Kalamazoo Woman Teaches Foraging and Food Making Using Tiktok

This week for Tiktok Tuesday we're highlighting a local doing something I am very unfamiliar with: foraging.

Her name is Gabrielle or @chaoticforager on the app. She devotes her account to plants, mushrooms, flowers, how to find them and what you can make with them. Clearly, she has a passion for nature and is incredibly well versed on the subject which is attracting a lot of followers. Currently, she has 255.5k followers and 1.6 million likes. According to her bio, she's a grad student in Kalamazoo who is also an artist and a polymath.

When it comes to plants and nature I enjoy it but my knowledge of it is incredibly limited. For example: did you know you can make syrup out of violets? I do, now, thanks to Gabrielle:

Or how about making candy out of Cherry Blossoms? Gabrielle shows you how:

The amazing thing is she finds these ingredients herself just...out in the wild. She forages, not just here in Kalamazoo, but in our neighboring states as well. I've heard people speak of foraging in the past but, honestly, I've always thought of it as something that was done "way back in the day". With the convenience of grocery stores the need to forage for food to survive is no longer necessary but, MAN, what a useful skill set to have! And what beautiful creations you can make with what you find. Besides the above violet syrup, Gabrielle also shows how to make flower pasta:

Gorgeous!

Gabrielle isn't shy about sharing her knowledge, either. Her profile includes links for other naturalists to share their findings, recipes using wild foods, research and more. And, of course, she shares her knowledge through her Tiktoks:

If you're interested in foraging or nature in general, what to do with what you find, or just want to follow her on her journey, check out @Chaoticforager on Tiktok!

Every week we feature a SW Michigan content creator doing amazing things on Tiktok. Maybe that's someone you know, maybe it's you! Whoever it may be, submit their Tiktok account below and they may be featured for our next #TiktokTuesday