Urban Wildcrafting Ethics & Guidelines

The Holistic Herbalism Podcast

It’s springtime! The plants are popping up everywhere in their colorful displays. This time of year, we always start to get more questions about wildcrafting and foraging, so we wanted to share some thoughts on the subject in this episode. Living in a city can make gathering your own plants seem more difficult, and there are indeed some special considerations to make if you’re going to harvest wild plants in a city environment. But more important than specific plant knowledge are the urban wildcrafting ethics you bring to the task – and these almost all apply no matter where you live.

We break down city foraging guidelines into three key areas: (1) know the plant, (2) know the land, and (3) know the community. With these principles in mind, you can apply them to whatever specific environment you’re working in.

It’s important for all of us, as herbalists, to be aware of our impact on the plant world. After all, if we don’t sustain and regenerate our plant populations, we’ll be out of herbs & out of luck! Whether our environnment is rural or urban, wildcrafting ethics help us stay present and attentive to what the plants and the earth need.

Mentioned in this podcast:

• Wildcrafting for Beginners, Howie Brounstein
• Invasive Plant Medicine, Timothy Lee Scott
• Where Do Camels Belong?, Ken Thompson

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