The old-timey know-how that turns a plant into a pantry.
Identifying a plant is the first step. The next ten are knowing what to do with it — how to make a tincture that actually works, when to dehydrate versus dry in the sun, how to take a cutting that survives, when to graft a wild rootstock. This is the practical reference our grandparents shared at the kitchen table, gathered and kept here so it doesn't get lost to a search engine.
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From photo to trust score to skills guide. The four-shot photo protocol, the certainty-index math, the RED/YELLOW/GREEN caution badge, and the path from a species page to the kitchen.
- Four-shot photo protocol
- Certainty Index — AI 65 / Photo 20 / DB 15
- Caution badges and RED-badge protocol
- Logging finds to your personal library
Plant ID Fundamentals
The four observation axes that turn a "pretty green thing" into a species name: leaf, stem, flower, habit. The vocabulary that opens every botanical key, with worked examples from Zone 8b plants.
- Leaf — shape, margin, arrangement, venation
- Stem — square vs round, hairy, woody
- Flower — symmetry, inflorescence type
- Habit — annual/biennial/perennial, root
Keying Out an Unknown Plant
The dichotomous key — botany's binary-search algorithm. Walked end-to-end on a Louisiana mint, with the why behind every couplet and where keys fail (cultivars, hybrids, atypical specimens).
- How a key actually works
- Worked example — wild bergamot to species
- Where keys break down
- Pairing keys with iNaturalist and PlantNet
The Look-Alike Protocol
The single safety rule that separates living foragers from dead ones. The five-step discipline, plus three deadly trios worked in detail — wild carrot vs poison hemlock, ramps vs lily-of-the-valley, elderberry vs pokeweed.
- The five-step protocol
- Wild carrot / hemlock / water hemlock
- Ramps / lily-of-the-valley / hellebore
- Elderberry vs pokeweed berries
Zone 8b Foraging Calendar
Month-by-month for the long Southern season. January chickweed through December sassafras root — 4 to 7 species per month organized by greens, roots, fruits, nuts, and medicinals.
- All 12 months, Louisiana-specific
- Sturtevant, Saunders, Porcher PD sources
- Greens / roots / fruits / nuts / medicinals
- Logging a personal phenology record
The Rule of Thirds
Ethical harvest without killing the patch. Three worked scenarios — a 50-plant ramp colony, a 10-plant trillium stand, a roadside dandelion field — plus the Indigenous "honorable harvest" framing.
- Why a third — and when even that's too much
- Ramps, trillium, dandelion scenarios
- Reproductive parts vs leaves vs roots
- Tracking patch return year-over-year
Foraging Legality
National parks, national forests, state parks, WMAs, private land, roadside rights-of-way — the rules that govern what you can pick where. Plus federally protected species and the do-not-pick principle.
- NPS 36 CFR 2.1 and the limited exceptions
- Louisiana state parks & WMAs
- Trespass law and posted-land statutes
- Ginseng under CITES, state-listed rare species
Plant Poisoning First Aid
The critical guide. Recognizing symptoms, the universal first action (call 1-800-222-1222), what NOT to do, what to bring to the ER. Three named scenarios: child eats a berry, adult sips a tea, pet eats foraged trim.
- Poison Control 1-800-222-1222 — save it now
- GI / neuro / skin / delayed liver-kidney signs
- What NOT to do (no DIY vomiting, no blind charcoal)
- What to bring to the ER
Leaching Oxalic Acid
The water-bath protocols that turn poisonous wild starches into staples — cold leach for acorn flour, three-water boil for pokeweed shoots, blanch-and-drain for sorrel. The difference between food and poison is water.
- Acorn cold-leach (5–14 days)
- Acorn hot-leach (1 day, denser flour)
- Pokeweed 3-water boil — shoots only
- Sorrel & wood-sorrel limits
Leaching Tannins
The acorn-flour process in detail — cold vs hot leach tradeoff, taste-test cadence, drying and milling. Plus persimmon astringency (resolves with frost) and a buckeye "do not eat" with full aesculin footnote.
- Cold leach (starch intact) vs hot leach (denser)
- pH-strip completion test
- Persimmon — frost vs controlled ripening
- Buckeye — why leaching alone is not enough
Drying Herbs Four Ways
Hang, screen, dehydrator, sun — pros, cons, and when each wins. Target temperature, time, and final moisture for each method, with three plants it suits and three it ruins.
- Hang-drying — best for woody-stem bundles
- Screen-drying — best for loose leaves and flowers
- Dehydrator — best for high-moisture material
- Sun — free, but UV destroys some actives
Lacto-Fermentation
Salt-brine method for wild greens (purslane, lambsquarters, dock) and roots (burdock, wild radish). The 2–3% salt ratio, airlock vs open-crock decision, signs of healthy ferment versus spoilage.
- 2–3% salt — how to measure
- Airlock vs open crock
- Healthy ferment vs spoilage — what to look for
- USDA safe-temperature ranges
Tinctures
Alcohol, vinegar, glycerin — the folk method, the measured method, and how to choose between them. Step-by-step for dandelion root, elderberry, and stinging nettle.
- Folk method vs 1:5 measured
- Solvent comparison & ratios
- Straining, storage, shelf life
- Glycerites for kids, oxymels
Teas, Hot & Cold Infusions
The three steeps. Tea (brief, flavor), hot infusion (long, covered, for leaves and flowers), cold infusion (overnight, for marshmallow and slippery elm where heat destroys the gel). Dose math included.
- Tea vs hot infusion vs cold infusion
- Dose math — dried vs fresh
- Water temperature ranges
- Mucilaginous plants and why they need cold
Poultices & Compresses
The oldest plant medicine — bruise it, warm it, bind it on. The fresh poultice, the boiled poultice, and the linseed drawing plaster from Culpeper's 1653 herbal, plus the compress and the modern safety rules the old books never had.
- Poultice vs compress vs drawing plaster
- Fresh, boiled, and linseed methods
- Culpeper's fenugreek-and-linseed principle
- When NOT to use one — infection & deep wounds
Salves & Balms
The two-stage process — infuse the herb in oil, then melt in beeswax at the right ratio. The three classic salves (comfrey, plantain, calendula) plus the comfrey-is-external-only warning that protects your liver.
- Slow folk-method vs double-boiler infusion
- Beeswax ratios — 1:8 soft, 1:4 hard
- Comfrey, plantain, calendula — what each does
- Pyrrolizidine warning for comfrey
Cultivation
How to bring a wild plant into your garden — and keep it alive. Seed saving, division, runners, layering, transplant timing, what wild plants tolerate cultivation.
- Seed saving by plant type
- Division & root crowns
- Layering & runners
- Transplant timing
Grafting & Splicing
The art of joining two plants into one. Bench grafting, whip-and-tongue, T-budding for fruit trees, scion handling and wax sealing, when grafting beats seed.
- Whip-and-tongue (apple, pear)
- T-budding (stone fruit)
- Cleft & bark grafts
- Scion storage & wax
About these guides
Every claim in these guides is grounded in our public-domain library — Pammel's 1911 Manual of Poisonous Plants, Sturtevant's 1919 Notes on Edible Plants, Wood & Bache's 1834 Dispensatory, Britton & Brown's 1913 Illustrated Flora, Porcher's 1863 Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests, and others — with citations inline. Where the old books are thin or wrong by modern standards, we add a clearly-labeled Modern best practice (2020s) section attributing institutional sources by name. The aim is the same as the old farm-extension bulletins and the Foxfire books: practical, tested, no fluff. You can read every source we cite at the Library.
The plant-identification side of PlantCraft AI tells you what something is. These guides cover what to do with it. Combined, that's the difference between a search engine and a teacher.
Always cross-check medicinal preparations with a qualified herbalist or physician. We make no medical claims.