Collecting for Food or Medicine - Where do you start?
In every culture we are exposed to some knowledge of herbs, plants, grandma's folk remedies or local health food store. Media reports on new medicinal cures found in nature every day. The fascination with plants and their healing properties is something as humans we have always been gifted. Some of the most common plants may already be a part of your daily routine. For example, willow was one of the first forms of painkillers containing Salicin a precursor to aspirin. Silver impregnated or honey soaked bandages are some of the innovations in wound dressing for combatting super bugs used today. Every plant is made up of chemical compounds that are isolated and used for medicine, vitamins, and nutrition. We could not live without. There has always been a group of fanatics and disbelievers in both the herbal medicine and the pharmaceutical world. A lot of people do not trust herbal remedies and there is growing world of concern over pharmaceuticals and doctors as solutions to health problems. I believe they are all right! You should question what doctors prescribe you and inform yourself of side effects and stay on top of your symptoms. You should also question herbal remedies and question where do they come from, are they safe, is there proof that they work?
The most common question that gets left out of the conversation is what is the harm? We fall into media campaigns and spend so much time trying to figure out whether something will cure us or not when we should ask what is the worse that can happen if I take it. Every human is different. We all have different genes, body chemistry, and environments and what may have worked for your neighbour may not solve your ailment but, will it hurt you? I have heard horror stories of detox drink mixes gone wrong to my dad suffering from permanent nerve damage to his hands from the super antibiotics he was on.
You need to educate yourself with as much knowledge as possible to advocate for your health. If you are in the doctors office research your condition and tell them if you plan on trying herbs. Herbs can be powerful and do sometimes interact with medications so you need to come clean. Educate your self about the herb in particular you want to try and ask the health food store or product reps specific questions like what temperature was this herb processed-some heat destroys medicinal properties, does it expire, what does it do, what complications can arise from taking it, where was it picked.
Or......why not try making some yourself? There is so much amazing research, medicine, and delicious food growing on your front lawn or in your weedy back fence then you can possibly imagine. But beware once you start tasting and trying things on your own its a bit of a rabbit hole. You will find yourself making your own oils, tasting trees and preparing dandelion jelly or salads. You will be fascinated with nature in its simplicity and there is no turning back.
The other benefits to making your own creams, teas, or recipes is that you will possibly save money, you can fine tune it to your liking, you will know exactly what is in it and how it was prepared, and you will notice your vocabulary no longer includes the word weed.
But where do you start? Its scary to try some of this stuff if you are not used to it. I also find it interesting the trepidation of eating a weed or a strange plant in your yard does not seem to apply to any remedy you may buy at a health food store or from a pharmacy.
The first step into this brave new world is called plant identification and its very important. It is also lots of fun, extremely interesting, and is something we should be passing onto friends, family, and most importantly our children. There is a really scary stat out there that says most children can identify 100 different cooperate logos but can not identify 10 native plants in their backyard. Scary stuff. So how do you properly identify a plant?
The Internet:
When researching a plant you can of course, surf the web but, remember to search both side effects as well as what medicinal properties that plant has. Lots of miracle cures are discovered everyday whether based in fact or not and you want to make sure it wont hurt you. Try and find lots of different pictures or websites on the specific plant you are seeking, or find plant forums! I have taken pictures and emailed them to professionals for second opinions. The power of technology!
Other People or Professionals:
You can ask someone. There are lots of resources out there both traditional and non-traditional that have knowledge on plants. Ask grandparents, doctors, naturopaths, herbalists, medicine men or women, university departments, friends that may have tried it. It doesn't hurt to get lots of information to help you make an educated choice.
The Book:
What I love is books. There has been books written about plants for medicine and eating for thousands of years.
Tips for Books:
1. With a book the first things you want to look for is where are you located. Are the plants in your book native to your area?
2. Check the author and resources- you want to make sure what you are reading is as accurate as you can.
3. You need lots of pictures or a clear picture and a key to identifying plants with references for the way a plant may look in different seasons or growing stages. Especially when you are first starting out.
4. And last but not least is a good write up on the plant. There are lots of really great reasons to properly identify a plant so you want to make sure that the write up covers your interests. This can be anything from medicinal properties, poisonous warning, recipes, what kind of wildlife it attracts, is it a species at risk or endangered, what type of aura does it have? Interests in plants range and too often I myself have just bought on amazon based on title and now the book is collecting some dust.
Collecting plants and making different foods or medicines is one of my favourite things to do in the woods with my family. I love the variety and the interesting tastes, the health benefits, and the price. Eating delicious chickweed in my salads that I picked in the front yard cost me nothing but time. I live in sunny Saskatchewan right in the aspen parkland and during the summers I run an outdoor adventure company in the Boreal Forest. I will be sharing all of the plants, recipes, and adventures of eating wild here on this blog. And if you want to try some of this and you live in Canada in a forest or the prairies these are my favourite go to books:
1. Plants of the Western Boreal Forest and Aspen Parkland by Johnson, Kershaw, MacKinnon, Pojar
2. The Boreal Herbal-Wild Food and Medicinal Plants of the North by Beverley Grey
This is one of the best resources I have every found for indentifing, understanding, making medicine, and eating plants in the boreal forest. I cannot rave enough about this book. Beverley Grey has put together a easy to follow beauty of a book with clearly laid out sections detailing each plant. Details include what the plants nutritional values are, cosmetic, medicinal, spiritual uses are, what ailments it can help, what season to pick it in, with big beautiful clear photography. Then it gets better! This book is the perfect companion to the next step in foraging! She has recipes for food, medicine, and cosmetic uses of the plants all broken down into clear easy to follow steps with lots of pictures. She has even included a section at the end on wild crafting and possibly selling some of your wares. This book both inspires you to try some new things and really gets you interested in all of the possibilities of the Boreal Forest!
3. The Standing People-Field Guide or Medicinal Plants for the Prairie Provinces by Kahlee Keane and Dave Howarth
I am a prairie girl and this book is another amazing guide for identifying native plants on the Canadian prairies. Kahlee Keane or Root Women is a fascinating lady with gifts and knowledge on plants that are nationally recognized. She has been a contributor to magazines like Alive, advocates for protection of plants at risk, and also has a very comprehensive herbal course online if you want to delve deeper in to the world of plants. I love this book because it has great photography, very insightful and interesting write ups on plants both medicinal and traditional, and warnings about the plants are included. One really neat little detail that I appreciate is she has included the Latin and Folk names for the plants as well as, the Blackfoot, Cree, Slave, Ojibway, Metis, French, and sometimes Chinese versions of the plant names as well. This book is also small, portable and a prairie treasure.
4. Mushrooms of the Boreal Forest by Eugene F. Bossenmaier
We have here in Saskatchewan some top notch, high sought, special mushrooms that gourmets go crazy for! There is even a mushroom picking industry up north that is really interesting and worth a google search. But we also have some poisonous mushrooms and when it comes to tasty mushrooms I find that most people are definitely scared of picking the wrong ones so they do not indulge at all. Which is a huge loss! If you are worried about mushrooms or are just generally curious then this is the book for you! First of all color photos and really good descriptions! I have a few mushroom books and a lot of them are pencil drawings and that did not give me a lot of confidence. I was so very excited to see all of the photography in this book. Also its very clear, easy to follow, simple descriptions, and what I appreciated was the edibility rating. He details whether the mushroom is edible but, also takes the time to mention whether its tasty or will advise not to eat because a poisonous one is very similar. And the books includes recipes and preparation instructions for the mushrooms that are very easy to identify and delicious. This book is a definitive confidence builder for eating wild mushrooms.
5. Mosby's Handbook of Herbs and Natural Supplements by Linda Skidmore-Roth
My super awesome cousin found this book for me and I have found it a very important reference for herbs and wild plants. This is not an plant ID book rather a book for the medical profession on herbal supplements and possible interactions with drugs or treatments. What I liked about the book is there is not a lot of judgement on whether the herb has been proven worthy just more on what people take it for, dosage, possible complications with medicines or medical conditions, pregnancy safe, and any studies to reference. If you are interested in herbs, plants, and are going to start taking some this is a good quick reference guide and is a really interesting read. You should always still talk to your doctor but, for interest sake and as a starting point this book is worth it.
I love books! I may have hording/addiction problem with books. But I find the way my brain works with my busy family its nice to be able to quickly reference or look something up. I have plenty of other great books on plant medicines and wild eating but, these five books are what I think anyone who is interested in getting started should look at. They are all well written and lugged on every canoe trip, backpacking, or environmental education program I am running. Because what is more fun than discovering what's in your world?
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