If you’re looking to build a relationship with the land that feeds you, you can start by embracing the wisdom of the Internet’s Mushroom Auntie.

Gabrielle Cerberville, a.k.a. your new Mushroom Auntie, a.k.a. The Chaotic Forager, has spent her academic life collecting degrees in music. If you catch her in the forest, however, she’s more likely to be collecting mushrooms and plants for cooking and preservation. She’s known online as a mycologist and foraging educator, and—more recently—as the author of the book Gathered: On Foraging, Feasting, and the Seasonal Life – An Illustrated Adventure in Wild Food, Self-Discovery, and Honoring Earth. Part memoir, part field guide, part cook book, and part guided nature meditation, Gathered is 100% an invitation to connect more deeply and authentically with the earth. This week, Gabrielle joins Erin and Sean to discuss its writing, the deeply collaborative process of its editing and fact-checking, and the interconnectedness of nature, food, politics, and community.

Find Gabrielle online at:

ChaoticForager.com 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/chaoticforager

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@chaoticforager 

YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UC0LqNI92KujRLCj-247ve3w

Facebook: www.facebook.com/chaoticforager

Purchase a copy of Gathered: www.harpercollins.com/products/gathered-gabrielle-cerberville?variant=43429934661666

Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment? 

Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon. 

Discord: https://discord.gg/K6wF9dY4Ja
Bluesky: @plantsalwayswin.com
TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast
YouTube: @plantsalwayswinpodcast
Website: www.plantsalwayswin.com 

Citations

Can you forage on Crown land in Canada?

Using wood from Crown land for personal use. (2025, May 26). ontario.ca. https://www.ontario.ca/page/using-wood-crown-land-personal-use

Credits

Website Design and Illustration by Sophia Alladin

Intro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/when-my-ukulele-plays

License code: GWOIMMBAS15FG6PH

Timestamps

00:14 Introduction
01:10 Gabrielle Cerberville, Your Internet Mushroom Auntie
03:20 The Chaotic Forager and ADHD
05:16 The Myth of Being a Self-Taught Forager
08:29 Community Sufficiency, Not Self-Sufficiency
11:55 Gabrielle’s Music Education
14:35 Marrying Music and Foraging: The Deep Ecology Project
19:01 How Gabrielle Develops Recipes with Foraged Foods
21:40 Foraging and Seasonality
23:30 The Honourable Harvest
26:37 Building a Relationship with the Land
31:04 Foraging on Public Land (Food Is Political)
40:48 The Process Behind Gathered
48:51 Gabrielle’s Shout-Outs
53:45 Outro and Contact Us