Foraging wild edibles and medicinal plants at Herbal Rooms Homestay starts every year in the spring time, mainly late February. This is the time when the nature awakes and turns green. In our herbal garden around 30 different medicinal plants are planted and each of them has a name written in Slovene and Latin language because latin is a common language in the botanic world.

February is also a month when my mum starts preparing home made Jaegermaister that completely differs from Jaegermaister bought in a supermarket. It is 9 months long process of adding more than 55 different medicinal plants before filtering it and tasting a new vintage in December. Cheers! 

Foraging wild edible and medicinal plants by months

We collect wild edibles (such as wild asparagus, wild garlic, dandelion, chives) and medicinal plants on the neighboring meadows, woods and in our herbal garden between February and September. The pickiest time for foraging is in the summer time (June, July, August) when the meadows are covered with colorful medicinal plants.  

You are more than welcome to join my Herbal Walk between February and September. The best time for foraging is at noon (it can be extremely hot though!) but this is the time when medicinal plants have the most active properties.

February: daisy, violet, primula, coltsfoot.

March: lungworts, nettle, wild garlic, wild asparagus, chives, dandelion, shepherd’s purse, pansies.

April: wild mint, robert geranium, strawberry leaves.

May: red clover, comfrey, elder, meadow sage, wild thyme, savory, spruce tips.

June: broadleaf/narrowleaf plantain, anthyllis, chicory, lady’s mantl, balm mint, chamomile, linden, marigold, St John’s-Wort, yarrow, milk thistle.

July: fennel, centaury – feverwort, lavander, rosemary, marjoram, origano, purple coneflower.

August: lemon grass, citronella, geranium, roses.

September: rose hips, hops, brackenfern, nasturtium.

What we prepare from wild edibles and medicinal plants?

From wild edibles such as wild garlic, wild asparagus and chives we are making soups, spreads, omelets and we use them while preparing risotto or pasta. One of Slovenian popular spring meal is dandelion salad. From spruce tips, meadow sage, wild thyme and broadleaf/narrowleaf plantain we make syrup for cough. We dry medicinal plants and prepare tea blends, infused oils (rosemary, lavender, chamomile, marigold, wild thyme), herbal soaps, herbal balms, lavender sachets and herbal pillows. What is more, from fresh medicinal plants we prepare homemade refreshing flavored water and herbal fertilizers because we care about the nature. Read about our zero-waste way of life here.

Herbal code

• Observe the legal regulations, directives and recommendations on medicinal plants.
• Do not tear the protected types of medicinal plants.
• The harvesting of medicinal plants is prohibited in natural parks and of course on private land.
• Do not pull out the whole medicinal plant, but only take the parts of the plant you need.
• Do not cause unnecessary damage to the site.
• Collect only those medicinal plants that you know and collect the amount you need.
• Do not collect medicinal plants that you do not intend to use.
• Respect and protect other medicinal plants, including poisonous medicinal plants.
• Collect medicinal plants at a time when they contain most of the active ingredients.
• Collect medicinal plants in an unpolluted environment.
• When harvesting medicinal plants, use appropriate tools and packaging.
• Properly dry the collected medicinal plants, mark and store.
• Dried medicinal plants are generally stored for one year only. Do not discard dried medicinal plants that are older, but use them for baths or clogs.
• If dried medicinal plants do not meet quality criteria, discard them.

You are more than welcome to spend some days at Herbal Rooms Homestay in Soca valley and learn herbal knowledge from us.

___________ Thank you for reading! _____________

If you crave some more local experiences, join my local experiences! What is more, if you need help with your travel planning to Soca valley and/or Slovenia beyond the usual tourist menu , do not hesitate to contact me. Welcome/Dobrodošli!