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WILD, as in crafting.....

© Barbara Hall

The word 'Wildcrafting' brings to mind the long-skirted woman with the basket over her arm, lovingly gathering the precious wildlings to be carefully prepared into medicines for the village. The 'VILLAGE' is growing at an alarming rate, in case no one has noticed, and our friend with the basket just isn't going to be able to cut it much longer.

With the stirring of herbal knowledge of late, which is, as it should be, the Medicine of the People, the concept of wildcrafting seems a very fine one. It WOULD be, if the Medicine of the People weren't a burgeoning market which is DOUBLING every five years. Medicinal Herbs be BIG BUSINESS and we all know it. Our wild places are shrinking at an equally alarming rate. We just can't go on like this.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm ALL FOR weeds. Love them all, really. MY definition of a weed is a plant who figures out a great place to grow and proceeds to take care of itself and prosper. Some of our best medicinal herbs are WEEEEEEEDS! I doubt very much that we'll ever wildcraft DANDELIONS into extinction. But what about some of our really valuable native healing plants.....the American Ginseng, Black Cohosh, Goldenseal, Blue Cohosh, Echinacea angustifolia, Bloodroot, Helonias Root, Lady's Slipper Orchid, Lomatium, Osha, Partridge Berry, Peyote, Slippery Elm, Sundew, Trillium, True Unicorn, Venus Fly Trap and Wild Yam. I've just given you the United Plant Savers' AT RISK plant list. These gems are truly endangered both from being over-harvested in the wild and by destruction of their habitat. You see, it's those two things happening at once that is ruining it all.

What are we going to do? How will we EVER have enough herbs for everybody who is learning how wonderful they are? We're going to get our wits about us and THINK. Now look at that list. How many of those plants are WOODLAND plants? Hmmmmm. What's happening to most of the woodlands at a sickening rate? Yes indeed. Clear-cutting. Total destruction of habitat. And why? It's the 'only way' to generate income from those acres. Surprise. What if we DIDN'T clear cut all those acres. What if we could PLANT ginseng, or goldenseal, or beautiful black cohosh and gold thread and lady slipper orchids and gently and mindfully care for them and harvest them sanely and produce a gentle income. Quite a thought, eh? But even so.....ginseng is at least a SIX YEAR wait until you have anything to harvest. Alright, then let's not put ALL our eggs in that basket, but keep it in the back of our heads, for many farms are a combination of open fields and woodlands.

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