Wild Plant Culture - A Guide to Restoring Edible and Medicinal Native Plant Communities

RECONNECT. RESTORE. RECIPROCATE.

REPAIRING LANDSCAPES AND RECONNECTING US TO LOCAL WILD PLANT COMMUNITIES.

A brilliant approach to ecological restoration simultaneous with food production! — MARK SHEPARD, author, Restoration Agriculture

An uncommonly thorough reference book, a primer on plant ecology, restoration biology, and the medicinal and edible properties of Mid-Atlantic plants.... Much more than that, it is thought-provoking, aspirational and the first chapter alone is worth the price of the book. — DOUG TALLAMY, author, Bringing Nature Home

INTEGRATING RESTORATION PRACTICES, foraging, herbalism, rewilding, and permaculture, Wild Plant Culture is a comprehensive guide to the ecological restoration of native edible and medicinal plant communities in eastern North America.

Blending science, practice, and traditional knowledge to repair both degraded landscapes and our broken cultural relationship with nature, coverage includes:

• Mutually beneficial human-plant connections


• Observing the land's existing and potential plant communities


• Site preparation, seeding, planting, and maintaining restored areas


• Compelling stories of wild plant communities and restoration projects


• Detailed profiles of over 200 native plants and their edible and medicinal uses.

Both a practical guide and an evocative read that will transport you deep into the natural land- scape, Wild Plant Culture is an essential toolkit for gardeners, farmers, and ecological restoration practitioners, highlighting the important role humans play in tending and mending native plant communities.

This guidebook holds one of many pathways to healing the ecological wounds of colonialism. — SAM THAYER, author, The Forager's Harvest

A cornucopia of useful information, from soils and land use history to plant inventories and their invaluable uses, and the tools to help you learn more. — KELLY KINDSCHER, ethnobotanist, University of Kansas, author, Medicinal Wild Plants of the Prairie

Jared Rosenbaum is a botanist, ecological restoration practitioner, and co-founder of Wild Ridge Plants, a native plant nursery and consulting business in Alpha, New Jersey. He blogs at wildplantculture.com.

List of contents

Acknowledgments

Section One: Restoring Reciprocity, Sustaining Sustenance

Introduction

    The Farmer's Quandary

    Two Human Paths

    Who Is This Book For?

Chapter 1: A Different Way

    Tending the Wild

    Eat Local

Chapter 2: Plants in Relationship

    Plant Planet

        Carbon and Soils

        Temperature and Water

    Wild Plants as Food

    Wild Plants as Medicine

Chapter 3: Ecological Restoration

    Mimesis and the Reference

    Ecosystem

    Restoring Plants

Chapter 4: In Community with Nature

    Communities

    Belonging to an Ecological Community

Section Two: Learning Your Land

Chapter 5: Reading Geology, Soils, and Water

    Soils and Geology

    Water

        Plants and Hydrology

Chapter 6: Land Use History

    Land Use History and Habitat Quality

        Post-Agricultural Soils

    Natural Disturbances

Chapter 7: Reading the Story of the Land

    Historical Aerial Photos and Maps

    Analyzing the Landscape

        Indicators of a Remnant

        Indicators of Disturbed Habitats

    Making Your Own Map

    Tend or Mend

        High-Quality Sites → Tend

        Low-Quality Sites → Mend

Section Three: Plant Communities and Culturally Useful Plants

Chapter 8: Plant Communities

    Plant Community: Riparian Forests

    Plant Community: Rich Mesic Forest

    Plant Community: Upland Oak Forest

    Plant Community: Glades

    Plant Community: Meadows and Grasslands

    Plant Community: Forested Wetlands

    Plant Community: Sunny Wetlands and Shores

    Plant Community: High Elevation and Northern Forests

    Plant Community: Sandy Pine and Oak Forests

    Plant Community: The Seashore

Chapter 9: Plant Species

Section Four: Restoring Your Land

Chapter 10: The Reference Site

    How to Find a Reference Site

    Interpreting a Natural Area for Beginners

Chapter 11: Repairing Soils

    Soil Amendments

        Wood Chips

        Leaf Compost

    Mycorrhizal Fungi

        Biochar

        Decompacting Soil

    Restoring Landscape Structure

        Pit and Mound Topography

        Structural Repair Methods

Chapter 12: Vegetation Control

    Tillage

    Smothering and Solarizing

    The "Lasagna" Mulching Method

    Herbicides

Chapter 13: Burning

    Indigenous Fire

    Transitions

    Ecological Potential

Chapter 14: Deer Management and Exclusion

    Protecting Plantings from White-Tailed Deer

Chapter 15: Introducing Plant Materials

    Planting

    Seeding

    Post-Seeding Maintenance for Meadows

    Meadow Maintenance

Conclusion: A Missing Link

    Belonging to This Place

Appendix — Assessment and Monitoring Techniques

    Assessment and Monitoring

        Baseline Monitoring

    Monitoring Methods

        Photo Monitoring

        Biological Inventories

        Floristic Quality

        Assessment

        Sampling Units

Endnotes

Index

About the Author

About New Society Publishers

About the author

Jared Rosenbaum is a botanist, native plant grower, and ecological restoration practitioner. He and his wife run Wild Ridge Plants LLC, which grows local ecotype native plants using sustainable practices, performs botanical surveys, and provides ecological restoration planning services. Jared has extensive experience in stewardship and monitoring of natural communities. He is known as an educator in plant ecology, ecological restoration, and the cultural uses of wild plant foods and medicines. Jared is the author of two prior books on native plants, including the children's book The Puddle Garden, and maintains an active blog at wildplantculture.com. He is a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner by the Society for Ecological Restoration. He lives in New Jersey.

Summary

Wild Plant Culture covers the ecological restoration of native edible and medicinal plant communities with a focus on Eastern North America. Integrating restoration practices, foraging, herbalism, rewilding, and permaculture, it provides tools to engage with wild plant communities in mutually beneficial relationships.

Foreword

• Co-op available


• Galleys available


• National advertising, print campaign, excerpts: Mother Earth News, Orion, Acres USA, Native Plants Journal, Wild Seed Magazine, Library Journal


• Online/social media campaign


• Facebook Live event and giveaway with author


• Outreach to Society for Ecological Restoration and other related organizations


• Forum on Permies.com


• Promotion on New Society Publishers social media platforms




• Promotion through the book's website: wildplantculture.com


• Library promotions


• Baker & Taylor Fast Facts Weekly e-newsletter

Product details

• Authors: Jared Rosenbaum
• Publisher: New society publishing
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 15.11.2022
• EAN: 9780865719804
• ISBN: 978-0-86571-980-4
• No. of pages: 296
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Biology > Botany; Non-fiction book > Nature, technology > Nature: general, reference works; Ethnic Studies, GARDENING / Landscape, SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Botany, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Ethnic Studies / Native American Studies, Landscape gardening, Botany & plant sciences, Conservation and Ecology