Last week, I took the kids acorn gathering after school. The rain hadn't really started in yet, and it seemed about the right time. My favorite spot is the middle of the University of Oregon campus, because they have good oak varieties that are really well cared for and well watered, thus producing abundant, fat acorns. Also, it's a lot of fun to have all the college students bustling about ...
Wildcrafting
A Day at Blair Lake
On the Fall Equinox, we headed up into the mountains outside of Oakridge for our annual Blair Lake huckleberry picking trip. Typically this has been a big weekend campout, but with how busy life has been the Fall (and you will notice the Fall Equinox was some weeks ago, and I'm just posting about it now) we decided to make it a day outing with friends and head back after dinner around the ...
The Gleaning Girls
Even though I live on a farm where there is fruit, September got me thinking about all my annual wildharvesting and alley-way gleaning spots around town. While slicing and drying seconds apples and Asian pears from boxes the farmers couldn't use is fast and convenient, I was missing the challenge of going out and gathering. It was to my benefit that they didn't have seconds of Italian plums, ...
Nettles in Winter
There has been a different feel to the air in the mornings lately. It feels a little warmer, the cold doesn't nip as harshly, and from every direction the birds are singing. I decided it must be time to go check my favorite nettle spot. Last weekend, I took my daughter out to the ancient old maple at the edge of a hazlenut orchard where I found such a jackpot of fresh green nettles last year ...
Mushroom Madness
Fall has really set in around here with foggy mornings, flying leaves and a fair amount of drizzly weather. All these mark the beginning of my favorite wildcrafting expeditions of the year, mushroom hunting. Getting out in the woods as things are winding down for the Winter to gather up baskets full of succulent, tasty fungi is a treat all on its own, not to mention the wide array of culinary ...
Invite Someone Wild to Dinner
Tis' the season of wild edible greens, and lately I've been finding the makings for salads and steamed side dishes in my backyard. There's something fun about going out in the evening to forage up a wild dinner guest. With all the warm (and not so warm) rainy days of Springtime, emerging greens are tender, mild and chalk full of nutrients after a long Winter. It's ...
Fields of Blue
One of the first things I fell in love with during my first Spring in the Willamette Valley was the camas. Lining roadsides, in patches along trails and natural areas, in many folks back yards, and in waving masses of blue out in the fields and wetlands, this plant is a beautiful sight to behold. Camas (Camassia sp.) belongs to the lily family, and posesses a rich history as one of the most ...
The Joy of Nettles
Nettle season has come around once again, and I couldn't be any happier about it. Just about the time I'm starting to wonder when Winter will finally take its leave, these wonderful green heralds of Spring come up all over the woods, offering a nutrient-rich, rejuvenating food source with seemingly endless health benefits. They may be prickly, they may have an unpleasant reputation with ...
Eat Your Wild Greens: The Delectable Nettle
There is no other plant I have loved and loathed as much as the stinging nettle. As a child, we avoided these troublesome plants for the itching welts they gave on our legs should we carelessly brush against one while playing in the woods. We just plain did not like them, and the idea that they might be a food never crossed our minds. In fact, if someone had ever told me I would plant ...
Boughs of Holly
"The holly and the ivyNow are both well grown Of all the trees that are in the woodThe holly bears the crown" Only recently have I come to appreciate holly. Since my background is in Horticulture with a focus on native plant restoration, I had a lot of negative feelings about this plant as an invasive species always popping up in the forests near houses where holly was planted. It was prickly, ...