A natural living site where you'll learn about organic gardening, foraging, home medicine and more.
I was passionate about wild violets as a child and would collect them until my hands could hold no more. When we moved 20 years ago, I didn’t find any violets on our new property so I transplanted some from our old home. It wouldn’t have been home without them. Violets have many uses including making a beautiful violet jelly.
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You are likely familiar with wood chips, which refer to any woody material which has been broken down into small chips. Ramial wood chips, on the other hand, may be new to you. Also known as arborist wood chips, ramial wood chips are made from small diameter (under 3″) tree branches and often include the fresh leaves of the tree.
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For us, foraging is a hobby. We love identifying plants, gathering mushrooms and other wild edibles, and we enjoy the added variety that foraging adds to our diet. But we are in no way dependent on foraging to live. But still, we think there is wisdom is increasing our knowledge of wild edibles and medicinals, and extending that knowledge to include the winter months. Because, yes, there are still a number of plants (and fungi) that we can forage in winter.
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Wood chip gardening, also known as the Back-to-Eden method of gardening, has gained popularity in recent years. It’s done so for good reason, but many people give up after just a season or two because they are not implementing the process correctly.
Here are 10 common mistakes that people make when wood chip gardening; this will help you to proceed with success in your gardening journey.
In so many ways, this has been the year of the mushroom for us. We successfully began growing our own mushrooms this year, and then it rained, and rained, and rained all summer. Not so great for the garden, but amazing for mushroom hunting and harvesting.
If you have a mushroom lover on your list, here are some great ideas for gift giving.
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We are mushroom lovers in this house, and we both forage and grow our own mushrooms at times. And one of our favorite ways to enjoy them is in cream of mushroom soup. We also like to have healthy, homemade meals ready to eat on days when there’s no time to cook. I do freeze this soup, but right now freezer space is at a premium. That’s why I also can cream of mushroom soup base.
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