Alaska's Wild Plants, Revised Edition. Janice J. Schofield
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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 health condition, and they are ingested for a specific period of time (generally several days to a week). Wormwood is specific for colds or flu. Coltsfoot is specific for bronchitis and respiratory congestion.
The third class, “heroic” herbs, is included in the Poisonous Plants section on page 175. Though some of these plants have use in pharmacy and clinical herbalism, detailing such advanced use is beyond the scope of this book. Incorrect dosing could potentially result in death.
Learning More About a Plant & Notes on Botanical Names
If you want to look up more information on a plant, it is essential to do so by botanical name. This book provides for each plant the name of the genus and species, and family, listed in that order. Algae also list their division. Common names for plants vary widely, even within Alaska. Wild celery, for example, is used regionally for Heracleum lanatum (cow parsnip), Ligusticum scoticum (beach lovage), and Angelica species (Angelica).
Genus and species names are often derived from the Latin or Greek, and some names, translated, describe the plant or its properties. Urtica (stinging nettle), for example, is from the Latin uro, “to burn.” Streptopus amplexifolius (twisted stalk) literally means “the twisted stalk with the clasping leaf.”
If you’re intimidated about proper pronunciation of botanical names, relax. “As anyone who has worked with a lot of professional botanists knows,” writes seedsman J.L. Hudson, “there is no agreement among them as to the correct pronunciation of names, and everyone pronounces them however they like.” Just say them with confidence.
Even if all you can pinpoint is the former botanical name, this book, Wikipedia, Thomas J. Elpel’s Botany in a Day, or other resources will still guide you to your desired plant.
You may notice that some plants in this book have changed genus completely (fireweed is now Chamerion instead of Epilobium). Families have flipflopped around and many now have “tribes” and “sub-tribes.” This is because botanists are now using DNA analysis to determine relationships of one plant to another, rather than just the patterns of flower arrangement.
But don’t fret about what the botanists are doing. Whether or not you can “key” a plant botanically, or recognize all the plants by family, you can still become skilled at safely identifying plants.
My grandmother, and indigenous plant people throughout Alaska, did not have access to academic plant keys. Yet they were phenomenal herbalists. They used their senses, and their common sense.
Using Herbs in Our Everyday Life is Our Birthright
Medical herbalist Richard Whelan points out that “the reason that herbs can never be patented and owned by any individual or corporation is because they are, and always will be, the People’s medicine.” And Montana herbalist Robyn Klein reminds us that our right to use herbs or other botanicals is protected by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 passed by Congress.
Learning to use herbs for ourselves, our families, our animals, and our communities is a life skill worthy of developing.
Perhaps you’re like me, raised in the “time of the great forgetting” of herbal