Wildcrafting is the practice of heading out into nature to collect plants that are useful in cooking, health maintenance, potpourris, dried flower arrangements or whatever else strikes your fancy. While the practice has been gaining in popularity over the past decade, it needs to be undertaken with care if it’s to have minimal impact on the environment, wildlife, your health and other humans.
Here are some suggestions:
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1. Don’t enter onto private property without permission. The property owner may very well be thrilled to have you pluck violets from their back forty. Poaching them is another matter entirely.
2. Know what you’re harvesting, don’t guess. It’s amazing how similar desirable species can look to their toxic counterparts. Only harvest from plants you’ve identified beyond a shadow of a doubt. A good field guide - and preferably two for cross-referencing - will help you avoid a potentially embarrassing trip to the emergency room. 3. Don’t wildcraft in ditches or along roadsides. Tempting though it may be to leap from your car the second you spot those juicy rosehips at the side of the highway, it’s truly shocking what substances can be found in the run-off from even little travelled roadways. Play it safe. Stay out of ditches, away from roads, and be prepared to hike to a good harvesting spot. 4. Know the spray history of your wildcrafting location. Just because a field is in a remote location doesn’t mean it’s not subject to a spray program. When you ask permission to enter someone's field, be sure to inquire whether any spraying has been done. You may be glad you did. 5. Don’t take more than you can use. It can be tempting when coming across a record breaking stand of chicory to harvest every plant you can get your hands on. But taking more than you can use in a year is wasteful. Leave some for the wildlife, other wildcrafters, and, more importantly, for the species to regenerate. |  Photo by: Vanessa Farnsworth |
6. Don’t harvest in a harmful manner. Ripping out an entire plant when all you need is its flowers is pointlessly destructive. So is removing all of the reproductive parts from one or more plants. Make sure you are clear on what part of the plant is useful before harvesting anything.
7. Experimentation begins at home. Wildcrafting doesn’t have to be limited to excursions to remote locations. As long as you don’t apply chemicals to your property, you can enjoy an eclectic selection of volunteer plants without a gas-guzzling road trip. If you’ve never wildcrafted before, home turf is a good place to make your mistakes before heading out into nature where your actions can have an impact long after you’re gone.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to me at vanessa@gardenmuse.ca.
