Wildcrafting ??

[Guest guest]

Yo David .. other good folks ..

 

I'm leaving the top side so folks who missed the post will know from

whence we came.

 

> I want to encourage you to get some of that Chocolate Peppermint too!

> Would love to have some more of that hydrosol and try the EO.

> And welcome to the group.

>

> Now, not meaning to be a snotty nosed kid, but how does one wildcraft

> herbs that aren't native to the region?

> David Roman

 

How does one wildcraft anything? Seems to me if we get involved then it

ain't wild no more - huh?

 

On this " wildcrafting " .. long ago I searched for a defination of this

term .. but can't find one that is legitimate .. if someone can give me

some help it would be appreciated. Referencing someone's web site can't

be considered legitimate - but y'all knew that - huh?

 

I think it might be a term coined in Aromatherapy by some writer and it

caught on .. maybe I'm wrong. It most likely caught on cause it could

give a reader (or customer) the impression that the seller or distiller

in some way was responsible for crafting something.

 

Some folks claim that the harvest of wild plants used in preparing their

oils was conducted in an earth friendly manner .. more buzz words that

folks in this industry love to see cause it gives them warm fuzzies

about communing with Mama Nature. Sorta like the Jewish folks do with

Kosher and the Moslems with Hilal .. we were real nice to that sheep

afore we split his throat and spilled his blood in a sacrifice of some

sort .. or just for general eatin' purposes. God/Allah is not gonna get

upset cause we did it perzackly according the way it is written.

 

Looking up the words " wild " and " crafting " gives us a laundry list of

uses .. but methinks none of them have much to do with the harvest or

distillation of plants that are growing uncultivated or untended in the

wild. Earth Friendly ain't made it into my dictionaries yet .. but I'm

thinking it will be in those published in the future .. we gotta dance

with the times and with those who are into the esoteric and wanna give

the impression that they are not only altruistic in their dealings with

two-laigs and four-laigs .. but also with plants and such.

 

Problem is .. its mostly hawgwash .. like being nice to the sheep afore

cutting his throat. I am not saying that plants are not aware of what

is happening to them .. quite to the contrary. I won't go into the

particulars of my religious leanings though some of you have learned the

details in off line discussions .. I believe the Great Everywhere Spirit

honors plants and wild critters. The hawgwash comes in if folks try to

give the impression that the plants were harvested with tender loving

care by virgins in long flowing veils whilst asking forgiveness from the

plants and chanting Hari Krishna.

 

Its not impossible for one who is running their own 15 gallon Table Top

Still to do this. But it is NOT done in the commercial preparation of

essential oils! Because:

 

1. The lion's share of ALL essential oils are produced for, using the

standards established by, and sold to .. various commercial entities

that use essential oils .. NOT aromatherapists. AT uses somewhere

betwixt 3-5% of of various EOs produced .. more of some and less of

others. Mint, for example .. somewhere around 99% of mint is purchased

by the Food Industry .. Lavender and Rose .. by Perfumery manufacturers;

Oregano, Rosemary and Sage .. by the Food and Pharmaceutical companies,

and on and on.

 

2. Fiscal responsibility in commercial operations is not going to be

set aside for esoteric beliefs.

 

3. Almost all wild plants are harvested by villagers .. and though this

term might bother some Americans .. its the term used in the Third World

to describe them .. peasants .. and they are proud of being so. These

peasants harvest wild plants to pick up a bit of hard cash to supplement

their subsistence farming lifestyle. I've seen it in Turkey, Greece and

Tunisia. I'm told it is that way in many other countries. In Turkey

the law is clear .. only the peasants can harvest wild crops from public

lands .. and there is a lot of public land. These peasants don't give a

fiddler's damn about how the plants are harvested .. try to get them to

do it differently and they think you are some kinda weirdo .. course,

they think that anyway. ;-p

 

So .. back to the original point .. I had to get sidetracked cause I'm

thinking the above needed to be said. What is wild crafting? Or for

that matter .. what is wild? I'm thinking that the only crafting we

will find involving wild plants is at the still .. I'm thinking that

wild is simply a plant or critter that is growing without help from

human critters. I'm thinking there is no need to complicate this. We

have enough words for it now .. feral and such .. them that were once

wild were tamed and then returned to the wild.

 

As for plants being native having to do with their agro-class .. I'm

thinking there is no relation whatsoever. Many plants that originated

in Syria have slowly (like thousands of years) creeped along the Med

Coast until they can now be found in Western Turkey. The Origanums all

began in this part of the world .. Syria and Iran and Iraq and Turkey

and Greece .. same with most of the Salvias and Lavandulas. But now we

can find them growing wild all over the world.

 

How long does it take for a plant to be considered " native? " I have no

idea but I reckon the botanists might have some formula for that. Anya

or someone who is more knowledgeable in botanical matters might help us

on the plant questions. For that matter, how long does it take critters

and two-laigs to become native? We consider the American Indian as

being Native American but we know he migrated from Asia. Was a time we

found no Honey Bees in North America .. or horses. Lots of wild ones

running around now though. What about tobacco .. its easy to trace the

origins but when does it become native to a particular region .. same

for bananas, potatoes, tomatoes and the many plants that grow wild in

the USA now but were once cultivated .. after being brought to the New

World by folks from Europe.

 

I was just rambling .. but it was a fun trip for me. ;-p

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch http://www.AV-AT.com