Cabbage is a classic cold-weather garden crop and one of the very first plants to put in the ground in spring. Skip shopping at the garden center for plants this year – try growing your own from seed instead! It’s easy, you get more variety selection, and one pack of seeds will grow a LOT…
Looking for a homemade version of those canned diced green chiles that you buy in the store? Here’s how you make them! You can also use these same directions to can any type of pepper – whether they are hot or sweet. Near the end of late summer, we always have more peppers than we…
Being able to identify Jack O’ Lantern mushrooms is an essential skill for mushroom foragers! This is especially useful when hunting for chanterelles, or other orange mushrooms, such as chicken of the woods. In this article, I’m sharing photos and tips to help you better tell the difference between toxic Jack O’ Lanterns (Omphalotus illudens),…
Raspberry leaves are so easy to harvest, dry, and turn into tea! You can pick leaves any time they are green and fresh looking – I’ve been picking a few small handfuls this week, in anticipation of an upcoming hard frost. Picking the Leaves: Inspect your raspberry bushes before you start selecting to pick. You…
Paw Paws are a delicious native fruit that’s prized by foragers! In this article, you’ll learn how to ID paw paw (Asimina triloba) trees throughout the year, plus when to look for the fruit, and how to best harvest and store it. How to ID a Paw Paw Tree Paw paws are small, perennial understory…
Ragweed and goldenrod get mixed up so often, but it’s not because they look alike! It’s because goldenrod has a showy yellow bloom right around the time ragweed pollen is making everyone sneeze. Goldenrod gets all of the blame, but it’s actually used by folks to help with seasonal allergies! In this article, you’ll learn…
Learn how to harvest sunflower seeds from your garden, plus how to save them for snacking, birdseed, or replanting in next year’s garden! When to Harvest Unlike many flowers, you don’t want your sunflower blooms to dry all the way up before collecting your seeds. Brown, dead, dry sunflowers have likely either dropped all their…
One of my favorite easy and healthy summer side dishes is grilled corn salad, loaded with veggies fresh from my garden! Here’s my simple take on that classic recipe, but keep in mind that corn salad is super flexible, so feel free to switch out or add in veggies, or try a different dressing to…
Corn Smut, also called Huitlacoche, Corn Mushroom, Corn Fungus, or Mexican Truffles, is an edible fungus that can be found on developing ears of corn. Though it’s considered a pest for most corn farmers in America, it’s also an umami-rich delicacy when prepared correctly! If you’ve never tried corn smut (corn mushroom) before, let me…
Learn how to plant, grow, and care for sunflowers in your garden! These cheerful flowers attract bees, butterflies, and other pollinators to your garden, plus provide a food source for birds, small mammals, and humans too! Growing Sunflowers At a Glance: Here’s a quick reference list about growing sunflowers. More details can be found in…
This cooling jewelweed spray helps soothe the itch of poison ivy, poison oak, bug bites, and bee stings. If you enjoy foraging or exploring the outdoors during late summer, you’ve likely stumbled upon a patch of jewelweed before. Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) especially loves to grow on creek banks, or in areas where the soil is…
Learn how to pressure can fresh pinto beans picked right from your garden, or found seasonally at your local farmer’s market! A common way of canning pinto beans involves soaking and rehydrating store-bought dried beans. As a gardener who grows your own beans, you can just pick FRESH pinto beans out of your garden, shell…