Plant defenses and Human benefits“One day he saw some country people busily engaged in pulling up nettles; he examined the plants, which were uprooted and already dried, and said: 'They are dead. Nevertheless, it would be a good thing to know how to make use of them. When the nettle is young, the leaf makes an excellent vegetable; when it is older, it has filaments and fibres like hemp and ...
Carly’s Blog
Nettles and know how My little sister is pregnant right now. Naturally as her older sister, I am bit worried. Having a child is hard (as they say). Having a child right now is a few levels up, I imagine.Early on in this quarantine experience, I projected all my fears about COVID and this economic train wreck onto her, wanting to problem solve with her (but really for her). One day we were ...
It's all knotweed all the time. The daffodils just started blooming here in Cummington and I'm taunted by the seasonal advancements of everywhere else. The magnolias and dandelions in Northampton and Schenectady (another place I visit), catapult me into another time, three weeks (?) in the future, if the flowers kept time. It takes all my restraint to not travel to far flung places for ...
As a person with a bit of an erratic, mercurial, and spacey streak, I seek earth medicine---the kind that steadies and supports, connects, simplifies, and soothes. Earth medicine helps me weather the insanity of our times, find replenishment, and keep swimming. Some days it’s just a bit of fresh air and offering of thanks with my meal. If I’ve hit a stride of sorts, I may be awash in a ...
The furred four legged was a dedicated foraging pal the time this photo was taken, circa 2008. She was a gourmand, living a grand life of adventure, full of intriguing flavors. In her salad days, we'd run to the river, she'd inspect the shoreline and nibble grass while I harvested nettles. I'd hunt for novel plant friends, my new Peterson's Field Guide for Medicinal Plants and Herbs in ...
Nadia Herman Skeletons of some my favorite wild foods still stand in February unbothered by the snow. Browned withered stalks and burst vacant seed pods offer clues for next season's eating. Lifeless, these standing crowds of destined mulch, are billboards for the vibrant creatures napping snuggly under layers of snow and soil, readying for a spring growth spurt. Anticipating March sap ...
It's june berry month - the moon of shadberry fruit is newly new. Summer is begun, the days are at their longest, and the time is NOW for the beginnings of the fruit season! Honeyberries, early ripeners. Sour and sweet! Being smaller, berries ripen before big fruits like apples. Generally, the more northern varieties and species ripen sooner when planted south of their native range, ...
A bountiful blooming Black Locust in Easthampton, MA. Spring offers a rapid succession of wild foods with what seems like all too brief harvesting windows. I understand that the show must go on, and the green world will unfold as she may. Yet, as my spring time favorites sneak past their prime---dandelion greens, nettles, and japanese knotweed shoots---I reckon with the speed of seasonal ...