Foraging and Remembering
Posted in Classes, foraging, gardening, invasive species, local food, wild food on Jul 6th, 2010
Perused one of my local wild spots yesterday, with an eye out for the surplus. I’m looking for things whose cup overfloweth, if you know what I mean. So at this time, mostly overripe (we got about 1% of the harvest) wild artichokes (Cynara cardunculus) open up into these amazingly beautiful [...]
Posted in Culture, Plants, ethnobotany, foraging, gardening, invasive species, local food, permaculture, wild food on May 23rd, 2010
Cynara cardunculus, or artichoke thistle, is the wild version of the commerical artichoke. But get this, they taste the same, and have delicious hearts, but they are armored with thistle spikes. Considering eating a whole artichoke down the heart is a slow food and fun ordeal already in our culinary traditions, [...]
Posted in Plants, gardening, holistic health, local food on Nov 30th, 2009
David Wolfe has called these fruit, (not actually berries) Incan berries. So you can buy them at Whole Foods or whathaveyou, often as Incan Berries. You can even go to this site and go to products and buy them.
They are also known as:
poha,
Cape gooseberry
ground cherry
golden berry (or goldenberry).
These superfoods [...]
Posted in Plants, foraging, gardening, local food on Nov 27th, 2009
One of the big things I try to teach my students and coach my clients on, is the importance of choosing the right plants. Most people only know a handful of plants to start with, and have eaten about as many. So they typically want to choose plants that are
1. already [...]
Posted in Plants, Uncategorized, ethnobotany, foraging, gardening, local food, wild food on Oct 24th, 2009
If all the acorns around you have got your feeling a little squirrely, here’s the short, short version of what you can do:
If you have Valley Oak or similar acorns (they are cream colored “white” as opposed to yellow), crack them easily with a nutcracker or a rock against a hard surface. Grind [...]
Posted in gardening on Jul 3rd, 2009
I’m pretty sure I know what it is, but please post what you think it is in the comments below. Thanks.
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Posted in Plants, ecodreaming, gardening on Jul 1st, 2009
The soil in my garden is heavy clay. I’ve actually made clay cups from the soil. Fired them and all. And every thing I’ve ever read about beets (Beta vulgaris, the one breed for the root, — the other B. vulgaris is chard, bred for the leaves) says that they don’t like heavy clay soil. [...]
Posted in ecodreaming, gardening, permaculture, tending the wild on Jun 27th, 2009
Biochar + Biology + Minerals = miraculous healing of the soil?
For instance, soak Biochar in aerated (brewed) compost tea, work it into soil along with mineral clays like Azomite or Terramin. Mycorhizae as well.
The combo remediates toxins, adds long lasting carbon to the soil, and replenishes its minerals.
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Posted in gardening, holistic health, local food on May 3rd, 2009
This is the best drink ever! And it’s the most beautiful green color I have ever seen. Nettles are very high in chlorophyll, way more than even kale and spinach. They are very much like a superfood. Have you ever had that feeling after too many days [...]
Posted in Elaeagnus, ethnobotany, feralculture, gardening, holistic health, invasive species, local food, permaculture, wild food on Sep 7th, 2008
1. This species of Elaeagnus is NOT invasive in my area. “Invasive” meaning in this case, seeds won’t germinate and grow through natural conditions.
2. There are no objective definitions of “invasive” and “native.” Modern ecology tells us that pretty much all ecosystems are recently evolved aggregates. All species [...]
