Welcome to My Simpler Way!

My name is Evita Ochel and amidst my many diverse interests and passions within the field of consciousness studies, science, health, and nutrition, I have a deeply sacred relationship with and love of nature. But it wasn’t always this way.

When I was about 5 years old, I was given a small patch of Earth amidst my grandmother’s vegetable garden to grow my very own plants. Although I cannot recall much from that time, there is one thing that has remained with me for life from that early experience. This being the immense feeling of joy I felt within from the interaction I had with the living plants, the care I was able to offer the Earth, and in return the miracle and marvel of nature that I was able to experience. To this day, it has remained as one of my fondest childhood memories.

A little later on in my childhood, when I was 7, I moved away from this serene landscape and natural connection. While I still enjoyed outdoor activities, my interaction with nature became more commonplace. Nature was messy, unpredictable, and at times flat out inconvenient. Insects were to be avoided at all costs, indoor activities took precedence, and a distinct separation was evident; there was us, and then there was nature.

It wasn’t until my late 20s, when I returned to the natural, innate connection and oneness with nature. During those years I experienced a profound spiritual awakening and personal shift that transformed nearly everything for me. During this awakening, one of the few things that made sense to me in this world and truly mattered was nature. One of the major life changes during this period in my life was moving out of, and away from, typical metropolitan and suburban living with my husband, and into a rather remote, natural and wild setting. And it was here, surrounded by forests and bodies of water, that my relationship with nature, as well as love and appreciation for nature increased exponentially, and continues to get enhanced each day.

Today, my interactions with nature are very diverse and a regular part of each day. I cherish and deeply respect all aspects of nature and maintain peace, compassion and harmony-based relationships with every species. I am fascinated by every plant, fungus, insect and animal. I practice stewardship, rather than ownership. Nature is my greatest teacher and I am fully myself and at home in her presence.

As my interests and passions in the field of natural health, optimal nutrition, ecology and sustainability also grew over the past few years, my research led me to having a better understanding of nature. This included learning about wild plants and wild mushrooms to know how to work with them, specifically for nourishment uses. It also included taking up edible gardening and growing as much of our own food as possible. As you can imagine I take the words “local” and “organic” very seriously, and nothing gets more local or organic than the wild or personally grown food I now have access to.

This is a journey that I am now committed to for life. And as part of this journey I decided to put together a type of catalogue or resource site of my research on wild plants and mushrooms for myself. Knowing however that our Earth is currently in the midst of its own awakening and consciousness expansion, where many other people like myself are being called to leading similar nature-centered lives, I decided to share this project publicly, in the event that it can also help or assist others in any way.

Thank you for taking the time to learn a little about my journey and work.

May your own heart continue to open and your mind awaken to come back home, and nurture the most valuable resource we have—nature—to both survive and thrive!

Important Notes About This Site

• This website is an ongoing personal hobby and research project that is being shared publicly in case you may find any of it useful for your personal interests.
• The plants and mushrooms catalogued here are geographically located in Ontario, Canada, however many of them may be common to other areas of the world as well.
• None of the pages within the Wild Plant or Wild Mushroom collections should be considered complete.
• The above mentioned collection pages are an ongoing project, and each page gets updated as new or pertinent information becomes available to me.
• If you are trying to identify a plant or mushroom, and/or learn about its uses this site should only be one of many other resources that you consult for best results.
• By reading or making use of this website, you are agreeing to use it completely at your own risk as the accuracy of the material found within the pages has not been tested or verified by any third party.