Eat your way through the seasons with elder ethnobotanist Patricia Armstrong! This Bundle contains all 3 Wild Edible Plant Walks in this wonderful series. Details listed below in the individual seasons.
Film production of the series was envisioned and facilitated by Linda Conroy of Moonwise Herbs/Midwest Women's Herbal.
It was filmed and edited by Shari Ralish as part of her Herbal Internship with Moonwise Herbs.
Individual Seasons can be purchased below!
To learn more about Patricia Armstrong and her work visit: www.patriciakarmstrong.com
To Learn more about herbalist Linda Conroy visit: www.moonwiseherbs.com
FEBRUARY: The February walk takes place at the instructor’s house, Prairie Sun, in Naperville, IL, 60565, where we will walk around the block to learn about the tree with the largest leaves, the 2 sweetest trees, and about 10 different evergreen trees which are the main edible things in winter.
We will see pines, spruces, hemlocks, yews (a poisonous tree), a Douglas-Fir, the Kentucky Coffee Tree which has the largest leaves, the Tree-of-Life called Arbor-Vitae, and the 2 sweetest trees, Maples of course.
MARCH: The March walk takes place at the McDonald Farm in Naperville, IL. where the Headquarters for the Conservation Foundation is located and The Resiliency Institute has established a Permaculture display including a Food Forest. We will be learning about Old World herbs and weeds brought to New World farmsteads. We will be looking at about 5 woody plants and 13 different herbs and weeds.
Some of the plants we will see include: Motherwort, Dandelion, Catnip, Mullein, Burdock, Chickweed and Nettle. We will also see and identify: Siberian Elm, White Birch, Poison Ivy, Sycamore, Scot’s Pine, and White Fir.
APRIL: The April walk takes place at Prairie Sun (the instructor’s yard) in Naperville, IL. which is almost 100% landscaped with native wild plants, plus many edible weeds, and features a Native American Sioux Medicine Wheel. Pat will talk about the plants associated with the Medicine Wheel. In April she has many flowering trees and shrubs, plus early spring prairie and woodland wildflowers.
Some of the woody plants in bloom are Redbud, Juneberry, Wild Plum, Cottonwood, Cornelian Cherry Dogwood, and Spice Bush. Some edible wildflowers include Wild Ginger, several wild Onions, and Wild Leek, Trout Lilies, Cup Plant, Spring Beauty, Jewelweed, Wood Betony, Violets, Starry Solomon’s Plume, and Wild Strawberries.
MAY: The May walk takes place at Knoch Knolls Park in South Naperville, IL, which is a mesic forest between the two branches of the DuPage River. We will be learning about common woodland trees, woodland wildflowers, and invasive weeds. Some of the plants we will see are: Basswood, Slippery Elm, Hackberry, and Black Locust trees. Wildflowers include: May Apple, Smooth Sweet Cicely, Virginia Bluebells, Waterleafs, Toothwort, Solomon’s Seal, and Wood Nettle. And weeds include: Common Orach, Lamb’s Quarters, Yellow Rocket, and Garlic Mustard.
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JUNE: The June walk takes place at Greene Valley Forest Preserve in East Naperville, IL, where DuPage County is returning old farm land back to native habitats. We will see old fields, savannas, woodland edges, prairie restorations, and some streams and wet areas. We will expect to see at least 7 different woody plants, including: Roses, Hazelnuts, Crab Apples, and Hawthorns. Seven wildflowers and weeds will include: Cattails, Sweet Clovers, Red Clover, Milkweed, Dog Bane, Thistles, Yarrow, and Bee Balm. There are many edible berry plants also: Juneberry, Wild Strawberry, Black Raspberry, Blackberry, Elderberry, and Wild Grapes.
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JULY: The July walk takes place at Prairie Sun (the instructor’s yard) where we’ll see 10 edible trees and shrubs, 10 edible prairie plants and 10 edible weeds and herbs. Some of the woody plants are: Pawpaw, Shag Bark Hickory, Black Walnut, Purple- flowering Raspberry, and Pecan. Some of the prairie plants are: Switch Grass, Prairie Dock, Pale Purple Coneflower, Oswego Tea, Mountain Mint, and Prickly Pear Cactus, and some of the edible weeds are: Purslane, Dame’s Rocket, Orange Day Lily, Chicory, and Ox-eye Daisy.
AUGUST: The August walk takes place at the McDonald Farm again where we will see at least 10 common farm weeds, at least 7 different edible grasses and about 10 different plants in the Food Forest. We will see 3 different Fox Tail Grasses and our state grass Big Blue Stem. We will see Amaranth, Pineapple Weed, Ragweed, Bittersweet Nightshade, and Thistles. In the Food Forest we will see: Rugosa Rose, Rhubarb, Lemon Balm, Spearmint, Hops, Nettle, New Jersey Tea, and a big Quince bush in the yard area.
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SEPTEMBER: The September walk takes place in Downtown Naperville, IL, on part of the River Walk, which is part of the many walking trails (and also bike trails) in the Chicago Area. These wide, paved trails often follow rivers and are usually landscaped with native plants. We will be concentrating on learning 6 different Oaks including the 4 best ones for eating: The White Oak (our state tree), Swamp White Oak, Burr Oak (which should have been our state tree), and English Oak, plus some other trees and shrubs: Stag-horn Sumac, Bitternut Hickory, and the American High Bush Cranberry.
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OCTOBER: The October walk takes place at Prairie Sun (the instructor’s yard) again to see it in its glorious fall colors. Not just the trees and shrubs, but even the prairie and woodland wildflowers have lovely fall colors. Pat has 8 species of Goldenrod and 11 species of Asters in her yard and on the roof of her Prairie Sun home. There will be bright scarlet leaves on 4 species of Sumac and the Virginia Creeper Vine. The Hazelnuts with be shades of red-orange. Sweet Gum, Sassafras and Bald Cypress should be colorful. New England Aster and Showy Goldenrod may still be in bloom, plus Tall Coreopsis, Prairie Smoke, wild geranium, and Bellwort should have some fall color.
Patricia Armstrong has a Master of Science degree from the University of Chicago in Ecology (Biology-Botany). She previously taught multitudes of nature classes at the Morton Arboretum for 16 years, plus Botany, Ecology, and Geology at the University of Wisconsin Extension, and Michigan State University's Juneau Icefield Research Program in Alaska.
Pat's knowledge and understanding of all things wild and free come from a life-long personal and intimate relationship with Nature that is passionate as well as scientific. She lives in a home she and her husband designed and built to fit into the natural ecosystems of northern Illinois. It is active and passive solar, energy-efficient, and landscaped with over 300 species of native trees, shrubs, prairie grasses and wildflowers approximately 40% of which are edible.
Pat is actively involved in living joyfully with Nature. She runs a consulting firm, PRAIRIE SUN CONSULTANTS, to educate and assist others in appreciating and using native plants and wild edible plants in home landscaping.
For more information about Pat visit her website HERE.