Lesson 3-9: Ethnobotany Chumash Culture
Basically an intro on Chumash culture and who the presenter is... and some info on chia. I like chia. I grow it and use the seeds in bread and cookies. Being a salvia, I hope she'll talk about some uses for the leaves.
I think this one would be good to watch if you live in California or maybe other coastal western areas. Most of the plants she discusses are native to that region, not where I live. I'm pretty knowledgeable about the native plants in my region, but it is always interesting to learn. But, like our sage is totally different than her sage. We do have some nice acorns for eating though, mostly white oaks. Chestnut was the main tree crop here, followed by pecans, walnuts, hickory and beech. I guess Jerusalem artichoke and duck potatoes were our main native tubers.. Plenty of cattails, ramps and wild onions, hundreds of greens and pot herbs, berries and grapes, etc.. native grains are a little scarce except for wild rice. Wild food is VERY abundant from the mountains to the coast in the American southeast.... there is a reason Sir Walter Raleigh thought he had found Eden. You just have to know what to look for and it is truly a cornucopia. Oh, maple nuts are really good, too... but the biggest ones are only the size of lentils. Our agriculture is almost entirely based on non-native to this region plants... corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes and peanuts are native to the Americas, but not here... and soybeans sure aren't! Tobacco is the only native plant that comes to mind, that was ever a major agricultural product here, except for sassafras (but that was brief)... indigo was a major crop for a time, but I don't think it was native.
Here is the link to the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine Course
https://www.swsbm.com/school/
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