upcoming film – Hunting the Medicine: Stalking the Wild Spirit.
As I was driving through Shenandoah National Forest I spotted a pretty large rattlesnake sunbathing on the road. It was amazing and majestic as it was the first I’ve ever seen. I quickly pulled off, parked, and grabbed my camera. I knew I wanted to help the snake and that I didn’t want it to get run over. It was right around a bend and so hard to see, even I at first thought it was just a stick in the middle of the road. A few moments passed by, wondering what to do; should I try to get a stick and bring it off the road – or not interfere with the natural flow of things? Was my being there at that specific time and place part of the natural flow, or was I going to interfere with that flow? As I stood there, mystified by its beauty and presence and feeling my heart I was just holding space for it. As cars went by I waved my hands to them, guiding them around the snake. From there eventually it naturally seemed to sense the vibration of the vehicles and turned around.
It slithered silently up the hill where I suddenly spotted lots of St johns wort growing wild. Happily and excitedly, with lots of thanks I collected some to make an herbal medicine with and named it Shenandoah Snake Johns Wort. I will be making an infused oil from it (more in the documentary). It will be a good blessing and will continue to give lots of healing from the special memory as well.
Film Title: Hunting the Medicine – A Story of Stalking the Wild Spirit
July 4 to August 16, 2013
Return to Nature is an organization with the mission to provide a safe and healing teaching bridge for individuals and communities to recognize Nature as a continual and abundant provider of nourishment, medicine, and spiritual connection. Dan is a Teacher, Forager, Herbalist, and Musician dedicated to working with Nature to further the healing of the planet, the soul and communities.
Appalachian Expedition Mission:
Throughout the Summer I will be journeying through North Carolina where I will be sharing my adventures with our community throughout my travels. The aim of this expedition is to understand, practice, document and explore herbal knowledge in North Carolina and to share this wisdom with you. My vision for this expedition is to create a great sustainable survival and documentary experience, and for this knowledge to be cherished and practiced in the wider community.
Documenting, Preserving & Sharing:
I will bring this experience to youthrough video documenting, blogging, photographing and writing, interactivelythrough these mediums; for example, filming Wildman Steve Brill when I recently met him to exchange knowledge of foraging at one of his classes. My knowledge will be combined with that of other teachers and herbalists throughout my travels to bring teachings to the community. I will meet with Ken Crouse, a most influential elder of these traditions and lineages. Ken is a mushroom foraging, ceremonial permaculturist and a true wisdom keeper of the south. I will keep my path open to meeting other knowledge holders along the way that I have been in contact with and will have a few surprise encounters to document and share. For some examples of my films please click here. This project will aim to show the ceremonial, ritual, and practical work that people are doing to gather their own foods and medicines from the wild; and how this practice and connection transforms them. The working title of this so far is ” Hunting the Medicine – A Story of Stalking the Wild Spirit”
Teaching, Gathering and Cooking:
Throughout the journey I’ll be exploring plants and mushrooms, herbalism, traditional skills, interviewing knowledge holders, foraging, living off the land and attending herbal and permaculture gatherings. I will share my knowledge of foraging and cooking with wild greens, mushrooms, fruits, berries, nuts and seeds. I’ll make stir frys and tea on campfires while sharing skills for living off the land and enjoying Nature’s bounty. To view one of my videos on firemaking click here
Donations & Contributions:
All energetic and monetary contributions are cherished components to the success of this endeavor. Monetary gifts will be gratefully accepted in person, or through the Paypal donate button below.
Lavalier mic(s) – Over 200$ ea. – A clip-on audio microphone will be essential for clearer audio recordings of people speaking while filming them.
Solar charger – estimated total – 100-200$ – Something such as this for charging all of mygear on the road.
Transportation costs such as fuel – estimated total – 200$
Staple foods (beans legumes etc.) – estimated total – 200$
Itinerary – The Road Less Traveled:
I will be traveling through the lands unfolding an adventure, finding secret spots full of lush and magical vegetation, swimming holes, sustainable schools, and friends and teachers. Between these events, I will be keeping my mind and heart open and following the mystery toward whatever it wants to present.
The following is my itinerary. Join me in person or online!
Teachings, Classes and Meetings:
4 July
MD
I’ll be teaching a workshop “Making infused oils and tinctures” @ the PEX music festival
14-21 July
Asheville, NC
I’ll be visiting the Appalachia School of Holistic Herbalism July 14th – 21st, where I’ll teach three classes as follows:July 14th – “The Alchemy of Vegetable Fermentation” – A hands on workshop exploring the ancient alchemical practice of breaking down plant cells in salt water to extract the highest form of nutrients.July 17th – “Wild food and Medicine Walk” – We’ll explore the land identifying and sampling the wild plant wonders Nature guides us to.July 21st – “The Deep Ecology of Foraging” – A meditative and inspiring workshop designed to help us reconnect with our direct perceptual knowledge of the foods and medicines found in Nature.
22 July
Boone, NC
Meetings with Ken Crouse: Interviews, discussions, and mushroom hunts.
26-28 July
Boone, NC
I’ll attend and contribute to the Green Scene Herbal Gathering held on Ken Crouse’s land.
2-4 August
Celo, NC
I’ll be attending the South Eastern Permaculture Gathering In Celo, to document my experience, learning, attending classes, sharing and connecting with many knowledgeable people.
9,10,11 August
Hot Springs, NC
A mushroom Id retreat with Ken Crouse at the Sunnybank Inn, where we complete the weekend workshop with a soak at the mineral springs in town.
On the way home
Potomac River, VA
Wild pawpaw (Asimina triloba) foraging on the Potomac river: Completing a documentary video that I began last year. It will be such a blessing to bring an abundance of wild harvested pawpaws to share with you in NJ!
For ideas of gatherings or sacred sites along the route email me!
Stay tuned for a closer look at the gear I’ll be traveling with as well as the adventures I have planned to share with you!
