Lobster mushrooms are the strangest edible fungi that I’ve yet encountered. Unlike their camouflaged cousin the morel, lobsters are like a stop sign. Look at me, I’m over here! And once you find one pocket, others are sure to follow. On a recent trip to a local state park, we found these mushrooms everywhere. Read more ›
From my muddy gardening tomes to sauce-splotch cookbooks to dog-eared DIY manuals, I really love my resource books. On a cold winter’s night there is nothing better than paging through a reference book looking for fresh inspiration. Above is my Christmas wishlist (fyi, family) of new and recent books from all the areas in my blog; preserving meats, growing food, canning, fermenting, cheese making and foraging. Read more ›
My big summer vacation this year was a camping trip to Whitewater State Park in Southeast Minnesota. My partner and I planned to go hiking, fishing and generally lounge around the campfire. Our first day we set off for a hike with walking sticks and my new National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms, just in case. Read more ›
Mulberries have become part of the urban foraging scene, or gleaning as some folks call it. I’ve never understood how mulberries earned their bad rap. Mulberries are classified as “trash” trees that make a mess and have no good purpose. But I’ve always liked them. Read more ›
In my previous post on foraging burdock, I talked about harvesting the roots. Now it’s time to forage the new stalks that shoot up from the plant in their second year, before they flower. I harvested the burdock from an empty city lot next to the fledgeling Greenleaf Community Garden, where my partner has a plot. Read more ›
It’s a cool, rainy day. We are in the wilderness, hiking through bushes and trees, noses down, eyes scanning the forest floor, hunting. In my pocket is a knife, a net bag and hopefully, my car keys. It’s not big game we are after, it’s mushrooms; specifically, the shy, elusive and delicious morel. For two and a half hours we search, finding nothing but prickly ash, berry briars, ticks and poisonous fungus. Read more ›
Foraging for burdock root has been on my radar for a while. I love the idea of foraging for mushrooms, vegetables and fruit, particularly within the urban area of Minneapolis. It’s a basic skill that I’ve wanted to further develop to take advantage of ultra local resources. Read more ›
My family has been at a cabin in northern California along the upper Sacramento river all week. Our cabin is in what was once the town of Delta, a coal and water stop for the railroad over 100 years ago. The houses were mostly owned by the railroad crews, which repaired the rails and manned the stop. Read more ›