So it was a dry summer, and the berry picking was poor. Many of the wild herbs had blight and insect
damage. Since fruiting was poor, seed
production was equally dismal. Does that
mean that you had to endure this poor year of harvest? Certainly not!
Almost all of us rely on Mother Nature to provide the
harvest of plenty, and we are disappointed when the season is dismal. No wonder we call her “Mother.” We expect her to do everything for us!
I first began to view my interaction with nature’s bounty and
wild harvesting differently when I attempted to transplant a few of my
favourite wild herbs into a domestic garden setting, with disastrous
results. Seneca root, for example,
simply refused to propagate or even sprout in a variety of soils, even though
it grows with vigour in the most marginal, gravel-based soils in the wild. Some
of the wild herbs simply overtook my garden, predictably. They were, after all, weeds. Others produced great leaves when I wanted
fruit or berries (alpine strawberries and wild raspberries), while others chose
to wilt in the lush soil. They preferred
the less nutrient-rich bases.
But, leaving my plants in their natural habitat, and tending
them regularly, produced phenomenal results.
Each week during one summer, I watered select Saskatoon, high-bush
cranberries, raspberry and hawthorne bushes.
Similarly, burdock was watered abundantly, while I culled the thistles
and dandelions, harvesting crops of leaves and roots throughout the summer.
Even though the plants that we harvest freely in their
natural habitat are considered “wild,” they benefit from the same care that we
provide for garden plants: adequate light (cull and clean), adequate moisture
(provide drainage and water), regular pruning (producing more lush, young leaves)
and frequent thinning to ensure good development. Many of the wild plants found in North
America today are descendants form domestic European plants. Dandelions, hawthorne, wild horseradish, wild
plum, tansy and dozens of others are typically found growing freely in
abandoned homesteads, along roadsides and in wasteland across the country.
Be careful with your harvest, as well. Remember that, if you remove too many of the
plants that you love to pick, next year’s crop may be diminished. By harvesting selectively, as well, you are
assured of getting the “cream of the crop,” so to speak.
Consider that, instead of maintaining a backyard garden, you
are growing a multi-acre plot, wherever Mother Nature allows you to do so. By providing for your chosen wild crop, it
will provide an abundance of harvestable greens, seeds, roots and fruits for
you.
