As the "lazy" herbalist, I have only wildcrafted, rather than cultivated, herbs here. While a few are native plants (like Arrowleaf Balsamroot or Uva Ursi), most of them are weeds - some of which are considered noxious weeds, so picking a lot of them is really
sustainable. I have 30 herbs in my
yard alone (they are not seeded, they are already there and well-established), and I have found that the herbs your home needs (or others who know you need) actually grow the closest to your door. You can certainly read about the herbs to get a good idea about them, but do not be surprised if they end up "stretching" their abilities to do more than what you read about. In fact, because of this ability of plants (that chemical meds do not have), you can solve nearly all of your problems with plants that come to you. Now of
course, you do want to harvest in a place where you know there is no pesticides/herbicides. I like drying for tea and tincturing in 80 proof vodka or brandy for most things, and sometimes I make vinegars, oils or honeys too (or a combo of these things - elixir using brandy and raw
honey is one of my favorites). My two favorites that I get a lot of is Dandelion and Goldenrod. But I also harvest Wild Lettuce, Plantain, St. John's Wort, Mullein, Storksbill, Chickweed, Mallow (Cheeseweed), Horsetail, Wild Mint, Shepherd's Purse, Self-Heal, Red Clover, the new growth twigs of Siberian Elm (a good one to use instead of Slippery Elm), and many more. The
root of
Bindweed can be used in the way that Ashwagandha can. Some I pick for food at the time I eat it, like the leaves of Salsify in the summer (when the Dandelion leaves are a tad bitter), a small amount of Black Medick, Henbit and similar types. I
should likely also include picking
rose leaves and petals (yum!) for drying as well as elixirs and even lilac flowers for elixir as well (yes, a great way to enjoy lilac year-round hehe!) Then in the woods, I am more careful but do harvest some Yarrow for tea and tincture, as well as Uva Ursi, Bee Balm and Arrowleaf Balsamroot. I try to avoid using rare herbs as much as possible for sustainability reasons - do not want those herbs to go extinct when most of the time the plentiful herbs will do the job. If I were more "hardy" in winter here, I would also harvest more barks (the inner bark being the best medicine most often). For native herbs here in Western Montana, check out
books by Idaho's Darcy Williamson
http://www.darcyfromtheforest.com/servlet/StoreFront or this one by Greg Tilford (Paul, feel free to replace this link with your
affiliate one OK?)
http://www.amazon.com/Edible-Medicinal-Plants-Gregory-Tilford/dp/0878423591/ - Greg also owns and operates
http://animalessentials.com in the Bitterroot.
WHO might be going to the AWESOME Montana Herb Gathering in Hot Springs this Summer, which will have the AMAZING Susun Weed and Sean Donahue??
