Wild Plant Culture

Jared Rosenbaum is a botanist, native plant grower, and ecological restoration practitioner. He and his wife run Wild Ridge Plants LLC, which grows local ecotype native plants using sustainable practices, performs botanical surveys, and provides ecological restoration planning services. Jared has extensive experience in stewardship and monitoring of natural communities. He is known as an educator in plant ecology, ecological restoration, and the cultural uses of wild plant foods and medicines. Jared is the author of two prior books on native plants, including the children's book The Puddle Garden, and maintains an active blog at wildplantculture.com. He is a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner by the Society for Ecological Restoration. He lives in New Jersey.

Acknowledgments


Section One: Restoring Reciprocity, Sustaining Sustenance


Introduction

    The Farmer's Quandary

    Two Human Paths

    Who Is This Book For?


Chapter 1: A Different Way

    Tending the Wild

    Eat Local


Chapter 2: Plants in Relationship

    Plant Planet

        Carbon and Soils

        Temperature and Water

    Wild Plants as Food

    Wild Plants as Medicine


Chapter 3: Ecological Restoration

    Mimesis and the Reference

    Ecosystem

    Restoring Plants


Chapter 4: In Community with Nature

    Communities

    Belonging to an Ecological Community




Section Two: Learning Your Land


Chapter 5: Reading Geology, Soils, and Water

    Soils and Geology

    Water

        Plants and Hydrology


Chapter 6: Land Use History

    Land Use History and Habitat Quality

        Post-Agricultural Soils

    Natural Disturbances


Chapter 7: Reading the Story of the Land

    Historical Aerial Photos and Maps

    Analyzing the Landscape

        Indicators of a Remnant

        Indicators of Disturbed Habitats

    Making Your Own Map

    Tend or Mend

        High-Quality Sites → Tend

        Low-Quality Sites → Mend


Section Three: Plant Communities and Culturally Useful Plants


Chapter 8: Plant Communities

    Plant Community: Riparian Forests

    Plant Community: Rich Mesic Forest

    Plant Community: Upland Oak Forest

    Plant Community: Glades

    Plant Community: Meadows and Grasslands

    Plant Community: Forested Wetlands

    Plant Community: Sunny Wetlands and Shores

    Plant Community: High Elevation and Northern Forests

    Plant Community: Sandy Pine and Oak Forests

    Plant Community: The Seashore


Chapter 9: Plant Species


Section Four: Restoring Your Land


Chapter 10: The Reference Site

    How to Find a Reference Site

    Interpreting a Natural Area for Beginners


Chapter 11: Repairing Soils

    Soil Amendments

        Wood Chips

        Leaf Compost

    Mycorrhizal Fungi

        Biochar

        Decompacting Soil

    Restoring Landscape Structure

        Pit and Mound Topography

        Structural Repair Methods


Chapter 12: Vegetation Control

    Tillage

    Smothering and Solarizing

    The "Lasagna" Mulching Method

    Herbicides


Chapter 13: Burning

    Indigenous Fire

    Transitions

    Ecological Potential


Chapter 14: Deer Management and Exclusion

    Protecting Plantings from White-Tailed Deer


Chapter 15: Introducing Plant Materials

    Planting

    Seeding

    Post-Seeding Maintenance for Meadows

    Meadow Maintenance


Conclusion: A Missing Link

    Belonging to This Place


Appendix — Assessment and Monitoring Techniques

    Assessment and Monitoring

        Baseline Monitoring

    Monitoring Methods

        Photo Monitoring

        Biological Inventories

        Floristic Quality

        Assessment

        Sampling Units


Endnotes

Index

About the Author

About New Society Publishers