Gatherers must leave the first plant they find untouched

Evidence

When my basket holds enough leeks for dinner, I head home. Walking back through the flowers, I see a whole patch of snakeroot spreading its glistening leaves, which reminds me of a story told by an herbalist I know. She taught me one of the cardinal rules of gathering plants: “Never take the first plant you find, as it might be the last—and you want that first one to speak well of you to the others of her kind.” That’s not too hard to do when you come upon a whole stream bank of coltsfoot, when there’s a third and a fourth right behind the first, but it’s harder when the plants are few and the desire is great. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 649

Categorization

• DEFINE: Articulates the ‘never take the first’ rule of the Honorable Harvest and the animacy assumption that the first plant can speak to its kind.
• XREF: connects to: Pickers leave visible marks so later harvesters do not overtake a site. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 546; Respect for a plant can be enacted through sustainable harvest itself — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 582; Sustainable harvest rules demand knowing each plant’s specific regeneration limits — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 584

Broader Connections

• Sustainable harvest rules demand knowing each plant’s specific regeneration limits #expands (0.82) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 584
• Respect for a plant can be enacted through sustainable harvest itself #expands (0.78) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 582