Learning herbalism one plant (or mushroom!) at a time

My plant path began by way of mushrooms. Looking for tasty mushrooms to pluck out of the forest and bring home to throw in a pot en route to my belly. It's likely the same time I was reading Tom Robbins' mushroom-tinted novel, Another Roadside Attraction, David Arora's All That the Rain Promises, and More…, and watching Peter McCoy's youtube videos on how to train mushrooms to decompose and remediate cigarettes.

Despite my enthusiasm, I embarked on my plant path with a firmly rooted ‘taker’ mentality: going into the woods looking for something that's useful to me (oblivious to any other possible purpose the being may offer).

The more I went to walk in the woods though, the more I couldn't help but notice the abundance and diversity of plants that shared homes with these fungal kin.

More importantly I started to develop a deep sense of the webs of reciprocity woven among the fungal, floral, and faunal realms. I felt a call from my body–and perhaps my local ecology–towards reciprocity: the balanced relationship of giving and receiving for the benefit of all that is the foundation of all life on earth.

So I expanded my curiosity towards plants, with a particular affinity for the medicinal and traditional food virtues of plants, not just for humans but for the ecosystems in which they live and the critters that rely on them for food.

Thing is, my curiosity can be quite ravenous, so I hastily introduced myself to hundreds of plant species and eventually became acquainted with dozens, even hundreds of plant allies.

Would I recommend this same approach to someone just starting off?

Well, as far as ravenous curiosity goes, absolutely. But as far as making dozens of superficial relationships with plants in a strange “gotta catch em all” kind of way?

Probably not.

What I would recommend however, is starting out slow:

one at at time…

I mean it... go slow… get to know one plant or mushroom at a time.

It's just like building a relationship with a new friend. You just can't build deep lasting relationships if you are jumping from one person to another and not spending a significant amount of time with each other.

The other consideration here: plant/fungi time is much slower (or of an entirely different nature) than everyday a-to-b human time.

So the least we can do is offer a little more time in connecting with and sitting with herbs before we move on to another.

Of course, it's impossible to cut off relationships with every other tender growing being as we're trying to get to know one. We eat a variety of plants and mushrooms on a daily basis, we encounter these herbs wandering about the city so often that, let's be honest, it would be impossible not to kneel down and say hi to one on a walk in your neighborhood.

I'm not advocating a kind of plant/mushroom monogamy here.

But I am recommending this:

Allow yourself just one herb mentor / elder / ally / guide for at least one season (3-4 months) at a time, who you get to know in depth.

Remember this isn't a one way relationship either.

Yes, you are consuming the herb, making infusions with the herb, cooking with the herb, braiding twine with the herb, all that human-use stuff.

But you are also sitting with the herb, visiting your mentor herb, listening to the herb, observing your herb for hours on end, saying hi and staying a moment as you pass one growing between the cracks of the alley behind your home, dreaming with your herb… all the stuff that good friendships are made from.

Eventually you might consider connecting with a mushroom or plant that has no known human use. Just to wonder and sit in the presence of a being who exists and thrives despite us.

If you want some guidelines, or are interested in taking your explorations deeper, consider checking out our Materia Medica Course here on the virtual garden.

If you would like an in-person introduction to some plants or mushrooms that you may be interested in developing a relationship with, check out our plant walk and workshop offerings coming up in Chicago!