New #book to enjoy #reading & #learning from!

Held by the Land: A Guide to Indigenous Plants for Wellness
By Leigh Joseph.

Author Leigh Joseph, an #ethnobotanist, member of the #SquamishNation & founder of #SkwalwenBotanicals, provides a beautifully illustrated essential introduction to #Indigenous #PlantKnowledge.

#Plants can be a great source of #healing as well as #nourishment & the practice of growing & harvesting from trees, flowering herbs & other plants is a powerful way to become more connected to the land.

The #IndigenousPeoples of #NorthAmerica have long traditions of using #NativePlants as #medicine as well as for #food. Held by the Land honors & shares some of these traditions, offering a guide to:

Harvesting herbs & other plants & using them topically.
North American plants that can treat common ailments, add nutrition to your diet, become part of your beauty regime & more.
Stories & traditions about native plants from the author's #Squamish culture.
Using plant knowledge to strengthen your #ConnectionToTheLand you live on.
Early chapters will introduce you to responsible ways to identify & harvest plants in your area & teach you how to grow a deeper connection with the land you live on through plants.

In the plant profiles section, common plants are introduced with illustrations & information on their characteristics, range, how to grow & harvest them & how to use them topically & as food.

Special features offer recipes for food & beauty products along with stories & traditions around the plants.

This beautiful, full-color guide to #IndigenousPlants will give you new insights into the power of everyday plants.

https://skwalwen.com/products/held-by-the-land-a-guide-to-indigenous-plants-for-wellness

#Bookstodon #IndigenousAuthors #IndigenousBooks #decolonization #IndigenousPlantEducation #Educational #BritishColumbia #Cascadia #CoastSalish #PacificNorthwest #PNW #NativePlantsEducation #NativeWriters #NativePlantsGuide #FirstNations #NonFiction #NatureBooks #PlantsBook #NatureGuide

On Friday, I'm going to an experimental #CreativeWorkshop to learn alternative ways of developing #AnalogueFilm using #indigo & other #PlantBased materials.

Kemi Craig is a woman of African descent who grew up in South Carolina where indigo is of historical significance for #BlackCultures. As an #artist working in analogue film, which has also deeply affected ideas of Blackness across cultural spectrums, Kemi is interested in exploring relationships between #ImageMaking & indigo. In unpacking parallel practices & #cultural relationships to indigo & film, Craig has invited Joshua Ngenda from #FluxMedia to collaborate. Trudi Lynn Smith will generously share her extensive #FilmDevelopment experience & #PlantKnowledge with participants.

#VictoriaBC #ArtWorkshop #OutdoorsWorkshop

If something goes wrong with the formation of the blue pigments (anthocyanins), albino flowers may be found alongside the typical purple flowers of the common violet (Viola odorata)! But don't worry, #FloraIncognita will identify these too.
#Plantknowledge

A short list of wild Edible and Medicinal Plants and Herbs growing in many areas of BC for wildcrafting.

(Note: there are many other uses than what I have listed, don't use any of these if you are pregnant or nursing and research everything from a reputable source before using yourself)

Plantain: Plantago Major and Plantago Lanceolata- fresh leaves for bee and wasp stings, salads. Soothing skin salve.
Dandelion: Taraxacum Officinale (Asteraceae)- flowers for wine, roots for coffee-like beverage, leaves for salads and tonics
Mullein: Verbascum- leaves and flowers for teas, coughs, bronchitis and sore chest
Red Clover: Trifolium pratense- teas for coughs and colds, skin wash for psoriasis, flowers in salad
Periwinkle: Vinca minor- astringent for bleeding, mouth wash for ulcers, sore throat, bleeding gums (unsafe to take internally- use with caution)
Elderberry: Sambucus Caerulea (blue variety)-
flowers for teas, berries for wine, mead, syrups and cough drops. Enhances immunity.
Hawthorne: Crataegus monogyna (Rosaceae)- young leaves in salad. berries for elixir, brandy, syrups. Good for regulating heart rate.
Horsetail: Equisetum- astringent for wound healing, also useful for scrubbing pots
Wild Rose: Rosa acicularis- petals and rose hips for jelly, jam, incense
Pine: Pinus- resin and leaves for incense, leaves for flavouring meat and tea
Douglas Fir: Pseudotsuga menziesii- leaves for flavouring whisky, and meat
Western Red Cedar: Thuja plicata- bark and leaves for incense
Mahonia (Oregon Grape): Mahonia aquifolium or the dwarf plant nervosa- many medicinal uses for the root, but I only use the berries for jelly and syrup.

#wildcrafting #foraging #selfsustainability #wildmedicine #PlantKnowledge