The Modern Wild (Edible) Frountier of North America

Early this month my family and I went to Baker Creek's Spring Planting Festival. While there I listened to an interesting lecture given by Joseph Simcox, a "botanical explorer and world food plant ecologist", on North American wild edibles. The summary of the lecture was: Why haven't many people domesticated more plants native to North America? Throughout the lecture Mr. Simcox explained why most of the commercial agriculture in this country are foreign plants and that we have a huge natural resource of non-domesticated plants the can be domesticated, bred, and then used commercially.

The first question "Why are most plants grown in the U.S. foreign?" The answer is two-fold: first, the Native Americans who knew this land and how to live off of it were primarily nomadic, and for the most part did not domesticate plants. Second, when settlers came from Europe, many of them brought seeds from Europe and didn't bother domesticating the unfamiliar plants they found in their new country.

Mr. Simcox highlighted some amazing plants some that have been domesticated such as the Honey-berry and Persimmon, and some that he believes have potential to be successfully grown commercially such as the Aronia berry and the Stargazer plant (a member of the sesame family). America has many diverse climates from mountains, to praries, and deserts. Some of the plants that grown in these places are incredibly hardy withstanding drought, high altitudes, extreme cold, and more. Lonicera caerulea var. cauriana. known as the honey-berry, for example, a native to the north western U.S. is now being bred by Russia because of its hardiness in sub-arctic conditions and need for a very short growing season. I find it remarkable how Native Americans could live entirely off of the land in desert climates. They knew what to eat and when to eat it, and miraculously it grew where they needed it. Mr. Simcox suggested that some of these hardy North American plants could be domesticated and grown in places where there poor growing conditions and food is scarce.

In conclusion Mr. Simcox encouraged his audience to domesticate wild plants, and encourage any home gardener to do likewise. He explained that one doesn't need to be a botanist to domesticate, and that most of the North American plants being bred now are being done by home gardeners who make one select plant their passion.

I hope that all made cognitive sense. I've had a difficult time organising my thoughts.