Adventures in Humaning – Episode 12: Frustrated Forager.

Adventures in Humaning - Episode 12: Frustrated Forager | Frank Hults of Frankly Well & Meredith Rhodes of Forward Health CoachHello again!

Frank and I return with a follow up to our previous show about our familiarity with market foods vs the weeds outside. We’re both new-ish to foraging – but I have a year’s worth of paying attention AND a mentor to guide me… whereas Frank has a passion an understanding of the nutrient riches out there, but a crazy frustration because he feels lost in the weeds – so to speak.

In this show – we chat about some of those frustrations and get around to recommending resources and approaches to get you passed road blocks to collecting and eating wild foods.

I go off on a wild tangent about pollen in the rock record. I have a lot to learn about living pollen – having only experienced the fossilized remains (queue the massive googling).

Some resources mentioned in the show:

We have also received our first carrier pigeon! Jen asks about ticks and what we do about them. Frank refers her to a great episode that Daniel Vitalis does for one of his Rewild Yourself episodes with Stephen Harrod Buhner.

In the words of Frank – Peace out bipedals!

Adventures in Humaning – Episode 11: The Weeds.

Adventures in Humaning - Episode 11: The Weeds | Frank Hults of Frankly Well, and Meredith Rhodes of Forward Health CoachClick here to go right to the show.

Well Hello! We’ve missed you…

Frank and I are back after a bit of a hiatus wherein we chose… to live our lives 😉 We’ve both moved into new homes and we’re both facing serious change.

Some would say, Adventure. That’s how I’m approaching life anyway.

Speaking of change – it’s Springtime. Things are most definitely changing outside. Trees have leaves, lawns everywhere are facing mowers, and farmer’s markets are in full force in my neck of the woods.

In this episode, we begin our journey into the relatively unknown by starting with what we do know, in this case, about veggies. I’d wager that most everyone can identify lettuce, broccoli, carrots, and potatoes. Why is that? Well, these are foods that our parents and teachers ate, foods that we can buy in the grocery store and at the farmer’s market. They are commonly cultivated in large quantities in a field, or even in small quantities in a backyard.

But why is it that when we look outside, all we can identify is grass vs. weeds? OK, maybe we have a few things down, like dandelions and pine trees and daisies… but, the rest of ‘nature’ is full of weeds?

Answer: We weren’t born into a society that uses them as food anymore. We are absolutely unfamiliar with the edible ‘weeds’ around us.

Frank and I chat a lot about this in this show. We’re both fledgling foragers – beginning to actually incorporate wild foods into our lives.

And there are sooo many reasons why.

This show is probably a Part 1 show – where we do a little compare and contrast between veggies in the store, and wild foods from nature (nutritionally, economically, ecosystem-ally). We hope to create awareness about the treasure-trove of free, nutrient dense foods that are probably in your yard (that you might be trying to get rid of). This show is begging for a Part 2 where we talk about where to start your foraging adventure.

I give a shout out to a show that I did with Sam Thayer on The Roots of Health. And I even butcher the titles of his books, Nature’s Garden and Forager’s Harvest (you can visit his store right here).

Have a listen – send us some feedback or tell us about your favorite wild food. We’d love to try it!

Cheers!
Meredith & Frank

Adventures In Humaning – Episode 10: Movement Matters.

Adventures in Humaning - Episode 10: Movement Matters with Katy Bowman | Frank Hults of Frankly Well & Meredith Rhodes of Forward Health Coach

Click here to go right to the show on Stitcher, iTunes, Soundcloud, or Google Play.

Join Frank and Meredith as they fanboy/girl with Katy Bowman. They discuss topics from Katy’s book Movement Matters.

Those conversations include:

  • What is the conventional definition of nature?
  • Are we the single unique thing in the universe?
  • What is the Katy Bowman definition of nature? It’s all about the discordance of rates for change things these days.
  • Find out the round about way that Katy realized that she was part of an ecosystem.
  • How do you reconnect with your natural ecosystem? Short story: Transition. But… you could…
    Quantify things – Butt to chair ratio, indoor to outdoor time
  • Because we can’t see something, we can’t investigate those questions
  • We wanted to ask Katy about getting naked in nature. But ended up talking about her experience with cold thermogenesis…
  • “When you’re in the river, you’re part of the river for the time that you are in it” ~KBow, 2017
  • Think about how a butterfly adapts to its environment – not ready for flight when it’s out of the chrysalis. You are a butterfly 😉
  • We’re immobilized by our situation. Or so we perceive.
  • Movement is intrinsically linked to what it means to be human, but it’s never really considered…
  • Life is dynamic. Movement matters.

Adventures In Humaning – Episode 9: Minimalism.

Episode 9 of Adventures In Humaning : Minimalism | Frank Hults of Frankly Well & Meredith Rhodes of Forward HealthMinimalism.

Does that word sound stark, terrible, emotionless, and sad?

I used to, to me (Me = Meredith in this case).

But today – I see crazy opportunity, and even health associated with that word.

Today’s show marks a starting point for me. Frank and I discuss our recent run-in with the concept / approach of minimalism. To us, minimalism is very ancestral. It’s about re-prioritizing relationships and experiences over ‘stuff’. It’s about recognizing consumerism and waste, and actively opting out. It’s also about discovering (we hope!) the personal health gains, more time, more sleep, less worry, easier health.

In this show, you’ll find out…

  • We kind of think we’ve been minimalists living amongst our stuff for a long time.
  • Minimalism invokes less – but maybe it’s really maximizing life. It’s a word of abundance.
  • From an ancestral perspective, minimalism feels right. The two approaches are really very congruent. Traditional ways were minimalist by nature.
  • We talk about consumerism… about that shirt or hat that you buy because it’s such a great deal. The one that isn’t made to last, has a huge carbon footprint, and you really don’t like anyway.
  • The cost of a thing vs. the value of a handmade craft.
  • I set the stage for my awareness of minimalism. Through divorce and christmas ornaments… and my want for a tiny house.
  • Recognizing that minimalism is a thing – a movement that you can join.
  • It’s a way toward freedom, control, toward declutter, toward creating time and space, saving money, toward elevating relationships and experiences in your life.
  • There is no object that should be more important than a relationship.
  • What to do with all of the old ‘sentimental’ stuff.
  • The idea to multipurpose things. I have an idea for a table/desk/bed thing.
  • Frank challenged to not research on google. PLEASE SEND IDEAS!
  • What minimalism means to me – clothes, thrift, outlets.
  • We chat about zero waste home.
  • Vitamin awareness (thanks to Katy Bowman for this phrase).
  • How much energy can you take on yourself instead of outsourcing?

Resources:

Adventures In Humaning – Episode 7: The Dangers of Critical Thinking.

Adventures In Humaning Episode 7: The Dangers of Critical Thinking | Frank Hults & Meredith RhodesAre critical thinking skills becoming a lost art? Are we outsourcing our thinking? How do we teach the next generation to think for themselves?

Is it too dangerous to be a critical thinker?

Can we have a society of critical thinkers?

Critical thinking means being responsive to information, not just accepting it. It doesn’t mean you can’t have an opinion, or agree with someone else’s opinion, it means that you can, in your own words, describe your own ‘why’.

How do you cultivate these skills? Well, if your child asks you, ‘Why?’ you might ask them ‘Why do you think?’. By comparing and contrasting ideas. By challenging your beliefs. By understanding that there are more than 2 options, and not falling for a false dichotomy.

Unlock your own intellectual independence. If you haven’t heard the Calf Path show – give it a listen. Forge your own path.

Also – I’m in love with Word Porn. I love this one:

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Adventures In Humaning – Episode 2: The Calf Path


Calf PathGo right to this episode on soundcloud here.

Adventures In Humaning goes literary this week. We read and discuss a poem by Sam Foss (1895) called ‘The Calf Path‘. This is a poem about how it’s in our nature to take the path. Frank and I have a meandering conversation that includes references to and the topics of:

  • Escape Adulthood
  • Credentials
  • Science in general – how we tend to science the heck out of life
  • And how we receive the conclusions of ‘science’
  • Question even what you believe to be a credible source
  • Even though you might not want to be the expert…
  • It’s sometimes valuable to get your hands dirty to understand something better for yourself.
  • Kids & school. Our education system is a calf path.
  • Medical doctors, their path, and their constraints.
  • You are put in a box, risked for insurance, and medicated like others despite your uniqueness.
  • We tend to create solutions with no problems. Especially around the topic of cholesterol.
  • But there is value to the calf path, it is our human nature, maybe a simpler, more ancestral path would be easier on us.
  • Frank mentions the Weston A Price Foundation.

Come on over to the Adventures in Humaning Facebook page to introduce yourself, or leave us a review on iTunes… much appreciated!

Cheers!