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, [...]
Cleavers, beastraw, Galium spp. are edible plants in the madder or coffee family. (Noni is also in this family and you can see the resemblance in structure!) They have these velcro like leaves and stems that stick or “cleave” to you. And to everything else, too.
While [...]
These are extraordinarily common wild and deliciously edible plants that grow here in the winter and spring. They are cool season greens that are great for the garden, too! (That is, if you’re not already overrun with them. If this is your problem I suggest juicing). Green smoothie, anyone?
Here’s the new video:
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Posted in Animals, Plants, ecodreaming, foraging, mushrooms, tending the wild, wild food on May 13th, 2010
New video, again shot in early March. I’ve noticed how three of my favorite foraged foods are scarcely (if at all) eaten by wildlife. They require processing, namely heat (chanterelles and bay nuts both must be cooked before they are edible). This type of processing (at least on planet Earth) can [...]
When the weather get cold, and the light dims, and growth slows (aka, winter), apparently so does my blogging and making of videos. I spend a lot of time in the winter indoors (dark and rainy) and otherwise I’m pruning fruit trees and foraging for mushrooms, mostly chanterelles. But I never seem to make videos [...]
It seems this time of year I don’t make a lot of posts or videos. I find myself hunkering down inside, as it’s cold, rainy, and dark outside. When I am out, I’m foraging for mushrooms and fruit tree pruning. Harvesting wild greens, making soups. Why don’t I film [...]
Posted in Plants, foraging, invasive species, local food, wild food on Dec 12th, 2009
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Posted in Plants, ethnobotany, foraging, local food, wild food on Nov 26th, 2009
You roast them until dark brown, almost black. Like dark roasted coffee or dark chocolate. They contain caffeine like stimulants and an extraordinarily rich flavor profile.
They are related to avocados, in the Laurel or Lauraceae family, and their fruit when fully ripe can be eaten like an avocado. [...]
Posted in Plants, ethnobotany, foraging, wild food on Oct 30th, 2009
John Farais, a chef specializing in Native American cuisine, has discovered a very cool way to leach these Valley Oak acorns to make them into edible acorn flour. I suspect this will not work for the higher tannin Live Oak or Black Oak (these acorns are yellow fleshed) as there wouldn’t be [...]
