2 More Ways to Make Quick Money – The Wild Craft Business

How often do we get the opportunity to enter an emerging industry on the ground floor? That’s right, not very often at all. It’s even rarer when we get the chance to step onto the ground floor of a re-emerging industry that is perhaps as old as civilization itself. Of course, I’m talking about the Wildcraft industry. As simple and inexpensive as it is to start your own Wildcraft business, it really is one of the best ways to make money fast out there today.

Wildcrafting used to be a very common practice. People would harvest items that were native to their area in order to survive. Then, with the introduction of “trade”, they began exchanging surplus stock with other groups of people for items that were native to other areas.

Although almost forgotten by most, this industry continues to exist and flourish. With hundreds of millions of dollars changing hands annually. Today Wildcrafters harvest a number of different non-timber forest products.

Two of the most common are…

1. ALWAYS GREEN BRANCHES:

• Season; October through the first week of December is generally the harvest season for holiday decorations (with tens of millions of dollars exchanging hands in just a few weeks). However, for other uses, the branches can be harvested at any time of the year. except in the spring (shortly after new growth has taken place).
• Harvest Techniques; The only tools needed to harvest evergreen boughs are simple everyday pruning tools. However, in order to maintain tree growth and vigor, the harvester, practicing responsible harvesting procedures, must leave a good portion of the foliage intact. This practice will ensure a sustainable harvest for the Wildcrafter, as the quality of the branches will improve after the first harvest.
• Background; Vegetation is used by both individuals and the floral industry for flower arrangements and a multitude of seasonal decorations. All evergreen trees can be used in this way. The most popular in the Northwest include True Fir, Cedar Pine, Mountain Hemlock, Douglas Fir, and Incense Cedar. The evergreen branches are also harvested to extract their essential oils to be used in the manufacture of various fragrances. The branches are shipped commercially throughout the country.

2. MOSS:

• Season; Moss can be harvested throughout the year, although it is easier to manage during the drier times of the year.
• Harvest Techniques; Collecting moss is simply a matter of picking it off trees or branches by hand. However, once again, it is imperative to follow responsible harvesting procedures and care should be taken to leave some of the moss on the branches, on the bottom two feet of the trunk, and in scattered patches when harvesting from the ground.
• Background; Mosses are non-flowering plants that contain chlorophyll and produce their own sugars, but instead of having roots they have rhizoids. Moss is found adhering to tree branches or trunks, as well as in leaf litter, trunks, soil, and rocks in dry, rocky areas as well as in dense, moist forests. It is used by both homeowners and commercial nurseries to retain moisture around landscape plants and in flower arrangements.