I wildcrafted some licorice fern root today. I hadn't been planning on it and I actually still have some dried from a previous harvest, but an opportunity presented itself and I acted on it. I went to a spot I've visited before to see about some other herbs to harvest, but I found a clearcut where there had been a forest at the time of my previous visit. The forest had been predominantly red alder and big leaf maples. I scanned the area and spotted a number of older moss covered logs and decided I should harvest any licorice fern that was still alive on the downed trees as it would eventually die and rot or be taken away if that log was chosen for processing elsewhere or was cut for firewood
I harvested some oregon grape root and leaf today for medicine. This variety is Mahonia/Berberis nervosa and it is a prolific understory plant where I live on Vancouver Island. M. aquifolium is also around, but you are more likely to find it on the south island or as part of landscaping. In some areas of North America oregon grape is not prolific. So while I harvest quite a lot of it yearly and use it as a staple in my practice, it is not always advisable to do so in certain bio-regions. It is important to focus on using plants that can be ethically harvested/wildcrafted/grown. The berries of these plants are edible and I quite like them, but some people find them too sour. They are high in
