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Wellness Food for the Soul

wellness, pesto

Wellness Food For the Soul

Background to Our Wellness Module:

Our ecology team have been gathering in local community groups around all four regions to learn about the natural processes, systems and positive impact we can have on our local environments. Wild Work is the overall movement, the wellness module was nestled into the middle of the 6 modules, delivered over 12 weeks. It was a perfect opportunity to take stock of what the participants learnt and how they can go forward sharing their Wild Work experience.

wild work, wellness, nature

The Wellness sessions were structured to orient fellow participants in the locality they are from, by pointing to the places they were from, where they live now and places they love.

The participants were encouraged to spend time alone in a ‘sit spot’, where they could practice observing, noting and drawing the sights and sounds around them.

During the wellness sessions, they had moments to experience nature on their own, together in pairs and as a group. The endless configurations of how we experience the outdoors, allows us to nurture our mental health in accessible ways relevant for changing personal circumstances.

According to Pfizer “Wellness is the act of practising healthy habits on a daily basis to attain better physical and mental health outcomes, so that instead of just surviving, you’re thriving”.

wellness, wild work, nature, outdoors

The partner and group exercises nudged participants to explore each sense separately and to note what senses each of us tend to rely on. By doing simple sensory and mindfulness exercises, observing details with isolated senses, is the first step to taking stock of what resources we have at our disposal.

From our group conversations, simple, yet radical realisations came up for participants. We can take stock by appreciating over-looked situations; We have access to the outdoors, we are part of a network with similar interests, we meet individuals with special skills. We are all in good enough health to observe what is around us through the five senses, taste, touch, smell, sound and sight.

If we start with the basics, by using each sense to appreciate and learn from the elements outside, we are building up a mental health resource bank to face the challenges that we as individuals, community groups, and global networks face.

wellness, wild work

During the course of the 2 hour wellness sessions, we set out to orientate ourselves in our outdoor spaces, engage and build a sense of ‘trust’ between people and their surroundings. Through orientation, appreciation and resourcing through our sensory experiences, the next step is to face our challenges. The Wellness in Wild Work, module aims to empower people to create local solutions together.

Finally, wellness in nature is there to inspire and to share what we create and co-create. Lizet, our wellness facilitator, shared her favourite way of expressing her natural creativity.  She infused her favourite picnic snacks with wild and foraged ingredients. 

“I believe by sprinkling just a little bit of wildness into our foods, we are learning to connect with nature respectfully and for the wellbeing of all living and growing creatures.” Lizet Mulder

Sharing Recipes to feed the Soul

We thought of sharing a little inspiration to forage and make some wild treats yourself.Here are three recipes for  the delicious wild snacks the Wild Work participants feasted on after their Wellness Sessions.

Here are some pointers for making a plant-based, gluten-free wild pesto, seed crackers, and yummy cured carrots.I hope that the little bites sprinkled with wild and foraged ingredients awaken your senses. We hope that these snack ideas encourage safe and sustainable foraging. So go forth and explore the seasonal treasures growing in your gardens, woodlands, meadows and coasts.

 

WILD PESTO:

wellness, pesto, wild work

  • 1/2 cup of Nuts/seeds of choice:(chop/ blend in food processor first)
    • Walnuts (more bitter and less fatty option)
    • Cashews (creamy, chewy, fatty option)
    • Sunflower seeds (for a milder, lighter taste)
  • 2 cups of Seasonal greens: 
    • Dandelion leaves: Spring – Summer (great for a Digestive Spring-clean)
    • Stinging nettle tops (Spring -Early Summer. DO NOT pick from nettle plants already in flower. pick with gloves, rinse with hot water, work with care) 
    • Wild Garlic leaves: Spring – Summer. Yummy! The fragrance is much more potent than the taste.
    • Cleavers’ tips (also known as Sticky -Backs): Spring – Late Summer  (combine with other edibles to add a bit of digestive Spring-clean)
    • Plantain: Spring- Late Summer (great as a pesto on its own, or combine for a softer taste with Nettles or Dandelion leaves.
    • Vetches: Spring- Middle Summer (add a few sprigs to add sweetness and pea flavour)
  • 1-2 tablespoons of Oil:
    • Wild Irish Flaxseed oil (for Omega 3)
    • Extra Virgin Olive oil (for a green fuller flavour)
    • Rapeseed oil (lighter flavour)
  • Additional spices and sprinkles:
    • nutritional yeast flakes (for a cheezy substitute)
    • smoked paprika to taste (for a smoky addition)
    • salt and pepper to taste (add before final blend)
    • squeeze half a lemon into pesto.

wellness, pesto

Tips: 

  • Pick seasonal.
  • Pick top growth bits from multiple plants, not over harvesting from just one plant.
  • Pick only what you will use. 
  • Pick in a place with no pollutants: away from dog walkies, exhaust fumes, stagnant water, livestock fields. 
  • Keep your pesto in small sterilised jars, and top of the pesto with a layer of oil to preserve.

 

SEED CRACKERS;

flac seed cracker, wellness

  • Mix and chop your Seeds of choice:
    • Flax/Linseed (3/4 cup)
    • Sunflower seeds (1/4 cup)
    • Pumpkin seeds (1/4 cup)
    • Sesame Seeds (1/8 cup)
    • Chia seeds (1/8 cup)
  • Keep the seeds in a large bowl.
  • Soaking liquid:
    • Blend a punnet of cherry tomatoes/ 3 large tomatoes 
    • with a 1/8 cup of water
  • Add some herbs and spices to the liquid:
    • Smoked paprika to taste (for a smoky addition) (2 teaspoons)
    • Coarsely ground Coriander seed (teaspoon)
    • Ground/ Whole cumin seed (teaspoon)
  • Soak Flax seed mix in the spiced liquid for 5-15 minutes.
  • Oil to line the baking tray:
    • Wild Irish Flaxseed oil (for Omega 3)
    • Extra Virgin Olive oil (for a green fuller flavour)
    • Rapeseed oil (lighter flavour)
    • Coconut oil (stronger taste)
  • Warm the oven to 140 degrees Celsius.
  • Spread the combined seed mix as thin as possible in an oiled baking tray (use a silicone tray liner for easy flipping)
  • Before popping the tray in the oven: score the spread out seed mix with a knife to form 3cm squares.
  • Bake the crackers for 20min at a low heat. 
  • Flip the crackers over (hopefully they don’t stick or break in the wrong places)
  • Bake for another 10-15min, check the colour to be deep golden to brown.
  • Let it cool and harden to a cracker, or bake for a shorter time for a more chewy bite.

 

CURED & PICKLED CARROT;

cured cracker, wellness

  • Warm the oven to 140 degrees Celsius.
  • Slice 6-8 medium carrots with a potato peeler.
  • Add and mix in 1 tablespoon of salt into carrot slithers.
  • Spread the slithers on a non-stick baking tray.
  • Bake for 30-40 minutes. Turn and mix carrots halfway, and return to the oven.

Meanwhile:

  • Sterilise your jars and lids by boiling it in a pot or running a steam cycle on a dishwasher.
  • Make a salty pickle brine in a saucepan with:
    • 3/4 cup of water
    • 1/4 cup of tamari/ soya sauce
    • 1/4 cup of vinegar (rice vinegar and apple cider vinegar works well)
    • 2 tablespoons of oil (flaxseed oil for Omega 3/ Olive oil)
    • 1 tablespoon of dried dill
    • 1 tablespoon of smoked paprika
    • 1 teaspoon of crushed coriander.
    • 1 teaspoon of cumin (or dandelion seeds for some patient wildness) 
    • 1 teaspoon of dried carrageen seaweed (for some ocean wildness)
  • Pickle your carrots by filling the sterilised bottles halfway with brine and the rest with carrots. 
  • Top off with a layer of oil. Let it stand to cool. 
  • The best time to taste the carrots is four hours to a day later.
  • The cured carrots keep well in the fridge for 2-3 weeks.

Yum! Enjoy! Feel free to share your versions of these wild snacks with your friends.

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At Veri Connect the software is only the beginning…….We enable effective programme delivery and compliance in a sustainable way through digitisation. Sustainability is core to our work. By removing paperwork from compliance and training delivery, we are passionate about making the communities and businesses we serve more environmentally responsible . We supply training management software for businesses in the public and private sector who need to capture data about their existing programmes. We also have an in house development team who build industry specific custom training solutions for large organisations who need something more bespoke. Finally, we provide training programme management and deliver training for large training programmes. Our key areas are employability, mentorship and biodiversity. 

Plastic Free July

Environmental Courses Participate in Plastic Free July

Plastic Free July

Unfortunately a common topic of conversation with the participants of our environmental courses is the overuse of plastics in our everyday lives. Plastic is an extremely versatile product. It has a vast range of consumer and industrial uses and it can be difficult to visualise a world where we are not reliant on it. The focus should be on more sustainable alternatives and try to rethink our habits at work and at home.

We decided to participate in Plastic Free July. If you haven’t heard of it before it all began in Western Australia. Rebecca Prince -Ruiz is the founder of the Plastic Free Foundation. From humble beginnings in local government it is now one of the most influential environmental campaigns in the world. The ethos of the campaign is one that really appealed to us because of its gentle approach of encouragement as opposed to shaming people about behaviours that may not be environmentally ideal.. Their core values are

  • Honesty and integrity
  • Inclusivity of people, ideas, visions and approaches
  • A focus on providing solutions
  • Authenticity and collaboration
  • The belief that small changes add up to a big difference

Environmental Courses Participate in Plastic Free July

Environmental Courses Small Changes Big Difference

That last value resonates with the team here and the participants of our environmental courses because we are firm believers that big change starts at a local level. Delivering environmental courses in Water Biodiversity Training and Biodiversity Training allows us to see the appetite for change in communities all across Ireland. There is an awareness there that environmental health and human health are inextricably linked. Large plastics such as bags and straws can choke marine life while microplastics cause internal damage in animals. In turn then we are vulnerable because we are consuming fish.

At our networking event after one of Water Biodiversity Environmental  Courses in Galway we heard first hand from Alec Reid first hand from the link between our local streams and rivers and the oceans surrounding us. He writes in his guest blog ‘There is significant pressure placed on our coastal environment owing to the actions we take on land. Storm water overflows, agricultural runoff, urban waste water, land drainage, surface water overflows or sewage treatment all present a significant environmental challenge to marine life when they are discharged either directly or via freshwater inputs (river, stream, groundwater) into the marine environment.’

In a study called The long-term legacy of plastic mass production the takeaway message is that we can’t keep polluting the oceans and hoping that technology will progress enough to clean up the mess. There has to be a concerted effort to stop the plastics reaching the oceans with river barriers and an overall reduction in the use of plastics in general. So how can you get started on your journey to reduce the use of plastic in your day to day life?

Environmental Courses Participate in Plastic Free July

5 Ways to Make a Change

These are the 5 ways we are going to encourage the participants of our environmental courses to focus on for the month July to kickstart a life long habit of better choices.

Coffee Cups
Refuse to use disposable coffee cups: The quick solution here’s to never leave home without a reusable cup. There are plenty of options on the market made from sustainable materials such as glass or stainless steel. We made a decision not to go out and buy a cup but just use something that we had at home already. The impact of this decision is that it’s a very visible solution and may encourage others to follow your better choice.

Shopping for Fruits and Vegetables
Buy fruits and vegetables without packaging: Many supermarkets have their fresh produce stored in unnecessary packaging. There are stores that you can go to that don’t and they may not be as convenient or a little bit more expensive but choose to shop there when you can. Something else we discussed was to make your feelings known to your local supermarket and that might encourage them to look at alternatives. The impact of this will be a reduction in the amount of plastic packaging reaching our oceans.

Plastic Bottles
Refuse to buy Water in plastic bottles: Similar to the coffee cups this is a relatively simple habit to introduce. Consider a water bottle made of more sustainable materials and refill it from the tap or use a filtered system if there is a problem with the water in your area. In an extra step it may be worth talking to local representatives about the increasing water fountains in public spaces to allow people access to drink or refill their reusable bottles. The impact is a reduction in the pollution and quantity of bottles that end up in landfill.

Straws
Buy sustainable straws: The tide is definitely turning when it comes to the use of plastic straws. Most restaurants and shops have switched to a paper alternative but we are encouraged to stop single use products in general. It’s much better for the environment if we have well made items that will last years and years. We have decided to bring our own straws and if by chance we forget then we will ask for no straw. The impact of this will reduce waste and also straws are detrimental to sea life if they get that far so there will also be a positive impact on animal welfare.

Party Decorations
Choose long lasting alternatives: Who doesn’t love a good party and the decor can set the mood and really elevate a social gathering. This shouldn’t come at the expense of our environment. You can make your own bunting out of old clothes and use paper alternatives and make a decision not to include balloons in your plans. Invest in generic items rather than ones for a specific event and that way they can be reused and even shared amongst friends. The impact of this will be increased awareness of the alternative choices that we can make and it will encourage others to follow in your footsteps.

The future of the planet looks quite bleak if we continue to use plastic at the same rate we are currently. Industry experts predict an increase in production and that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the earth’s oceans than fish. You may think you can’t do much to combat this problem but change starts with one person. On every one of our environmental courses we will encourage the participants to take part and at Veri Connect we plan to do what we can for the month of July. Then keep going one good habit at a time.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

At Veri Connect the software is only the beginning…….We enable effective programme delivery and compliance in a sustainable way through digitisation. Sustainability is core to our work. By removing paperwork from compliance and training delivery, we are passionate about making the communities and businesses we serve more environmentally responsible . We supply training management software for businesses in the public and private sector who need to capture data about their existing programmes. We also have an in house development team who build industry specific custom training solutions for large organisations who need something more bespoke. Finally, we provide training programme management and deliver training for large training programmes. Our key areas are employability, mentorship and biodiversity.