Back in June I had a serendipitous opportunity to learn a little about foraging for wild food. 

My eyes have once again been opened to the richness of the Kent countryside where I am fortuitous to live. 

'Who knew' seems to have become a staple in the modern vernacular and I couldn't help but apply it in this situation. Indeed, I think all my foraging compatriots who looked agape as our tutor revealed the richness, had this phrase in mind. 

We retuned from our forage in the Canterbury hills to enjoy a tasty salad made from the fruits of our foraging. 

So what exactly is foraging? It is quite simply the act of gathering wild food for free. It has become very popular in recent years but for our distant ancestors foraging would have been a way of life, a necessity for survival in fact. 

For today's forager there is a therapeutic by product.. foraging instils a deeper awareness of one's surroundings – while foraging we naturally slow down and become mindful. This is mindfulness at its very best, its most healing. 

When we first started RainbowLife I wrote a blog about how products connect people. My first realisation of this was joining in with the whole cycle of rice production in northern Thailand. I still cannot eat rice to this day without recalling the work that is involved in its production. 

There is something about foraging that brings back to me this sense of connectedness, not only with our environment but also with the people that we join with in common activity. 

Could this explain why foraging has taken off in our hurly burly world where 'there is no time to stand and stare'?  (W H Davies)

Foraging reminds us of what was missing and foraging helps us to fill the gap. 

So, next up will be my blog about foraging in August. There are some lovely things to forage and make and this is a great time to begin, if you haven't already.