A natural living site where you'll learn about organic gardening, foraging, home medicine and more.
Flowers are more than beautiful; many are edible or medicinal. While not all flowers are edible, there are dozens which are. My focus here, though, is on edible flowers you can grow or forage and are amazing when used to make homemade herbal remedies.Continue Reading
There’s something special about seasonal eating, don’t you think? It seems to me that is was more common when I was a child. Apples were only available in the fall. Oranges and tangerines in the winter. These days you can find most anything all year round.Continue Reading
Dock, a common plant often found along roadsides and fields, is most often foraged for its tart leaves in the early spring. Its stalk and root are edible as well. Most commonly harvested are Rumex crispus (Curly dock), and R. obtusifolius (Bitter or broadleaf dock). Curly dock is biennial, while broadleaf dock is a perennial.
The seed is edible, and easy to harvest, but many people avoid collecting it because it can be difficult to process. I thought that too, until I learned a trick which makes it super easy. More about that later.Continue Reading
Two of my favorite things are fall hikes, and pie. I probably like pie more than hiking, kayaking, gardening, and foraging. And I adore hiking, kayaking, gardening, and foraging. We live on a quarter acre lot and don’t grow black walnuts. But black walnut trees grow along some of the trails I frequent. In the fall, I hike, and gather nuts, and I get pie. Black walnut pie.Continue Reading
Spanakopita, for those who may be wondering, is a delicious savory Greek pastry. It is traditionally made with spinach, but it is just as delicious, and more nutritious, when made with stinging nettle. No, I’m not Greek, but a local church has a wonderful festival each year and my taste buds definitely say yes to Greek food!Continue Reading
I get that everyone wants to forage the trendy plants – ramps, morels, fiddleheads, etc. And why not? They are delicious. But my passion is to use, and teach others to use the common weeds and landscaping plants that are right in our own backyards.
It’s mid-spring and our quarter acre is just full of good eating – wood sorrel and dandelion, creeping charlie and garlic mustard, day lily shoots, and hosta. And so much more.
Yes, hosta is edible and the rolled up leaves, or shoots, as they emerge in the spring, are a great alternative to asparagus. Continue Reading