Herbs in my area

[moonmorgan]

I live in Windsor, Ontario, Canada and am trying to learn how to harvest herbs. I have managed to locate the following:

clover
ivy

Big deal!!

I know there is Mugwort growing wild here, but I don't know what it looks like or where to look. Does anybody know what kinds of herbs I can expect to find here and a good book or website that shows pictures so I can identify them?

[Lavender]

Hi Moonmorgan,

Mugwort can grow up to 6' tall. The leaves are deeply cut & smooth, dark green on top & lighter gray-green & fuzzy underneath. The leaves remind me of large celery leaves but smells a bit like sage. The stems are grooved with little fine hairs & purplish looking, a bit squarish looking. They like full sun, average to poor, well drained soil so check roadsides & ditches or places like that. If you're wildcrafting along the roadside, look for dirt roads & places that won't have a lot of traffic. You don't want busy roads...not just because of the danger of cars but the pollution & other toxic stuff that comes from cars & such.

Here's a link for the properties:

http://www.holisticonline.com/Herbal-Med/_Herbs/h267.htm


This link has a picture of mugwort but it's not all that clear but hope it will help:

http://www.richters.com/Web_store/web_store.cgi?product=X4120&cart_id=2089922.5565


Richters is in Ontario as well. If you can, get them to send you their catalogue...great source of info! You can check at your local library for herbal books for your specific area. I'm on the west coast so I don't really know what else to look for.