Who doesn’t love that dark amber nectar of real maple syrup – the sweetness of the trees and one of the earth’s most decadent and natural sweeteners? Click HERE to watch me rave about syrup on WZZM13. We treat maple syrup like it’s liquid gold in my house – a precious food that I love to use …
Can you hear the trees awakening? It’s maple syrup time for the farmers and foragers setting out to tap the maple trees! Even though the land around us continues to be covered with a deep blanket of snow, there’s a shift in the trees. With warmer days and cold, clear nights, the trees are stretching their hibernating …
From firs to pines to spruces– these favorite evergreens adorned many homes for the holidays with their fragrant boughs. Now that the holidays are over, it’s time to take down the trimmings– but wait! The boughs can serve an additional purpose: Before directing that greenery out to the compost or to the curb for recycling, …
A recent walk around my favorite farmer’s market led me to discover an abundance of wild and feral apples. I am one that is know to snack off trees and pluck greens from the ground as I go about my day, so stopping down to taste one of the abandoned beauties didn’t surprise my companion, …
How do you forage and cook stinging nettles? Gather young stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) in spring, from April to June, and again in the fall, in damp, nutrient-rich soil by rivers, streams and lakes. Wear gloves, cook or dry the leaves to remove the sting, and use them like spinach, as in the nettle and …
What is the adage, “A weed is a plant that is growing where you don’t want it?” Abundant in areas of disturbed soil – at the forest’s edge, along roadsides, and on river floodplains – the Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata, Brassicaceae) is deemed by many as a noxious, invasive species, choking out native vegetation and spreading wildly across …
Spotted: Wild leeks, Allium tricoccum Regionally, Wild Leeks are distributed as far east as New York State and through Canada, west into the forests of Wisconsin and Minnesota and south into Appalachia. Here in Michigan, the Wild Leeks (or Ramps are they are also called) are plentiful in the Beech/Maple woods along the rivers and on …
The light of the shining January Wolf Moon falls onto the crisp, glimmering snow crystals of the Michigan Winter Woods. Winter is at its peak — the smell of cold, crisp, harsh air reminds us of the scarcity of the dark months. But even in the depths of winter’s darkness, nature offers us healing winter remedies …
… A holiday mantra that hits the airwaves at Thanksgiving and then repeats on loop through the December holiday madness. We hum the tune, but have you ever added chestnuts to your table during the holiday? The chestnut is a pretty amazing food, filled with protein, minerals and vitamins and energy in fact, if ever …