Wild Crops - Eco Friendly, Healthy Wild Foods

Wild Crops - Eco Friendly, Healthy Wild Foods

Wild crops.com is our certified organic wild crops farm in MO.We produce certified organic witch hazel and 100% chemical free wild plant essential oil and hydrosols.

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• Our Work With Wild Lands and Native Forest Systems in sustainable wild harvests (254)
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• News: The American pine nut forecast 2010 source: pinenut.com
• Where to buy hickory nuts farm direct
• American pine nut shelling facilities
• Seeing Community Leadership : Getting truth about biomass energy
• No relief for high prices for imported pine nuts
• Food Chain Radio asks "What Wild Foods Do You Miss?" - listen to the show
• Wild Harvesters are producers see USDA: 7 C.F.R. § 4284.3 Definitions
• "George's Distillation in a Hot Pot - Essential Oils and Floral Water made on your kitchen stove."
• DIY DISTILLATION UNITS - How to make a simple distillation unit in your kitchen For Kate
• Organic farmers use of wild food plants and fungi in a hilly area in Styria (Austria)
• Penny's Pine Nuts - Shelled American Pine Nuts are here!
• Persimmon Leaf Tea - A life saver for allergies - herbal help for hay fever and other allergies
• More...

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Our Work With Wild Lands and Native Forest Systems in sustainable wild harvests

• Curious George's strange gardening in a drawer / Community Mushroom Garden Party Favors

  Here it is, about 4 months after Jake led our community mushroom garden training. We have myselium. Lots and lots and lots of it. George had taken it from its hiding place; much of it has been there since the mushroom party. I call it "Curious George's Very Strange Garden." It grows in dark, in a drawer . To visit his garden, George opens a special dining room drawer - where else would one grow myselium and we can see several kinds of mushrooms, seeding before our eyes - in mostly small plastic baggies.

  

  The small bags from Curious George's garden

  However, George being George,tried his special growing medium of late. He looked the sterile bio mass from a distillation of plant to use as a growing medium. He thought there might be something special in it as feeding ground for helpful mushroom species. The myselium (we are talking giant zip lock baggie, used to store blankets under the bed)took off. Jake inspected our progress on all our species. We all felt completely great and very proud of the second phase of the mushroom garden. We had critical mass for more plugs. Glory be

  

  Another small sample of the mushroom garden in the drawer. I am not including a picture of the MEGA spore.

  The Lion's Mane did not make it, but 5 other species have thrived. We have sort of been talking with Eric about a training for young people. Maybe, we will be able to get it together for the youngsters to make mushroom logs for our market.

  Matt, the scientific glass blower who fabricated the extra large glass still (we use this for major test runs of new materials, or non-certified products - like Lori's Dill) has good myselium as well. Jake had mixed success with his starts and we not sure about Eric and Crystal's yet. But, all told - there is critical mass in George's very curious garden in the buffet drawer.

  
• Retooling for Green, Local Enterprise and our new still

  We went to a program the other night, called "The Well Fed Neighbor" Glen went on sometime about the need to reinvent manufacturing.

  Glen said,"People use to depend on well made tools. If you have to buy a hand crafted tool from a local blacksmith or machine shop and it costs you 10 times as much, do it."

  We could not agree more. Cheaply manufactured tools break and you end up buying ten. There is nothing like having a tool break in the middle of the job. When all of our jobs went overseas, so did the tooling. To rebuild our entrises, we must retool our country.

  

  Our new, custom, locally made distiller for wild floral water distillation in Missouri. Locally harvested flowers, locally distilled, in a locally manufactured (HIGH QUALITY) still

  We have been looking at distillation units for years and own several types. We want the best tools money can buy. We want the best product we can produce. I would dare any other regional farm producer to match what we have going with product quality.

  

  Essential oil of Mondarda Fistulosa distilled today. We have both hydrosol and E.O. to offer from our small farm in the Ozarks

  Hand harvested flowers,handled properly, slow steam distilled in GLASS, no chemical overflow between products, easily sanitized.

  

  Another of Matt's custom created distillation units for small scale producers.

  Matt at Riverbend worked with George every step of the way to design this custom unit for A Wild Crops Farm. http://www.riverbendglassblowing.com/About_the_Artist.html We are really proud of that. We can tell you, where the flowers were picked, by whom, when and when each and every item was distilled. Where else in the entire world can a aromatherapist or herbal practioner find that kind of information? Matt is an incredible asset to our community and he will build you an awesome still. We chose this type because those copper stills don't have seperate biomass chambers and tossing the water in to the pot didn't work for us. When I ask specific questions about the biomass chamber, I got snooty replies. I never buy anything from people who send snooty replies. Matt is an awesome artist and there is no snooty about him. Thanks Matt

  
• Roasting Nut:s: A do it yourself guide

  Simple steps: (a guide for dumbies)
  Don't get too hot too quick.
  Be sure you washed them, first.
  Know when to stir and turn over.
  Pull them out when they are done.

  Picture Guide to home roasting pine nuts

  http://www.pinenut.com/roast.pdf

  
• Seeing Community Leadership : Getting truth about biomass energy

  Today's post are excerpts of a article in the Salem News by John Hambacker, a retired Salem High School science teacher who has spent time the past few months studying the possibility of a biomass facility that would produce electricity for Salem, MO. Thanks to the Salem Mo. News for printing his story. I have clipped some parts of the story of Dr. Hambacker. He asked questions and did the right thing for our community. Basically, this retire science teacher was invested enough in our community to investigate the impact using forest feedstock for the generation of power. I am really proud and inspired by his work.

  The company presenting the proposal to the Salem City Council, is Proenergy, a company working mainly in countries known for corruption and exploitation of people and natural resources. The company presented a "folksy, down home two page outline" to the City Council as a proposal. It was a deliberate attempt to pass themselves off as "backwoods - just like you." Snake oil salesmen, I tell you! The countries that Proenergy operates in were listed on the front page of its website, until recently. Suddenly, Proenergy is not that proud of its operations in Ghana,Venezuela,Mexico,Argentina,Panama,
  Pakistan. Now for John Hambacker thoughts on biomass, forest fueled power in Salem MO.

  For 39 years my science club students participated in all kinds of outdoor activities, and I can only hope I instilled in them a better understanding of our immediate environment and the role each of us plays as stewards of this land, so that future generations might enjoy what we adults experienced in our youth. This involvement with nature has caused me to become very interested in the possible placement of a biomass electrical generating plant in Salem's industrial park.

  The Biomass Generator plant met with some of the wood industries in our area.They presented water usage: 300,000 gallon per day. Second the number given for wood usage had changed to 325,000 green tons per year. ProEnergy was no longer interested in residual wood - now in round wood. ProEnergy was no longer interested in slabs. Since the charcoal industry had commented about their industry's 125 jobs potentially vanishing if ProEnergy came to town.

  I calculated the amount of money ProEnergy would receive based on 10 cents per KWh and began to wonder where we were going to get the money necessary to run our police and park departments, which in the past had come from the residual remaining from citizens' electrical payments to our city.

  I looked at the efficiencies of producing electricity using coal, wind, solar, nuclear and biomass and asked why biomass when other methods are not only more efficient but some are also much cleaner? I even did calculations where I tried to determine how many KWh we could produce using the gasoline and diesel fuel used by the loggers bringing the biomass material into the industrial park plant. The only calculation I could not perform, was the waste products f the charcoal plants use a high percentage of slabs. ProEnergy said they did not want the slabs because they have a high bark content. I began to wonder about other sawyers and their saleable wood products. Read more about citizen issues with forest fuled biomass power generation.

  
• Wild Crops Farm Documenting Sustainabilty
  

  This is our bottom. The land stair steps up in 3 levels. Most of the time, the bottoms are cleared for grazing. The forest here is pretty young and along the edges of the hollar thick with young stick like trees.

  Its been raining for 4 days and the news is filled with stories of floods in the Ozark. First chance we had, we took off in the woods with our camera.
  We finished our application for wild crops certification on this property. I haven't counted the species on our list, but I used www.ifcae.org data base to research the Non Timber or Special Forest Products that COULD be here. Then, as we harvest we photograph, pre harvest, during harvest and post harvest. This is the only way that an inspector can really monitor the wild crop harvest together with the daily harvest log. The daily harvest log is a journal that show how much was harvested where. This is how an organic certifier can determine that the harvest comes from the property and meets the sustainability criteria.

  
• "George's Distillation in a Hot Pot - Essential Oils and Floral Water made on your kitchen stove."
  

  A distillation unit for essential oils made in a crock pot by George Frazier with his RDU (redneck distillation unit) From A Wild Crops Farm distiller of native species from the Ozarks

  Simple stovetop distillation
  Parts list:
  1 stainless steel pan with lid (at least 3 quart, the larger the better)
  1 stainless steel colander or strainer that fits inside the pan (flat bottom or can be flattened)
  1 small Pyrex ™ container (the smaller in diameter the better, it just gets a little harder to drip into the narrower container but easier to recover the EO)
  Several cups of ice
  1 gallon of distilled water (more if you have a larger pan)
  The plant material you wish to distill
  Turkey basting syringe
  Medicine dropper

  

  Simple, do it yourself, stove top distillation unit for making your own essential oils and floral waters. POWER TO THE PLANTS

  Instructions:
  Place the biomass into pan cover with distilled water
  Place the colander into the pan over the biomass
  Place the catch container on top of colander in the center
  Place the pan lid inverted on pan (at this point you can turn on the stove)
  Turn stove on high, wait to apply ice until water starts to heat, but before it starts to boil (too soon and the ice melts, too late and you waste some EO)
  As the water starts to heat and small bubbles distillation will start, bring to a medium boil then simmer.
  Try not to run the pan dry.
  A turkey basting syringe can remove water from the lid so more ice can be added.
  Remember, your glass container is in a hot environment, EXTREAM CAUTION SHOULD BE USED!
  Use medicine dropper to suck the oil off the top, you’ll get some water with it but just let it separate, drip the water off the bottom then drip off the oil in a smaller container. Another tool is the separatory funnel
  Hint:
  When procuring a pan, look for one that the lid is also SS. If you can, check to see if the lid will fit tightly upside down (invert the lid on the pan). Try to get a lid with a SS handle, not plastic. The lid should be dome shaped to get best results.

  

  One of the cute little distillation units people make at our distillation seminar. It uses an insulated condenser, that people build themselves when taking George Frazier's class

  The crock pot still is my favorite. George built the condensor and did the distillation to prove it could be done. The crock pot is the type with a hole in the lid. Maybe, we will get some more guest post from The G. Man.

  
• 100% pure WHOLE persimmon leaves Product of USA.

  There seems to be several resources emerging for persimmon tea blends and we are proud to have been the first in the United States to produce persimmon leaf teas.

  

  We are a different kind of farm here. Everything we produce has been wild harvested. The persimmon leaves come from our wild lands in the Ozarks. That parcel of land was certified USDA wild crop, but we did not add it to our certification in 2009. It really doesn't matter because, we handle everything the same way, regardless of certification. I have known those trees for 11 years. That land, as well as other lands we work upon is as clean as one person can keep it. You have to start with good land, to have good products.

  We have good food handling processes and storage, we pick plant material cleanly and well away from any roadways, in fact, I cannot think of anything we have harvested, or handled where it wasn't land we knew well.We use essential oils (some we make ourselves) to clean and keep away pests. Our facility is inspected by a USDA representative through certification agent yearly.
  
  Then, we think about the processing - we think the less the better. Tea leaf chipped up into tea bag and sized serving may look nice and tidy. There is a price for the processing. The finer the herb is ground, the more of the active ingredients are lost. One who drinks with pleasure and purpose drinks freshly prepared tea made from whole leaf, crumbled in the strainer and placed in freshly boiled water, still steaming.

  We sell whole leaf. One crushes it up, wafting the aroma into a the strainer. Immerse leaf into water and plant essenes unfolds. Here with our persimmon magic the phyto chemicals are released in a your cup and the result is a 100 % pure natural product, with a purpose - many purposes.

  

  A harvester inspects the recently harvested wild harvested Native American persimmon leaf. Persimmon Leaf in Licking Mo 65542

  We tell you the persimmon leaf's story and offer the hands which picked it, the places we work, the season of the year, and the manner of picking. We work with a plan and toward a partnership with wild plants in our forests. We try to make it profitable, so other landowners will keep their native plants and value them. In our desire to protect species we look to ways to help make them profitable to people. It makes as much, if not more sense now, than when we started with the idea 14 years ago.

  We are very proud of Persimmon leaf tea, our witch hazels, our wild nuts and other items. We are telling a story in using the land, the native plant systems while producing items that keep ecosystems in tact. We strive to keep it whole and healthy. That is something to be proud of.

  
• 20 lbs of plum flowers for plum flower essence- awesome!!!!!!!!!
  

  Think 8 foot screen door, think flowers piled 8 inches, think spring and the smells that define the earth as it awakens from winter. It is a beautiful awakening and a beautiful product of love and nature.

  
• 2008 American Pine Nut Harvest - Pinon Nuts

  Its getting to be pine nut harvest time and everyone is getting restless. Yes, there will be a pinon nut harvest in 2008. I am not going to give anything away, on our blog at this time. BUT, look at www.pinonnuts.org for information about viable harvest areas in the Southwestern United States. Looks like there is a good harvest in certain places, like.....oh, almost slipped, see www.pinonnuts.org for info on 2008 harvesting areas.

  

  Pinon Penny's pine nuts. These are Nevada Pinon Nuts. THere will be a 2008 harvest. More information available!
  
• 2009 American U.S. PIne Nut Harvest Information

  2009 American (Pinyon / Pinon ) Pine Nut Harvest Information
  

  

  See for yourself which American Species of Pine Nuts (Pinyon Pinon, Pinos ) is the best. Pictured P. Monophylla, a cross, P.Edulis

  
  (Right to harvest) Public Auction for USFS:

  Sealed Bids taken starting 8/4 and the bid opening is 8/14 at the Humboldt - Toiyabe Ely Ranger Station. There are 9 forest areas to bid upon and the estimate on each exceeds 2 tons, total projected wild pine nut crop 20 tons.

  Generally harvesters bid .25 lb to the government for the right to pick pine nuts.

  Questions can be addressed by the Ely Ranger Station 775-289-3031 or the Tonopah Office 7750482-7890

  NV BLM
  50 areas, 1 ton minimum bid .25 lb each unit . Contact Zach Peterson District Forester Ely BLM . Oral auction and bidding 9 am August 11.

  This is in addition to the areas offered by the Utah BLM notices posted below. For ordering American Pinyon Pine Nuts please contact penny@pinenut.com

  
• 2009 Pinon (P.Edulis) Pine Nuts - YES! A Harvest of fresh pinon nuts

  As I previouosly wrote, the pine cones turned brown and aborted from the trees about 1 month ago in major pine nut producing lands in New Mexico. The Arizona forest especially the Carson National forest had just been devistated by IPS beetles. Yet, there is a harvest coming from Arizona. Goods From The Woods will have hard shelled New Mexico Pinon Pine Nuts in 2009. Yes!!

  

  Yahoo Arizona comes back. I did not think it would happen, but we have a harvest of P.Edulis

  Other news in the 2009 world of pine nuts. I got this email from Italy about P.Pinea:

  I was doing a research in internet to see if others countries like mine have had or have problems about insects on the pine cones trees.I live in Italy (near Rome) and we have a big problem in all the Italy from about 5-6 years.Happen that an insect called leptoglossus occidentalis damage all the pine cones causing a deficit of crop about 80-90% all the years.In the past we had a big quantity of crop but now the situation it is catastrophic. My question is this:can you help us?Have you had in the past this problem?

  Public Response:

  In the 16th Century one of the popes issued a decree that everyone was to plant pine trees for nut orchards. That is one of the reasons so many pine nuts came from Italy. I request, the Pope and the Church to issue a current decree for all the world to plant the pine tree species that will produce food for humans and animals. We need trees all over the world.They hold in the water and cool the soil. A forest is below the ground, as well as above. I use to make a joke about raising cosmic conscious with nuts from a town in MO called Licking. I thought it was in Tom Robbins words, "the ultimate cosmic goof." It is really no - joke, to tell people -plant trees everywhere that produce food. A forest is a terrible thing to lose.
  On our organic farm in MO we have started planting butter nuts. Of course, our farm is a forest - certified organic wild crop forest and we do our best to show everyone, how to keep their forest. The best way to keep the land, the native plants, is to use them. The pinyon trees are very, very special to us. I was so glad to hear they produced / reproduced (as the pine nut is a seed). I am grateful for this harvest.

  
• 2009 Where to pick Pinyon Pine Nuts for personal use
  

  See for yourself which American Species of Pine Nuts (Pinyon Pinon, Pinos ) is the best. Pictured P. Monophylla, a cross, P.Edulis

  This was published in the Ely News, http://www.elynews.com/articles/2009/09/17/news/news13.txt#blogcomments Good information on harvesting pinyon nuts this year at Great Basin National Park for personal use. NICE STORY....but, Nevada Pinyon pine nuts, in this expert's opinion are by far the better of the American pine nut species. It is bigger, sweeter, easier to peal. The NM nuts just became better known because there were people who commericalized that harvest and a Trading Post system that got those nuts to market. Nevada has the hidden, food treasure of America, the Jumbo Great Basin Pinyon Pine nut. The best pine nut in the world.

  
• 22,000 tons of wild foods harvest in Alaska yearly

  One thing we stress on a regular basis is the scope of wild harvest. In the American Herbal Association Tonnage report, one sees the amazing amounts of yearly wild harvest for American Wild Botanicals. Rarely, do I ever see documentation of wild food harvests. This article from the Tundra Drums caught my eye

  

  Why is it that public land managers continue to think in terms of board feet for our forests?

  The Federal Subsistence Management Program quotes, "Subsistence fishing and hunting provide a large share of the food consumed in rural Alaska." The state’s rural residents harvest about 22,000 tons of wild foods each year – an average of 375 pounds per person.

  A 2004 Report on the Status of Alaska Natives by the University of Alaska Institute for Social and Economic Research indicates that our people in Western Alaska consume 640 pounds of wild food per capita. Fish makes up about 60 percent of this harvest.

  
• 45,000 tons of medicinal plants to Germany alone

  Each year, 45,000 tons of medicinal plants are used in Germany -- more
  than in any other European country. But this booming business also creates
  problems for species preservation.

  

  Drugs made from medicinal plants have become ever more popular among
  doctors and patients in Germany in recent years. Around 75 percent of
  customers in German pharmacies reach for a natural product when they buy
  non-prescription medications. In 2006, so-called phytopharmaceuticals
  accounted for around 2 billions euros ($2.9 billion) worth of revenue, or
  about a third of the total revenue in non-prescription medications. That
  translates into a high demand for the raw materials for these products --
  medicinal plants and their leaves, flowers, roots, and seeds.
  http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3106747,00.html

  My question- how many of our native plants end up overseas? What would be the value to our wild lands if these were certified wild crop organic harvests?

  
• A Wild Crops Farm hosts Distillation Workshops - DIY - wild harvest, make your distillation unit and distill your own herbs

  A Wild Crops Farm is pleased to announce that we will be hosting workshop for home distillers during the summer of 2010 on our farm.

  

  How to make your own essential oils and hydrosols at home workshop at A Wild Crops Farm with George Frazier. Everyone will leave having made their own distiller, wild harvesting and making their own distillate.

  We will cover the theory and mechanics of distillation, everyone will make their own distillation units as well as explore other simple tools for in home distillation. We will harvest native plants from either A Wild Crops Farm, or at one of the farms in our network, distilling whatever herb is in season. This is a tenative schedule distillations

  Workshops are limited to a max of 12 participants.

  May 22 and May 23 (5 partcipants)

  June 5-6 Yarrow (5 partcipants)
  June 5-6 - Mondarda Braderianna, (5 partcipants)
  June 26 - 27 July Elderflowers,
  July 10 - 11 Mondarda Fistulosa

  fallback harvests,in case of harvest failure:

  native pine
  wild mints
  witch hazel

  We will help participants learn about distilling native plant species, together with garden herbs. Everyone will do a hands on wild harvest of medicinal herbs, which will be distilled in the distillers participants have made earlier in the session. Proper handling of herbal harvesting, wild crafting ethics, plant identification, native plant restoration principals will all be taught at the certified organic wild crop distillary, in addition to distillation theory and mechanics. Everyone will leave having made a distiller, harvested plant material, distill using their own device, and wash up their glass ware.

  Two Day Workshop Price $245.00
  Material Fee $50.00

  Salem Mo
  please email wild@wildcrops.com for the more information.

  
• A Wild Crops Organic Farm Inspection - prepare

  Our wild crops farm in Missouri is certified organic by Oregon Tilth . While they are expensive, we went with their service because we believe their seal means a great level of organic integrity. On Tuesday April 6th our farm will be inspected and we are getting ready for that inspection. There are two levels of certification here. One for processing and one for production. Processing looks beautiful. George has everything sparkling .

  Our lifestyle is organic, so day to day, there is little to be concerned about. I threw out the bleach and replaced it w/ dingier and hydrogen peroxide a long time ago. I see ants, I get out the sugar and the yeast, whip my homemade insecticide right up. Mice and rodents - we spent $250.00 on our essential oils for repelling them. We will go through 1/2 gallon of peppermint oil over the course of the year. I like living organically and even threw out shampoo. I keep soap nuts and mix in my e.o.s. and use a lot of olive oil for conditioner. I think we do a pretty dog gone, good job of taking care of the land and ourselves without resorting to toxins.

  Getting ready for inspection, means double checking our records and making copies. Our harvest records are excellent. Each harvest has been properly documented, each run of the distiller has been documented, the product created has been properly noted and the sales of the product, all faithfully recorded. Each clean out, each application of e.o., each wash down, wash up, all put to paper. We are ready.

  
• Absolute Green Wash: "Sustainably Wild Crafted"

  There are any number of herb sellers who label products "Sustainably Wild Crafted". Frankly, I am tried of the deception. Here is how the botanical market works:
  There are a handful of large buyers. Representatives from these companies put out fliers stating that they will be in an area at xyz town square or parking lot to buy.
  The buyers have the harvesters sign a form that says the item is "organic" and sustainably wild crafted. The harvester signs it. END OF STORY.
  These herbs are marketed to wholesale companies that sell herbal products. Many are shipped over seas. The global market for medicinal plants is in excess of 400,000 tons. Somewhere in this blog there is a post about Germany's consumption of herbal products. It is an amazing amount of tonnage to that country alone. Unless an item is certified, who checks? NO ONE. NO ONE. What has me up in arms is the news article below the image.

  

  Around 15,000 species are under threat from pollution, over-harvesting and habitat loss, including Himalayan Yew, known as a source of anti-cancer drugs. The decimation of the plants is not only leading to a loss of traditional knowledge but could prevent a breakthrough in treating conditions like migraines, fever and even cancer.

  Plantlife have compiled a report on the best way to protect plants for the future, following a three-year study of projects around the world involving medicinal plants. Projects included developing medicinal first aid kits in Uganda, establishing China's first ever community nature reserve for wild medicinal plants and promoting the cultivation of medicinal plants by local farmers in Nepal.

  Alan Hamilton, the author of the report, said protecting medicinal plants is not only important for human health but for the surrounding ecosystem.

  He said: "Focusing on medicinal plants has the potential to be a major motivating force behind nature conservation. Improving health, earning an income and maintaining cultural traditions are important to us all – wherever we live – and all three are involved in motivating people to conserve medicinal plants, and thus the habitats where they grow."

  For full story, please see:

  www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/4162311/Medicinal-plants-in-danger-of-dying-out-according-to-conservationists.html

  I am pretty tired of companies that post terms like "sustainably wild harvested" while they don't have a clue where the material was harvested, by whom, or how. If you happen to buy from a company with such a label, please ask "how do you know?" Certification of Organic Wild Crops, properly preformed will help save these plants by creating better value to landowners than cutting down the forest. There is one noteworthy exception, Moon Branch Botanicals. That is because Robin is passionate about the responsibility we humans have. Don't let the green washers fool you, demand certified herb products.

  
• All Natural Beauty and Sharambrosia

  Origins had invited us to give this distillation and we are excited about certified organic cosmetics entering into the American mainstream. I looked over their website and saw it to be encouraging. Yet, I think there are outstanding pioneers doing work for women in health and beauty. Sharon has been encouraging us and supporting our native plant work for about 2 years. She has a way of finding real people working at creating healthy products for a healthier world. We are very glad to have friends like her! She published this article about our work and made us, stop working to take a good photo for her publication.

  www.wildcrops.com and www.pinenut.com" title="" width="216" height="192" />

  Thank you Sharon for the wonderful spotlight on our work and our products!
  
• American Herbal Products: Harvester, handler, home : A trip through the wild world of botanicals supply chains

  The United States Forest Service recently requested comments on the fee structure for botanical harvests. The AMERICAN HERBAL PRODUCTS ASSOCIATION prepared excellent comments. Unless a person is engaged in wild harvesting chances are you would not read the comments (23 pages of an adobe file). We support the collection of certified wild crops and found the comments to be excellent. With the permission of the Association, I am posting excerpts.

  

  Bloodroot - a wild harvested plant, difficult to find. It is a powerful medicine and I know of three people who treated themselves for cancer with it. The root pictured went to treat skin cancer on the face of the person who harvested it.

  It is important in evaluating how the proposed rule may affect the many people who harvest the relevant forest products to know something about standard harvest
  practices for those species that are used by the dietary supplement trade.
  It is AHPA’s understanding that most of the material that comes into trade is harvested by self-employed individuals or small groups of friends or family members who work together but do not have any formal business relationship.

  These self-employed harvesters sell the materials that they collect to local buyers, usually after conducting basic cleaning operations and often, but not necessarily, after dehydrating these harvests. It is at this transaction point that the current value of a harvested commodity to the actual harvesters is established. These local buyers subsequently resell the materials toregional consolidators (who may also serve as “local buyers,” as that term is used here, for harvesters in their immediate vicinity or with whom they have established direct purchase agreements), or may skip this intermediate transaction if they have identified buyers further upstream in the materials’ marketing route. Most relevant forest products obtained by harvest in the wild, however, come into the manufacturing trade, both domestic and foreign, from the regional consolidator point, and are then sold directly to consumers or used in the production of value-added ingredients and finished consumer products.

  So, that is how botanicals move from the forest to your home for consumption. It is a low impact, family styled business for the most part. You tell me, how many people are there that can go out in the woods and find these plants?

  
• American Pine Nut forests slated to become biofuel for WECHAR

  My comment:
  BTW - it is absolutely riduculous that people in the United States can not or will not protect their public lands and that the energy to protect our pinyon pine nut forest is coming out of Germany.
  American Pine Nut forests slated to become biofuel for WECHAR .

  

  Picture perfectly roasted pinon pine nut

  This should offend everyone who is screaming about the high price of pine nuts and the fact it is almost impossible to get American Pine nuts:

  The world's first bill dedicated to promoting 'biochar' has been proposed in the US, called WECHAR, or Water Efficiency and Carbon Harvesting Act. The Bill foresees large-scale removal of so-called 'invasive' or 'excess' biomass in south-western states, particularly in National Parks, in order to produce charcoal which is to be applied to soils ('biochar'). Amongst the trees which are to be charred are salt cedars in the Mojave desert, which are being blamed for using more water than native trees, a claim disproven by studies. Salt cedars are often the only trees which can survive along rivers where hydro dams have been built or freshwater has been diverted - removing them can leave large areas without trees. Native pinyon pines and junipers in National Parks would also be turned into charcoal, as well as trees in beetle-infested forests, despite evidence that 'salvage logging' of inested forests causes serious harm to biodiversity and forest soils a
  nd harms forest regeneration. Yet there is no proven benefit to biochar, i.e. to putting charcoal into soils - other than greater profits for companies. Serious scientific uncertainties remain about the climate impacts of biochar - which could well be negative. Please to to and write to the Senate and House Committees to which the bill has been referred and ask for it to be rejected.

  Best regards,

  Reinhard Behrend
  Rettet den Regenwald e. V.
  Friedhofsweg 28
  22337 Hamburg

  

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