Wild Crafting or Foraging, The "cliffs" notes

It's so much fun!

Ok first things first, I'm not a trained herbalist.

Heck, I'm not even sure I would consider myself an herbalist.  Yet according to the definition, One who studies botany and the use of plants intended for medicinal purposes or for diet, ...I guess I am.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

"I just forage the wild abundance of "weeds" around my home."

And I hope to encourage you to do the same.

In doing so, I teach my children the amazing-ness that grows wild and freely under our feet.  We learn together their unique and individual properties.  We utilize their medicinal value(s) and get to know one another.  The plant and us, that is.    

And if that gives one some kind of title, well so be it ~but I'm not entirely sure it does. 
Nonetheless, It was well established a long, long time ago, 

“See, I have given you every plant that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed, to you it is for food."

But lets back up shall we?

I love plants, always have.
I can see the love for them in my own children now.
...The way they light up when they see a flower or delight in positively identifying something they can eat or even better, help aid their 'boo-boos'.
They are empowered.  (Even tho they say boo-boo.)

PLANTS are OUR ALLIES.  

And if we can see and understand this wonderful symbiotic relationship we should be able to come to the conclusion that not only should we be harvesting them but we should also be tending to their needs, as well.

Personally, without sounding extreme, the living has a spirit.  These plants were created for us, with purpose, as stated above and likewise we should not take advantage of or be known as only consumers, towards them.


Native American's have a rule, Do not pick all that you see, so the plant can replenish itself for the next year.  

Simple. Wise.  

And once you develop a relationship with the plants around you, some of them you can encourage to reproduce by manually spreading seed in a more ideal location or favorable condition(s), etc.  Make them comfortable.  Because they will you.


Different plants like different things however and this is where some studying may come into play, along with the beginnings of positively identifying them.  
Many medicinal plants are found in poor soil and not so fantastic environments but this is perhaps why they are so medicinal in the first place.  
They adapt easy and are hardy, and or proliferating.  

Their strong ability to evolve and endure is what contributes to their exceptional healing constituent.  

So keep this in mind as well.

There are some other very common sense "rules" to consider, such as not to harvest a root before it has dropped its' seed for the year. Well my husband would think this to be common sense but shamefully, me, not so much.  

We could go on a long monologue about why you should wildCraft but lets just keep that simple too.  It's super trendy right now.  Ok, ok, that was suppose to be a joke but honestly why do you think it is so trending?  Perhaps it's the revelation that real food versus our processed junk is actually what was created for us to survive on?  Thrive, really.  And many are sick from a lack there of. 


For those who may be new to this, we have begun to compile the "wild Edibles" around our location on the left hand side of the blog, for easy identification and quick reference.  We are currently located in south central PA but many of the wild edibles listed are more than likely found in your area too.  

And the #1 rule is don't eat anything that you don't 100% KNOW what it is!

      

Introduce Yourself!