Learn how to make traditional corn cob jelly, with a naturally colorful twist! This stunning scarlet jelly features Double Red, an heirloom sweet corn that’s loaded with anthocyanins – antioxidant rich plant pigments, similar to the ones found in blueberries. This year we grew a small test patch of Double Red heirloom sweet corn and…
Now that you’ve grown some beautiful puma peppers, you can use them to make hot sauce! Puma hot peppers can be used to replace habaneros in most any recipe, keeping in mind that pumas tend to be a bit hotter than habaneros, so the finished product may be spicier. This sauce was created to be…
The stunning puma pepper is not only scorching hot at 300,000-400,000 Scoville units, but also pretty enough that you could use it as an ornamental plant in the front garden bed! About Puma Hot Peppers: Dark deep purple foliage and flushing on the fruits make this dramatic plant stand out among pepper varieties. Like other…
Learn how to freeze fresh berries, their expected shelf life, and what to expect when using them from the freezer. We’ll cover: alpine strawberries, blackberries, boysenberries, blueberries, elderberries, raspberries, and strawberries! 7 Berries to Freeze Berry season has arrived, and so the harvests begin! There are few things better than a bright bowl of your…
Spotted bee balm (Monarda punctata) is a stellar pollinator plant in the mint family which attracts all kinds of native bees and butterflies to your garden. As a bonus, the plant has use as an edible herbal too! At a Glance: How to Grow Like other bee balms, spotted bee balm is super easy to…
Learn how to turn black pansy flowers into a beautiful jelly. The flavor is light and mildly grape-like! (You can also use this same recipe with any other kind and color of pansy flowers!) Black pansy flowers are just like other pansies, only they’re a very dark purple – so dark that they can appear…
Learn how to grow Orange Hat – a dwarf tomato that’s perfectly sized for growing in pots and in small spaces! Why is this plant interesting? Orange Hat is a super-small dwarf bush tomato: so small, it will happily produce an astonishing amount of small, delicious tomatoes in a six-inch pot on a windowsill! This…
Now that you’ve learned how to forage for St. John’s wort, let’s turn those flowers into an herbal oil and salve that’s helpful for tired muscles, sciatica, cold sores, shingles, or general aches and pains! If you haven’t read up about collecting this sunny summer herb, check out our article: Foraging St. John’s Wort: How…
St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) is a common weed with beautiful yellow flowers that are well loved by pollinators and herbalists alike! Learn how to identify and when to harvest this herb – then check out our accompanying article for information on making St. John’s Wort infused oil and salve for aches and pains! Tips…
Poppies are easy to grow – these delicate looking plants are much hardier than they seem, taking on cold weather, poor soil, and scarce watering without so much as a blink! Aside from being beautiful and hardy, poppies are also beloved by the bees. Big, open-petaled poppies especially! And as a bonus? Poppies are one…
In this article, you’ll learn what the data says about ghost pipe (Monotropa uniflora). Is it endangered? Edible? Poisonous? Find out the answers to all of your questions below! Around June 8 every year, we start finding Ghost Pipe (also called Indian Pipe), mainly around our creek area. This year so far, we’ve had a…
Learn how to use honeysuckle flowers to make tea, tincture, salve, jelly, and more! Benefits of Honeysuckle Japanese honeysuckle has been well studied for its ability to help the body clear viruses. It’s cooling, making it useful for hot, inflamed, and swollen conditions like sore throat and colds/flu. In Chinese medicine, the unopened flower buds…