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 I'm making a moss and natives shade garden in a corner of my yard. I'm excited to learn about propagating moss. I bought some as an impulse, then gathered a bunch of fragments from gutters and here and there, and also in the process of keeping the moss watered am creating the ideal moss habitat, so it looks like I've captured some local spores as well - it starts off looking like an algae film and then grows lil fuzz. Also I found two different clubmosses to add, which are a whole other beast. How do ppl feel about gathering wild plant specimens? With moss it seems to me fine if your not greedy, I just take little quarter sized fragments that I find either already brushed off a rock or either in a clump that stretchs 30 feet and I feel fine abt it personally. Also I unabashedly yank bits from gutters and the side of buildings.
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Aug 29, 2020 00:36
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 05:03 |
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Let me tell you about Ostrich Fern Fiddleheads!    Speaking of harvesting plants, I've commercially harvested fiddleheads every spring for the last six years. On a good day I can pick anywhere from 40-80 lbs and at their peak they sold at market for $20/lb. There are two days for every good day where I'm just driving around between our harvest sites seeing when they're expecting to pop. We have (or rather "had", this was pre covid which has obliterated the buyers) a upscale market, folks harvesting for local sales range between $2-$5/lb which forces them to be a lot less selective and a lot more aggressive with their picking - and this may be class prejudice but appear to be less educated about sustainable harvest practices. The season is short and unpredictable, starting anywhere from mid April to late May, and runs between 3 to 5 weeks with each site lasting for 1 or 2 weeks. Sites that are even as little as a few miles apart can pop weeks apart. The work is literally backbreaking unless you're accustomed to low harvest work but it's still one of my favorite parts of the year because I enjoy being out in the wooded riparian zones that they grow in, fording freezing rivers in my knickers, hanging out with my beau who also harvests and having my dog with me sniffing woodchuck holes. We scout out a region of about 50 acres, find the prime spots, and then get to it. They're best at about 3" tall, you basically walk around bent over to the ground and snap them at the base and load them into bags. It's simple but takes a few years to get fast, beginners tend to sit on their butts or crawl and only bring in 2-3lb/hour. There's been a few research studies on commercial harvests of Fiddleheads, and from their conclusions and my own observations, taking up to half the early Fiddleheads has no detrimental effects on the colony's health. Much more than that over a few years will set them back somewhat and you'll have to take a break for a while to allow them to recover. Never harvest Fiddleheads near nature trails or other heavily trafficked areas, because even if you're only taking one or two from each crown so is everyone else and the crown will die out fast.  Another fun wild harvest we'd do early spring was Japanese Knotweed. A really aggressive invasive that is destroying habitat in riparian zones, their early sprouts appear like red asparagus spears that have a mild tart flavor that the rich foodies adore. They're a real pain to harvest because you have to dig for them, but it's satisfying selling invasives to fancy restauranteurs. The one pictured is already past ideal harvest age. I think the years of the harvest may be over for us, though. Fiddleheads basically paid the early spring bills until the farm had crops to sell, but that depended on an upscale market that vanished beneath our feet this year and it's unclear if or when it'll recover. Also high end markets are particularly sensitive to fluctuations in trends and something that's worth bank this year might be worthless the next. Anyhow, hope you enjoyed the read! Safe & sustainable harvests to all y'all 
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Aug 29, 2020 13:10
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