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By Root 928 0

plants pick from the more central portions and let the plants living on outer borders remain undiminished to tend to their venture to extend the community outward. This is especially essential when harvesting plants like St. John’s Wort, which propagates itself primarily by casting its seeds and experiences a massively increased harvest due to a sudden rush of popularity. This has transformed its commercial reputation from one of a “noxious weed” to that of a “quick antidote” for human depression—foolish notions as those are.

Remove no more than 10 percent of a native plant community or 20 percent of a naturalized plant community; better yet, leave no particularly noticeable evidence you were there. Leave enough leaves, fruit, seeds, and/or flowers on the plants for them to continue to prosper healthy and strong. I repeat, you don’t need a lot of plant material to make enough herbal medicine for the year. And you don’t want more than a year’s supply, because like gardening the act of going out into the fields and forests of nature each year and harvesting is itself one of the most healthful active ingredients in herbal medicine.

HARVEST IN UNPOLLUTED AREAS

It is best not to harvest downwind from any pollution, or on or near roadsides coated with auto exhaust residue, or any place that has been sprayed with herbicides or pesticides. In other words, harvest 50–100 yards away from public roads. I suggest not harvesting downstream from any mining or chemically laden agricultural business. The chemical runoff there is often vicious. Seriously reconsider any impulse to harvest around parking lots, public parks, fertilized lawns, and any other potentially sprayed or fumigated areas.

Avoid harvesting beneath high voltage power lines. These high-tension electric wires must trigger mutations. Yes, it’s possible these mutations might prove superior to the normal plants of the species, but the deranging agitation my car radio broadcasts when I drive it near high voltage lines makes me wonder about the organic static occurring within the tissues of those hapless plants growing beneath them. No need to stress these plant communities further by harvesting them. Human nervous systems (those similar to mine anyway) don’t do well beneath high-voltage lines either.

Consider initiating your own privately unpolluted growing areas. May I suggest if you have a lawn, that you quit chemicalizing it (if you have been), then quit mowing it for a while. About the time your neighbors start hassling you to cut the weeds, you will discover a volunteer pharmacy of plant medicines growing right outside your house. Tell your neighbors you’re participating in a science project. That’ll stall them for a couple weeks. Then place neat little rock borders around the medicinal plants you identify and tell your neighbors you’re landscaping. That’ll give you a few more weeks before they notify the county officials. You might consider altering your landscape design to include cultivated medicinal plants that harmonize with the wild volunteers. There is a myriad of wild and cultivated herbal alternatives to standardized urban lawns. (See Appendix B.)

GET PERMISSION

Private landowners in the U.S. and Canada love to fence themselves in and become resident ogres. North America is pregnant with chain link fences, rails, and real estate boundaries. If you are seeking to harvest “noxious weeds” such as Stinging Nettles, Dandelions, or St. John’s Wort, I have found that, when asked, land owners often say, “Hell yah, take all you want; get those damn things out of here!” So you do them the favor and they love you for it. They think you’re a little odd and a bit eccentric, but there is no problem. Indulge yourself in being odd now and then; it stirs the pot. However, when you seek to harvest someone’s Eucalyptus, Black Walnut, or Hawthorn trees, then you might have to be a little more persuasive. But get permission. It improves the vibe. If you seek to harvest plants on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, you are required to obtain a free-use permit, which is obtainable,