picking wild herbs and flowers
Refers to the traditional activity of gathering edible wild plants and flowers, often for cooking or medicinal use. Can also imply a leisurely, rustic pastime.
When spring came, I went out picking wild herbs and flowers with my grandmother.
We make tempura from the wild plants we gathered while picking herbs.
Compound of 摘み (tsumi, 'picking', from verb 摘む tsumu) and 草 (kusa, 'grass, herb'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word has been used since classical times to describe the gathering of wild plants.