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asgardian--angels · 4 years

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4 Ways to Connect with Nature During COVID-19

Hi everyone! As someone who studies pollinators and conservation biology, I have found the last few weeks difficult, because I struggle when I cannot be outside in nature most of the time. Connecting with nature is known to be beneficial for our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health, and never has that been more important than right now. I thought I would compile a few of my favorite ideas that I can offer about ways you can still connect with nature while social distancing, or even if you cannot leave your home at all. Know that these are obviously not all the ways you can experience nature - just the ones I’m familiar and knowledgeable about. Most of my resources apply to the eastern United States, but these things are applicable worldwide. If you ever have questions, just message me!

1. Go Birdwatching!

Whether you’re a pro already or someone who’s never even attempted to tell the difference between the ‘chip’ and the ‘cheep’ coming from your bushes, birdwatching is a fun hobby that can be done anytime, anywhere, by anyone. While human activities may have slowed or stopped around us, the natural world is always moving and changing. Birds are one of the easiest animals to observe and learn, and their boundless zeal for life can renew our hope and lift our spirits. Whether you live in the country or the city, there are more kinds of birds than you think to be found right outside your door. The springtime is an especially good time to see birds, because they are migrating to their breeding grounds, bringing a whole assortment of colorful and sometimes unusual species close to your home.

It doesn’t take much to start birdwatching. Most of us have an old pair of binoculars up in the attic somewhere, and plenty decent pairs for beginners are available for under $30 online (I just bought my mother a pair of Bushnells for $15 that had very good reviews). There are countless resources online to find an overview or quick guide to birds in your area. If you live in the United States, the best all-around every-need bird resource is Cornell’s AllAboutBirds and eBird websites. Together these two resources cover almost every bird species in the entire world - let me briefly go through each individually.

AllAboutBirds is a guide to every North American bird, with stunning photos, ecology, and identification help. But more than that, from here you can lose yourself in dozens of offshoots of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology - from their several live feeder and nest cams, to their hundreds of articles and interactive bird biology resources. One I recommend for those who want to do some basic yard-watching is the site for Project Feederwatch. This has ample information to get you started in recognizing the (North American) birds around your home. Here’s even a free download of common feeder birds! You should also check out Celebrate Urban Birds, which has ID help for city birds in the US, Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Panama!

eBird is a global citizen science site where millions of birdwatchers from Nepal to New Mexico share their sightings to build the largest database of bird knowledge on the planet! I cannot begin to cover everything you can do and learn on this website. You can scope out new places to visit with their ‘Explore Hotspots’ tool, or see where any species on earth has been seen by other people. It will keep your statistics if you enter your sightings, making a convenient way to keep track of all the birds you see! They have a helpful article here about how to start birding near your home.

Birdwatching is an activity that you can put in as much or as little time as you want into it. You will always be rewarded with getting a new perspective on the world around you, discovering neighbors you never knew you had! It can be a refreshing escape from a human-centric world, and maybe spark a curiosity you weren’t expecting! Birds are a bundle of personality, and you will find yourself falling in love with them before you know it. Consider keeping a “life list,” or entering your sightings into eBird to advance bird conservation. Birdwatching can be solitary or you can go with others. When this is all over, maybe you’ll have the chance to meet up with local birders and make new friends! There are birding clubs EVERYWHERE.

2. Plant a pollinator or wildlife garden!

As spring approaches, now is the perfect time to start planning a garden. This is a great way to be outside often but not have any risk of contact with others. Maybe you’ve never gardened before, or maybe you have one but would like to replace some of those exotic flowers with beneficial native ones. No matter your living situation or location, there’s always something you can do to make your little patch of earth a better place for all living things.

Our world is dependent on plants, which make the sun’s light available to other creatures. They interact with the most ecologically important animals on earth - insects. Insects are food for almost all songbirds, as well as the majority of all terrestrial animals in one way or another. “Traditional” gardens try to deter insects with pesticides and non-native plants that insects cannot eat. But we should try to encourage insects, because they pass a plant’s energy up the food chain, as well as pollinate flowers, keep “pests” in check (if you like growing vegetables), and are critical decomposers. The biggest thing you can do to help the local ecosystem is ditch the hydrangeas and hostas, and especially some of that turfgrass. Insects will almost exclusively only eat native plants, and being the most biodiverse animals on the planet, there’s an insect for every plant out there! It’s been shown that yards with few native plants support low levels of insect abundance and diversity, and that means fewer birds and fewer everything else too. Plus, insects are AWESOME in their own right, and once you encourage them, you will discover some incredible, colorful, brilliant species right in your own yard!

Native gardens are easier than you think. In fact, they’re way easier than what most of us are doing now - by definition, they’re plants that want to grow here! They require less maintenance, no mowing, and no pesticides. They may not be readily available at Home Depot or Wal-mart, but they are easy to find once you locate resources from your region. There are online nurseries to buy seeds or root stock from, like Prairie Moon in the eastern US. Many regions have resources that compile lists of local nurseries and hold native plant sales. To benefit insects and wildlife, figure out what the general conditions of your yard are - soil type, moisture, climate zone - and then choose some plants that will grow there. For pollinators, you should find out what the recommended flowers are for your area - universities and cooperative extensions often produce this kind of information (example here for the northeast), as well as the Xerces Society. This kind of info is becoming much more common in the last few years, due to the popularity of pollinator gardens! Try to plant a few things that bloom in each season, so bees will have food year-round! Native grasses will support the caterpillars of many butterflies and moths too. Pollinator gardens easily overlap with wildlife gardens, which seek to support other animals too, particularly birds. Choose plants that have flowers that turn into seeds or fruit eaten by birds (native dogwoods are one of my favorites!). Plant flowers, shrubs, and trees if you can fit it - this gives insects and birds all sorts of choices for food, and places to hide or nest. Your local Audubon can provide a ton of information about bird-friendly gardening and the best plants.

Another easy way to benefit animals is to be the ‘lazy gardener,’ whether you actually have a garden or not. This means simple steps like, don’t rake your leaf litter, leave logs and rocks, and make a slash pile when you cut branches or trim bushes. This creates habitat for everything from bees to salamanders!

Don’t have a lot of space? Try an herb garden, or patio garden. Small herb or vegetable gardens will be loved by pollinators even if the plants are not all native, and they will allow you to grow some foods you can harvest, reducing your dependence on the grocery store. Native flowers can be grown in pots as well - goldfinches, for example, will land on any coneflowers you plant, and eat the seeds right in front of you! And if you have no land at all, you can still help out by putting up a bee hotel, and sharing your knowledge with others.

3. The power of the written word - READ!

Can’t go outside? Live in the most inner of inner cities? Feel like you don’t know enough to get out there and identify what you see or know what it means? Books are a naturalist’s best friend. Now is a perfect time to dive into the wealth of literature about the natural world, from stories to field guides. I am always gung-ho to recommend books for a budding naturalist, or anyone who wants to learn more about a new topic!

Were you intrigued by the things I talked about above - native plants, insects, birds, and the relationship between all of them? I highly recommend Bringing Nature Home by Doug Tallamy. It is the bible of native gardening, in my opinion. It’s an incredible and humbling book explaining in detail and with beautiful photos why we need native plants, just how important insects are, and what we can and should be doing to help.

Want to learn about pollinators and plan your garden? There’s lots of books for that, and they’re so well made that both beginners and experts can use them. Try any of these:

The Bees In Your Backyard - Olivia Messenger Carril and Joseph Wilson

Pollinators of Native Plants (OR its companion book ‘Bees: An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide’) - Heather Holm

Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees - Thor Hanson (a narrative, not a field guide, excellent read)

Books about birds? Heck, I mean there’s hundreds of those. It’s a popular genre. I don’t have any on hand but if you want to know more about gardening for birds, check out Planting Native to Attract Birds to Your Yard by Sharen Sorenson. To learn birds, I recommend a Peterson or Kaufman field guide.

Looking for books on nature in general? Not field guides, but non-fiction narratives? There are some absolutely stellar writers in our age that regularly move me to tears with their descriptions and connections to the natural world. My top author pick is Bernd Heinrich, an ornithologist and naturalist who has written over a dozen books on a variety of topics. I particularly recommend Summer World (and its companion Winter World), One Wild Bird At A Time, The Homing Instinct, and Life Everlasting: The Animal Way of Death. But they’re all really really good. There are SO MANY books of folks writing about their experiences with nature, from scientists in the jungles of Borneo to the average Joe exploring the concrete jungle. I have a small collection at home, but in my current locale, I can recommend The Secret Life of Bats by Merlin Tuttle, or Unseen City by Nathaniel Johnson. But there are, really, hundreds. All will change the way you view the world around you. You cannot read enough.

Want to learn more about how important nature is to human beings? The biophilia hypothesis that states that we as a species need nature for our very souls, our physical development, our mental wellbeing? Please read Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. It’s humbling, enlightening, and sobering.

4. Citizen Science, Volunteering, and everything else!

You may feel alone right now, but know that everywhere, there are millions of people waiting to share their love of the natural world with you. Anyone who has a second to spare and the interest to look out your window should consider becoming a part of a citizen science project. These sorts of projects vary widely in their commitment time and energy, but most are solitary activities that you have complete control over. Some are more organized than others - many just ask you to report a sighting of a certain kind of organism, and others have a data sheet and timetable to follow. All contribute valuable information to conservation, making you a part of something bigger even when you cannot leave your yard. They also give you the opportunity to learn a new skill - like photography, or data collection - and help you notice aspects of the natural world you may have never given a second thought about before. A lot of them are a community that you can interact with online. Below are just a few of the MANY MANY citizen science projects out there. Again, this is US biased, but it is easy enough to find ones in your own country or those that are international.

eBird - I mentioned this before, but eBird is quite likely the biggest citizen science project in the entire world. There are a googleplex of ways to interact with others, learn more about the birds in your area or anywhere else in the world, find out who local birders are, and keep track of your own sightings. The data you submit has been used in countless peer-reviewed scientific papers and has a direct, significant impact on bird conservation worldwide.

iNaturalist - a worldwide platform for sharing sightings of any species, anywhere. A great community of naturalists, amateurs, and experts, here to help you identify your creature and explore what others find.

Project Feederwatch, The Great Backyard Bird Count, Christmas Bird Counts, Global Big Day, etc - offshoots of eBird and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. These are specific events that ask backyard birders to keep track of what birds they see for a couple of weeks. This helps track migration patterns and population declines!

BugGuide - similar to iNaturalist, but for insects only and in North America only. I’ve been on this site for 12 years now, I’m a diehard! Experts will help you ID insects, and your data becomes part of a huge database to help scientists learn more about our native insects. Requires photos - a good chance to start two hobbies at once!

Bumble Bee Watch - submit photos of any bumblebee you find in North America. Bumblebees are declining and scientists need regular people to help track populations of these pollinators.

Guys, there’s so many more. A few more quickies: iMapInvasives (for spotting invasive species), National Phenology Network (for tracking when things change - when flowers bloom, when animals nest, great if you see the same things reliably every day!), The Great Sunflower Project (plant a sunflower, monitor what bees visit it), Zooniverse (a compilation of different digital projects that need eyes and ears to help sort through data - like trail cam photos for instance! You’d be helping real researchers, often grad students at universities, but sometimes big ticket names too!).

These are large-scale projects. But there are always smaller, local community projects that need your help. Become more aware of what’s coming up, even for after this pandemic when you can get outside and volunteer at something like a BioBlitz, a cleanup, or a tree planting. You would not believe how many volunteers we always need to make conservation possible. People like you are the backbone of what we do. Check your local and regional Audubon, your universities, your cooperative extension. They have resources, things that can give you information you need or ways to afford things you want to do. I’m sure there’s plenty I’ve forgotten to mention, since I don’t have all my things with me here. But never feel isolated. The natural world is always around you, and you are never alone! Every creature big and small is a lifetime of stories to tell. Pick one and get going!

#nature #covid19 #covid-19 #covid19 resources #birdwatching #citizen science #insects #mine #guys if you could do me a solid and reblog this it took me like... uhhhh 3 hours to write #i just want to help some people and so if this could get more than like 20 notes i'd appreciate it #other naturalists please feel free to add more to this #i know i didnt cover amphibian crossings

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thebonegeneration-blog · 7 years

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Incense and Smudging~ A Millennia of Smoke

Read this on THEBONEGENERATION website.

One the few most important things I consider when practicing or living the craft is simply, ” Is my space secure and clean?” Incense and Smudging have been used for thousands of years for all kinds of gatherings, rituals, prayer, and in our case, spells!

What is Incense?

In the most basic of terms, incense is a material gathered in small quantities to burn. The place in which you burn from is most commonly a fixed spot and in most cases: cannot be moved. Different forms of incense include: stick incense, packed cone and other shapes, raw(Sap, splintered wood, & loose leaf) and fine ground (granule).

Stick incense can be put in an incense holder to catch the falling ash, as well as a simple container full of sand. It can be very cheap and easy to maintain if set up correctly. If you are looking to try out incense, Dollar stores and Walmart have a few very cheap scents you can choose from. You can also support online or local artists by buying their handmade products. I find the hand made version to have more care put into the product, leaving the incense smell less invasive and strong.

All others like loose leaf, splintered wood, granules, and cone incense must be put within an incense pot. These types need charcoal, which is heated by a candle, match or lighter from underneath (Sloped side) until sparks being to appear. Sometimes a hanging burner can be a good alternative to an immobile burner. It is best to hold the charcoal with a small pair of tongs to keep your fingers clear of any potential burns.

Note: Do not worry about the sparks. Settle it inside an incense burner on a heat proof surface to drop the chosen incense within. The groove of the charcoal should be facing upward for the incense to settle and burn.

Disclaimer: Hot coal can cause fires and burn you, so please use caution when using the tool! Here is a great way to handle the charcoal effectively without causing harm to yourself and others. Use tongs to handle the charcoal. The longer your burn the disk, the more likely it will break apart with used ash. Please take great care when using incense tools! Always keep a window open so as to not set off a smoke alarm. Burning often can cause some respiratory distress so it is best to burn on occasion.

Until recently, I didn’t know I was burning the incense at too high a temperature directly on the charcoal disk. It is common for the incense to burn quickly since the incense in sitting directly on the charcoal. You can find many different ways to burn it, but the best way I found would be if you bury a hot coal within a mound of rice ash in a heat proof container, (Glass, ceramic, etc.) It allows the bowl to not become too hot. You can lay the incense just on top of the ash, (With the coal covered) it will burn steadily, and won’t waste the incense, leaving the scent as it was intended. I have also found that you can burn the disk on rock salt in a heatproof container.

The smoke is aromatic, creating a smell that is pleasant, and can help change a mood or state of mind. Different materials that can be used as incense are: herbs, wood, resins /tree sap, and some minerals; These materials are dried, ground and burned. Even if you burn different kinds of wood, there are distinct differences in their scent as it wafts up to the sky. These scents are hand crafted to invoke different burning experiences.

Be Careful: Some woods and other natural items can be toxic/dangerous when burned. For Example, Green woods(Not dried yet), Soft wood like Pine (Full of sap, which can explode when burned),Driftwood (Full of Salt), Poison ivy, Sumac, & Oak (Poison being the indicator here, is never is a good idea to burn), Mexican Elder (Natural source of Cyanide), Oleander, etc are examples of things to steer clear of. Always double-check and make sure the natural plants you are burning are not toxic (Whether burned or not, the plant could still be poisonous!) Finally, do not burn anything that is considered a struggling species. This means that if it is endangered, definitely do not cut/gather it, let-alone burn it.

What is Smudging?

Unlike Incense, Smudging is mobile and the matter you burn is whole bundle. -Instead of grinding material into a fine powder or grains, you can gather aromatic herbs (Such as Lavender, Sage, and Cedar) to be bound tightly and left to dry. This allows the bundle to burn evenly for a smudging ceremony or a simple clearing of your space. You can burn the whole things but I like to use the bundles in sections. Smudging is most well-known to be practiced and passed down by the Native North American and South American tribes. Palo Santo is an aromatic wood that is used to cleanse as well as the traditional bundle of herbs. Sweet Grass is braided long, increasing it to a longer life of smudging.

Note: Incense and Smudging can be synonymous, however we must remember that Incense is usually never moved, whereas Smudging is carried by the hand to envelop smoke around an object, place, or person for cleanse and clearing of negative energy.

Origins:

Incense has been dated back to roughly 3000 BCE and has been seen around the globe in many different forms. The further back we look, the less documentation for use of incense has been confirmed. The Babylonians (Deeply centered within Central South Asia and Middle East stretching to the Northern parts of Africa) have been rumored to be the first to create Incense and with time it spread to the Romans and Greeks. Many cultures followed with this knowledge such as: Arabian, Chinese, Indian, Jerusalemite, Tibetan, Japanese, Egyptian, North American, and South Americans.

The use for incense was almost always for the very same reason: To chase off any uninvited and malevolent spirits from the sacred space. This isn’t to say that the well-meaning and benevolent were chased off too. They are generally well in co-habitation with this form of cleansing. This is what I like to call Separation.

It is still uncertain as to whether or not the Smudging and Incense clears of all spirit activity, but it is in my experience that the well-meaning spirits don’t mind leaving on their own, and therefore don’t need to be cleared. This means they can stay despite your removing what energies you don’t want in your home.

(I will be creating an article specifically about different kinds of spirit activity and how to manage the different energies surrounding you further along…)

Sage is considered the most common form of Smudge bundling but this form of smudging is quickly creating an endangerment of the Wild White Sage plant. And so I must urge my readers to consider an alternative and to remember to be respectful to the plants you harvest from. So if you can, replant what you take!

If you are foraging for your herbs, Always use the 1/15 rule which states: Take one for every 15 you see. This can apply to leaves, branches,flowers etc. It is better to spread out your harvest so as to not hurt a singular plant beyond repair. Also, be sure to avoid trails for it hurts the view for other hikers that want to enjoy nature as much as you do.

You could leave the path as long as you are dressed appropriately so you may not come in contact with any potential abrasive, poisonous plants/snakes/insects/spiders,or aggressive animals. Remember where you are wandering from and do not let yourself get lost! This is a common issue for those who want to forage; So please be mindful of where you are at all times.

I do not suggest foraging within a national park, or area owned by the government. Find a place like your backyard, a friend’s place or befriend someone to let you discover what lies on their land. -It can be difficult, but it is well worth it. If you don’t live on the land you are planning to forage, always ask for permission!

Important Note: Make sure you know exactly which plant you are harvesting. Many plants can look similar to each other but can be harmful from the tame version you are looking for. Never ingest plant matter like berries etc. without a professional or proper identification.

How can I balance my work as a witch to give back to the earth?

What a wonderful question! I always encourage bringing a bag of some sort to gather trash if any is present to show respect for the earth you take from. If you are in an area that is on your own land, you can always plant seeds as a thank you. If it is your own Garden: seeds, water, or shiny stones/glass is a fantastic offering to your preferred gods,goddesses, fae-kind, etc. Please be aware of what you leave as a thank you, and be sure to pick it up later if you are unsure if it will hurt the environment.

Resources

https://www.spiritualscents.com/t-art_What_Is_Smudging.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incense

http://www.naturesgardencandles.com/mas_assets/theme/ngc/pdf/histincense.pdf

https://books.google.com/books?id=1x0sNljp5ioC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/home/9-kinds-of-wood-you-should-never-burn/slide/10

#smudging #incense #history #how to #witch #witchcraft #thebonegeneration

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mado-science · 7 years

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Good book for foraging for wild greens Love the colorful pictures. Other books for years had drawings but this book has colorful pictures to identify the plant. So much better. My grandmother and I used to go 'greening' each Spring and she knew everything about edible plants. Haven't looked myself for years because not sure what was what due to faulty memory and line drawings in books. This renews my interest in foraging for greens once again as can really see what the plant looks like. Go to Amazon

Handy Guide! This book features over 200 wild edible plants. You will want to do further research on the plants before you go out eating them. Some of the photographs are black and white which provides little use in effective identification of the plant. I also appreciate the section on toxic plants. Go to Amazon

Nice descriptions but photos need work as far as clarity Nice descriptions but photos need work as far as clarity, especially important as this is a wild foraging book and you dont want to confuse similar plants. Go to Amazon

... really explore this book as much as I would like. However I haven't had time to really explore this book as much as I would like. However, I found some answers to some of the plant questions that I had. I even found some edible plants that I used to snack on when I was younger, I just didn't know the name. For me, this book is a keeper. Go to Amazon

5 Stars - Good Stuff Informative and accurate. An easy read that should be mandatory for anyone who hikes into the wilderness. A good source for those short walks to supplement a food source close to home. Also important for those preppers who want to stay ahead of the game. Go to Amazon

Dont hesitate, buy this now My girlfriend is a nature woman and recently she has been mentioning how cool she thinks it would be to have a book that tells you what plants were edible in the forest/yard/wild. So I surprised her with this book and she and i were blown away at the quality of the book and the contents inside! Definitely something to have in the book collection/ camping sack Go to Amazon

Great book to have on hand even if you don't eat wild edibles! This book is great. We haven't actually tried any of it but it's so much fun to use it to identify different local wild edibles. Someday we may actually try eating some of them too, lol. It's also great for know some of the plants you really want to keep small children AWAY from. We brought this book with us to visit family out of state and lost it so we bought another copy. It's a great book. Go to Amazon

Very good. I plan to give this to my nephew Very good. I plan to give this to my nephew, who does a lot of hiking, and will be going to college this fall near the Smokey Mountains. Go to Amazon

Neet A comprehensive reference Five Stars Five Stars Call me ignorant or less intelligent than the author but my hopes were high when ... Still Alive. Fantastic Edible Plant Identification Guide Five Stars Don't go camping without this one If your a outdoorsman/huntsman like me and you don't buy any thing else on ...

#biological #science #book

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pumpkincalnee · 4 years

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weeds - friends to the soil

When thinking about how best to prepare any type of disaster, natural or otherwise, one of the first questions that always comes up (apparently after how much toilet paper do I need to stockpile), is where do we get our food? Say you’ve got a supply of some cans and non-perishables stored away… is there a way to ensure you will still have some noms if you aren’t at home, or your house is impacted, or you run out of edible supplies when disaster strikes?

Since I was young I have been in love with the idea of foraging and understanding ecosystems enough to know what different plants are telling us. I recently read The Hidden Life of Trees written by Peter Wohlleben, a German forester who started studying the trees in the forests he helped commodify. He figured out so many insights about how a forest is doing, what the natural age of trees and their progressions through life look like in various conditions, which ones play well with others and which ones bide their time until they can takeover. He addresses forest fires and moisture-loss, how and why trees grow weak and unstable when their root system is maimed (which is why you see so many felled trees have those huge horizontally spreading root systems!), and more. (Did you know most of the time moss is not a good indication of which way civilization is? It forms on the side of the tree where rainwater drips down, so only if civilization causes specific tree warping patterns would it really line up.) Anyway, it was a fascinating book that argued maybe we need to look at trees a bit more like how we see animals rather than just as firewood and lumber, and it gave logical reasons for why we shouldn’t clear old trees from forests. In general the book helped me start to think about different frameworks for how we can think about ecosystems, from forests to our local suburban landscapes.

It was after that book that I started back in on permaculture books, finishing up Paradise Lot by Eric Toensmeier and Jonathan Bates the other night. Though I have differing ideas on a few points, I’m pretty confident that I have found my people. I have been getting all manner of ideas and new knowledge that I am eager to try out in our backyard (and to some extent the front, depending on how much we can do without the HOA getting annoyed) from this book. With all these new plans swirling in my head, I started looking into how to be more self-reliant especially in a suburb. Most of the country lives in suburbs of some sort now and we tend to waste our resource spaces with grass and large houses, furthering dig ourselves into the mud should grocery stores shut down/online shopping go offline. And so began my quest on how to start to amend that trend, beginning with our own little family. In a future post I’ll talk about water conservation after I’ve learned more.

Since the weather has been warming, Figlet and I have been adventuring outside in our backyard often to figure out what’s already happening out there, sans human intervention. We have identified that we currently have a lot of ground ivy, hoary bittercress, wild onion or wild garlic (not sure which yet), and some specific scatterings of daffodils (Narcissus pseudonarcissus), mock/Indian strawberry, and wine raspberry, so I decided to start my permaculture/foraging research with those guys.

What I learned is that all but daffodils are edible, and also that the appearance of many of these plants in a yard can indicate signs about the state of the soil. I’ll go into each below.

Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea) These pretty little guys are popping up all around our yard mostly around the center bits of our yard, and around the above-ground tree roots. Apparently these guys show up and prevent soil erosion (which supports one of our theories that the hilly nature of our yard means that soil has been getting washed down the hill, exposing the tree roots, what with their horizontal growth, over time). Ground ivy is a cool plant because it was also historically used to brew beer, predating hops! Their presence might indicate that there is a high level of organic matter in the soil, which bodes well since I was hoping to make a sort of mandala of vegetables grow around their areas, in between the tree roots.

Purple Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum) I never knew this plant existed (or never noticed it before) but this year I am seeing it everywhere (especially in this one parking lot under the evergreen bushes). I hear the leaves and flowers made into a tea (though too much can cause a laxative effect) and it can be a used as a poultice. They pop up in early spring and are great for pollinators.

Hairy/hoary Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) This guy has edible leaves and flowers, that I’ve read one can use similarly to other cresses (like watercress!). I’m still working on learning more about this little guy.

Wild Garlic (Allium vineale) or wild onion (Allium canadense) I’m not sure if we have crow garlic (Allium vineale) or wild onion (Allium canadense) but we’ll see when the flowers come up and/or when I get around to digging up some of the bulbs… (or if I just get better at identification). Either way they are the most prolific thing in our yard at the moment, and both are edible. There are also other edible types called Allium ursinum and Allium tricoccum… and basically the internet calls them all wild onion and wild garlic so this is where the scientific names (and photos) really help.

Wine Raspberry (Rubus Phoenicolasius) This guy is a non-native from Japan. It produces berries similar to raspberries, but apparently are so good, you’ll have to be on the ball to beat the birds to them. They also have intimidating looking spikes and are showing up all in our woods. Peter Wohlleben would probably point out how they are able to take over so easily because the woods don’t have their natural level of fall trees and other debris to kill off such invaders.

Mock/Indian Strawberry (Duchesnea/Potentilla Indica) I kept thinking these plants were wild strawberry… but the leaves were so weird, and the flowers were yellow. Google led me to Mock Strawberry. Apparently these berries are kind of bland, but the leaves can made into a potherb or they can be made into a poultice and used for eczema!!! HWAHHHH? HELLO FREE HOME REMEDY.

Common Blue Violet (Viola sororia) These guys are lovely. I don’t know why they are called blue since all our shades are a lovely violet, but oh well. I hear they are great for teas with their lovely flowers.

Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) The infamous invasive weed that everyone is always trying to pull out. It apparently can be harvested, using the roots like horseradish, sautéing the leaves, and tossing the flowers into salad.

Stonecrop (Sedum sarmentosum) This succulent looking plant is popping up all around the sunny side of our yard intermixed with the violets and the moss. I read that Koreans will

Moss Apparently this is a huge sign that our yard has areas that are acidic and soggy (the latter which isn’t surprising since a lot of our yard is in the shade and was buried under full leaves for years).

Other familiar faces of the suburbs Crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis)

This guy shows up in soil that is lacking nitrogen and calcium. It can also indicate that the soil is acidic, which might be good for some crops like blueberries, potatoes, and tomatoes, but won’t work if it too acidic. I’ll keep searching the yard to see if we have any and add a photo later if I should discover one.

Plantain (Plantago major)

Grows in compacted (heavy trampled) soil, that is often very claylike. Plantains are edible in their entirety (squeezing the juice out of them, or using the leaves) and have a rich history of being used for bladder and GI problems, skin problems, toothaches, you name it! Still looking for some in our yard, but so far I haven’t found any.

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

The infamous yard weed of every traditional grass-growers nightmare. These guys show up in compacted soil, and their presence is actually a good thing because they grow long taproots that help pull nutrients from deep in the soil and help fertilize your yard. Also they are said to grow in places with low calcium but high potassium. Dandelions are also high in a bunch of nutrients and can be used to make tea, used instead of coffee grounds (baking the roots), and their leaves are edible as well for greens. I found this little guy on the side of the house… so many the foundation was made with potassium?? (I know literally nothing about housing materials).

Speedwell (Veronica hederifolia and Veronica filiformis)

I saw the purple version of this (V. hederifolia) flowering next to the sidewalk off the highway by where we live. I then found a different species of it with pink leaves (V. filiformis) in our backyard in one spot, so I might want to get some water-hogging, dirt-aerating plants for there as apparently these guys pop up where the soil has bad drainage and compaction.

My gardening direction As I learn more, I find myself so excited to experiment with the land we are renting. I’m like a mad scientist, that ignores rhyme and reason and formal frameworks of established scientific directions to be like “BUT HOW CAN I GROW THIS WARM SEASON CROP IN THE TAIL END OF WINTER RIGHT NEXT TO THIS INVASIVE NATIVE WEED?!” I realized my style of gardening is pretty aggressively minimalist (and insane/defying convention and years of human cultivation strategies). I want to learn how to garden without any enhancements… no added soil, no external mulch, no buying lime or sand… basically only growing with the land and current ecosystem I have, general gardening tools (a shovel, an aerating fork thing, a smaller trowel), sticks and logs for fences, recycled things from the house (I used egg cartons to start some seeds indoors on window sills but am now trying to grow without that method as well), kitchen scraps for compost, and then my one caveat is buying seeds. My thought is that it would be interesting to see how someone could take whatever land they have, whatever the conditions, and really work with what they have to see what they could produce. I can take it to the extreme and say I’m curious to see how can we grow and make food when Home Depot, Lowes, Tractor Supply Co, etc are barren and we have to just know how to grow with those packets of seeds we stored long ago and nothing else but the land we are near. I want to learn how to tend to the land that has been completely overhauled by humans… de-forested years ago, landscaped down to the weirdest of conditions, probably with big ole trees erratically sticking roots up aboveground, or patches of dry clay near housing foundations. I want to experiment to see how one can really work with the remaining surviving weedy nature and see if humans can live off, and tend to that kind of land. Stay tuned to more adventures as the seasons progress, if I am successful or fail miserably.

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luv-engineering · 6 years

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Buy this book if you want to poison yourself This book has phenomenal pictures of the mushrooms. Unfortunately that's all it has going for it. Go to Amazon

Don't waste your money Initially I thought this was a good guide, but after reading through it basically you are mushrooming without fear because you are only learning about mushrooms without gills. Boletes, polypores and Cantharellus species. While this may seem intriguing, please know that there are hundreds of species of Boletes in North America, some of which are poisonous. I'd recommend North American Boletes if you are interested in learning more about them, and I would highly recommend purchasing a field guide for your region for other species. Also be sure to learn how to do a spore print and get involved with your local mycolgical society as well as many mushroom identification Facebook pages. Go to Amazon

VERY, very basic guide. This is a VERY basic guide if you are just beginning to forage for mushrooms. Very...very basic. I can save you some money...don't pick anything with gills!! This book repeats this over and over...however, we all know that there are many good, edible mushrooms with gills. So, this leaves you wondering how other folks find all of these amazing mushrooms if they aren't taking ones with gills. There is a learning curve with mushrooming. You DO have to be careful what you pick! But this guide really leaves me flat with lack of knowledge...again, VERY BASIC guide. Go to Amazon

beautiful colored pictures and no could have should have and ... if your looking to get started in mushrooming ,your walking around the house or in the woods and you have passed by these little gems countless times . . . . .wondering . . . . .than this soft cover book is for you, It does not get carried away with information that we do not need and could care less about. It covers the mushrooms that you are seeing on your walks, colors . . .shapes . . .sizes...beautiful colored pictures and no could have should have and maybes. Book is an easy read for all, and I guarantee your going to add a few extra hours on to that walk of yours. Go to Amazon

Money well spent I was advised to get this book from Facebook mushroom hunting West Virginia said it was great for beginners I highly recommend this and I will put it on their Facebook page thank you again very much, a lot more information than what is showed on these pictures Go to Amazon

Meh..could've been more exciting and took more than 15 mins to read.. It's literally a rewrite or redo of Schwabs other book..Mushrooming with Confidence. Have both now and it's redundant but pictures are nice and rules are laid out simply for foraging. There are better books out there. Lincoff has the Audubon society field guide..now that's a book. Go to Amazon

You'll know the rules of mushrooming. Backwards and forwards. Upside down, too. So I get it. Go to Amazon

Excellent book with great pictures Excellent book with great pictures, and easy to understand language. The only part I don"t like about the book is they seem to only talk about three areas of the U.S. I am very excited to start mushroom hunting and with this guide, I feel very confident in the mushrooms I will be gathering. This book also goes beyond simply identifying mushrooms, but how to harvest, clean,and even cook the mushrooms. Go to Amazon

Good descriptions and photos Very informative Five Stars ... gills including the ever popular Oyster mushrooms which are easy to identify Book + Professional guide is great Four Stars One Star but it seems to be a good book. Five Stars Five Stars

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isabellelambert1975 · 7 years

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Effective medicinal plants to grow in your garden

Until 100 years ago, we used medicinal plants to treat most illnesses.

And, according to a new book, The Gardener’s Companion to Medicinal Plants, they still do in Africa, Asia and South America.

Even the chemical industry makes many drugs developed from plants. People made ‘aspirin’ from the leaves of the willow tree 2,400 years ago. The National Cancer Institute discovered that Pacific yew bark could create the anti-cancer drug, Taxol.

There are many more examples.

So could you use your own garden plants as medicines?

Perhaps you could brew a concoction of Hydrangea arborescens root for your aching joints? Also in this corner of my garden are hellebores (may stimulate the immune system, but can be dangerous). Foxgloves are already well known in pharmaceutical research, so aren’t included in the Gardener’s Companion to Medicinal Plants.

(Note: There are some affiliate links in this post, which means you can click on them to buy. If you do, I may get a small fee. It doesn’t affect the price you pay.)

The Gardener’s Companion to Medicinal Plants

The book is published by Frances Lincoln under the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew label. They sent me a copy for review. I found it fascinating.

Firstly, the authors. It’s written by a trio of highly qualified and experienced authors. Jason Irving is a qualified herbalist and forager (so cool!).

Dr Melanie-Jayne Howes is a registered pharmacist, Chartered Chemist and phytochemist at Kew. She’s a member of many other scientific organisations.

Professor Monique Simmonds is Deputy Director of Science at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.

So this book isn’t just another ‘make your own remedies at home on the kitchen table’. It’s a serious scientific A-Z of healing plants, with some DIY recipes.

Do medicinal plants work?

We all have some experience of medicinal plants, even if it’s only to soothe a nettle sting by applying a dock leaf.

My mother always kept a pot-grown aloe vera in the kitchen. If she burnt herself she broke off a leaf and applied the gel-like sap to the burn. It worked better than anything she’d ever bought at the pharmacy.

And when my son was eight, he developed a large wart on his wrist. A botanist friend recommended that we rub the wart with the white, milky sap of petty spurge, or milkweed.

The wart disappeared after one application. Now milkweed is being researched as a cure for skin cancer.

Angelica archangelica – according to tradition, it can be used to reduce fevers, flatulence and many other uses. According to The Gardener’s Companion to Medicinal Plants, there haven’t yet been many medical studies, but it seems to have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.

Which plants heal?

There are over 35,000 plants used for healing worldwide. The Gardener’s Companion to Medicinal Plants lists 277 of them.

One criteria for inclusion was that there had to be some medical research as well as traditional usage.

Some plants in the book will be familiar to anyone who uses Bach’s Flower Remedies or other flower essences. Or if you visit a herbalist or homeopath. That includes horse chestnut and black cohosh.

Some plants in the book are already well-known for their health-giving properties. For example, turmeric and echinacea.

Echinacea purpurea has anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal properties. Seen here with Verbena bonariensis. Verbena officianalis is traditionally used for headaches, stress, fevers and anxiety.

But there are also some surprising garden plants listed, such as Acanthus mollis (Bear’s breeches) and Alchemilla. Both are also considered to have anti-inflammatory properties.

And everyone has heard of Bach’s Rescue Remedy. But how many people realise it has clematis in it? The Gardener’s Companion says that Clematis armandii has also been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties.

The recipes

There 24 home recipes in the book.

These include calendula (marigold) lip balm and passionflower sleep tea. You can combine passionflower with hops and valerian to make a knockout sleeping potion.

Valerian root is used for calming and in ‘sleep teas.’ It was considered to be the best treatment for epilepsy before modern drugs were developed, says The Gardeners Companion.

The Gardener’s Companion also says that passionflower is now used by herbalists to treat Parkinson’s disease and shingles.

The verdict

I think this book is well worth reading and buying. It’s clear that we need much more research into medicinal plants. It would be too easy to lose the knowledge that has been acquired over the centuries.

The Gardener’s Companion to Medicinal Plants is also tapping into the zeitgeist of today.

For example, The College of Medicine in London is running a Plant Medicine Conference on the 8th June. There will be an international line-up of clinicians, researchers, pharmacists and physicians. They’ll discuss remedies based on medicinal plants. These include culinary spices, herbal medicines and plant food ingredients.

You might also enjoy…

Grow Your Own Drugs by ethnobotanist James Wong introduced a new generation of gardeners to the medicinal plants in their own gardens. It has lots of recipes for turning your plants into healing lotions, potions, lozenges and tinctures.

It also lists a Top 100 plants to grow or buy. He also shows how some plants have the same pharmaceutical properties as over-the-counter drugs.

Visit the Chelsea Physic Garden, London’s oldest botanic garden. It was started in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries.

They used it to train apprentices in the identification and use of medicinal plants. One of its main aims is still to demonstrate the medicinal properties of plants.

Or read about using your garden plants to create stunning natural dyes.

In the 1970s, my parents used to keep stocks of tinned tuna fish and baked beans in case an atom bomb destroyed the world. I’m not entirely clear why my parents, along with the tinned food, expected to survive such an attack. But perhaps people just felt better if they had a strategy for survival.

So, in today’s uncertain world, you might feel reassured to imagine picking the medicines you need from your garden. Add the Gardeners Companion to Medicinal Plants to your survival supplies.

The post Effective medicinal plants to grow in your garden appeared first on The Middle-Sized Garden.

from The Middle-Sized Garden http://www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/effective-medicinal-plants-to-grow-in-your-garden/

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mado-science · 6 years

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The only thing I do not like and it is not just with this book but ... I have been looking for books on how to make medicines and identify plants. This book has been very helpful and I plan on buying more of his books. The book is well organized has some color pictures, location maps, line drawings, information on plant appearance, habitat, constituents, collecting and preparation, stability, medicinal uses and contraindications. It has a supplemental herb list, a theraputic use list, glossary and index of plant names.The only thing I do not like and it is not just with this book but with almost all of the plant idenification books, is that they do not have color pictures for all of the plants.They need that and when they do pictures they need the photos of all the plant parts. Many times drawings are just not good enough especially if you are new to this. The only reason for the four stars is the lack of color pictures. Go to Amazon

I like Moore's style I like Moore's style. Completely thorough, with lots of HUMOR!! He explains everything. Tells you exact proportions and measurements to work with the plants. Excellent plant descriptions with line drawings and photos, Great maps for every plant shows distributions. Covers desert and coastal species. The best book to have everything all in one place in your hands. I can't recommend it enough! Go to Amazon

It's alright This book is very informative. The only problem I had with the book was the pictures. Most of them are hand drawn in black and white. It does have some color photos but not very many. I opted for the Peterson Field Guide instead. Go to Amazon

Inspiring, Local and Useful I can't quit reading and rereading this book. A native Oregonian, I had no idea some of the so-called "weeds" on my property were not only edible, but also medicinal! This book has changed my way of looking at the plants I once ignored. I've tried several of the teas and concoctions. Great instructions! Inspiring. Easy to read -- I feel like the author's my new best friend. Go to Amazon

Another Book in Constant Use One of three of my trusted "go-to" books on the subject (the other two being Moore's Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West and Kane's Herbal Medicine of the American Southwest). Go to Amazon

Pairs really well with "Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast" ... Pairs really well with "Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast" and "Northwest Foraging: The Classic Guide to Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest" Go to Amazon

great book, awesome knowledge great book, awesome knowledge. i wish the there were more photos. if you don't know your plants well, you might want to use this in combination with an identification book. Go to Amazon

Insightful and accurate A thorough monograph of each species features complete descriptions for identification and collection, medicinal uses and preparation. Range maps aid in understanding general locales, drawings are accurate and useful, text is based on a sound grasp of cell chemistry without overdoing the technicalities, and is relatively myth-dispelling. Responsible and authoritative from a practical intimacy, this hands-on guide also provides a glossary and cross-references. A valuable addition to the herbals shelf, it would be nice to see this volume as a spiral-bound guide for field use. The best yet of Moore's well-devoted works in my library. Go to Amazon

Great reference for the PacNW plant geek. Too few color photos to many line drawings Five Stars Five Stars Five Stars Five Stars Five Stars Not just for Pacific Coast region You will be disappointed

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mado-science · 6 years

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Not as good as others like it... I ordered this book as well as Edible Wild Plants by Thomas S. Elias & Peter A. Dykeman. This book relies on drawings and has very few color photos whereas the book by Elias and Dykeman is all color photos and a much easier to use and higher quality guide. Go to Amazon

Not very helpful. I recently went on a camping trip in Tennessee. I've been trying to perfect my bug out bag through trial and error. One of the things that I thought would be important for me to have is a guide to edible plants for the area that I live in. This book had good reviews and I do a lot of my purchasing through Amazon so I thought I'd give it a try. While I was out hiking I picked a number of plants to take back to the camp sight. But when I tried to use this book to identify the plants I was disappointed. The hand drawn pictures were not enough for me to positively identify any but a couple of the plants that I harvested. Even without a picture a good description of the plant would have been enough for me to know what I had. Unfortunately the book didn't provide enough of a detailed description for me to be sure that what I had was edible or poisonous. My advice is to look for a guide that either provides a color photograph, not a drawing of the plants, or at least provides a better description of the plants. I have to add one star for the effort I'm sure it involved in making the book but other than that it doesn't have much going for it. Not a good buy. Go to Amazon

A Bit of A Disappointment I bought this field guide hoping for something chocked with good photos that can really help you identify various plants and herbs out in the wild. The written information is there but many of the pictures are simply black and white drawings - something that in my opinion doesn't help a lot in the field. There is a section in the middle of the book that has colored photographs but then you have to look at the photo and try to find the matching description elsewhere in the book. Not the best lay out for field study. I would prefer to have colored photos right along side each plant description for easy identification. Go to Amazon

This book can help you get there but you'll have to do the walking Excellent. Peterson's has a well-earned reputation and maintains it with this field guide. While there are a lot of color photos, the preponderance of graphics are sketches. Strongly recommend anyone interested in learning about foraging for wild edibles to start slow, be sure and build your skills through time. The book can help you get there but you'll have to do the walking. Go to Amazon

You ate WHAT? This is an excellent field guide for collecting edibles and avoiding things that could make your day(s) miserable! Nothing worse than throwing something in the stew pot that does NOT belong in there! KNOW before you throw.... Great pictures to help you identify what you should and should NOT pick, especially where there are look-alikes that could cause problems. Handy size, ready for your next "field" excercise! Go to Amazon

The black and white drawings are pretty much useless to identify plants Unless you already have knowledge in the field, The black and white drawings are pretty much useless to identify plants. The book has very few color photos. I can see how easy it would be to make an identity mistake by using this book. The descriptions can be vague and often leaves out useful information. Also the preparation of plants are pretty bad as well. I think this author is more interested in scattering information across multiple books in an effort to sell more, than he is in delivering complete and useful information. Go to Amazon

Color photos of ALL PLANTS needed! The information in this book is in itself useful, but the pictures mostly are B&W drawings ( there are color pictures, though only a small percentage compared to all the plants covered in this book.), and in some descriptions there are multiple types of a single type of plant and individual photos of each type would be much more useful instead of just B&W drawings. Go to Amazon

Great little book Great little book, so many edible plants I did not know about. Tells about some edible weeds that I have growing in my yard. Should be handy to bring while traveling in the eastern and Central US, in case you get lost and need a food source. Go to Amazon

Detailed and organized Five Stars A valuable training aid Three Stars Lacking In Comparison Five Stars Five Stars Five Stars My mom loved it! Knowing what not to eat is just as important

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mado-science · 6 years

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Good info- need more for identification The book has some good information, some not found elsewhere. It doesn't seem to be from personal experience, but from research. Although it has lovely photos, they really focus on the flowers, many with little or no leaf showing. There are descriptions but not drawings or photos of all the plant parts needed to identify all of the plants, so supplemental field guides may be needed. Also uses descriptions of ranges that seem incomplete- sometimes citing whole states/provinces which quite often isn't true based on varied terrains. Overall a good book and a good addition to a field guide collection. I wouldn't recommend it to stand alone. Go to Amazon

Best book ever for the area Living in Idaho, most of these plants are native to my area. Not all but most. This is my favorite book to take with me on hikes or backpacking trips, lets me identify so many flowers and shrubs that I never knew could do things to the human body. Go to Amazon

LOVE THIS BOOK! During a 3.5 week long camping adventure all over Colorado, this book as served me well in identifying plants and guiding my foraging efforts. It has certainly helped me connect deeper to my camping experiences and I will take this with me on all my hikes, backpacking and camping trips from now on. Go to Amazon

Don't buy this expecting it to be a how-to guide ... Don't buy this expecting it to be a how-to guide. It contains interesting information on historical and current uses for the plants, but it's information on identification, preparation, and usage of plants is lacking quite a bit. The first sentence in the intro of the book says it's not a how-to book, yet that is not including in the Amazon product description. The descriptions of the plants are barely enough to help identify them in the wild, and I would not feel confident using this book as a reference when deciding whether something I find will harm me or help me. Go to Amazon

Informative, desired this for hiking I won't go into great detail because the reviews already do a really good job of it. I was looking for a reference for hiking and fishing to augment my emergency survival kit and increase my knowledge. More of a "just in case" rather than "I intend to do serious foraging". The book is well organized and the pictures are good, in some instances it tells you how to improve the taste and what the nutritional value is. I believe I should have no problems identifying the plants based upon the photos in this book and look forward to expiramenting with some of the plants on future hiking and fishing outings though I won't try to gather a thanksgiving feast unless I find myself stuck somewhere. I thought I would use this book to get started then buy a larger reference to stay at the house to study up on while using this one as my field book but now I don't think I will need a second book for my needs, someone who is doing serious foraging or medicinal uses on a regular basis may enjoy a more informative book. The book has almost plasticized pages which should be quite durable, although it is surprisingly heavy for it's small size, if you are a minimalist hiker maybe this is better to study at home, for me it will become a item in my backpack once I read it. Regardless of your needs this is probably the book to start with. Go to Amazon

Live in Montana Bought this for my husband as we have been talking about survival stuff for a few years, Thanx to Naked and Afraid :) Its easy to read and the descriptions are great. My 7 year old loves to find plants when we are camping and looking them up and trying to find them in this book. We live In Montana and so far we have found a few of these in our camp spot. I would recommend this book to anyone who wanted to explore their area plants. Go to Amazon

could do with a few extra pictures to get a better idea of the plant to identify it for a small book its good, wish the pictures can show more than one view of the plant such in it first growing faze to maturity as I find it hard to distinguish some plants by there pictures, and could use a few more to help narrow down the options of what I am looking at Go to Amazon

Worth a look I bought this wanting to learn about plants in my area. Lets just say I learned a ton more then what I wanted to learn. I packed this baby in my Bug Out bag and didn't even need to put it in a plastic bag because of the cover and what the pages are made out of, WATER PROOF!!! Please buy this, it will teach you so so much important information on what you can eat, how to eat it, medical and they even make sure you know what plant it is by the full color pictures of the plants/trees. Hats off to the company for putting this out to us. WORTH EVERY PENNY, NOW BUY IT AND LEARN LIKE I DID. Go to Amazon

Four Stars Five Stars love it! Five Stars Five Stars Five Stars Five Stars Buy Two. Three Stars Get yours today!

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luv-engineering · 6 years

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Not comprehensi While it looks like a field guide, it's actually an informative reference for the casual herbalist. Scott Kloos includes a lot of personal experience and opinion, which is the reason to buy this book I think. If you're looking for any medicinal science information or a comprehensive field guide then look elsewhere. One feature this book has that I like is the helpful instructions for how to harvest sustainably and prepare different remedies such as tictures or teas. Go to Amazon

... the author two years ago and it does not disappoint! Clearly and concisely written I've been looking forward to this book since taking a class with the author two years ago and it does not disappoint! Clearly and concisely written, well laid out and full of beautiful photographs, it will be a book that I refer to often. Despite having many other field guides and herbals, this is the only book to include so many of our local plants - many of which are not covered elsewhere. It will be an invaluable resource! Go to Amazon

A *must have* book for your herbal library! A much needed guide to many Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants with identification details you will not find in Timber Press or Peterson field guides, as well as where, when, and how to sustainably wildcraft AND medicinal uses and suggestions for herbal preparations. This is a well written and much needed guide for anyone wanting to become familliar with the plants here in the PNW, thank you Scott! Go to Amazon

Answer the call of the healing plants A wonderful writing on plants of the Pacific Northwest. If you are a medicine maker, or would like to be this book is an excellent reference. Pictures are clear and large enough to help you identify unlike a field guide. I appreciate that he takes a kinship approach to the plants, while also showing that he is an experienced teacher and herbalist. I have a dear friend, now an herbalist, who studied with him - he is walking his walk. I make medicines for my family, and this work is helping to deepen my practice, and enhances our adventures into the wild places. Go to Amazon

I appreciate the extent to which the author has offered ... I appreciate the extent to which the author has offered information on each herb, from how to use the book, how, where and when to wildcraft, the tools needed for wildcrafting, identification of the plants, uses, properties, cautions, medicinal uses, and much much more. I am excited to delve in and absorb the information offered. Go to Amazon

Five Stars I love this reference book. It has good details on plants and their uses, with good color photos. Go to Amazon

Great guide to medicinal plants in the pacific northwest This book is quite thorough and I love the pictures. The author mentions in the beginning that his hobbies include photographing the plants he refers to and it shows. I am a beginner to medicinal plants and this was a great way to start. Next steps are to find a class with an experienced teacher/guide. Go to Amazon

Very happy with this book I bought this book as a xmas present but cant stay out of it..Book delivered quickly and was gently handled..This book is entirely indigenous to my area and has all detail and then some..Very happy with this book. Go to Amazon

Beautiful photos well written This is an amazing book with beautiful color photographs Awesome pictures and info Great book! Honesty Beautifully put together A plant's rebuke I'm really new to foraging but this book is amazing. Literally everything I could ask for and more WILL COME IN HANDY WHEN WE GET NUKED

#and Use 120 Wild Herbs for Health and Wellness: Scott Kloos: 9781604696578: Amazon.com: Books

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mado-science · 6 years

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My Native Plant Bible This book identifies everything you'll encounter in the Pacific Northwest, whether it's an invader or native. It explains how native tribes used plants as food or medicine and so much more. Between this book and Pacific Northwest Foraging I think I've got it covered. Go to Amazon

Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast — this is a must-have resource! Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia & Alaska was originally published in 1994 and has been updated in 2014. This is the go-to reference for plants of the Pacific Northwest. The Introduction contains a section on Plants in aboriginal technology; and Plants as medicine. Trees, Shrubs, Wildflowers, Aquatics, Grass, Ferns, Mosses & Liverworts and Lichens are the main groups to which the plants are placed. There is a Glossary and Index at the end of the book. The books is filled with full-color drawings, photos, maps, as well as black and white illustrations of leaf shapes, tree shapes, parts of the flower etc. Information for example: Douglas Fir, includes general information, leaf, cone, ecology, as well as detailed notes on the use by native people as well as how it was named. A must-have for all Pacific Northwest outdoor lovers, campers, gardeners, hikers, crafters, and school libraries. Go to Amazon

A guide that keeps it simple- This book is very helpful if you know what you're looking at. There are keys to plants within families, but there isn't necessarily a key to the families themselves. So for example, if you look at an unidentified specimen and know that it is a lily, then you can flip to page 99 where there is a key for the plants commonly found within the lily family. Although if you were to find a specimen and not know what family it was in, then you might end up flipping through the book looking for similar plants or anything to signal that plant was in a particular family. It isn't a big deal if you're familiar with common families, but if not this could be a bit frustrating. They do have a page of small representative silhouettes of the families you can compare with, but that's about it. Go to Amazon

No one in the PNW should be without this book. No one in the PNW should be without this book unless you never leave the city. Even if you only venture as far as your yard it has information that will help you keep your yard in the condition you most appreciate. It might even entice you to make some changes that you will find easier to live with than your current landscape. Or not but it is worth the reading and definitely worth the Knowledge Base! Go to Amazon

Do please buy this book. It is really wonderful! Wonderful Book! WONDERFUL Fotos, descriptions of plants, information... OMG! This is a marvel. Anything written by Pojar & Mackinnon et al is a MUST HAVE for anyone in Western North America including Alaska interested in plants and ecology. Go to Amazon

Simply The Best Plant Field Guide This is the best field guide for Pacific Northwest plants that I know of. The pages are beautifully printed in full colour; the cover and binding material is durable; and the descriptions are easy to read. I love how the authors give a history for many of these plants and focus on ethnobotany. Go to Amazon

Plants of the Pacific Northwest review This is my second copy of the book. It is a pretty great book of plants in the Pacific Northwest. For the most part, the photos are clear. Some of the mosses and lichens are hard to identify because they looks so similar. I have used this book many times for field identification. Would recommend! Go to Amazon

This is the best book I've found for our area and one that ... I gave away my first one and bought myself another. This is the best book I've found for our area and one that I take with me on mushroom walks. It's a fantastic resource for developing one's identification skills about plants, shrubs and trees. Go to Amazon

Need in library Prime- maybe not worth it so we like knowing what is going on Very well organized Five Stars Great book.... surprisingly heavy Great Color Photos Awesome book! I cannot wait for spring, summer, and fall Five Stars

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mado-science · 6 years

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BUY EXCELLENT Go to Amazon

Great reference for the PacNW plant geek. Too few color photos to many line drawings Five Stars Five Stars Five Stars Five Stars Five Stars Not just for Pacific Coast region

#biological #science #book

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mado-science · 7 years

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Very good. I plan to give this to my nephew Very good. I plan to give this to my nephew, who does a lot of hiking, and will be going to college this fall near the Smokey Mountains. Go to Amazon

Great for first time scavengers Great for first time scavengers. Especially with printed color pictures it give you that extra measure that you are looking at the right plant and not a similar looking plant. Go to Amazon

Still Alive. We have had this book for several months and have used it often. Colorful photos. So far nothing has been wrong or misleading in the book because we are still alive. Go to Amazon

Five Stars Five Stars Great book Five Stars Needs better indexing system Neet A comprehensive reference Five Stars Five Stars Call me ignorant or less intelligent than the author but my hopes were high when ...

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mado-science · 7 years

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Very good. I plan to give this to my nephew Very good. I plan to give this to my nephew, who does a lot of hiking, and will be going to college this fall near the Smokey Mountains. Go to Amazon

#biological #science #book

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mado-science · 7 years

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A great book Since she did her research in the Midwest it thought this might be the perfect book for me. I enjoy trying to identify the bees in our yard and am adding plants for bees and butterflies to our garden. I found the information helpful and it was nice that the plants she suggested were geared toward the Midwest and our climate. So far, I have mining bees, Californica Mason bees, wool carder bees and now leafcutter bees. All solitary non aggressive bees. I also have large bumble bees. Go to Amazon

Heather Holm teaches with style. Every book we purchase written by Heather Holm exceeds our expectations. It is so great to find someone so committed to investigation and sharing knowledge in an easy to read and well-organized format. Photos are great and I learn more about the plants in our area than I have from many sources. Go to Amazon

Everyone NEEDS this book. This book will help you understand our native bees better and give you the information to help save them. Go to Amazon

the photos are medicore and lacks useful information. I do not recommend it i do not expect pages to fall out of a first edition book. This is not a field guide, it is a coffee table book. the photos are medicore and lacks useful information. I do not recommend it. Go to Amazon

The Best Book for Learning About Native Bees Okay, Amazon, you need to start carrying this one. I've purchased several books recently about bees and by far this is the most comprehensive and thorough. It covers many of our native bees and describes their habitat, forage needs, info about their life cycles, distinguishing features and more. The book also gives info about some of the best native plants to use for attracting and helping bees and this section is complete with handy maps. Her other book, Pollinators of Native Plants is also a winner. Go to Amazon

Informative photos and information on Native Bees and Plants This is my favorite book about native bees yet (and I own quite a few of them). There is a general section (37 pages) at the front with information on native bee biology and explanations on how to understand and support them and their habitat. There are 5 chapters devoted to each bee family found in North America: Colletidae, Andrenidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae, and Apidae. Each chapter is chock full of detailed photos showing bee anatomy so that you can learn to tell the species apart as well as the sorts of habitat and flowers where you might find them. Just over half of the book is then devoted to native plants, showing their distribution, the sort of soils they prefer, when they bloom, etc. They are also chock full of photos of flowers and the bees they attract. This is a must own for anyone in the midwest to northeast part of North America including Canada. Go to Amazon

A great book for gardening for native bees! (or just identifying them) I really like this book! It was one of the few I carried to Bioblitz to help with native bee identification. Alas, the only bee anyone collected was a male carpenter bee, which underscores the problem with declining numbers of native pollinators, as well as the introduced honey bee. Particular things I like about this book include "The buzz about bees" on pages 11-37; "Bees at a glance" pages 38-41- diagrams of seasonality of common bee genera (with colored photos on the same page); pages 42-92 - separate chapters on the families of native bees (with more diagrams of timing of both common and uncommon genera, with photos), and a lot of information, at the genus level, on: worldwide and more localized numbers, sociality, pollen collection, nest location, common forage plants, and crops pollinated. Pages 93-199 of the book cover the native plants upon which native bees forage. It begins with a page on "Why choose native plants" and a five-page summary table divided by type of plant (from large trees to annuals, biennials, and perennials), and a page on "How to use the bee forage guide". The rest of the section is divided like the table: large trees, etc., and there are colored photos of flowers and the growth form of each plant. On the same page are habitat, soil, and exposure bar graphs, along with descriptions of the flower, fruit, floral resources and attractants, and (especially useful) common bees attracted. Pages 200-201 are "Do's and Dont's for bee conservation. There is a glossary of terms, a diagrammatic glossary of plant leaves, roots, corollas, and inflorescences, and a diagram of bee wings. A list of web sites, an extensive bibliography, and an index conclude the book. In summary, well worth buying for anyone interested in gardening for native bees, or with natIve plants. Go to Amazon

Excellent photos, detailed info, yet easy to follow our best pollinators, then choosing the right plants in your ... Excellent starting point to understanding bees and their environment - and how we can help.

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