Self-Sufficient Herbalism. Lucy Jones

such as former industrial sites. If you see plants with stunted growth or affected by die-back, do a bit of research about the land-use history of the area concerned. If your foraging territory includes popular dog-walking areas, you will also need to take care. Eggs from the roundworm parasite (Toxicara) can survive in the soil for many months, long after the dog faeces itself has been washed away or removed.

      A sunken lane in Somerset.

      If you are gathering from stream-or lakesides, be aware of the water quality. If the water looks stagnant, polluted or affected by algal bloom, be suspicious about what lies upstream from where you are. For example, if you are gathering downstream from intensive livestock-rearing holdings, you could be gathering plants affected by the effluent and the chemical agricultural inputs that may have been used on the animals. Plants growing in rural hedgerows or field margins in intensively managed arable areas may have been subjected to applications of herbicides or pesticides. Orchards are especially likely to have been heavily treated with pesticides, unless they are under organic management. While cemeteries and graveyards can be really good for learning about plant identification, they are not a suitable place from which to gather medicines. The soil, and therefore the plants, in graveyards is more likely to be contaminated by toxic substances, including lead and arsenic. I also believe that these locations are unsuitable energetically.

      The view across the North Dorset downs.

      In general, I stick to gathering from along very quiet rural lanes, bridle paths or drove roads, riversides, woodlands or from agricultural areas that I know to be under organic management. I recommend that you get really familiar with your local area. Walk the footpaths and green lanes regularly. Learn what species are present, and observe how the land is managed. Get to know your local organic land-owners, if you can. You may find that they may be very supportive of you foraging medicinal plants from their land, especially if you share the fruit of your labours with them. Aim to build up a mental map of your foraging territory. Make friends with the plants that are growing there. Watch them through their whole life cycle, and see how the population ebbs and flows in different years. If you live in an urban area, walk through and get to know your local green spaces and parks. Do not feel constrained from gathering medicines because you live in a city. The quality of plants gathered from green spaces in cities can be excellent, provided that they are not growing near a very busy road or in an area that is treated with chemicals. You can always supplement your foraging activities by making regular trips to one or two rural areas that you ‘adopt’ and really get to know. Your foraging territory does not have to be where you actually live.

      Regardless of where you choose to forage, try not to encourage too much foraging pressure in one place. I sometimes see people suggesting that sharing exact locations of certain plant populations on apps or social media groups would be a good idea. I find this a bit worrying, because it could draw unsustainable numbers of foragers to particular places, especially if there are scarcer plants growing there. Ideally, each of us will naturally find our own preferred foraging sites, fully understanding that these sites will never be exclusive to us and that others have every right to forage there too. As we get to know our foraging locations, we each build a strong connection with the plants that grow there, and a sense of respect and responsibility naturally arises. This connection cannot be built up if we forage here and there based on map pins posted on social media.

      It is crucial to always make sure that you positively identify the plant or plants that you are gathering. It is a terrible waste to gather a basket of plants only to return home to your identification guide and discover that what you gathered is not what you thought it was. Misidentification is also potentially dangerous. Some medicinal plants have leaves that are rather similar to species that are toxic. Young Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) leaves, which are toxic, can easily be confused with young Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) leaves, for example. One distinction is that Comfrey has a smooth outline to its leaves, whereas Foxglove leaves are slightly serrated. Get to know these differences. Another potential risk is that it is possible to confuse the toxic leaves of Lily-of-the-Valley (Convallaria majalis) or Lords and Ladies (Arum maculatum) with those of Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum). The best way to distinguish between these look-alikes is through using the sense of smell. Never check the identification of a plant species by nibbling it. Wild Garlic leaves smell unmistakable. You can also look closely at the leaves and see that they are, in fact, quite different. Wild Garlic leaves arise from the base of the plant, whereas Lily-of-the-Valley bears two or three leaves on the same stem. Lords and Ladies leaves are a different shape, having downward-pointing lobes on either side of the leaf stalk. You may know these differences very well, but it is still easy to inadvertently include some of the wrong species in your basket if you are not mindful while picking.

      Toxic Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) leaves, left and centre; Comfrey (Symphytum officinalis) leaves, right.

      In both of these examples the potential difficulty arises because at first glance the leaves look alike and the species grow in similar habitats. While the plants are easily distinguished when flowering, there is scope for confusion before they flower. One way around this is to get to know your foraging area throughout the year, so that you have a chance to mentally map the location of medicinal species at a time when they are easily identified. If, for example, you come across a large flowering Comfrey plant, you can make a mental note not only of where it is but also whether there are Foxgloves growing nearby. If there are, you may need to take extra care at the time of gathering, or you may prefer to find a plant or plants that are growing in a less potentially contentious location, until you are more confident of your plant identification.

      Meadowsweet growing along a small river bank.

      It is also important to be able to identify plants in the vicinity of the plants that you wish to gather and to take care appropriately. If you are gathering medicinal plants in areas where poisonous plants are growing, vigilance and mindfulness are absolutely essential. For example, the highly toxic Hemlock Water Dropwort (Oenanthe crocata) often shares a habitat with Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) and tends to flower at the same time of the year. The two species look completely different, but if you are gathering Meadowsweet flowers from such an area, you will need to take great care to avoid inadvertently including seed or leaf fragments from Hemlock Water Dropwort plants in with your harvest. If you are gathering mindfully, you will always be able to avoid including any unwanted species in your basket, but in the case of Meadowsweet and Hemlock Water Dropwort, there is the added risk of poisonous seeds being knocked off the plants into your gathering basket among the Meadowsweet flowers. To be absolutely safe, find areas where the Meadowsweet is not growing interspersed among Hemlock Water Dropwort plants. Definitely do not reach through seeding Hemlock Water Dropwort plants to cut Meadowsweet flowers, and do not leave your basket in a location where seeds may drop or be blown into it.

      Another thing to be aware of is that the sap of Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) can lead to photosensitive reactions, such as blistering and burning of the skin. If your gathering activities involve walking through Giant Hogweed plants, make sure your skin is well covered. It is essential to completely avoid any contact between the plants and your bare skin.

      A swathe of Meadowsweet in flower.

      I certainly do not want to give the impression that foraging is a highly risky activity. It really is not. My intention here is to raise awareness of potential issues. By following the simple guidelines given in this chapter, we can all have the enormous satisfaction of sourcing high-quality, beautiful and safe herbal medicines while connecting with our ancient instinct to gather plants from the wild. We can also feel confident that our wildcrafting activities are not damaging to the environment