I am a lifelong admirer and collector of fall leaves. Sometimes I still find them tucked in the pages of a book I read years ago, or in the back of my flower press from the previous autumn. I had a friend in college who would dry them and hang them up in a string above doorways, and I did that for a long time until my kids got older and life got busier. I heard about beeswax leaves recently ...
Brewing Ginger Spruce Beer
Homebrewing is one of those DIY endeavors that can be a lot of fun, and can also be tricky to fit in when times get busy. I hadn't brewed a beer at home since my all-grain Pumpkin Spice Ale in the fall of 2013, so we were long overdue. Fortunately, we got motivated by a prolific homebrewing friend living up the river who is keeping his fermenting carboys at our place. You come home enough times to ...
Thoreau’s Autumnal Sun
"I am the autumnal sun, With autumn gales my race is run; When will the hazel put forth its flowers, Or the grape ripen under my bowers? When will the harvest or the hunter's moon Turn my midnight into mid-noon? I am all sere and yellow, And to my core mellow. The mast is dropping within my woods, The winter is lurking within my moods, And the rustling of the ...
Foraging Family Traditions
Traditions are the threads that tie families together down through the generations, and foraging traditions go back centuries. Mushroom gathering, huckleberry picking, fishing, and elk hunting are just a few in my family, and I make an effort to carry them on for my kids. The hunting and fishing part I hope to take up one day when my life is a little less busy, but mushrooms and huckleberries are ...
Jack – O’ – Lanterns
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Let the Halloween Tomfoolery Begin!
Halloween is a big deal in our house. It's pretty much a month long celebration that involves pumpkin patch trips, thrift store decor bargain hunting, an evolving display of decorations, scary movies, "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown", a pumpkin party, a ridiculous number of jack-o-lanterns, multiple costume changes, a pioneer cemetery photo shoot, and all sorts of festivities on Halloween ...
The Mushroom Hunters
They pop up from the forest floor when the autumn rains arrive, golden and glowing through the moss and mist. Chanterelle mushrooms are one of the fun things to forage, and just one more reason fall is my favorite. This time of year, folks are headed out to the woods with their families to go on mushroom hunting expeditions, bringing home bags and baskets full of wild deliciousness. I needle ...
The Lowdown on Storage Crops
My article on storage crops was published today in Organic Lifestyle Magazine: Foods You Can Grow and Store All Winter - The Lowdown on Storage Crops ...
Golden Leaves
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Be Like a Tree
"Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop." ~Rumi ...