The wild gathering of food, or wildcrafting, as it is now known, is not a new phenomenon. It has been rediscovered by the children and grandchildren of folks who gathered wild by necessity. It predates supermarkets, corner stores, health food stores and many other types of markets. Many of us remember the annual wild cherry picking or blueberry picking of August. Our mothers made jam, jelly and other stored products. Some of us were lucky enough to even have a freezer to store bags of fruit.

But the wild gathering of yore was accompanied by some basics, many of us don’t have today - the natural history of plants. This knowledge, in North America at least, was not gained at schools; it was generated by spending time with our elders. It was part of our oral tradition or that intangible of culture that is difficult to measure.

>So some rules about wildcrafting plants. Kate Frego of University of New Brunswick called them the Five Ps. They are plant, part, preparation, place, and proper.

Proper refers to the big picture. Remove no more of the plants for consumption than is environmentally proper, usually about 10%.

Place refers to the site where your intended food is growing. Roadside is not a good place to gather food (lead and other toxic chemicals), nor Special Places which may have legal protection offered to the species within.

Preparation is of course how and if a product is cooked. Classic example is the fiddlehead. Agriculture Canada published a document stating that fiddleheads must be cleaned of scales and cooked thoroughly before consumption. If not, stomach upset can result.

Not all parts of a plant are edible or palatable. Well known is the poisoning that arises from consuming potato fruits which grow from the flowers. Yet most of us do not dispute the palatability of the potato tubers.

Plant identification is a science, but it is easily learned by those who are observant and use the tools available to learn.

This app has been developed to help the user with plant, parts and preparation. We rely on ethics and common sense to guide the user with proper and place.