2023 Plant Sale and Festival Speaker - Ila Hatter
THE LADY OF THE FOREST is an interpretive naturalist, artist, author, instructor, wildcrafter, and gourmet cook. Ila is a descendant of Pocahontas, was raised on natural remedies along with a love and respect for nature.
Ila Hatter is an interpretive naturalist, artist, wildcrafter, and gourmet cook with more than 25 years of experience teaching the cultural heritage of native plants. She is a staff instructor for the Smoky Mtn Field School, and a guest instructor for the Campbell Folk School. Ila has been featured on the NC PBS “Folkways” shows and their “Our State” programs. Hatter has released a series of instructional videos by her company, IRONWEED PRODUCTIONS , titled “Wild Edibles & Medicinals of Southern Appalachia” with authentic Appalachian music and folklore. She is the editor/publisher of “Roadside Rambles”, a collection of wild food recipes; and edited “The Ethnobotany of the Cherokee”, by Dr. William Banks, which will be published under the title: “Plants of the Cherokee”. Ila is featured with renowned Cherokee elder Amanda Swimmer in a video, funded by the Great Smoky Mountain Association, titled “Mountain Kitchen”. A wonderful article on Ila appeared in nationally acclaimed COUNTRY magazine featuring wildflower folklore. The award winning OUR STATE magazine, in North Carolina, featured a 4-page article on how Ila sees and teaches the potential of weeds and wildflowers for the table and for the medicine cabinet.
