Ep. 89: Forage London - Urban Foraging & Emotional Connection to Green Spaces (feat. John Rensten)

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of speaking with John Rensten. John lived and worked and foraged in London for 20 years before finally escaping to Dorset, via Hampshire, in 2016 to concentrate on mushroom hunting and coastal foraging. He runs and organizes numerous urban foraging events, wild food walks and mushroom forays. On a daily basis, John studies wild food, picks wild food and really obsesses about wild food! He has a deep passion for sharing what he has learned, running city foraging walks and taking groups mushroom hunting in The New Forest or combing the seashore in Dorset. John founded Forage London to give city dwellers a chance to enjoy and discover some of the amazing wild foods that grow all around us.   TOPICS COVERED:   Lush Diversity Found Urban Foraging  Complex Interlocking Ecologies of Greater London  Avoiding Terrestrial Mushrooms in Urban Environments?  Understanding Historical Land Use Where You Forage Fungi  Emotional Relationship with Local Green Spaces  Permaculture and Wild Foraging Permeating the Mainstream  Foraging Cycles, Seasonality, Multiple Crops & Geographic Variation in Fruiting  Edible and Medicinal Winter Mushrooms in the UK  Ancient Practice of Foraging Dovetailing with Modern Technology  Secrets of Wild Food Preservation & Preparation  Wending Path of Forage Knowledge Accumulation Through Gentle Repetition  Importance of Foraging & Learning Local  The Association of Foragers  Foraging Love Story  EPISODE RESOURCES:   Forage London Website: https://www.foragelondon.co.uk/   Forage London IG: https://www.instagram.com/foragelondon/  The Edible City (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Edible-City-Year-Wild-Food/dp/0752266136   Andy Overall: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andy-Overall  Clifford Davy: http://forestforagers.co.uk/about-us/  Pascal Baudar: https://www.instagram.com/pascalbaudar/  Phillip Stark/Berkeley Open Source Food: https://osfood.berkeley.edu/  "Restharrow": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ononis_repens  "Sneezewort": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achillea_ptarmica  Sea Arrowgrass: https://gallowaywildfoods.com/sea-arrowgrass-identification-distribution-edibility/  "Velvet Shank": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enokitake  "Scarlet Elf Cup": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcoscypha_coccinea