Wildcrafting Wednesday – 1/25/12

Welcome to the 24th edition of Wildcrafting Wednesday!

This week has turned milder in northeast Wisconsin.  The boys filled the wood rack in the basement yesterday and there was mud EVERYWHERE.  It was one heck of a mess, but at least we only have to refill every few weeks.  My youngest is really disappointed that we haven’t had enough snow this winter for him to go sledding much at all.  It keeps fluctuating between above freezing and bitter cold, so whatever snow there’s been (and there hasn’t been much) melts off and leaves bare, frozen ground.

I’m concerned about all the wind erosion I see coming off the plowed fields in the area since they have no snow protection, but there’s nothing that can be done at this point.  I don’t normally till my garden in fall for this reason, even though it means a later start in spring.  Do you work up your soil in fall?  I keep some beds in permanent mulch, but it’s not really practical for the whole garden, and does provide pests with more areas to overwinter, too, along with beneficial insects.  If we get to stay here, I really think I want some ducks on bug patrol.

If you’re interested in starting some of your own wildflowers/plants from seed, many seeds are available from Mountain Rose Herbs, as well as other mail order seed companies. It’s very common for wild plants to require cold stratification to improve germination. This means that they should be stored for a time in freezing conditions for best results. (This mimics their natural cycle.) Ordering seeds now gives you time to cold treat before you start the seeds.

The Weekly Weeder posts (where I talk about common garden weeds)  will be starting up again in spring. Meanwhile, you can now view all of last season’s posts on the Natural Health page.

Many of the plants in this series can be found at Mountain Rose Herbs

I’m joining up with Kathy at Mind, Body and Sole and Sharon at Wood Wife’s Journal to host Wildcrafting Wednesday, a link up for all things wildcrafting. To view the complete guidelines, see the mullein post. Please add your wildcrafting link below, and then link your post back to one of the hosts sites for the hop.