04/27/2026
A weekend of spring ephemerals, wild pesto, and seed starting with my apprentices leaves my heart full.
I’ll tell a short story related to my previous video about ethical harvesting of wild ramps.
Yesterday at class, we met people doing a rehabilitation project to remove Japanese Knotweed along the floodplains of the Green River. At first the group leader, who saw us on our plant walk came up to us very defensively, passionately and skeptical of our class.
She met us with the same passion I felt when I saw someone taking ramp roots the other night. She did not know who we were and I could see he concern because I have been there. We listened to her express - then when she paused, I gently said, “yes, we hear you, that is why we are here, to share the ethics of foraging. Not to take and disrupt the delicate ecosystem.”
She asked where we were from and I told her about us. My students were so kind and supportive of her work. By the end we were all laughing and exchanging information to stay in touch.
“We need more people like you sharing this information,” she said to us.
I thanked her for being brave and approaching us. Her voice was very inspiring because she was speaking from a place of protecting the plants.
As she and her group removed Japanese Knotweed, the native plants were coming back! They didn’t even have to plant anything, the roots and seeds were still there under the monocrop of knotweed.
This gives me hope. What if we remove something and before planting new items we wait and see what sprouts up?
A metaphor for life. Pruning back what we don’t want or need and creating space can reveal the rich beauty of who we really are. Speaking up for our plant ancestors is the medicine 🌱
