Sustainable Living: Foraging for Native Plant Foods in Your Own Backyard

Sustainable foraging for native dye plants in the garden

 

Interest
in the edible, medicinal and other uses of native plants has grown dramatically
in the past five years. Mother Nature’s Backyard has played a role in this. Our
‘California Gourmet’ and ‘Garden Crafts’ series specifically promote the use of
California native plants.

Native
plants play an important role in living sustainably.  They furnish habitat, create shade, improve
the soil and provide edible and craft materials.   To put it simply, California natives are
remarkable additions to the garden ecosystem. But it’s important to remember that
these plants are also critical components of natural ecosystems.

The
increased interest in edible and medicinal native plants creates several unintended
consequences.   Most important is the overuse of natural
stands of native plants growing in the wild. 
 This is not just a problem in
California; over-collecting of native plants is a critical issue world-wide,
leading to the extinction of entire plant species.

While
some California native plants are still common, others are rare – even
endangered - in the wild.  Humans have
played a key role, primarily by destroying habitat (building houses, roads,
etc.).  Global climate change is putting further
pressures on wild plants and animal populations. 

To
stress wild populations further by wild foraging is unsound.  In fact, there are legal, health/safety,
practical and ethical/stewardship reasons to limit wildland foraging.  For a thoughtful article on this see: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-novick/forage-in-the-garden-not_b_10211746.html.
 

We
urge that you consider foraging in your
own garden rather than in the wild.  A
thoughtfully planned garden can supply many edibles and loads of materials for
garden crafts.  In fact, you may have an
excess.  Consider swapping ‘produce’ with
others to increase the variety of materials available to you.  Get to know which weeds are edible or useful;
knowing that a weed is edible can turn a chore into an interesting adventure.

There are
many reasons to forage your own garden rather wild foraging.  Here are just a few:

 

Legal reasons

1. You own the resource. Collecting on private property
   or on protected government land can be risky business, particularly
   without the proper permits.   Trespassing and stealing can lead to
   fines – even jail time.   Safer to
   forage in your garden.




2. Rare species, purchased from reputable sources, are
   legal to own and plant in your garden. Wildland endangered/ threatened
   species are often legally protected. 
   They cannot be taken, removed, destroyed, collected etc. in the
   wild.  You can harvest (responsibly)
   the rare species you grow in your garden. 
   Just be sure to purchase plants from
   reputable sources only.  Don’t
   risk the legal consequences of planting a plant that’s been illegally
   harvested.

Health & safety reasons

1.   
You
know you are using the correct species. Field foraging can result in mistaking a toxic for a
safe species.  Poisonings – even deaths –
from eating wild foraged plants occur each year.  Purchase and clearly label garden plants, making
sure that proper precautions are taken with hazardous species.   You wouldn’t want to feed your family
something that might make them sick!

2.   
You
know how the resource has been managed. Pesticides, herbicides, pollution, etc. can affect the
safety of plants ingested as food/medicines or used in craft projects.  You can manage these exposures in your
garden; you have no clue about them when
you wild forage.

Practical reasons

1. Ease of access. It’s so much easier (and sometimes safer) to
   harvest plant materials in the garden than the wild. 




2. You can pick edibles, medicinals and craft materials
   at the ‘peak of freshness’.   The taste, appearance and effectiveness
   of many materials varies with the season and the weather.   Grow source plants in your garden, where
   you can easily monitor them and harvest at the optimal time.




3. You can grow enough of the species you enjoy. 
   We all use our plants differently. 
   By planting just the species you use, you can make best use of your
   garden’s space.  A natural dyes
   enthusiast will plant different plants from someone with an interest in
   medicinal plants.    Choose plants
   for their useful properties in addition to their beauty.




4. Useful plants provide added value to your garden. 
   Berry bushes, vines and trees can provide habitat and shade in
   addition to food.  Dye plants and
   edibles can be pretty and water-wise. 
   Useful native plants can stabilize a slope and improve soil
   nutrients and physical properties.  Useful native plants provide these ‘added
   services’ in the wild; why not in your garden?




5. Harvesting home-grown materials gives purpose to
   your garden.  There’s nothing like the satisfaction
   of growing your own food and other useful products.  Working in a useful garden provides
   purpose to all who participate. 
   Gardening – and garden foraging – are good, wholesome family
   activities!     And they are often
   fun as well!

Ethical/stewardship reasons

1. You don’t over-tax rare natural resources.  Even when we each take just a little, if
   there are many foragers, scarce wild plants can disappear.  Wild resources are the sacred heritage
   of us all; they are a gift to pass on to future generations.  Admire plants in the wild; observe them,
   photograph them and enjoy them.  But
   forage California natives in your own garden; it’s the responsible – and ethical
   – thing to do.




2. You can manage garden plants using sound ecological
   principles.  Since you control the resources, you can
   manage them wisely.  You can harvest
   just enough, at the right time, to sustain the plants. 




3. No need to waste time & gas getting there. 
   If you worry about scarce resources and air pollution, garden
   foraging is the most economical and earth-friendly option.




4. Passing along an ethic of sustainability to the next
   generation.
   The planet is getting more crowded – that’s obvious.  To adapt, we need to adopt and promote
   sustainable living practices.  Be an
   inspiration: live sustainably, grow sensible plants (like local natives) and
   forage in your own backyard.   Your
   children, grandchildren, students and others need to learn these skills.  
   Be a teacher of sustainable life skills – that’s important!

Wild greens foraged sustainably from Mother Nature's

 Backyard garden.

 

 

 

We
welcome your comments (below).  You can
also send your questions to: mothernaturesbackyard10@gmail.com