About Lieve ('Leaf')

I'm located in Belgium, Europe. And here's my story. Looking back, maybe it was meant to be: I grew up in a street named Thistle Street. Go figure.

I began my green journey with plants almost 20 years ago as a certified Herbalist and Nature Guide. I started teaching workshops both for trained herbalists as well as for absolute beginners and have reached thousands of people since.

Then I participated in the How to Survive in a City project, where urban people can behave like wild gatherers. This was a success story in big cities in Europe, like Amsterdam and Brussels. Ah, the joy to see people in business outfits gather daisies for lunch and be their guide. To see them hesitating at first, but then gradually discovering the power of wild plants and preparing yummy dishes with them.
Since quite some years I have been offering a wild edible & medicinal full year course to teach people all the special tips and tricks to add foraging to their lives. To my own surprise, it now has a waiting list of almost 1000 people!

I also teach folk medicine and nature philosophy at the European academy for natural health care, where I show my students how wild plants in particular remind us of Hippocrates' words "let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food".

Many years of wandering -through the woods and amongst feral urban plants- and changing my eating and healing ways brought me closer to the wild side of things. Numerous weed walks and wild plant meals made it clear to me that a growing number of people were trying to find out about wild edibles, a skill so vital for our ancestors, and an important transition tool for sustainability in today's world.

I am also a mother of twins, who have been eating wild foods since conception and are loving it. Motherhood made me even more aware than ever how we struggle if we wander away from our true nature, and how we thrive when we reconnect to it. Discovering the power of wild foods can be a wonderful help in this process.

Wild plant foods are superfoods! They are waiting for you :)