I was so glad I went! The Olympia Free Herbal Clinic organized their second annual Dandelion Seed Conference and fundraising adventure. I was lucky to obtain a scholarship to attend (although the entry fee is affordable compared to most conferences). I didn't know anyone there but ran into a tea seller (Bird's Eye Tea) I sometimes chat with at the University District Farmer's Market. She told me some of her stories about wildcrafting acorns, or driving to southern Oregon to harvest pine nuts, except there were none. That and Saturday's keynote, Heron Brae, “Beyond Ethical Wildcrafting: Remembering Our Human Place in the World”, who shared photos from her wild food foraging excursions while living off the grid -- I found most inspiring. She talked about the importance of giving back to the earth, such as replanting, or helping plants reseed themselves, for all that we consume of them.
One month ago I picked up The Front Yard Forager by Melany Vorass-Herrera at the library, and just started looking through it. There are some plants listed such as dandelion and clover that I am familiar with (I tried making dandelion fritters once) and many that I have yet to learn. Her basic claim is - why go out of your way to buy produce that has less nutrient value, is less fresh, and has more pesticides than the food you can harvest right in your neighborhood. I've always felt reluctance toward harvesting plants right in the heart of Seattle thinking they're polluted from the air, traffic, and other sources. She says to stay away from railways, but otherwise just to give the plants a good washing. Most of her recipes contain other ingredients you buy from the store though.
So you can't base your entire diet off wildcrafting, but there's value in rekindling your relationship to the plants around you. I suppose it would be good for me to be familiar with most of the plants I walk by in my day to day. So that is the big seed the conference has planted for me in the time that has followed.
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