Lindsay L

Hello Everyone,
  I am out harvesting all sorts of berries in the PNW now. Here are a few:
Trailing Blackberries, Blackcap Raspberries, Saskatoons, Thimbleberries and many more.

I make a wonderful vinegar out of these by just gathering them into a pint jar and covering with balsamic or apple cider vinegar to use on my salads for the summer.

I am also going to collect Saskatoons soon to dry for winter snacks and pemmican. Do you have any wild berry recipes that are unusual?

Please share! Thanks!

Lindsay

That is awesome! I used to do that with Bamboo over a tea kettle to make Dreamcatchers...I will try this out! Thanks!!

Hey All,
    I am curious to hear your stories around any urban foraging adventures you have had. I know that this can be a very rewarding experience and have loved checking in with city folk if I can harvest from their trees for things like apples, etc.

What are somethings you have had to look out for as well? I have never had any issues with herbicides, or people getting angry... what about you?

Thanks!

This week I am writing a series of articles about poisonous plants for the school where I work. I had the great opportunity to call and talk to the Seattle Poison control expert about what they tell people to do if they eat a poisonous plant. Here are some of the things I gathered from my interview as well as from Peterson's Field Guide to Venomous Animals and Poisonous Plants:

1. Stay Calm and Act Fast. If you freak out, you will not think clearly, your pulse escalates and you will hamper the saving of your life.
2. Call Poison Control or 911
3. Make sure you have or know the following:
     -If you know the plant, botanical name is preferred but common name or family will do if that is all             
       you know.
     -How much did you eat, what parts and at what time?
     -Your age and weight
     -Any symptoms

4. You can dilute with water if you are not instructed to throw up. DO NOT induce vomiting unless instructed by a medical professional to do so. Sometimes a plants coming back up can cause more damage than going down.

5. If you go to the emergency room, bring the plant with you!

From all of the resources I have looked at, it seems that young children are the most susceptible to plant and mushroom poisonings. The Seattle based Poison Control center states that this is true, but more adults actually die or seriously harmed by plant poisons for a couple of reasons. One is that kids might try a few berries and survive, where adults will be overconfident about what they are harvesting and consume a whole bunch!  Also, many mushroom poisonings happen with adults from cultures that move here and think they are harvesting plants or mushrooms that are the same species in their homelands.

What do you all think? What are your resources and tips to students when you teach about poisons plants??
Of course proper ID skills and a good mentor....I try to teach this part of my classes without instilling fear...what do you do??

There are many Sambucus sp. cultivars like Cutleaf Elderberry that have different leaf structures that their native cousins. Check out this link  http://singingwings.rohair.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=68.

I have been doing this for years and have recently had a student who I mentor privately start on her calendar. Here what it looks like. Every year I keep a calendar on the following things:
-Bud Break
-Emerging plants
-Blooming Reproductive Structures
-Harvest time, parts, for what use
-other notes include elevation, location, weather, etc

This is an amazing tool and if you have never done because you think all of the plants are completely in your memory-just try it! Its not that you don't have your favorite plants memorized-its that the relationship of what growth stages other plants are at, work to remind you when to harvest things. It also helps you become more a part of the ecosystem much in the way that native people looked at the forest.

My friend Heidi Bohan (if you haven't see her awesome book, People of Cascadia, you should) does an amazing explanation on how Coastal Salish people would look at certain plants blooming and they knew it was time to get blueberries in the high country or even herring spawn! I realize I have been doing this as well over the years, but my calendars have reinforced it to a whole other degree.

My next idea is to see if I can coordinate the stages of plants on the West side of the Cascades with the East side so I know when to go harvest my favorite plants over there! I know its not an exact science, but it sure does work!

Tell me about your internal or external calendars! Any other ideas out there??

Hello Kindred Weavers!

I am involved in a fun project with many different students in the up and coming weeks-cedar root baskets. We are going to be doing a split coil variety that I learned from some native weavers here. We are going to go harvest the Cedar roots and process them next week.

One question had for any of you weavers out there is what time of year do you harvest them? I am curious about regional (West Coast WA to BC) differences and preferences to harvest time.  I have harvested them in the winter, fall, spring and summer. I have noticed when you process them in the spring/summer, the outer layers do slip a little better. Still, some of the famous native weavers I have talked to here in the  PNW say that does not matter what time of year; that they are a little harder to clean in the winter but "no big deal."

Also, I have never heated my materials to help in processing. I have seen this in Hilary Stewart's amazing book Cedar and I wondered if anyone has experience with this? Thanks for your input!

Hello! I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit and we had this one glorious park called Heritage Park. At 15 I decided to take my Petersons field guide out and see if I could find some edible plants. I still remember the feeling of excitement at doing something that felt really rebellious (in a different way than being in the principals office -as I was often!). There was a keen sense of freedom and independence that I contacted in that park. That I could make my own medicines and forage for my own foods!

This was the spark that led me to work for various state parks, organic farms, arborists, tree breeders and nurserys. All this perspective allowed me to dive into plants from many angles. I am now an Ethnobotanist and survival skills instructor. That moment of understanding when I was a youth had lead to a career connection people with plants and the earth. I am grateful.