Who Are We?
Wild Forager began as an online discussion group April 8, 1999. We began as strangers with common interests, and today are a family that revels in sharing our knowledge and experiences regarding foods and medicines from the natural world all around us. Whether you live in the city or the country, there is a wealth of wild edible (and medicinal) plants at your disposal! We have many recipes, both edible and medicinal, on this site. That being said:
All information is the opinion of the poster and is not meant to be used without proper study and caution by the individual reader.
Why Are We Here?
The best person to describe this for you is Melana Hiatt, our founder:
The funny thing is we are not an herbal or alternative medicine list. We are in all reality a culinary list, aimed at learning how to find, identify, harvest, prepare and preserve edible wild plants and game. Gardening is tossed in as well as many new members feel more comfortable growing their wild edibles for identification rather than take their chances in the wild. Note the inclusion of wild game, thus making us not a vegetarian list either.
Find = zone and region of origin, lore and history, identification web sites and books, ecosystems and microsystems and how they work.
Identify = Again books, web sites, local resources, cautions and comparisons and other references, plant structure terms, Latin origins and names etc.
Harvest = How, when, where, how much, how often, possible need to re-seed and not over harvest. (Monsanto and pesticides fall here as do potential for mis-identification with poisonous plants)
Preserve = drying, freezing, canning, blanch or not to blanch, etc
Prepare = cooking, recipes, books, web sites and books, etc.
Your list mom, is pretty prepared for such a forum having done this sort of thing most of her life but is a totally know-nothing when it comes to herbal medicine, how to make tinctures, how to make salves and especially any real issues about alternative or modern medicine. Just ask Cathy Novack (http://www.wiseweeds.net/)...I was a member of her wonderful group and hardly ever posted..it is , as I said, not my area of knowledge.
I allowed the topic of alternative medicine on the list to 1. learn more in an area that does pique an interest in me and 2. to allow a larger realm of conversation since indeed so many edible wild plants are also herbal medicines and as well so many of our members are also interested in or have knowledge about herbal medicine.
Thus when topics of debate start up on this group about alternative medicine your list mom is ill prepared to take a side, offer an opinion or otherwise moderate the discussion...thus I don't and often I don't read those posts either...I am after all a naturalist not an herbalist and what I know about the alternative medicine field wouldn't fill a thimble.
So, in all reality any discussion of herbal medicine, the differences in attitudes between the main stream medical profession or alternative medicine, and most things dealing with making, using and storing herbal medicine is off topic...as is soap making, candle making, home schooling, hide tanning, dyslexia, and the time of day. All of which are topics we as members of WF have seen batted around in discussion here.
I have not in the past, nor will I in the future, moderate these discussions as OT. I learn and grow and expand my world by breaking down the barriers and allowing a large realm of conversation here on the forum. I will however remind the group (on rare occasions) that we did join this list to learn more about edible wild harvests and when possible that does need to be the focus here.
So that is as clear as I can make it. There is no problem, just a small request to refocus and remember what drew us to WF in the first place. I would no sooner tell you that you cannot discuss herbal medicine here than I would mow my gardens at peek harvest time. ;But I will say that...no we are not an alternative medicine or herbal list...we are a culinary list aimed at learning more about the wild plants around us and herbal discussion is not the main focus but rather an off branch that ties into the main focus same as crafts and toiletries and many other topics we see here.
Melana Hiatt
Why Have An Archive Site?
Through the years, we have had three incarnations: Ediblewild, Wildforager, and finally Wildforager2. Through the mutliple server moves and ownership changes, we archived (thanks to many diligent members) all of our messages. It is much easier to search this site than for current members to recieve YEARS of re-posts.
There are members that we have lost along the way, who contributed enormous amounts of knowledge and creativity that we do not want to lose. The archive site will start out holding messages, recipes, and information from 1999 to 2002, when we began the current Yahoogroup.
After I finish with those years, my goal will be to incorporate information from the current group. This is all very time consuming, so please be patient.
What Are Our Goals?
Our goals with this archive site are to preserve the best Wildforager members have offered throughout the years. Included are various articles on specific plants, edible recipes, medicinal recipes, harvesting information, and more.
All photos featured on this site are the copyrighted property of May Lattanzio - Used By Permission. To purchase a copy of these or any of her other photos, please visit her website:May Lattanzio.
Wild Forager Web Ring [ Join Now | Ring Hub | Random | << Prev | Next >> ]