Non-Timber Forest Products

Let's take a moment to deconstruct the green wall of vegetation which grows abundantly all around. What can you eat? What medicine grows right outside the front door? In the Spring, there are so many fresh young shoots and leaves to learn about in this afternoon of shared discovery; come take a walk and find a sweet or bitter snack!

How many of the following questions do you answer yes to?

 (Excerpt from The Wander Society by Keri Smith in the foreword section pg. XXVII entitled ‘What is the Wander Society?’)

by Kate MacFarland, Forest Service Assistant Agroforester

Across the US, communities are recognizing the importance of urban forests, community gardens, and other green space for residents’ mental and physical health, local and regional environmental benefits, and educational and nutritional opportunities. Food forests are an emerging form of green infrastructure that is becoming more and more common across the country.

by Kate MacFarland, Assistant Agroforester

 

Introduction

Shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes) are grown around the globe. Their rich texture, smoky flavor, and nutritious components have made them the second most commonly cultivated edible mushroom in the world and captured our taste buds. Originally cultivated by the Japanese, the name shiitake is composed of shii, for the Japanese chinquapin (Castanopsis cuspidate), the species of choice for growing shiitake mushrooms in Japan, and take meaning mushroom.

Watch this video to learn the difference between pines and other similar trees.

Where: Claremont Forest – at the intersection of 396th Dr SE and SE 53rd St, Snoqualmie, WA 

$25 per individual | $35 per couple | Student and Master Gardner discounts available

Hunting for persimmons on our little 30-acre wood is something that I look forward to all year.

It makes perfect sense to heat with wood. We harvest from within a 10-mile radius of our home. We remove wood from the national forest, from fire-suppressed choked stands full of dead standing and dead downed lodgepole pine. This is forest restoration at it’s most sustainable.

Here's a collection of links from around the web. Many of these NTFP links include contact information for workshops or extension programs. Please add your relevant link recommendations in comments!

U. Maine Extension
- http://extension.umaine.edu/programs/natural-resources/non-timber-forest-products/

We hope you enjoy this month’s articles about a number of Non-Timber Forest Products. Everyone defines NTFPs a little differently – some narrowly, some broadly – and each of our writers brings you her own perspective. We aren’t able to cover every product the forest produces, but please follow our links and network with your peers to teach and learn more.