Introducing .... Alice Dousova
Alice Dousova is a film maker and editor based in London. We came across Alice through her passion of foraging. We caught up with Alice in far East London forest on a foggy morning at 6am to chat all things foraging.
Alice wears Amiel S-Strike Geo-Merged Cordura Hiking
Photography: James Rees, @james_re
SWC: What do you call BS on?
Prohibiting mushroom picking in public forests, it's important to be mindful, keep some for the deers and other animals, but mushrooms grow underground and the actual shroom is a fruiting body, so it's like saying you will not pick all the ripe apples on a tree to keep the tree healthy, you just wouldn't do that. If you find a mature porcini, it's good to tap the cap to release the spores, but usually just by picking the mushroom this happens anyway.
SWC: Why get out of bed in the morning?
To explore what's out there, every day something new sprouts out, matures, ripens and if you miss it, it's gone and you have to wait another year. I have been foraging for years now, not just mushrooms, each year you have your basics like dandelions or blackberries, sometimes I think - is there anything else I haven't picked before, but each year I find something new, someone tells you about a new way of using a plant known to you for years. This year it was making fermented fireweed tea for me.
SWC: What are the benefits to logging out of a digital world and immersing yourself in nature, aside from the free food?
I think being in nature is so primal to us, we just instinctively know how to be in it, I don't know a single person who would come on a foraging walk with me and feel stressed afterwards, you naturally slow down and physically feel the relief from sensory overload.
SWC: How can we learn more about foraging safely?
Books or going on certified foraging walk, there is lots of rubbish online, but few good websites too. An absolute foraging legend is Roger Philips, so many great mushroom books! Good walks across Uk can be found on Wild Food UK, but there are many more, some even based in London. You can also listen to my Bobule Club foraging shows on Doyou.world, each episode I talk to a different guest about different plants, trees or mushrooms, all very seasonal mixed with some music.
