FORAGING
Chaga.
Chaga has been used or consumed by humans for thousands of years. Saying that implies that it is not only safe for consumption but there must be something beneficial in doing so.
I’m no ‘New Age’ guru, just a guy who wanders around in the woods and has a wife who reads a lot about foraging and the benefits of it. I pretty sure anybody can search online about the potential benefits and or hazards of eating/drinking chaga, so I won’t bore you with a sciencie post, (yeah I think sciencie is a made up word).
But what I can tell you is, I do add chaga to my diet fairly routinely and I’m still kickin..
I can tell you how I use it and that I am over 60 and take zero over the counter meds- could be just genetics? Could be diet and exercise or the various fungi and plants we eat that we forage for.
Personally, I think it’s a bit of all of it. Decent genetics, watching what I eat and daily exercise. Foraging for chaga falls under exercise since your literally walking around in the woods looking for things to pick.
How do I use chaga? Mostly in two ways, I drink chaga tea or sprinkle chaga powder on my food as I prepare it. Usually that tea contains a few other things that I forage for like; turkey tail mushrooms, teaberry leaves or teaberries themselves, mock strawberry leaves, ginger root and even a few pine needles at times.
Sometimes it’s one or two of the above, sometimes it’s all of them.
Undoubtedly one of the key healthy aspects of all of this is the hiking. I can’t say enough about how good it is for you to get outside, wander around in the woods and discover what’s out there. Even in winter- strap on a pair of snowshoes and get going.
If you’re interested in trying chaga reach out or leave a comment below and I can send you some. Either chunks to make tea out of or powder. I don’t do any crazy processing, honestly, I harvest it and let it dry by the wood stove.