Foraging as a Family

Foraging is such a wonderful skill to learn as a family! Wild foods are free, fresh, healthy and natural.  Many of them provide more nutrients than most foods you can find in the grocery store and some of them are absolutely delicious. Foraging gets families outside, providing fresh air and exercise while spending time together.  Children learn all sorts of […]

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Cooking With Kids

Even toddlers can help out in the kitchen!  It’s important for children to learn to cook meals and snacks — and they just plain like it. When families cook together, everybody benefits.  Kids learn skills they’ll need for a lifetime, mealtimes are more enjoyable, kids are more likely to sample more foods, it’s a wonderful way to pass on families […]

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How to Make Elderflower Soda (or Elderflower Sparkling Wine)

Have you heard of elderflower soda?  This is a traditional elderflower delicacy that is so popular in Romania that it inspired Coca-Cola to release their own version, Fanta Shokata (though theirs contains no real elderflowers). It is also known as Socată or Suc de Soc. Here’s the recipe to make your own, which is another from my book, Elderberries: The […]

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Square Foot Gardening: Growing Perfect Vegetables (Review)

I’m a big fan of square foot gardening and I use it in my own gardens quite a lot so I was excited to read the recently released Square Foot Gardening:  Growing Perfect Vegetables  (affiliate link). There are lots of things I liked about this book but also some major drawbacks. PROS:   The book is full of gorgeous, full-color […]

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How to Use Banana Peels for Fertilizer, Dried Mulch and More

Banana peels are some of the best food sources you can give your houseplants and your garden. Yes, you can just toss them in the compost pile, but you can put them to even better use in other ways.   Banana peels are full of nutrients that plants need. The Micro Gardener says these include: Potassium – helps promote general […]

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20 Vegetable, Herb and Edible Flower Seeds You Can Still Plant in June

Think June is too late to start seeds in your garden this year? No way! There are still lots of veggies you can direct seed in your garden.   Indeed, many garden plants grow much more happily in June when the soil has warmed up. Some bean varieties mature in as little as 35 days, and herbs like cilantro can […]

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10 Natural and Organic Ways to Defeat Grasshoppers

The recent hot, dry weather has brought a small plague of grasshoppers to my garden for the first time in years, and I’ve been working hard to defeat them.     We garden organically and I didn’t want to douse our family’s food sources with pesticides and poisons. Also, they’re just not terribly effective. Timing is important in their life […]

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Quick and Easy Gluten Free Buns (Vegan)

Store-bought gluten free buns are expensive and generally taste something like dish sponges.  The good news is you can easily make your own.  This recipe is my go-to recipe for quick gluten-free buns.  It’s also egg-free, dairy-free and soy-free (and vegan!), so it’s great for folks with multiple allergies.  I tend to make these at the last minute and they […]

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A Magical Life Cake and Cupcakes (Gluten Free, Delicious and Easy!)

Cupcake development day is going well. #glutenfreecupcakes #fromscratch #farmersmarket A post shared by @magicandmayhem on May 23, 2017 at 2:05pm PDT I have been making homemade birthday cakes and cupcakes for my kids for almost 20 years now, and they’ve been gluten free for the past 6 years.  With five kids, that means that I have baked a lot of […]

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How to Find Wild Asparagus

Few wild edibles are as satisfying to forage as wild asparagus. It’s tasty, prolific, nutritious, and you can gather a huge bounty of it in just the few weeks of its season. Indeed, it grows so fast (many inches per day) that you can sometimes visit the same foraging spots twice a day and still keep harvesting new spears.   […]

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31 Wonderful Wild Edible Foods to Forage in May

There are so many fantastic wild edibles to forage in May! Many of the best wild foods can only be found this time of year, such as wild asparagus and morels.  Greens are still mild and delicious, and more and more favorites are starting to show themselves. Here are 31 wild edible foods to look for in May, along with […]

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Make Your Own Elderberry Schnapps! 1

Here’s another easy recipe from my new book, Elderberries: The Beginner’s Guide to Foraging, Preserving and Using Elderberries for Health Remedies, Recipes, Drinks and More (available now on Kindle and within the next week or two in paperback!). This is a beautiful, deep purple schnapps that is so simple to make with either fresh or frozen elderberries.  You make elderberry […]

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Elderberry Cream Cheese Spread

Here’s a quick, easy and delicious recipe to make use of elderberry jam that you may have put up.  I featured it in my new book, Elderberries: The Beginner’s Guide to Foraging, Preserving and Using Elderberries for Health Remedies, Recipes, Drinks and More, which went live on Amazon at the Kindle store on Friday and should be out in print […]

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Book Review: Alchemy of Herbs

I was excited to hear about Rosalee De La Foret’s new book, Alchemy of Herbs*, as the author is part of the Learning Herbs site that I have followed for years.  I highly enjoy their blog posts and newsletter for kids about the benefits of plants that you can find in the wild.  Our family makes heavy use of healing […]

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What to Forage in April

April is a fantastic time to forage for wild edible foods. The weather is generally beautiful, and it’s great to get back out in the outdoors after a long winter. Greens like dandelions and nettles are tender, mild and at their peak for cooking, teas, salads and medicinal uses. Many of the best wild edibles can only be found this […]

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Quick Mix-and Match Glazed Mini Donuts (Gluten Free and Dairy Free)

Our 9 year-old, Alex, asked last night if we could make mini donuts together for breakfast for everybody today.  I said yes, and dug out this recipe that I came up with a few years ago.  This is a really easy but delicious recipe that also includes lots of fruit and/or veggies, since each batch contains a cup of whichever […]

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The unknown pear is identified!

The unknown pear from Lake Talcot has been identified!  I’ve seen it for years, and have never known what it is. The best term I ever found was “immigrant pear”, because it was something early immigrants brought over as animal feed.  Chasing a lead down the rabbit hole today, I finally found it. I give you… Pyrus pyraster, the European […]

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Foraging, 9/15/16

Today’s foraging report:   It’s raining, so we have a very short window for picking but we’re showing a friend how to can tonight, so we needed pears. We picked two kinds at Talcot and one at GS, so I thought since we had them on hand I’d do a comparison.   In the back row we have GS pears […]

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Foraging, 8/16/16

Yesterday we went to my parent’ house and picked 2 large boxes of pears. Today I checked one of my secret sites, and sure enough — 2 more boxes of pears off one tree (the eating ones), and I didn’t even get to start on the other (much fuller) one (the canning pears). Plus there’s a tree there has apples […]

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Foraging, 8/22/16

The pears are DONE. Between my parents’ house and my secret spot, we ended up with 11 gallons of pear halves. The first 5 were turned into 15 quarts of sauce, and I see a similar fate for the others when Alicia gets home. Now to start picking some more.

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Foraging, 8/25/16

My latest apple foraging find. The tree is full of these apple (LPC)s, a source says it only fruits every few years. I just got lucky! They’re up to 3″ across but only 1 1/2-2″ high, medium flesh (not too crunchy or mushy), sweet, delicious, and starts browning pretty quickly. No idea what kind it is, but I’ll be going […]

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Foraging, 8/26/16

Our foraged apples for the day. The one in the left is one recent tree (LPC), the crabapple is located nearby, and the huge apple is a new tree we found on property nobody lives on. Huge, white flesh, crisp, delicious. And it’s a dwarf tree so all the fruit fits in one large box.           […]

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Foraging, 8/27/16

Apple update — I think I’ve identified the first LPC tree (with the wide but short apples). I think it’s a Baldwin, and they’re delicious. I may have to go finish picking the tree. How to identify the Baldwin apple variety Baldwin apple variety identification characteristics. Compare your Baldwin apple with our extensive apple identification database. applename.com Save

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Foraging, 8/29/16

Today’s foraging finds. The right one is from Jeffers, the left one is Sam’s Club, and the middle is a small tart one from Chipotle. Save

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Elderberries, 8/30/16

The elderberries are ripening! From 2 small spots, we picked almost 14 cleaned cups of berries, so just shy of a gallon. The major patches are yet to come — I haven’t even checked them yet!

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Foraging, 8/30/16

It’s been an odd year for foraging. Something about the spring weather, but this year we had bumper crops of asparagus, elderberries, pears, and apples (some trees that haven’t produced in years are going crazy). On the other hand, there were no mulberries, black raspberries, gooseberries, wild plums, or pin cherries. I guess pick and save what you can and […]

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Trio, 9/1/16

Today’s foraging haul – Lake Talcot pears (2 very full bags, many more to pick, wonderful for canning), Chipotle apples (1 very full bag, very tart, going to make cider), and Sam’s Club apples (1 full bag, crisp, for pies and baking). Also checked on the elderberry patches – we may be too late! Save

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Foraging, 9/2/16

This is what we have waiting to process right now (canning as sauce or freezing for baking. Also some cider). Talcot pears. LPC apples. Chipotle apples. Sam’s Club apples. We missed out on the Talcot apples (they were early, and we weren’t) but there are plenty of pears left. There are also more apple trees to check. Save

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Foraging, 9/3/16

11 pints and 3 quarts of applesauce canned, and pears getting prepped. We should have 6 quarts of halves in syrup.

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Foraging, 9/5/16

Another non-foraging day of foraging. I picked many elderberries and prepped them (elderberry wine is on the slate this year), didn’t get to ask about a pear tree (but will), didn’t get around to asking about an apple tree (but will), and got some free roadside tomatoes. Also prepped a bunch of pears for canning, so there’s that.

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Foraging, 9/6/16

Forage a jolly good fellow… Around doing everything else, we found out there’s no elderberries left near Lakefield (And precious few walnuts), but there’s still some elderberries west of town. We also got permission to pick a new pear tree, and cooked down some of the Sam’s club apples. It makes a very tart green applesauce (7 pints canned).

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Trio, 9/7/16

Talcot pear, Jeffers Apple, GS pear.  The Talcot pears have a “bite” to them that makes them not great for eating, but wonderful for canning.  The Jeffers apples are wonderfully mild, and the GS pears are great for eating, not so much for canning.

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Apples, 9/7/16

Foraging today: we finally picked apples from the Jeffers tree (about half a bag, I need a better picker), we prepped and canned 7 quarts of pears, and we’re off to get more. A slow day. Jeffers apples: full red when ripe, soft white flesh, I’d say sauce and cider. And eating, of course.  

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Our new pear tree, 9/7/16

This is the new pear tree we have permission to pick.

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Foraging, 9/12/16

Many foragy things going on today. I prepped and cut enough pears for 10 quarts to be canned (and they are), and then we got out the juicer. The results of the juice experiments: Chipotle apples: incredibly tart Sam’s Club apples: green juice, very tart LP crab apples- kind of tart, nice flavor, pink juice LP apples – mild, delicious […]

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Foraging, 9/13/16

It was back to the foraging today. I picked a bag of GS pears for a friend, and 2 bags of Robin apples for us. For 10 minutes of picking, we ended up with 7 quarts of beautiful pink applesauce (6 canned, one for eating).

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Foraging, 9/14/16, part 1

So far today we’ve bagged up over a gallon of frozen chopped pears from the GS tree, and I’ve chopped and frozen another gallon plus of Sam’s Club apples (they’re tart, they’ll work great in bread).  I’ve also peeled and prepped enough Talcot pears to make 8 quarts and a hair left over. Time to NOT do things for a […]

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Foraging, 9/14/16, part 2

  1) The Windom hospital cut down its apple trees! I’m really sad, those were wonderful Red Baron apples. I mean, I still have too many to pick and process, but I liked those apples.   2) They *do* still have pear trees, though. Two different kinds – the larger ones (almost all gone) have a very thick, leathery skin […]

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Roasted Tomato Sauce (Simple and Delicious!)

Nothing smells better on a fall day than roasted tomato sauce. With back yards and farmers’ markets brimming with fresh tomatoes right now, this is the perfect time to make up a batch.  Once you try, you’ll never want make tomato sauce any other way! If you’ve never made roasted tomato sauce, you don’t know what you’re missing. This pasta […]

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25 Garden crops to plant in August for your fall garden

If you want to extend your back yard bounty of fresh veggies, now is the time to start your fall garden. There are many garden crops that can handle some frost and some that can tolerate temperatures well below freezing. Root veggies such as carrots, beets, kohlrabi and turnips actually taste better after some frost, as do leafy greens like […]

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Root to Stem Cooking: How to Use Every Part of Your Produce

  When you stroll through the farmers’ market or pick up your CSA box, you’re likely to find something that you won’t find in area supermarkets — whole plants.   Local growers tend to leave the leaves on root vegetables like beets and carrots, keep the flowery fronds on the fennel and otherwise give you a lot of extras with […]

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10 Perennial flowers that thrive in compacted clay soil

If you have clay garden soil, you know that it can be tricky to get some perennial flowers to grow in it. Clay soil can be tough on plants because it easily becomes compacted, drainage is poor, oxygen content is low and roots have a tough time working their way through the soil. Those with clay soil have less sand […]

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50 Deer resistant flowers, plants and herbs

Are deer treating your landscaping plants like a buffet line? One easy remedy is to plant flowers and plants that deer tend to avoid, either because they are toxic, smell bad to them or have textures that they find unpleasant. Here’s a round-up of 50 flowers, plants and herbs that deer tend to dislike. All of these are suitable for […]

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Easy, natural ways to perfect garden soil

Even if your back yard is full of sandy, clay or otherwise miserable soil, you can convert it into rich, healthy soil. While you can purchase specialty products to help you do this, you can use a variety of natural materials and creative methods to do it yourself — virtually free. The key is to make sure there’s lots of […]

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30 Ways to use mint

Mint is one of those workhorses of the garden. Once you plant it, your hardest job is keeping it from overtaking everything else in the yard and figuring out what to do with it all. It grows easily in most of the country and robustly returns to zone 4 Minnesota gardens every spring, where it grows happily until fall frosts. […]

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Tree Craft offers easy projects from tree trimmings and found wood

I have a new favorite craft book. I just got Tree Craft in the mail yesterday and already I’ve read it cover to cover and am planning projects to do with my kids. Tree Craft, by Chris Lubkemann, offers “35 rustic wood projects that bring the outdoors in.” From salt and pepper shakers to coat racks to a giant checkerboard […]

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40 Fruits, vegetables and herbs that will grow in partial shade 1

We all know that most garden crops want as much sun as possible. Tomatoes, melons and peppers will positively pout if they don’t get oodles of light. What you may not realize is that many other garden crops will do quite well with limited sunlight. Which plants will put up with lower light levels? A general rule is that plants […]

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16 Ridiculously easy seeds to plant in your first garden

If you’re new to flower and vegetable gardening, it can seem overwhelming. There are so many varieties of flowers, herbs and vegetables to plant. Some need to be started indoors six to eight weeks (or longer) before transplanting into the garden. Some need very long growing seasons or special conditions. Some seeds need to be notched, cold stratified, or soaked […]

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Best-ever gluten-free sandwich bread

When our family had to go gluten free, all of our kids really missed bread. Our daughter Rhiannon was twelve years old at the time and she took it upon herself to start baking gluten free breads for the family. This recipe was a winner that we have been making ever since. This bread is dairy free and soy free […]

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Seven benefits of backyard chickens

Citizens in cities around the country have been battling over backyard chickens in recent years.  Many residents have been up in arms at the idea of allowing their neighbors to own chickens, suggesting that the neighborhood will turn noisy, unsanitary and out of control. In truth, backyard chickens have many benefits.  Here are just a few. 1.  They provide better […]

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12 Great sources of natural mulch for your vegetable gardens

Do you mulch your vegetable gardens? If you don’t, you should. The right mulch helps retain moisture, prevents weeds from getting a foothold and even enriches the soil as it breaks down. Here are 12 great sources of natural mulch (many of them free!)… Bagged leaves (except from the black walnut tree due to the presence of juglone, a chemical […]

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Free printable nutrient deficiency charts for your garden plants 1

Here’s a wonderful free resource to help you identify nutritional deficiencies in your garden plants. The University of Arizona cooperative extension office has developed a free color guide illustrating how deficiencies of micronutrients typically look on leaves, along with a handy chart to help pinpoint the problems and solve them. The 8×10 color poster shows common characteristics of leaves on […]

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