Healing with the Land Around You: Bioregional Herbalism
What if your local landscape held an abundance of natural medicines right at your fingertips? Would you be intrigued enough to dive deeper? The medicine is there, we just have to look.
What Is Bioregional Herbalism?
It is the practice of using herbs and medicinal plants that grow in your local ecosystem, whether that be from your own land, or garden, a small farm or open space down the road or farmers markets and local shops. It is choosing cultivated or non natives over threatened and endangered native plants. It is caring for the earth while the earth cares for us.
Bioregional Herbalism for me was the most logical choice as it takes sustainable herbalism to the next level. In learning what grows around me and what can be successfully cultivated in my ecosystem, It opened the door to seasonal awareness and the art of slowing down, reciprocity and what it means to truly steward the land and offered a deep connection with nature that I had been longing for for years.
What I gained from looking right outside my door was more than knowledge, it was an unbridled connection to source.
When I started learning what grew right here on my homestead, herbalism didn't feel like some foreign practice that was untouchable and that I couldn't afford or tap into. Mainstream herbalism, while great at spreading the word about natural healing isn't so great at protecting threatened, endangered and near extinct plants. We are all looking for healing in some manner or another and in the herbal world when something goes viral it has the potential to do more harm than good.
Bioregional Herbalism makes herbs accessible to everyone who is willing to look. It allows us to cultivate a practice of gratitude and reciprocity with the natural world - something that we are severely lacking these days. To steward the land is to give back, it means acknowledgement for the generations that came before and consideration for those that will come after us. It means supporting our local communities and building bridges right here at home, locally. It means remembering emapthy and teaching the next generation the importance of that connection.
Why Practice Bioregional Herbalism?
Everyone's herbalism practice is different. No two Herbalists will always agree on everything 100%. It is a practice that takes a lifetime to master and even then there would still be more to learn. Practicing Bioregional Herbalism is important for a few simple reasons. Below are four of the main reasons why I study and practice it.
- Sustainability: Reduces our environmental impact by using local, renewable resources.
- Accessibility: No need to import rare herbs, many herbs grow right here in our backyards. Plant substitutions are invaluable to the bioregional herbalist.
- Deep Connection: Encourages a reciprocal (spiritual and ecological) relationship with your land. Fosters a sense of community where everyone has the chance to be supported and valued.
- Empowerment: Learn to identify, harvest, and prepare your own medicine. Taking control of your health and the health of your family. Stepping outside the status quo.
Getting Started with Your Bioregion
Here are some simple ways you can explore Bioregional Herbalism. It doesn't have to be an all at once thing. Pick something and work towards whatever feels in alignment on your path. Remember herbalism takes a lifetime to study. You will always be learning and growing.
- Define your bioregion:
Include climate, soil, native plants, ecosystems. - Research local flora and land:
Use field guides, local plant walks, native plant societies, seek out locals, research the history of your land. - Tips for seasonal observation:
Journaling, mapping, watching bloom/harvest cycles. This is called Phenology and I will link my journal here once completed.
Ethical Wildcrafting/Foraging
They say the most potent herbs grow locally. With the growth of the wellness movement and the behemoth that is worldwide shipping, how do we know how fresh or safe our herbs truly are? Herbs are being covered in pesticides, stripped from the land, packaged unsustainably, and flown all over in the name of current market trends.
Instead of outsourcing non regenerative, and unsustainable herbs, the Bioregional Herbalist studies the plants local to them, the lesser known ones right outside. The ones the ancestors of our lands used. Chances are great that there are multiple herb substitutions that grow locally for all the ones that go viral and are over harvested.
- Responsible harvesting:
Only take what you need; leave enough for regeneration, wildlife and other foragers. Know what herbs are endangered or at risk and choose alternatives. Here is a chart from United Plant Savers that you can refer to. - Know the land:
Don’t harvest from polluted areas or endangered habitats. - Reciprocity:
Give back—plant seeds, care for land, offer gratitude. Consider what herbs you can cultivate in your zone. Create a closed loop system.
Below is a free Foraging Safely Checklist that expands on this and will help you become confident Bioregional Herbalists. *Remember to never ingest any herbs that you have not 110% positively identified.
Common Herbs
To get started, I suggest you look to your own lawns first. Many "weeds" that people try so desperately to control are actually incredibly nutritious and beneficial herbs. Below are 4 common herbs that grow pretty much everywhere.
- Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
- Chickweed (Stellaria media)
- Cleavers (Gallium aparine)
- Burdock (Arctium lappa)
I implore you to research what’s native to your area. Attending "Herb Walks" with an experienced herbalist or simply by yourself is so beneficial. Note what plants are native, invasive, common, used for healing or cooking etc. It really is simple, start with the art of noticing and you'll be amazed how many herbs you've walked past for years or decades never giving a second glance too.
I hope this introduction into Bioregional Herbalism has sparked something within you. Developing a living relationship with our environment is one of the easiest and most beneficial ways we can heal ourselves and the land around us.
Bioregional Herbalism is a slow, lifelong path. It begins with curiosity and respect and expands into a reciprocal relationship that has the power to transform lives and the future of our planet and those who will come after us.
For now, it starts with you and I. A choice to look within and right around us. I encourage you to take plant healing into your own hands and explore the study and practice of Bioregional Herbalism.
~K
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