What is Wildcrafting?
Wildcrafting is a term used to describe the practice of collecting or gathering plant materials from their natural environment. Harvesting wild plants in this manner is done for a variety of reasons, most commonly for medicinal purposes or nature crafts. Anything from herbs and flowers to berries, branches, and foliage can be used for wildcrafting. Natural environments, including gardens, have been a long-time source of many wildcrafting traditions. Herbal remedies, supplemental food, and decorations came from what was readily available in and around the homesteads of early settlers. Wildcrafting has continued to be a time-honored tradition for many nature lovers, even becoming a popular hobby. While the majority of wildcrafts are harvested among uncultivated plants in various native habitats, they’re not just limited to wilderness or wooded areas. In fact, nowadays many wildcrafting materials can be collected from home gardens and landscapes in addition to the wild. Although gardens c
Hatter says she is both a wildcrafter and an interpretive naturalist. Traditional wildcrafting gathering native plants for use or sale has been performed for many years, though Hatter says it was especially prevalent in the days of the Great Depression. Unlike those early wildcrafters, Hatter does not forage the woods in the hope of making a profit. In my case, Im not gathering things to sell, but instead am using them for education teaching people what these plants are, how to identify them, what the traditional uses are, what the potential market might be for them, she says. This is a central component of her work as an interpretive naturalist. Interpretive naturalism is really what I do, says Hatter. Im not an herbalist because I dont grow herbs. Mother Nature grows them, and I simply collect them, she says. Im not a naturalist, because that would imply a lot more knowledge of biology, knowledge about the fauna as well as the flora. What I do is in between I combine my knowledge of
Wildcrafting is the harvesting of wild plants to make things like food, medicinal preparations or fun things like the products you see in this catalog. This business was born out of my love for wild plants and the outdoors. Everything Juniper Ridge is about would be pointless if the plants were harmed by our harvesting. We always harvest with permission and in a sustainable, responsible manner. For example, when we harvest Douglas Fir and Juniper (as in these pictures) we just prune around the bottom of the trees and they respond vigorously to the pruning by putting on new growth.
WHAT IS DOCTRINE OF SIGNATURES ? Several plants described in this Video include : Yellow Root for Stomach & Urinary ailments.. Mullien for flu and congestion Jewel weed for Poison Ivy Touch me nots for trail nibble ELDERBERRY for mild laxative & Elderberry Blossoms cooked as Fritters USED AS A BLOOD THINNER Leaves rubbed on skin as an insect repellant Elderberry Sambucus for flu ( sambucol) Spicebush tea for heart problems ( a great mornin’ tea) AND HOW TO MAKE A HARVEST PIE 27 minutes of the best ” Wildcrafting know how ” Filmed in Appalachia where the climate and age of the Appalachian chain created a diversity of plant species that is greater than anywhere in North America. (130 tree species, 1500 flowering plants, and 4,000 non-flowering plants) Cherokee and later settlers found a tremendous wealth of natural resources which sustained them. The abundance of edible and medicinal plants became a source of trade for goods people could not make themselves. During the Depression the her
