Knowledge on how to nourish and heal ourselves with plants is sometimes passed down from our families. My mama says to drink hot chamomile tea when you need to relax or chew plantain leaf and make a poultice to help heal a wound. We know form many different cultural traditions and scientific studies that seaweeds, dandelion, burdock root and young stinging nettle leaves are just a few of
the plants that grow around us plentifully that are 'super foods' and packed with goodness. Wild plants, diverse in flavour and nutrition, can even contribute to global food security in these uncertain times. But many people don't have a teacher to connect them with natural world (it's so big!) and it's potential benefits. So, what's a person to do?
I'm not a local botanist or an indigenous knowledge keeper, so I had to find my own teachers when I
was new to learning about wild, edible BC plants. LoriAnn Bird was one of the most inspiring teachers on my path, she taught me that the plants themselves can teach you things if you pay attention. When I see lily spears (edible and a bit like asparagus) like these poking out of the ground, they're telling me that the spring harvest season is starting and that their friends like butterbur and elderflower are going to be up soon, so keep your eye's peeled. Walking through the
forest is a meditation with Lori as she greets all the flowers, new leaves and trees as old friends.
Lori is an Indigenous Métis herbalist with an ton of wisdom to share on how the plants around you can help make you feel better and how we can help them in turn. She's teaching a class on April 26th, so I'd encourage you to join her. Her wisdom covers local and introduced species of plants like;
- Hawthorn berries, leaves, and
flowers
- Plantain seeds and foliage
- Oswego tea leaves and blooms
- Slippery elm bark
- Motherwort flowers, stems, and leaves
- Black cohosh roots and rhizomes
- Marshmallow root
- Cottonwood buds and bark & much more...
