Reply To: General questions
Hi Andrea,
This is a question that one or two others have brought up, so you are not alone. 🙂
You have a couple of options with the projects for these classes.
1. You can do and submit the assignments later in the season and out of order, this is fine.
2. Wild Medicinals- there are wild medicinal plants around at all times of the year if you start thinking about trees, evergreen herbaceous plants or even lichen. A few that come to mind are: pine, spruce, fir, birch, maple, etc. You could start by looking up some of the local native tree species where you are and will likely find that some, or all, have medicinal uses.
A couple of evergreen herbaceous plants that we find here in N.S. (under snow even), are wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) and partridge berry (Mitchella repens). I don’t think either of these grow in Alberta, but there may be related species or other species of evergreen plants that you have there. A medicinal lichen that comes to mind is Old Man’s beard (Usnea spp.). This is just a springboard if you want to go ahead with your assignment in the ‘non growing’ season. I highly encourage you to start looking at local plant guides and seeing what is around in the winter. I love this since it really changed the way I see and engage with all seasons!
3. For the backyard gardening assignment. You can do any type of propagation, this could include starting a plant from a leaf cutting, root division, or growth from a rhizome or stem. This could be done with plant material from another house plant (that is medicinal) that you already have, or a friends plant or with ginger or garlic from the grocery store and can all be done inside with a pot and potting soil or even a glass of water.
I hope that helps bring some clarity and maybe some new ideas!
With warmth,
Benna