A tale of two trees If you are in the need of citrus and are unable to obtain non-local fruit such as lemons and oranges, consider a different type of grocery store – the woods. Most conifers, cone bearing trees, are edible; specifically pines, spruce, and fir. The needle-like leaves can be steeped for tea,…
Category Archives: Wild edibles
Oaks have cycles as to when they produce acorns and this will turn out to be a mast year with loads of acorns falling from the trees. Interestingly enough, this is also looking like it’ll be a mast year for apples as I have been watching turkeys in the orchards consuming the drops, so get…
Sometimes when I think about the old ones who have gone before us, I consider what they’ve left behind – stone walls meandering through the woods, apple trees with forests growing up around them, juniper bushes in the old fields, maples trees like sentinels lining backcountry roads, unruly flower beds that have taken on a…
As we fall into autumn, mesmerized by the colorful leaves spinning in the breeze and sashaying their way to the ground, be watchful of nannies and witches, for this is their season too – trailside surprises that can delight, nourish and heal. There are some fruits and flowers in our New England woods and fields…
Mmmmm! Wild Concord Grapes! Can you smell them? Their scent on the breeze, so alluring, indicates the shift in season, heralding in fall. I am clambering up an old spruce tree at a neighbor’s house, teetering on a wobbly branch, standing up on my tip toes, my arms reaching up into the vines. Fingertips like…
I have been an environmentalist since I was a teenager. And since college, I have been teaching and sharing about the natural world. I recognized that it is my life’s work. After college, when I went to work for an environmental center in New York State, I had already formed the opinion against hunters. I…
I am forever scoping out my sites; my little special spots; seeing how the seasonal flora is progressing. This April I found a new spot while scouting for a wild edibles program. It’s a rich, moist, upland site and I was overjoyed to find signs of trout lily – a spring ephemeral. When I returned…
To Trust in yourself and the Land By Arianna Samhain, Summer’s End has past the ones we tend to come in from grazing and huddle close for bodies’ warmth. What now will sustain us in the dark months ahead? Apple and Autumn Olive Grape and Cherry Beech and walnut Nettle and herbs dried by the…
What were we thinking when we introduced the Autumn Olive? Autumn Olive, Elaeagnus umbellate, of the Oleaster family, is a migrant from central Asia. Actually, within close proximity of our beloved fall fruit the apple, which is considered naturalized to the United States. That means it’s been here long enough to play nice and fit…
Hearken to Avalon 