is also where outdoor adventurers abound and there is higher risk of getting lost, stranded, or injured out in the wild. Knowing how to use the wild green helpers for first aid can be lifesaving. This revised updated edition expands knowledge of using herbs for health purposes. See page 182 for directions on preparing herbal poultices, ointments, infusions, decoctions, and tinctures.
Foraging requires developing observational skills like learning to recognize plants in varying stages of growth. Gatherers must differentiate between the herbal helpers and the inedible plants. This book is intended as one guide in your journey.
A book of this size, ideal for the backpack and replete with details of how to incorporate these plants into your life, cannot also be an exhaustive guide to identification. It’s intended as an adjunct to heftier tomes like Discovering Wild Plants (with detailed line drawings by R.W. Tyler and photos of the plants throughout the growing season), Beverly Gray’s The Boreal Herbal, Verna Pratt’s many photographic guides, and academic plant keys. Countless online reference materials are also available. If you have any doubt of a plant’s identity, cross-check with other sources. See page 190 for my recommended reading.
How This Book is Organized
Plants, like people, live in communities. Plants that flourish together share affinity for certain soils, lighting conditions, moisture, salinity, or altitude. For this reason, this book is organized by habitat. Once you find one of the plants in a section, you are likely to meet many of the companions listed. Beach plants, for example, will be not be found anywhere except near ocean shores.
However, some plants, like blueberry, are highly adaptable. Blueberries range from bog to forest to alpine. Hence, a new category in this edition has been added: Free-Range Plants. This section is an excellent starting point for readers, as it also develops awareness of the floral patterns of plant families like mustard. Learn to recognize the characteristic structure of a mustard flower, and a vast “friendly family” of plants is at your service.
Within each section, plants are grouped by similar type. In Sea & Sandy Shores, the seaweeds sequentially follow each other, then the shore plants. Within Forests & Open Woods, all the trees are sequential, followed by the understory plants.
The habitat sections are explained in detail at the beginning of each new segment of the book. Each section is also coded with a color for easy reference.
Before You Begin
1 Review the Caution sections carefully. Some plants, such as cow parsnip, can cause dermatitis; others, like red elder, have both edible and toxic portions.
2 When eating any new food for the first time, consume a small amount only. Be sensitive to the effect on your body; discontinue use immediately and seek medical attention if you experience adverse reactions or allergies.
3 Just because something is “good for you” in moderation and seasonally available, it doesn’t mean consuming gallons a day of that thing will be better. Be sensible.
4 If you are pregnant or on pharmaceuticals, and have questions regarding whether a particular herb is suitable for you, check with your health professional. Some online sources show cautions for virtually anything and everything and are not always accurate.
5 Start slowly and build confidence plant by plant. Included in this book are numerous recipe ideas to stimulate your creativity.
After the Harvest
1 Rinse your edibles in cool water to remove dust. If using roots, scrub them well with a brush.
2 For year-round use, bundle herbs and hang upside down in a warm, shady, well-ventilated space. (An exception are sea vegetables, which often mold unless quickly sun-dried.)
3 Herbs, including small quantities of sea vegetables, may also be dried in an oven on the lowest setting, or in an electric or solar-powered dehydrator.
4 When the herbs are fully dried, store them in a dark place in airtight containers. Label and date.
5 Storage life is generally 6 months to 1 year for green, leafy herbs, and 1 to 3 years for roots. Supplement these guidelines by comparing the herb’s color, taste, odor, and effectiveness to when it was first dried.
Basic Foraging Principles
1 Be 100% positive of identification. If in doubt, don’t.
2 Harvest only what you can use and process.
3 Gather plants in clean areas, away from busy roadsides and toxic sprays.
4 Avoid wrestling with the plant. If the plant part won’t release without a struggle, let it be. It’s probably not “ripe” (or willing). Move on to another plant.
5 Gather only where it’s legal. Off limits to foragers are Alaskan state, national, and municipal parks. Harvesting is allowed on state land not designated as parkland, provided that you collect 50 feet back from the highway. In national forests, stay 200 feet back from established trails, roads, and campgrounds. Ask permission to harvest on private land. Be aware that some regions have local laws in place for harvesting; for example, seaweed harvest has closure areas in Cook Inlet. (See Sea & Sandy Shores on page 31 for details.)
6 Know the toxic lookalikes. Study the Poisonous Plants section thoroughly. A nibble of poison hemlock could have dire consequences.
7 Monitor the impact of your foraging. Whenever possible, return year after year to your favorite gathering area. When digging roots, begin by collecting only 1 or 2 out of 10 roots from productive patches. You may discover that some roots, like dandelion, may seemingly defy depletion. Expand your harvesting quotas as appropriate for each species.
In a conference lecture many moons ago, herbalist Susun S. Weed said that plants that grow in greatest abundance around us are shouting for our attention and welcoming our use. Rather than spray these “weeds” with herbicides or evict them to the dump, we can enthusiastically use them. The nettles, chickweeds, lamb’s quarters, and dandelions are better than a vitamin tablet, and freely available.
Such nutrient-dense plants fall in the category of “tonic” herbs and can be consumed daily as food and teas. They are the superfoods that strengthen and tone our body systems. You can buy expensive foreign goji berries or harvest Alaska’s wild berries for free. Purchase spirulina, or harvest nettles and process their powder for green smoothies.
These tonic plants typify the wisdom in the quote (often attributed to Hippocrates): “Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food.”
The concept of “tonic, specific, and heroic herbs” was introduced to me by Robyn Klein of Bozeman Montana Sweetgrass School of Herbalism. It offers a framework for herbal safety.
Some plants included in this book, like coltsfoot (Petasites species) and wormwood (Artemisia tilesii) are classified as “specifics.” These herbs require thoughtful use. This category includes plants used to address a specific
