You are NOT an herbalist until……

[IdahoHerbalist]

you have dug balsam root in the middle of a November snow storm! :yahoo:

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[IdahoHerbalist]

And this was our haul….

On the left is the infamous balsam root.

On the way down the snow stopped and the rain decreased so we did some more snooping around.

In the bucket you can see some elder berries that I picked. The leaves were all gone so I went for the berries. Most were way too far gone but I did find some to make a tincture with. They were mostly HIGH up in the trees and it was obvious that many pickers had been by. I could see evidence of inconsiderate pickers as there were many broken branches.

By the time we were done with the elder berries the rain had stopped. :clap:

The pile that looks like a bunch of wet stogies is BURDOCK root. It was easy to dig but as usual, I probably only got about a quarter of the root, especially for the larger ones. I think I got most of the smaller ones. I am starting to like the smaller as the larger ones start to get a flaky root bark that needs to be cleaned off.

Also in the bucket is a couple or three cups of juniper berries. Every place we stopped the BLUE berries were in such small numbers that it was not worth the effort. I was just going to get some from down here then….. as we were pulling out of a camp site where I dug the burdock root I saw LOTS of BLUE berries out of the corner of my eye. I seem to find lots of stuff that way. That is how I found two sites of licorice in the last year. (Yes, Patrick, I have forgotten to tell you about the second find! :face palm 2: )

The light colored roots are TEASEL!!!!! Mostly pretty small roots but there were a couple of large ones. Got some at the burdock site and some in another location.

In the napkin on the right are what I think were the last holdouts of GUMWEED flower in the county. Maybe 10 flowers.

I will be starting a new thread soon on the processing station for veggies and herbs that you see in the picture. It is not quite done as I need to fill the cinder blocks with concrete. One thing confirmed that as one of the burdock roots fell to the bottom of one of the channels and I had to use by long grabber to retrieve it.

Great adventure, great finds. Wish you could have been there Patrick and Loriann. :poke:

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[Dr. Patrick JonesHomestead Instructor]

OK, I’ll concede the trophy for Most Committed Herbalist to you this round. :notworthy: But just you wait. Soon I’ll be harvesting rose hips in the snow…and they have thorns! :flapper:

Looks like you got a good haul and had a good time. Wildcrafting is always fun.

Patrick

Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.

[IdahoHerbalist]

OK, tough guy! :clap:

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