Where do I start!? If you're just reading for the first time,
here is a little backstory about what I'm up to.
On our first day at
United Plant Savers (UpS) Goldenseal
Botanical Sanctuary we wasted no time diving in to the property! After a quick
orientation and tour around the basic grounds we headed on our first guided
tour down the Medicine Trail with Chip (boss man for the next 6 weeks).
About to hit the trail with our trusty leader, Chip!
Let me just say, I explored the trail by myself the previous
day, and was so intrigued yet overwhelmed by all the things I was experiencing.
I was in the MIDDLE OF THE WOODS with nothing but small random cabins and a few
farm houses for 1000’s of acres in every direction. There really are no words
to describe the sensation I got during the first hike I took through the
Medicine Trail. You will hear this a lot, but I encourage everyone to carve out
some time (a weekend, or a week) to visit Southeast Ohio, specifically The
Goldenseal Botanical Sanctuary. I will eventually give out more information on
this, but they have rooms available for $40 per night, and also invite hunters
to help keep the deer population down. So everyone, keep that in mind if you’re
looking for an escape to heaven on earth.
Okay, where was I? Oh yes, first Herb Walk with Chip. This
was a basic introduction to the flora we will be working so intimately with
over the next six weeks. I was so grateful to have such a competent guide
through the forest, especially after hitting the trails guide free the day
before. We learned so much, however this was skimming the top on the basics! A
few main take aways:
Goldenseal (
Hydrastis canadensis) The sanctuary’s namesake, of course, is found in extremely high populations here on the property, and is considered 'At Risk' by the United Plant Savers. We walked right through “Hydrastas Heaven” which is right where UpS was formed back in 1994 (during a hike with several herbalists, it was pointed out to Paul Strauss how rare it was to see these species in such high numbers). Much more on Goldenseal to come. This plant has beautiful orange (Golden) roots.
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| There's Gold in the Hills! |
Ginseng (
Panax quinquefolius) - Also found in extremely high populations here on the property, and is considered 'At Risk' by United Plant Savers. We will be working very closely with this plant as well. However, Ginseng is not labeled on the property (most of the plant species are to help with identification and learning), due to the fear of poachers and previous negative experiences. We will be focusing on learning to correctly ID Ginseng, especially since there are several look-alikes.
Ramps (
Allium Tricoccum) are a delicious, delicate, native onion here in Appalachia. They're a favorite in this region and are celebrated with seasonal ramp festivals, and increasing popularity with gourmet chefs. Unfortunately for the ramp population, they only flower once every 7 years, so it takes a very long time to establish a gorgeous patch such as below. Ramps have recently been added to the UpS 'At Risk' list due to careless and over harvesting. UpS recommends to only take one leaf per plant, so the plant will live on and continue to thrive.
Mulita-flora Rosa is an extremely invasive species that is
invading this territory. It is a viney type of rose that is showing up almost
everywhere. Previously used in farms as a natural type of fence to contain
animals, due to the bush-vine structure of the plant. It is now coming into the
major sections of the forest that is generally populated by rarer, slower
growing species. -We will be pulling this thorny bush out of the trail areas
and forest as we come across it. We learned that this very easily re-roots
itself, so we must hang these up in near trees and bushes to dry out and die so
that they do not take root again after they’re pulled. (not worth a picture, haha).
Monday evening, we were lucky to visit Paul Strauss’ house.
He is such an awesome guy. This man is solely responsible for the
rehabilitation of this amazing property and how beautifully it has been
restored. Much more on Paul and his history later. Paul’s house was an old farm
house that has been around over 100 years. Complete with a Summer Kitchen (for
cooking & canning so your home isn’t burning up in the summer time), Root
Cellar, 3 + gardens (all irrigated with ponds he built up the hill- no pump,
just uses gravity), and his apothecary where he showed us a few of his
techniques and best products. Also, Equinox Botanicals, Paul’s herbal product
business, is one of the only in the US run on Solar! Go Paul!!! There is a
great film about Paul’s life work, this property, and the history of how it all
came together-
Sanctity of Sanctuary- Check it out!
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| Interns with Paul Strauss and the beautiful Fringe Tree!(Chionanthus virginicus) |
Day two – Tuesday- We went straight back to Paul’s house for
a nice long walk through the woods, complete with a tour of all the amazing
work he has done. Showed us places that were previously coal mines and dump
sites. He planted ground crops to repair the soil, built ponds, planted
meadows, and so much more. He worked so hard cleaning up this land, and it is
amazing what he has done in just the 40 or so years he has been here. And how
far the properties have come. You could hardly tell if you didn’t know. I already
have so much respect for this man! After the walk we ended up back at one of
Paul’s camps (a cabin on his pond), and had a nice picnic and Q&A session
on the cabin’s porch over the pond. He is living true to his self.
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| Paul's beautiful self sufficient 150+ yr old Farm, complete with solar! |
Wednesday and Thursday, we worked around the sanctuary!
There are several above ground beds that we were working on weeding, and
transplanting the Goldenseal, Black Cohosh, Blue Cohosh, Twin Leaf, and Bloodroot, for fund raising events
and plant sales! We did take a long hike along the reclaim trail (former coal
mining site) and down through the Main Hollow. We were taking inventory on our
slate signs (checking for repairs, and new signs that can be placed), as well
as checking the status of the trail in general, pruning branches, marking the
trail with branches where it has blended in to the forest, etc.
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| We saw a Newt too! That little dude was soo cute! |
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| Plant Walk with Marc |
This weekend Marc Williams came to UpS from Asheville, NC to
teach an herbal brewing class! We learned the basics of brewing mead, wine, and
liqueur using herbal teas as the base. We also were able to forage the plants that were used to make the special UpS Lonnie's B-day Brew! (Lonnie is Paul's daughter.) He is also went over some basic botany
stuff with us, which will definitely help us learn to ID plants when working on
the field! Mark offers an
online botany course run on donations which I am
excited to dive into once my world calms down a little bit!
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| Beautiful freshly foraged herbs for our Mead! |
Well, I can’t believe this first week is already over! It
really is true, “time flies when you’re having fun”. I have been in continuous
awe at the new experiences each day has brought. I hope time slows down a bit!
Lastly, Happy Mothers Day to my amazing Mutti Behr! Without her, this certainly would not be possible. Thank you for everything Mommy. I am so thankful for you and love you so much!
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| Trillium for our Mothers today. |
Thanks for stopping by!
-Linds
Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) The sanctuary’s namesake, of course, is found in extremely high populations here on the property, and is considered 'At Risk' by the United Plant Savers. We walked right through “Hydrastas Heaven” which is right where UpS was formed back in 1994 (during a hike with several herbalists, it was pointed out to Paul Strauss how rare it was to see these species in such high numbers). Much more on Goldenseal to come. This plant has beautiful orange (Golden) roots. 
Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) - Also found in extremely high populations here on the property, and is considered 'At Risk' by United Plant Savers. We will be working very closely with this plant as well. However, Ginseng is not labeled on the property (most of the plant species are to help with identification and learning), due to the fear of poachers and previous negative experiences. We will be focusing on learning to correctly ID Ginseng, especially since there are several look-alikes.
Day two – Tuesday- We went straight back to Paul’s house for
a nice long walk through the woods, complete with a tour of all the amazing
work he has done. Showed us places that were previously coal mines and dump
sites. He planted ground crops to repair the soil, built ponds, planted
meadows, and so much more. He worked so hard cleaning up this land, and it is
amazing what he has done in just the 40 or so years he has been here. And how
far the properties have come. You could hardly tell if you didn’t know. I already
have so much respect for this man! After the walk we ended up back at one of
Paul’s camps (a cabin on his pond), and had a nice picnic and Q&A session
on the cabin’s porch over the pond. He is living true to his self.
Keep up the great pics and have fun, it looks amazing and very educational reading!
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