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WOLF JOURNEY Program INDEX:

Wolf Journey TESTIMONIALS

Wolf Journey FAQs

Wolf Journey CORRESPONDENCE COURSE

Wolf Journey CLASS SERIES offered in Western WA

PART TWO Intro - Trail of the Tracker
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8

PART THREE Intro - Trail of the Herbalist
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12

PART FOUR Intro - Trail of the Scout
• Chapters TBA

PART FIVE Intro - Trail of the Artisan
• Chapters TBA

PART FIVE Intro - Trail of the Hunter
• Chapters TBA

PART FIVE Intro - Trail of the Pioneer
• Chapters TBA

PART EIGHT Intro - Handbook for Earth Skills Students, Environmental Teachers & Outdoor Leaders
• Journaling Cover Page
• Wildlife Recording Form
• Student Transcripts
• Glossary & Rescources
• Taxonometric Classification
• Outings Guide
• Teaching Guide
• Outdoor Leader Program Policies
• More TBA

Virtual CHALLENGES including Earth Skills Self-Assessment

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• Fun Nourishment

Faculty Essay

Also check out our other articles available in the Ethnobotany series, Survival series, Wildlife series, and Earth Skills Education series.

Roses and Other Wonderful Fruits & Berries

This is one of a series of articles on ethnobotany. Click Here for an introduction to this series on the Most Important Plants To Learn and Click Here for information on our December Wolf Journey Classes on the Willow & Rose.

Children in our December Wolf Journey Classes gathering Rose Hips.

Learn the most versatile edible fruit plant in your region. Choose any in the rose family, for instance. The rose family includes a couple of subfamilies like the Plum which includes the Prunus genus, including cherries and plums. Wild plums and chokecherries are great choices if you want to learn the attributes of a fruit plant, as they have medicinal as well as edible qualities, and their woods are great for crafts, cooking and more.

Inside the rose subfamily itself, there are many genera, including strawberry (Frageria spp) and Rubus, which includes all the "nobby" berries like raspberry and blackberry. Rubus is renown for its medicinal properties, and it is my impression that some blackberry/raspberry leaves can lower blood sugar levels, which is why I like to eat a bitter leaf in the morning to curb my sugar cravings throughout the day (see below for explanation in the Vaccinium paragraph). Other uses include using salmonberry leaf "kleenex" from salmonberry leaf which I have found to cure my grass allergies when used like a kleenex, and is great for rashes as well. Thinner native raspberry vines are good for lashing, while thicker invasive blackberry vines are great for straws, for instance.

Wolf Camp instructor Andrew Twele made this basket and gathered the Salmonberries.

There is also the Rose genus itself, which is a great fruit plant to learn, because its berry, aka the "rose hip" has one of the highest concentrations of vitamin C anywhere. In fact, natural vitamin C drops are often made from rose hips. Further, the flowers of most species are quite edible in salads, while rose wood is highly prized for making arrows, at least in my experience.

Other choice for learning a fruit plant can be found in the Heath family, which has a couple of subfamilies. The Rhododendron subfamily includes interesting genera like swamp laurel, labrador tea, false huckleberry, mountain heather, and azalea/rhododendron, but while most are medicinal, some are very toxic. The other subfamily is commonly referred to as Blueberry, but it contains some surprising genera, including madrone, wintergreen/salal, sourwood, and the Arctostaphylos genus (kinnikinnick/manzanita), in addition to the Vaccinium genus: blueberry, huckleberry (red blueberries), cranberry, bilberry, and lignonberry.

You may have thought that these Vaccinium species are just great tasting, but they have some of the most versatile and proven medicinal properties of any wild plant. Quoting Botany in a Day, "Medicinally, the plants and berries are mildly astringent, diuretic and somtimes act as vasoconstrictors. The berries or a tea of the plant are thus useful against diarrhea (Willard). The leaves also contain quinic acid, which may inhibit the formation of uric acid. Excessive uric acid in the urine can lead to both gout and formation of kidney stones. A cup or two of leaf tea every day can lower the sugar level in both the blood and urine (Moore). The berries and plants alike are rich in flavonoids, which are consumed for their antioxidant effects. Bilberries benefit night vision by increasing the number of "purple" receptor rods in the eyes (Klein). Some species contain simple phenols, similar to Arctostaphylos.... (which) "in the presence of bacteria and alkaline urine (urinary tract infections/ulcerations/inflammation), the phenols are hydrolized in the bladder into the disinfectant hydroquinone (also) useful ... as a solvent for calcium stones."

Some of the other plants that I consider to be part of my Top 10 list for northern latitudes include grasses, pines, cattails, oaks, nettles, the rose family which includes many wild fruits and berries, a local wild edible root, plus a choice of seaweeds, bamboo, cacti, or palm depending on where a person lives, and the most prominent cedar, juniper or cypress tree in the area. Check out my articles on these plants by clicking on:

Herbal First Aid
Plant Identification referencing Botany in a Day by Thomas J. Elpel
If Sedges have Edges, and Rushes are Round, Grasses are Hollow from Nose to the Ground
A Cattail Tale
Ouch! Stinging Nettles Taste Good!
Spruce, Firs, Larch & Hemlock are all Pines?
Why Has the Oak Fallen?
Secrets of Seaweed
American Ginseng by Christie Wolfe
Gifts of the Cedar
Bamboo, Palm & Cactus

Employment: We only need instructors with experience running camps and teaching in the field of Earth Skills Education, including skills of the Naturalist, Tracker, Herbalist, Survival Scout, Primitive Artisan and Sustainable Pioneer. Apply to become an instructor through our Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship.

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