Eugene weekly., September 07, 2017, Page 12, Image 12

soil in the wild has fewer nutrients leached out than the
farmed soils in which plants are harvested year after year.
The three Columbines instructors bring their students
back to the same plots year after year, Brounstein
explains, and then requires that those students develop
their own plots and not return to the ones the school uses.
This lets the wildcrafters see the effects of their harvest
over time. It’s about the relationship with the place, Yea-
ger says.
Brounstein cautions against “herb lust” — when some-
one gets excited and picks more than they can use. Soon a
patch is depleted, but the wildcrafter can’t even begin to
process what was gathered and the plant goes to waste, as
well as having a reduced presence in the wild.
Some plots have been killed by overpicking, Broun-
stein says. And he recommends that, when harvesting
from a stand, pickers adhere to a 1-in-10 ratio leaving
enough plants behind to continue reproducing in the wild
and for the wildlife. He rarely harvests more than one
percent of a stand, he says.
Brounstein recommends beginners harvest plants like
blackberries and dandelions — the same invasives Níc an
Fhleisdeir suggests — because they are not easily dam-
aged or eliminated. Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is
another example of a hard-to-kill yet useful plant.
Looking at Brounstein’s checklist for wildcrafting, I
wonder if “herb lust” is related to his directive to have a
“proper emotional state” when wildcrafting. It’s not hip-
pie-dippie, he assures me.
Just as a rock climber should be in the right state of
mind before a climb, a wildcrafter can do harm, or do
themselves harm, by not being in the right state of mind.
You might misidentify a plant, not find what you are look-
ing for, or get so excited when you do find what you were
looking for that you don’t step back and realize there’s a
better stand nearby, or you might not pay attention to what
you are doing, fall and get hurt.
Oregon grape is a plant the Brounstein uses often in his
teaching. Its spiny leaves and purple berries are native,
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September 7, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com
HERON BRAE IS ONE
OF THE INSTRUCTORS
OF COLUMBINES SCHOOL
OF BOTANICAL STUDIES
abundant and useful. “Howie has done a lot to popularize
it,” Brae says.
And Brounstein cheerfully admits there might be as
much as six hours of lecture on the plant, from how to
identify it, to how to harvest it, protect its ecosystem,
process it and use it.
Oregon grape root has antimicrobial qualities, he
explains. And the plant that has properties that can
replace those of plants that have been overharvested. Both
goldenseal and Oregon grape’s rhizome (underground
stem) contains bright-yellow berberine, which recent
studies have shown to enhance the effects of antibiotics
used against drug-resistant MRSA.
Brountstein extolls Oregon grape root’s uses: a salve
for infections, a medicine for internal infections, a bitter
(a digestive stimulant), a liver stimulant, and helpful for
colds and flus.
n
There are many schools of thought when it comes to
wildcrafting and herbalism — some try to emulate Native
American plant uses, while others like Níc an Fhleisdeir
focus on European plants and invasives, and yet others,
like Brounstein and the Columbines School, build on
years of plant studies. There are also those who believe
the plants can “tell” them their uses. But despite the vari-