Wisteria Cheesecake
I had a divine aromatherapy session yesterday. The Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) is in bloom, and it not only smells divine, but tastes it as well. Wisteria flowers are a new food for me, and although it’s not really ‘wild’…
Horehound Candy
Horehound (Marrubium vulgare) is back in full force. Although not an edible, this Mint Gone Wild is a good medicinal. It is easily recognizable by its greyish green leaves and woolly whitish square stems. This is a very bitter herb, which…
Local Food Challenge documentary
Last year I filmed, edited and produced a 28 minute documentary about the experiences of seven of us who ate foods grown within 250 miles of where we lived for one year. It was aired on Lakeland Public Television in the fall of 2006, and…
Mint Gone Wild
Ok, so both are edible…but this is about wild food plants!
I believe the little guy is a Pacific Tree Frog. You can visit Frogweb to get more information on the over 60% of amphibians who now exhibit malformations due to environmental…
Eat Watercress and Get Wit
Eat Watercress and Get Wit. You might get wet harvesting watercress (Nasturtium officinale), but this Greek proverb is talking about something to give you a bit of snap in your thinking. Here’s a plant, when compared weight for weight,…
Nettle Soup
Mmmm, nettle soup is always a spring treat! Stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) are well-known because of their exceptionally high amount of protein, which isn’t typically found in green leafy vegetables. They truly are a nutritive food,…
Political Will
The Spring Equinox is already next week! This is the time of equal parts day and night. A time of balance and the reawakening energies of springtime. Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth highlights many of the climactic issues…
If You Can’t Beat ’em Eat ’em
Imagine a world where people aren’t fighting invasive plants with herbicides, but rather eating those plants to improve their health and the health of Mother Earth. Peter Becker of Wiesbaden, Germany is passionate about bringing that…
Oxalis Cooler
The weather has begun to warm up here in Topanga Canyon. I am a naturalist guide at Malibu Lagoon State Park and it’s really starting to get hot standing in the sun at the beach for long stretches. Consider a new strategy in keeping…
Luvin’ Potatoes
The countdown to St. Patty’s Day is on. Eating potatoes covered in ‘shamrocks’ seems to me like the quintessential Irish meal. There are about 850 Oxalis spp around the world, so this is one plant that I use either the name…
Wild Foods Revealed
Today is a full moon eclipse. It is said that the energies of a lunar eclipse reveal something. When I teach others I feel like I’m helping uncover something, as if the curtain to the theatre of the natural world has been lifted and…
Changing of US Hardiness Zones
The oxalis is cheering us all up with it’s bright yellow flowers, the manzanitas are in bloom, the wild roses and black walnuts are leafing out. Is this normal? I don’t know, I just moved to Southern California from northern Minnesota…
