Before everything that we will discuss in this Introduction to the identification, collection and use of wild plants, it is important to immediately point out that when we decide to collect medicinal and edible wild plants, we should know for what purposes we will use them.
Do we collect herbs for teas, oils, salves, tinctures or for food?
We do this in order to know which parts of the plants and how much of the plants we need to collect. In relation to that, we will approach the collection in a simple, efficient, but also responsible way.
When I say responsible, I mean that we will also try to preserve the plants that we harvest to a greater extent for the sake of further development and growth of the plant in that locality, so that it can be used for many years, but also for the cause of preserving the ecosystem in which the plant is located, the connection eith other plants in its in the immediate vicinity and with various insects, especially bees that feed on those plants.
Before the act of picking itself, we need to inform ourselves about the plants we are collecting, learn how to recognize them, find out when they are harvested, but also where they actually are, in what areas those plants are located, so that the harvesting itself would be as effective as possible.
And finally, we need to prepare in advance for the drying, packaging and processing of the plants we collect, so that every part of this precious natural treasure is used as well as possible.
We will deal with all this in the simplest way in the following chapters.
With a note that in this Guide we are communicating to collectors of wild plants for their own needs, which has to the greatest extent related to the amount of collected herbs or fruits, as we usually discuss about it.
IDENTIFICATION OF THE WILD PLANTS
Nowadays, various mobile applications are used to recognize all kinds of things, including plants. I also use such an application as an aid in identifying certain species.
However, we should not take such applications as 100% correct, but we should carefully consider the characteristics of the plant. Most often, through the application, we will find the name of a potentially suitable plant in Latin, so then it is necessary to take a closer look at the similarities, differences and potential risk factors with the help of a search engine.
However, as our folk medicine knows enough proven plants, we will deal with those, which are already familiar to our eyes and to the home pharmacy.
In addition to the appearance of the plant itself, which includes the height of the plant, the appearance and arrangement of the leaves, and the appearance of the flowers, it is also important to know the natural habitat of the plant, i.e. whether you will find it near mountain springs or on sunny slopes, at the edge of the forest, etc.
Some plants also have a characteristic smell, so that can be helpful, but we must not rely on it exclusively, because the nose gets used to that smell after a while, and stops identifying it. We have such a case, for example, when collecting srijemus, which, like many other plants, has its poisonous counterparts, so it is necessary to include extra caution.
Ukoliko niste posve sigurni o kojoj se biljci radi, preporučujem da je ne dirate, pa čak ni ne mirišete, dok ne provjerite, najbolje pomoću fotografije.
I will repeat that it is important to know for what purpose you are collecting the plant, whether you need a leaf, flower, fruit, root or seed, so that you can focus on the characteristics of the plant in that given life stage, but also to determine when you are collecting the plant, which we will talk about in the next chapter.
In order to facilitate your search in the PDF Guide that you can download from our site, for each selected plant we have highlighted all its essential characteristics, which include: description of the plant, its habitat, what are its useful parts and what they are used for, when the plant is harvested/ collects and in what way.
COLLECTION OF THE WILD PLANTS
Now that you know which plant you are looking for and for what use, you need to prepare adequately for picking herbs.
First of all, you should look at the picking calendar. That way we will know for sure that we will collect the part of the plant that we need.
In early spring, buds and shoots are harvested, bark and juices are collected. The leaves and whole plants are harvested when the first bud appears on them, because that's when they contain the most medicinal ingredients. The flowers are harvested as soon as the plant begins to bloom. Overgrown herbs lose their healing properties. Fruits and seeds are harvested when they are fully ripe, the root is extracted in autumn.
We always collect all plants in dry weather. If it rained, we will wait for a dry day. We will also wait for the morning dew to dry from the plants. However, harvest the plants before the hottest part of the day, because then various insects start to hide in them from the heat, so it is not convenient.
We collect the plants in paper bags or woven baskets, so that they do not wither, which often happens to them in plastic bags. Also in this way some bugs you picked up on the herbs will have a chance to get out.
Now that you have chosen the right day and prepared the baskets and scissors and you know what you are going for, let's start the harvest itself.
Harvest the green parts of the plants with scissors. In this way, you will collect only the part of the plant that you want, without the risk of pulling out the root, in this way you would destroy the plant, and you definitely do not need that part.
For example, when we collect thyme, which is a perennial bushy plant, which primarily spreads through the development of roots, we will not pluck it, but cut the twigs with scissors two rows of leaves above the main branch.
This way we accomplish several things:
- first of all, we will not additionally clean the collected herbs from roots and soil, but can directly put them to dry or use them immediately
- and then we will give the plant a chance to put out new shoots below the cut. If we harvest thyme in the leafing phase for seasoning, this pruning can even contribute to a greater number of flower heads in the flowering phase.
Next, we will pay attention to the fact that we do not collect more than a third of the herb from one bush, so that the plant fulfills its role in the food system, but also so that it is properly fertilized and thus remains in an uninterrupted life cycle. This applies to gathering all plants and wild fruits.
STORAGE AND USE OF WILD PLANTS
So we came home with our herbs and fruits...
What we will dry for tea we harvested in slightly larger quantities, what we turn into macerates, tinctures and salves in slightly smaller quantities.
When we were getting acquainted with the ways of using the plant that we decided to collect, we already saw whether the plant is used in a fresh or dry state.
Those plants, such as St. John's wort, which we put fresh in oil, should be processed first, in order to make the most of its medicinal properties. Or like hawthorn shoots and buds when we make an alcoholic tincture from it.
We will first shake out the plants that we are going to dry on a white sheet or cloth, so that any stray insects can get out of it. Then we will remove all impurities, if any, grasses, pieces of soil, etc. and then put the plant to dry on paper or a mesh base in a dark but airy place.
This way, the plant will dry faster, and it will preserve its color and its medicinal and aromatic properties.
It is best to store the dried herb in tightly closed glass jars with a label, in a dark place. It is best to store each plant separately, then mix it into teas when using. In this way, you will ensure the presence of the desired tea if you need it for medicinal purposes.
For oil macerates, from which herbal salves are made, mostly dry herbs are used. The jar is filled with herbs, then poured with some base oil, often olive, and left to stand for 4-6 weeks in a sunny place. The oil is strained, then stored in glass bottles in a dark place. If we now want to make a nourishing salve from this kind of oil for use on the skin, for care, but also for various skin disorders, we will mix it with natural beeswax and get the best natural cream. For internal use, it is best to make different tinctures, i.e. medicinal concentrates of various plants.
If you have collected edible wild herbs in addition to medicinal ones, it is best to consume them immediately while they have the highest concentration of useful elements. you can prepare it in a stew, soup, casserole, omelet, etc. Some of these plants can also be frozen (like the leaves of the holly), they can be salted like vine leaves (tanner leaves), you can make an always handy pesto for pasta and salads from wild herbs with the addition of fried walnuts, some hard cheese and olive oil.
It is convenient to freeze the collected wild fruits immediately. This way, you will make even tastier jams and marmalades from them.
Edible flowers can be sugared, and you can make refreshing juices and syrups from various herbs and flowers (such as mint and corn).
By dipping pine shoots in honey, you can make an excellent cough syrup...
The possibilities are endless, just go for it...
In our guide, we give you some of the basic and our favorite examples of the use of wild medicinal and edible plants, and we wish you a long and rich career as a herb lover.
And more...
BEFORE YOU GO TO THE HARVEST, BE SURE YOU KNOW:
what you need (eg tea to improve digestion)
what do you collect (mint/mint)
when you collect (in bloom, mid-summer)
where do you collect (by the stream)
how do you collect (use scissors to cut 15 cm of the tops)
how much you collect (no more than 30% of the plants you find)
how do you process it (dry in a dark, airy place)
how do you store it (in a closed jar, in a dark place)
additional uses (dry mint leaf as a spice, fresh for
juice and syrup, can be frozen in chocolate to decorate desserts,
it's great in cocktails, in strawberry and lemon sorbet, etc.)
that grasshoppers and spiders especially like mint, so expect to meet them. However, they prefer to live on the lower leaves plants, so you probably won't be taking them home.
prepare everything for processing (at home prepare the space where you will dry plants)
share (some of the collected herbs and made products with family and friends)
make a calendar of herbs you want to collect (how do you wouldn't miss something)
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