the foraged home
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately."
In 1845, the author, poet and natural philosopher Henry David Thoreau decided it was time for a wee break. He settled in a forest on the shore of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, and built himself a tiny cabin. The interior was furnished with a bed, a table, a small desk and lamp, and three chairs -- "one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society." He did his best to survive without money by growing crops and foraging what he could from the nearby forest.
After two years, two months, and two days in relative solitude, he returned to society and wrote Walden and Civil Disobedience. Inspired by his time at the pond - these works of art influence were prescient and far-reaching, sparking political movements from abolitionism to environmentalism to civil rights. It's been cited as the most famous and consequential vacation in American history.
Like Thoreau, more than a century ago - we've felt the pull to go off-grid and carve out a life in nature - but how, and how do we do this now, when we've become too accustomed to the comforts of convenience and the rat race of manufacturing and commerce?
Aside from all the Utopian daydreaming, there is an essential task in reducing our dependence on 'things' and systems designed to keep us trapped in someone else's purchase cycle or 'customer journey'. Sustainability and reducing our eco-footprint have never been more critical; we're foolhardily close to skipping past the point of redemption.
The Foraged Home is a book we've discovered that will guide and inspire those looking to go beyond the world of mass-produced products. We have long found beauty in existing things; we need to use what we can, where we can - it's the forager code.
This book shows a collection of homes and interiors created with salvaged, recycled and repurposed objects. This hotchpotch of dwellings has been designed with sustainability at the front of mind, and whilst they can look a little post-apocalyptic in places - (in a good way!) - there is so much beauty to be found all around us if we only look and think creatively.
With techniques we're keen to adopt ―such as beachcombing, forest hunting, and urban salvaging― the book introduces us to a slew of savvy foragers from across the globe. It shows us how they create comfortable homes by breathing new life into what most consider waste. A good read indeed.
