Wildcrafting simply means harvesting wild plants in their natural habitats. While harvesting wild plants for food and medicine has transpired since there have been people on earth, it fell out of favor during the mid-20th century, as common health practices gave way to relatively inexpensive modern medical conveniences of over the counter pharmaceuticals and easily accessible doctor visits.
In the 1970s, the back-to-the-land movement presented a culture of folks who brought back the old and, seemingly, more healthy ways; however, this was not the mainstream. For decades, herbal medicine has been counter culture. In the advent of today’s social media and its far reach, it’s become “boho” to wild harvest plants for medicine. With the rising popularity of herbal medicine, wildcrafting has come to the forefront of social consciousness.
With that new popularity, there has been a resurgence of folks foraging plants for home use, small herbal businesses, and commercial trades. To harvest sustainably and with clarity of purpose, it is important to know some valuable rules.
Wildcrafting is about harvesting wild plants in a wide variety of environments. What is central is to locate clean land, free of garbage and herbicide or biosolid use. The result is healthy plants with strong medicine. Personally, I prefer to forage as far away from the masses and their footprints as possible. Finding new harvesting places is always so much fun for me. I call it herbal reconnaissance. The land where one forages is held very dear as the wealth of herbal medicine, exquisite views, fresh air, sun, and clean water all combine to create incredible harvesting experiences, without worrying whether others will come behind to harvest in the same stands. Wildcrafting locations are sacred and a privilege to the person who took the time to find them.
When harvesting any plant in the wild, please follow these simple rules:
1. Keep in mind that it is of utmost importance to be 100 percent certain of plant identification before doing ANY harvesting. Pictures or artists’ renderings of plants in field guides and identification apps don’t always provide enough information to correctly identify a plant in the wild. There are look-alike plants, which can be confusing to both the novice and experienced. Knowing the plants is the difference between healing and harming. If you are unsure of the identification of a plant, take classes from reputable wildcrafters, or best yet, take one with you on your harvesting searches until you become adept at identifying plants on your own.
2. Take time to get to know your weeds! It is the gatherer’s responsibility to research the intended plants before harvesting, examine the habitats in which they live and the relationship the plants have with the neighboring wildlife, their medicinal constituents, and her/his impact on the stands and surrounding environment. Find out what part of the plant is used, when the best time of year is to harvest, cautions, and concerns. Never harvest a plant before knowing its medicine. This is how plants get collected and thrown away, or incorrect or mediocre medicine is made that can harm or be ineffective.
3. Harvest only enough for your needs. If you are uncertain about how much plant matter you’ll require in a year, start small and gain experience. Make a small amount of medicine and spend time learning its effectiveness. It’s better to harvest less and use it all, than to harvest too much and waste the lives of the plants. In the next appropriate season, you can harvest more. In the meantime, there may be other plants of similar or equal health applications that can be utilized that are ready for harvest in the upcoming seasons. Additionally, make sure to process the harvest either in the field, or as soon as possible. Plants that are left on the porch awaiting processing are plants that are swiftly losing their medicinal and nutritional value.
Happy harvesting, my friends, and as always, I’m Wild About Plants!
Check back to learn more about wildcrafting specific plants, their actions on the body, how to prepare them for best medicinal potency and applications, and recipes for using your harvested bounty.
Photos by Suzanne Tabert
Originally Published: 2/22/2018 11:22:00 AM
I especially appreciate the recommendation to be conservative in harvesting. Being well versed on your desired plants before harvesting is a great way to show respect for nature and preserve harvesting areas for future years.
I'm so happy when I see better information like this on sustainable wildcrafting with how popular it's becoming. Thank you for the thoughtful information!!
I'm so happy when I see people sharing knowledge about sustainable gathering of plants. It's gaining such popularity that I love the idea of people being more educated with how they go about it. Thank you for the great information!
kcisis. Good thoughts! Stay tuned. I plan to address sustainable harvesting and go far beyond simple etiquette. I've been teaching wildcrafting for 30 years. I have definite opinions and rules. Keep reading and I look forward to more comments. Thanks and high five!
kcisis. Stay tuned. This is part one of my wildcrafting blogs. I certainly plan to address sustainable wildcrafting and go far beyond etiquette. Thanks for reading!!!
The problem is people sometimes over-harvest areas particularly those that rely on reseeding rather than roots, or they take or damage threatened plants themselves or that are nearby in their foraging attempts. It's the "in" thing right now so not everybody takes the time to properly educate themselves about the proper etiquette of foraging, which is a shame because it can be SO wonderful.
There is so much to know about this topic and it is great to see it being covered in Mother Earth. Looking forward to more information being shared here by Suzanne.
Thank you for being part of this movement of returning back what is important to be good stewards of our sacred planet. I support this completely!
Thank you being part of the movement on returning what is important that protection of our sacred planet. I support this wholeheartly!
Wonderful article! Very important emphasis on plant identification and ethical wildcrafting!
Bring on the plants! Look forward to reading more on specific plants and suggested processing recommendations!
Bring on the plants! Looking forward to reading about your take on specific plants and some processing/usage recipes!
Awesome article! Can't wait to read more!!! My grandmother in W.Va took me into the woods & showed me plants & what they were good for......didn't pay attention. Thanks Suzanne for bringing us back where we are supposed to go for herbs & meds. :) I do remember the lady slippers in W.Va, SO pretty....... <3
Great article...informative and motivating. Can't wait to get out there now!
Timely and well written post-I love it! As our age old traditions of foraging for wild plants weaves its way back into our consciousness and gains popularity it is crucial that information about ethical and sustainable harvesting practices, like this article, be written by reliable, thoughtful people like Suzanne and promoted through reliable sources like Mother Earth. This is sacred knowledge being shared here and a subject near and dear to my heart. It’s wonderful and much appreciated to read an article on wild crafting from someone who is not only so incredibly knowledgeable but who honestly walks her talk. I look forward to reading more!
Timely and well written post-I love it! As our age old traditions of foraging for wild plants weaves its way back into our consciousness and gains popularity it is crucial that information about ethical and sustainable harvesting practices, like this article, be written by reliable, thoughtful people like Suzanne and promoted through reliable sources like Mother Earth. This is sacred knowledge being shared here and a subject near and dear to my heart. It’s wonderful and much appreciated to read an article on wild crafting from someone who is not only so incredibly knowledgeable but who honestly walks her talk. I look forward to reading more!
Timely and well written post-I love it! As our age old traditions of foraging for wild plants weaves its way back into our consciousness and gains popularity it is crucial that information about ethical and sustainable harvesting practices, like this article, be written by reliable, thoughtful people like Suzanne and promoted through reliable sources like Mother Earth. This is sacred knowledge being shared here and a subject near and dear to my heart. It’s wonderful and much appreciated to read an article on wild crafting from someone who is not only so incredibly knowledgeable but who honestly walks her talk. I look forward to reading more!
Timely and well written post-I love it! As our age old traditions of foraging for wild plants weaves its way back into our consciousness and gains popularity it is crucial that information about ethical and sustainable harvesting practices, like this article, be written by reliable, thoughtful people like Suzanne and promoted through reliable sources like Mother Earth. This is sacred knowledge being shared here and a subject near and dear to my heart. It’s wonderful and much appreciated to read an article on wild crafting from someone who is not only so incredibly knowledgeable but who honestly walks her talk. I look forward to reading more!
Timely and well written post-I love it! As our age old traditions of foraging for wild plants weaves its way back into our consciousness and gains popularity it is crucial that information about ethical and sustainable harvesting practices, like this article, be written by reliable, thoughtful people like Suzanne and promoted through reliable sources like Mother Earth. This is sacred knowledge being shared here and a subject near and dear to my heart. It’s wonderful and much appreciated to read an article on wild crafting from someone who is not only so incredibly knowledgeable but who honestly walks her talk. I look forward to reading more!
Timely and well written post-I love it! As our age old traditions of foraging for wild plants weaves its way back into our consciousness and gains popularity it is crucial that information about ethical and sustainable harvesting practices, like this article, be written by reliable, thoughtful people like Suzanne and promoted through reliable sources like Mother Earth. This is sacred knowledge being shared here and a subject near and dear to my heart. It’s wonderful and much appreciated to read an article on wild crafting from someone who is not only so incredibly knowledgeable but who honestly walks her talk. I look forward to reading more!
Love this! Especially the attention and education on being ecologically responsible and respectful.
Great article! Thank you for this clear explanation on what "wildcrafting" is and the ethical and sustainable approach to harvesting. Your article offers hope by giving people an awareness of the nutritious and medicinal plants around us within our environment. Knowing the worth of our wild plants is empowering; and perhaps will lead to a desire to better protect, maintain or care for the remaining wild places where they are found. I look forward to more of your posts.
Great article!