All Green Iowa AmeriCorps members are required to complete a Professional Development Project (PDP). For my PDP I decided to create a short booklet about foraging for wild edibles in Dubuque County. Although it was created specifically for Dubuque County, it covers edible plants you can find all throughout Iowa and most of the Midwest.
I came up with this idea only a few weeks into the 2022-23 service term. It all started during the first week when my team lead Julia offered me a Jewelweed salve she made to soothe the skin. I was fascinated by the idea of her going out and collecting wild plants and creating something practical out of it. That same week, while brainstorming ideas with Julia, I mentioned doing a book about foraging. I took that idea and ran with it, and now, eleven months later I am proud to have a finished product. You can find the book at both of Dubuque County Conservation’s interpretive centers, Swiss Valley and EB Lyon’s, as well as a pdf version of it here, enjoy!
About the Author
Hailey Wedewer is serving an eleven month term at Dubuque County Conservation. She chose to serve because she didn’t want to go back to her retail job after spending a summer working in the conservation field. Hailey graduated this spring with an Associate of Science from her local community college and will attend The University of Wisconsin - Madison this fall where she will study Conservation Biology with minors in Sustainability and Environmental Science. She has learned more about the environment over her service term than she has in school and is incredibly thankful to have had the experience to serve her community the past eleven months!