Herbs of Spring

I live in an oak forest in New England. There is very little light here for growing things, so I mostly rely on wildcrafted roots, barks, leaves, flowers, and berries, but I follow a few cautions before I pick.

The first is expressed by an old Native American saying: “Walk by the first seven, leave the eighth for the animals, and you may take the ninth”; always leave enough plants behind to feed the wild creatures and to make seed for next year’s crop

Gather one thousand feet from a roadway: to avoid the pollutants that abound there, such as those from car exhaust and brake linings

Act fast, because Nature doesn’t wait: there is usually just a short window of opportunity for gathering from the wild.

Know your herbs: be sure you have a good guide or a teacher to point things out to you, and never pick endangered species in the wild

Every season brings its own moment of opportunity; in the spring there are already an abundance of edibles and medicinals available in fields and forests, for those with the eyes to see and the determination to seek them out.