Plant Walk: Useful Trees and Shrubs of Colorado

A hands-on class covering organoleptic analysis, botanical identification, preparation making, ecology, caretaking techniques, mythology, and connection to the landscape of the megaflora of the Colorado Rockies. Attendees will have a basic understanding of harvesting techniques, issues of sustainability, and conservation/stewardship of 10 trees/shrubs. We may meet and taste red osier dogwood, alder, the conifers (spruce, pine, fir, and doug fir), juniper species, Artemisias/sagebrushes, oaks, rose family members (mountain mahogany, rose, Western cherry), and salicaceous friends (cottonwood, aspen, and willows).

 

We'll discuss how the Southwest forests have gotten to their present state of health and disease, with a focus on the crucial past and present role of Indigenous humans, in particular the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapahoe, in tending a complex fire ecology for thousands of years, and ways in which we can further local efforts to regenerate our Southwest forests.