By history and heritage, Appalachian communities relied on the forest for everything from kitchen staples and botanical remedies to household decorations and cash income. West Virginians are rediscovering those ways.
When frontier families set up homesteads in Appalachia, they didn’t survive on vegetable gardens. “They had gardens, sure,” says Luke Taylor-Ide, assistant professor and vice president of Community Engagement at Future Generations University (FGU) in Pendleton County. “But they got their sugar supply from community sugaring boils. They had free-range hogs running in the woods. They harvested ginseng and goldenseal for their medicinal and economic value.” Without agroforestry, our forefathers couldn’t have settled here, he says—it provided a livelihood long before there was a coal economy.
Although Appalachia has since adopted cleared-field crop and pasture farming that’s better suited to flatter land, the opportunity for forest farming remains—West Virginia is still nearly 80% forested. “The forest isn’t just sitting there, either,” Taylor-Ide says. “It’s arguably the fastestgrowing and most diverse forest left in North America, with some of the greatest ecological diversity of any forest in the world.”
“Agroforestry” can mean anything from sustainable mushroom or ramp harvest to trees planted as windbreaks. Certain practices are most relevant in Appalachia, according to Joey Aloi, assistant professor at FGU and director of its Appalachian Program. “‘Forest farming’ means high-dollar crops that you cultivate under a managed tree canopy,” Aloi says—”intentionally growing ginseng, for example, or harvesting maple sap for syrup.” Planting curly or pussy willow for use in floral arrangements or native berries for jam are also examples. “‘Silvopasture’ is literally combining animal grazing or pasturing with the forest,” he says. “Does it mean putting chickens in the woods? Trees in the pasture? It can mean both—it’s all under one umbrella.”
Agroforestry can be a low-risk, self-renewing source of significant income. West Virginians sold nearly $600,000 in maple syrup in 2022, and rising. Herbs aren’t researched a lot, but one study estimated that $4 million was paid for the top 10 non-ginseng forest medicinals harvested in central Appalachia in 2015—mostly goldenseal and black cohosh, much of it from West Virginia.
Layering multiple forest farming practices into a farm operation smooths out seasonal workflow and boosts annual revenues. And the best news is that using a woodlot sensibly actually improves it. “Cut down 20% of your trees, and what do you get?” Taylor-Ide asks. “Healthier trees, sweeter syrup, richer nutrients in the soil—and the remaining 80% of the trees sequester more carbon.”
West Virginians are turning once again to our vast Appalachian forest—and in doing so, they’re enriching their diets, evening out farm revenue streams, and deepening their connection with this place we call home.
“When you pick things that are growing in the forest, you get the best,” says Sue Hovemeyer. “There’s continuous composting—‘organic’ isn’t even the word for it. It’s going to have far more micronutrients than something grown on a commercial organic farm.” A retired traditional midwife who worked in Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia from her Wayne County farm, Hovemeyer used her own herbal preparations in her practice and now sells them as Sue’s Nourishing Herbs. She harvests sustainably from woods and meadows her family has owned since the 1980s.
Some of our more common forest plants aren’t in Hovemeyer’s woods. Ginseng had been overharvested, she says, and she’s nurturing goldenseal she planted. She shares her thoughts on a few others.
Wineberry (Rubus phoenicolasius) is a cousin of red raspberry. It has juicy red berries, and a tea from its leaves may help regulate women’s hormones.
I add wood nettles (Laportea canadensis) to everything. They’re rich in minerals, and I eat them raw in a wrap or chop them up and put them in soups or casseroles—the leaves don’t sting. Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), its medicinal cousin, is a main ingredient in a lot of my formulas. As a tea, it may be helpful for allergies, especially spring allergies, and it nourishes everything, so it’s great to drink year-round.
Wild yam (Dioscorea villosa) cream may help with progesterone balancing, preventing miscarriages and nausea during pregnancy.
Shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris), high in vitamin K, may help to prevent hemorrhage.
I’m 71 years old. I’m not on any synthetic hormones—not on any drugs. I’ve been taking black cohosh (Actaea racemosa) for 20 years. If I run out of it, I have hot flashes.
For beginners, Hovemeyer recommends adding wood nettle to dishes and drying wineberry leaves and red clover flowers for tea. Consult a plant identification app or someone whose skills you trust, she says, and educate yourself about sustainable harvest.
“Sue’s Nourishing Herbs” on FB
HUNT & FISH
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people test their wits against the creatures of the West Virginia wild—265,000 hunting licenses were issued by the state Division of Natural Resources in 2021, along with almost 320,000 fishing licenses. About 70,000 people came from out of state. The numbers surged during the pandemic, and WVDNR programs like the Gold Rush fish stocking event draw newcomers, too, says Zack Brown, WVDNR assistant chief of operations for Wildlife Resources. Brown’s dad taught him to hunt as a kid, and his mom took him fishing and berry picking. Friends showed him how to find morels. “West Virginia has a great tradition of hunting, angling, and foraging, living off the land,” he says. He’s proud of WVDNR’s restoration of deer and turkey populations and reintroduction of elk. “Our wildlife resources are doing well, and we’ll continue to manage them for the future so people can get back in touch with their heritage.”
FOREST FANCY
From botanical dyes for textiles to vines for basket-making, forest plants are an endless source of beauty. Blackthorn Lavender in Pendleton County pairs Christmas trees with lavender for complementary growing seasons, says co-owner Trish Uptain—and lots of opportunities for decor.
Lavender Bundles
Fresh and dried lavender bundles are one of our main products. The less you handle something, the more your return on investment, so these are just great.
Christmas Wreaths
I sometimes incorporate dried materials, including lavender, or mosses or juniper berries that I’ve collected carefully in the woods. A local wreath lasts longer!
Lavender Wreaths
A complete lavender wreath of any size is very costly, so I often add other dried materials—like broomcorn, statice, or yarrow—for a more affordable wreath.
THE APPALACHIAN TABLE
Cultivating and responsibly harvesting the fruits of the woodlands for your kitchen deepens your connection with our local natural world. And when you buy food products that others harvest sustainably from West Virginia’s forests, you support the health of the forests and the livelihoods of responsible forest farmers.
Mushrooms Add a world of flavor to your dishes by harvesting wild mushrooms or growing your own. Take a class to learn about species like chanterelle, morel, and oyster that can be easily and safely identified by beginners.
Ramps The world envies us our wild cousin to garlic and onion. Guidelines for harvesting in the Monongahela National Forest make good sense everywhere: Only collect from patches with more than 100 plants, never take more than one-fifth of the plants, and use a soil fork to minimize damage to surrounding roots. Saute your ramps into everything from omelets to pasta dishes, and dry and pulverize the leaves for later use.
Nuts The native nuts of our region are underappreciated in modern times. Black walnuts, butternuts or white walnuts, beechnuts, hazelnuts, and the nuts of some species of hickory—even some acorns, with processing—are all edible.
Berries and other fruits West Virginia’s woods bring us blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, grapes, and serviceberries and even persimmons and paw paws. Find them wild or plant them yourself. There are poisonous impersonators, so take a class or consult someone you trust.
Maple syrup Pure West Virginia maple syrup is delicious as is and, these days, producers are infusing it with natural flavors like blueberry and chili pepper, too. It’s not just for pancakes and ice cream anymore—use maple syrup to sweeten citrusy summer salad dressings, simmer it with soy sauce as a dip for sweet potato fries, or add it to marinades for grilled meats. It’s even delicious in cocktails!
Maple sugar Boiling maple sap beyond the syrup stage eventually makes maple sugar. It can be used like refined white sugar, but holds riboflavin, manganese, and other essential vitamins and minerals that refined sugar doesn’t have—plus a pleasant maple flavor.
Maple confections and condiments Pay attention at shops and festivals this summer. You’ll see everything from candies and spreadable maple cream to cotton candy and glazed nuts and popcorn, all made from West Virginia maple syrup. You’ll also find maple mustard and maple barbecue sauce—both perfect for cookouts.
Walnut syrup and more Producers are experimenting beyond maple. Look especially for West Virginia walnut syrup, which adds a nutty butterscotch twist anywhere you’d typically use maple syrup. It’s also great for making a wet walnut topping for ice cream. If you see birch or sycamore syrup—or hickory, which is made using bark rather than sap—don’t pass up the chance to try it!
Forest Grown Verified
To promote responsible production and harvest of non-timber forest grown products, the organization United Plant Savers maintains a Forest Grown inspection and labeling program. Forest Grown verification encourages land stewardship and sustainable harvest of forest grown products. Visit the website for more information—or for an immersive experience in plant conservation, attend an event at the organization’s botanical sanctuary and its Center for Medicinal Plant Conservation just across the river, in Rutland, Ohio. unitedplantsavers.org
FORBIDDEN FUNGI
Did you know it’s illegal to sell wild-harvested mushrooms at farmers markets in West Virginia?
Twenty species are approved for sale at farmers markets by producers who can provide proof that they purchased the spores to cultivate them. About half of Appalachian states allow the sale of wild-foraged mushrooms, with training and certification. Search “Farmers Market Vendor Guide” at agriculture.wv.gov
Forage for Fun and Profit
With training and certification, wild harvesters of forest roots, herbs, and barks can get access to buyers who pay premium prices. Offered by the nonprofit Appalachian Sustainable Development and Virginia Tech, the free Point of Harvest training includes plant identification and propagation, sustainable harvest practices, post-harvest handling methods, and more, and it concludes with certification. Trainings are scheduled when enough people express interest—contact Robin Suggs at rsuggs@asdevelop.org. To learn more about the program, go to appalachianforestfarmers.org/point-of-harvest
Your Personal SANCTUARY
Creating wildlife habitat around your home can be as simple as providing bird feeders, fruiting plants, and water sources or as complex as restoring a meadow.
No matter the scale, landscaping with native plants can provide edibles, botanicals, and decorative items for your own use while attracting butterflies, songbirds, and other wildlife.
Present a qualified habitat plan to the state Division of Natural Resources and receive an attractive yard sign signaling your property’s designation as a certified West Virginia Wild Yard—for an information packet and application, contact WVDNR’s Wildlife Diversity Program at 304.637.0245.
Steep Hills? No Problem
Sugaring turns a wooded hillside to profit at Moonstruck Maple in Summers County.
Our hills have made West Virginia a livestock state, but some are too steep even for pasture. That’s true for the property Alisha Segars and her husband, Michael, own in Summers County. But forest farming has made their land productive.
The Segarses met studying wildlife management at West Virginia University. They moved to Hinton after graduation to be near Alisha Segars’ parents. A decade ago, they bought the 50 acres next to her parents’ property, and Segars estimates about 40 acres are forested.
Segars’ mother suggested they could produce maple syrup—her mother’s family has been sugaring in Ohio for decades. Since her mom is a veteran, the two got training from the state Department of Agriculture’s Veterans and Heroes to Agriculture program as well as from Future Generations University. The family started Moonstruck Maple and ended their first season, 2018, with about 700 trees tapped and 230 gallons of syrup.
Yield can vary wildly year to year, based on temperature. Those same 700 taps produced 206 gallons in 2019 and 484 in 2020. 2023 was a disappointment—1,500 taps made only 200 gallons. “Everybody in West Virginia said it was the worst season they’d had in 10 years,” Segars says. “The sugar just didn’t run at all.” 2024 made up for it when 1,700 taps brought their biggest year so far: 500 gallons.
In addition to pure maple syrup, Moonstruck produces infused syrups, including a ginseng–elderberry combination and a winter seasonal “yuletide” version with juniper berries and cloves. They make a bourbon-barrel aged syrup as well as a salted maple syrup that’s co-branded with J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works in Malden.
As is true for most family-scale operations, maple syrup is a side business for the Segarses—he’s a full-time firefighter in Beckley, and she works for the nonprofit Three Rivers Avian Center. But the maple community in West Virginia has been welcoming and happy to share expertise, she says. “Everybody sells out, so there’s no reason to be competitive.” Moonstruck sells three-quarters of its product directly through open houses timed cooperatively with the nearby avian center and at markets, and the rest through retail shops.
“You work so hard in the woods, running your lines, repairing your lines. It comes time to tap—it’s cold at night, but it’s starting to be warmer during the day—and, when you drill your hole, sometimes the sap just starts to run out and down the tree,” Segars says. “There’s something joyful—‘Yay! It’s here!’ It’s really hard work, but it’s quite rewarding.” moonstruckmaple.com, @moonstruckwv on FB
LIVE HERE BETTER
Learn how to graft tree limbs, collect native seeds, and more at Yew Mountain Center in Pocahontas County. This 500-acre botanical sanctuary, lodging and camping destination, and school offers experiential education and research opportunities for all ages. 9494 Lobelia Road, Hillsboro, yewmountain.org, @yewmountain on FB
Gimme That Old-Time Medicine
As consumer interest in herbal products grows, so does the demand for medicinal herbs from our forests. A collection of destinations in the highlands of Pocahontas, Randolph, and Tucker counties known as the Mountain Medicine Trail supports forest farmers who cultivate medicinals to reduce demand for wild-grown. Visit them to deepen your appreciation for the economic and historical significance of Appalachian forest botanicals. wvforestfarming.org/mmt
Funding for this project was made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service through grant 23ACERWV1032. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.
READ MORE ARTICLES FROM WV LIVING’S SUMMER 2024 ISSUE
Read the other stories in our forest to fork feature
A SWEET LEGACY
SWITCHING TO SYRUP
TREE TO BOTTLE
THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING READ.
THIS SHOWS HOW MUCH WEST VIRGINIA IS NEEDED.
I LOVE HISTORY, ESPECIALLY OF MY HOME STATE EVEN THOUGH I HAVE LIVED IN OHIO FOR SOME TIME.
VERY TIRED OF PEOPLE PUTTING W.VA, DOWN
I AM GOING TO SHARE
THANK YOU
VICKIE L TURNER