I'm not sure if this is a bug or purposeful but I personally see it as problematic. For example, I found an unbuilt loom in the wilderness with some string attached to it so I thought "Sweet! My low-level character could use some string." Alas, I could not craft anything with it because I did not "discover" it. I understand the notion of not being able to craft something without ever getting the ingredients into your inventory. However, I think that it should not be determined by harvesting an item from it's source but rather just acquiring it.
My reasoning behind this is if a new character joins an expert village with copious amounts of string, meat, and other materials that are usable at low levels but not easily attained at the start would be denied the ability to use these things even though they surround him. I feel like chance finding should on the same level as actually harvesting.