“Field Guide to Forest & Mountain Plants of Northern Arizona” by Judith D. Springer, Mark L Daniels and Mare Nazaire I recently purchased this book and have had a chance to give it a quick flip-thu. My first impressions are quite good. For field guides in general, the narrower the region, the better. This region… Continue >>>
Category Archives: Southwest Landscapes
Finding Water in the Backcountry
It is recommended to have water with you. Keep extra water in your vehicle, carry it in your pack or cache it in the back country before a longer hike. Sometimes water is available in the back country. While there are many possible sources, they are not equally reliable. This chart breaks down the preferred… Continue >>>
Colorado Herbal Medicine
These are images from the Rocky Mountain Herbal CampOut program held each July in the high country near Durango in southwest Colorado. High alpine meadows are one of the destinations for the daily plant walks. Summer is short at elevations close to 11.000′ and late July is the perfect time to experience the peak of… Continue >>>
Exploring the Grand Canyon
A longer backpack trip that included some stormy weather and colder than normal temps. We were rewarded by scenes like this one as the storms cleared. The Grand Canyon changes by the season, day and hour. [hr] The clearing storm, taken shortly after the previous photo. These are the types of experiences that make… Continue >>>
Discovering the Sonoran Desert
Scenes from some of my hiking journeys over the years in the Sonoran Desert. A view from near Usury Mountain, on the east side of Phoenix. The saguaro, with its endless combinations of arms, is one of the plants that make this desert so special. This particular cactus is one of the largest I have… Continue >>>
Arizona Herbal Medicine: Plant Walks
One of my NAU classes on a spring trip to Oak Creek Canyon, near Sedona. An lush riparian habitat with many deciduous trees: willow, sycamore, oak, alder, cottonwood, apple and cherry. A true botanical paradise and an area I explore often with classes. [hr] Exploring along a drainage in the ponderosa forest at 7,000′.… Continue >>>
Our Classroom
The Forager’s Path School of Botanical Studies is located on the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau and serves the communities of Flagstaff, Sedona, Cottonwood and the Verde Valley. The flora-rich landscapes stretch from the Upper Sonoran Desert, along the Verde River, up through the red rocks of Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon and into… Continue >>>
Foraging and Safety
Some helpful info on safety when foraging wild foods is found here. Continue >>>
Plant Profile: Pinon
In the American Southwest, there is not the diversity of tree species that exist in Appalachia. Fortunately, the trees that are available to us are truly gifts from the earth. One of my favorites is the pinon pine, which is common throughout the Four Corners area and the Colorado Plateau. Family – Pinaceae Pinus edulis… Continue >>>
Latest Courses
Colorado Herbal Medicine Field Study
This is the itinerary for the optional field study trip offered to students enrolled in the Foundations of Herbal Medicine program for 2019. More details will be shared at the first class meeting in February. Students are responsible for food, lodging (camping or hotel) and transportation. The dates for the 2019 program are July 22-25.… Continue >>>
10 Month “Foundations of Herbal Medicine” Course for 2019
Many people begin using herbs in small steps – something for sleep, a cold or maybe a headache. As one continues on the herbal path of independent study, information is pulled from many sources. After a few years, this person begins to identify as an herbalist and continues to increase both the learning and use… Continue >>>
Educational Resources
Resources for Therapeutic Mushrooms
There are many mushrooms used therapeutically in the herb community with Reishi (Ganoderma spp.) being the the best known. One of the challenges to effectively using these gifts from the fungal world is knowing how to process them. While plants have cellulose, mushrooms have chitin. This substance is extremely hard and makes extraction difficult. The… Continue >>>
Diet Strategies for Reducing Chronic & Systemic Inflammation
Included below are the notes used during the Diet, Nutrition and Inflammation portions of our curriculum. It is a succinct look at how the foods we eat affect our internal inflammatory state. While the actual classes go into more detail, the foods listed here are good places to begin improving one’s health in this area.… Continue >>>
Plant Profile: Usnea
Botany: Usnea spp. (Parmeliaceae) Usnea is a lichen, not a plant. Looking closely at its structure, one sees the internal core to be a white thread which is a fungus while the bluish-green outer surface is algae. The algae of its outer skin enables it to utilize sunlight and carbon dioxide for food production. The… Continue >>>
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The Forager’s Path
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info@theforagerspath.com
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