WYLDE, the podcast about foraging and herbalism in Europe

Lieve Galle

23 episodes listed below

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European plant wisdom, slowly gathered.

The gist

WYLDE follows careful conversations with European herbalists and foragers about the plants people still gather, cook, dry, protect, and remember. It suits listeners who like field knowledge with human texture: family habits, local rules, seasonal eating, folk remedies, and the slow work of noticing.

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About WYLDE, the podcast about foraging and herbalism in Europe

WYLDE is a European foraging and herbalism interview series with a slow, attentive center. It is not built around quick tips. Lieve Galle gives guests room to tell how plant knowledge entered their lives, where it was kept, and what changed when modern routines pulled people away from it. The conversations often begin in memory. A guest may describe childhood food, mountain households, city hillsides, family olive trees, or a first experience of noticing plants as individual beings. From there, the show widens. It asks how people gather without taking too much, how local rules shape harvesting, and how herbal medicine survives in places where official systems may not fully recognize it. The mood is warm and companionable. It can also feel quietly urgent, because ecological loss and cultural forgetting sit underneath many of the stories. Episodes linger on practical details such as thyme, nettle, dandelion, hops, comfrey, wild rucola, olives, orchids, and seasonal greens. They also spend time with less measurable things: trust, attention, reciprocity, vitality, and community. One conversation follows the healing effect of slowing to walking pace and seeing past the green wall of plants. Another traces wild food, gut health, clarity, and the challenge of carrying a more feral diet back into modern life. The Croatia episode turns harvesting rules into an ethic of leaving plants for pollinators, seed, and future growth. The Greece conversation finds wild greens in Athens, balcony growing, farmers markets, and family ties to village land. The Romania thread remembers mountain households where herbs were not alternative medicine but ordinary medicine. WYLDE’s strength is its patience. It lets knowledge stay local, personal, and sometimes unfinished. The result is a grounded, intimate show for listeners drawn to ethnobotany as lived relationship rather than abstract expertise.

Made for: For listeners interested in foraging, herbalism, ethnobotany, folk medicine, seasonal food, and the cultural memory of plants. It especially fits people who prefer patient interviews over polished how-to audio.

What sets it apart: WYLDE stands out by treating European plant practice as a lived cultural web: rules, landscapes, family habits, health stories, and harvesting ethics all matter. Its conversations feel rooted in relationship rather than performance.

In their own words

I'm Lieve Galle, a Belgian herbalist and wild plant forager since 2002 and host of the Wilde Wieven podcast (in Dutch). In this WYLDE Podcast I talk to fellow herbalists and foragers in Europe. We deal with different plant species and different cultural approaches towards plants, but what we have in common is that we all want to transform plant blindness into plant wisdom. Together we can have a greater impact on restoring the ancient link between people and plants. If you're ready to find out what you've never been told, but what your soul already knows, then welcome to WYLDE.

As heard by us

Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026

WYLDE connects wild plants, personal wellbeing and ecological responsibility through grounded conversations about how European foraging knowledge is practiced and preserved.

Lieve Galle treats foraging as a meeting point between personal health, inherited knowledge and care for the land. Her conversations move through distinct European settings, from harvesting greens around Athens to meadow-cutting rules in Croatia and memories of household herbal…

Read our full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Wild plants stop being green wallpaper once Lieve Galle shows you how Europeans read them.

Press play if you want

  • to notice individual plant characters where you once saw an anonymous green wall
  • a practical ethics lesson in leaving enough for pollinators and next season
Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
European foraging traditionsherbal medicine and folk remediesseasonal wild foodplant identification and attentionethical harvestinggut health and wild dietslocal plant rulescommunity plant knowledge

Talks about

Best episodes of WYLDE, the podcast about foraging and herbalism in Europe

Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.

#22 Normalizing foraging with Liam O'BrienApr 7, 2026

Foraging is treated as a discipline of attention, body awareness, and slower looking.

Lieve Galle frames this conversation with Liam O'Brien around a simple but lasting idea: foraging begins with attention. The episode asks listeners to slow down, notice individual species, and stop seeing plants as a single green blur.

#21 The Wild Transformation: from gut health to cultural rootsFeb 26, 2026

Gut health is tied here to plant access, community eating, and European foraging rules.

This episode treats gut health as a doorway into a broader case for plants, place, and belonging. Lieve Galle, who has worked as a herbalist and wild plant forager in Belgium since 2002, reflects on how foraging has shifted across Europe, with some countries licensing the work…

#20 Foraging, herbalism and folk medicine in CroatiaJan 20, 2026

Practical foraging rules give the episode its strongest, most grounded point.

Lieve Galle's conversation settles on the practical ethics of foraging: what can be picked, what should stay in the meadow, and how local rules shape those choices.

#19 Herbalism in Greece with Eleni BourouDec 16, 2025

A patient look at Greek herbalism as everyday life, not a niche hobby.

The conversation treats Greek herbalism as something lived, not theorized from a distance. It moves through village houses, rooftop growing, weekly market runs, and the habit of gathering what is already nearby.

#18 Remembering to trust the herbs with Columbia HillenOct 14, 2025

Herbal knowledge, lived memory, and a quiet case for turning to plants earlier.

The piece treats herbalism as a lived practice, moving through Belgium, Romania, and Ireland to consider what plant knowledge can still offer when waiting lists grow long.

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Episodes

  1. 1

    #23 What foraging teaches you about life with Joanne Ruminska

    Jun 2, 2026·1h 3m
  2. 2

    #22 Normalizing foraging with Liam O'Brien

    Hidden gem

    Lieve Galle opens by asking for support and frames the show as a move from plant blindness toward collective plant wisdom.

    Apr 7, 2026·47m·4 clips
  3. 3

    #21 The Wild Transformation: from gut health to cultural roots

    Hidden gem

    Lieve Galle opens by asking listeners to support Wild so it can stay free and accessible.

    Feb 26, 2026·1h 22m·5 clips
  4. 4

    #20 Foraging, herbalism and folk medicine in Croatia

    Hidden gem

    The host opens on plant wisdom.

    Jan 20, 2026·1h 10m·5 clips
  5. 5

    #19 Herbalism in Greece with Eleni Bourou

    Hidden gem

    Lieve Galle talks with a guest about herbalism and plant knowledge in Greece.

    Dec 16, 2025·1h 18m·5 clips
  6. 6

    #18 Remembering to trust the herbs with Columbia Hillen

    Hidden gem

    Wild opens with a reminder that the show stays free because listeners choose to support it, then moves into a conversation about herbalism, foraging, and shared plant wisdom.

    Oct 14, 2025·1h 8m·5 clips
  7. 7

    #17 Being a herbalist in Portugal with Rita Roquette

    Lieve Galle interviews herbalist Rita Roquette about her work with plants in Portugal, exploring cultural differences and plant wisdom.

    Sep 16, 2025·1h 7m
  8. 8

    #16 The healing power of nature with Dave Achula

    Aug 19, 2025·1h 7m
  9. 9

    #15 Herbal remedies in Austria and Germany with Gabriele Resch

    Lieve Galle interviews Gabriele Resch about herbal remedies in Austria and Germany, exploring cultural differences and plant wisdom.

    Jul 22, 2025·59m
  10. 10

    #14 Discovering plant based foraging cuisine with Peter 'Chippy' Grant

    Jun 24, 2025·1h 5m
  11. 11

    #13 Traditional herbal wisdom in Cyprus with Miranda Tringis

    Lieve Galle introduces the podcast and discusses the importance of sharing traditional herbal wisdom across different cultures, with a focus on Cyprus and Miranda Tringis.

    May 27, 2025·1h 16m
  12. 12

    #12 Herbalism in Ireland with Nikki Darrell

    Apr 29, 2025·1h 5m
  13. 13

    #11 Foraging, farming, and culinary creativity with Swiss chef Rebecca Clopath

    Apr 1, 2025·1h 4m
  14. 14

    #10 Herbs and chronic illness with Anita Wasik

    Mar 4, 2025·1h 1m
  15. 15

    #9 Herbalism in France with Christophe Bernard

    Feb 4, 2025·1h 8m
  16. 16

    #8 Herb women in Bulgaria with Annelies Buggenhout & Lora Moiree

    Nov 12, 2024·1h 35m
  17. 17

    #7 Herbalism in Finland with Henriette Kress

    Oct 1, 2024·1h 4m
  18. 18

    #6 Regenerative herbalism in Poland with Lyra Alves

    Sep 3, 2024·1h 33m
  19. 19

    #5 Foraging in Norway with Mari Jerstad

    Aug 6, 2024·57m
  20. 20

    #4 Discovering the world through plants with François Couplan

    Lieve Galle interviews François Couplan about discovering the world through plants, exploring foraging, herbalism, and cultural approaches to plants in Europe.

    Jul 9, 2024·1h 19m
  21. 21

    #3 Western Master Plants with Anki Paulssen

    Lieve Galle introduces the podcast's mission to transform plant blindness into collective plant wisdom and previews a conversation with Anki Paulssen about Western master plants.

    Jun 11, 2024·1h 23m
  22. 22

    #2 Wild & Tamed with Isabel Openshaw

    May 14, 2024·49m
  23. 23

    #1 Foraging in Sweden with Lisen Sundgren

    Apr 16, 2024·1h 21m