Passing on traditional skills like foraging, cooking from scratch and living well on less
So many homes and parks have crab apple trees and so few people put these tasty, healthy little fruits to use. Here’s a recipe to change all that! It’s easy, packed with vitamins and antioxidants, and delicious. It’s also practically free! I came up with this recipe to use up some crab apples that we […]
If you have a garden, chances are that you’ve been pulling up one of the best greens in it for years. Lambsquarters are a very common “weed” in yards and gardens, but they’re actually a really tasty plant that you should probably get to know! Lambsquarters are also known as lambs quarters, wild spinach, pigweed, […]
A few years ago, we purchased a little sour cherry tree from some big box store because it was on clearance at the end of the garden season. That little cherry tree is now a huge, productive tree that we love! It makes the most beautiful white flowers in the spring. And then around July […]
Last year was a good year for foraging for our family. We’ve been using wild foods as a major part of our diet for about 7 years now and it’s become a regular part of our routine for much of the year. Here’s how it looked for us in 2019. https://www.instagram.com/p/B1yDwnQBsi1/ What was good We […]
This article was originally published in Daryl’s Cooking with Kids column at examiner.com in September, 2013. Some links are affiliate links, meaning we get a small commission on purchases made through our links. Making fresh applesauce is something every kid should get to do. We are lucky enough to know several people with apple trees, […]
Dock seeds are prolific everywhere you look right now, so this is a great time to gather them and make dock seed flour. If you haven’t ever cooked with dock seeds, they’re an easy and healthy source of wild flour to forage. Dock grows as an invasive weed all over the world. You can often […]
We try to use nettles a lot around here since they’re so healthy, so tasty and grow so plentifully all around us. One of the kids’ favorite ways to enjoy nettles are in smoothies. Yes, really! You probably know how healthy stinging nettles are for you, but most folks don’t realize you can use them […]
Once you get started foraging, it’s helpful to keep records of what you gathered and when. We usually keep a running list on the fridge, but I decided it would be fun to have some nice looking printable pages to start keeping a more permanent record of all of our wild food harvests. Since I […]
Foragers and back yard gardeners often have the happy blessing of buckets of fruit to make use of this time of year. Here’s a wonderful recipe to make use of blueberries, mulberries, black raspberries, mulberries, peaches, strawberries or any other fruit that you have a bounty of. Sometime around mid-July every year, we pick over […]
The first month of summer is past now and I thought I’d do a little update on what we foraged in June this year. This might not include everything, but these were the major foods. Asparagus The wild asparagus season wrapped up here in Minnesota around the second week of June. All total, we harvested […]
It’s mulberry season! Whether you have a mulberry tree in your back yard or local park or you have generous friends or neighbors, these sweet treats are all over right now. There are so many reasons to gather mulberries. First of all, they’re incredibly healthy. Mulberries are loaded with nutrients, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and […]
We were thrilled when Daryl brought home two big bags of chicken of the woods mushrooms yesterday. While we harvest lots of pheasant back (dryad’s saddle) mushrooms and morels, this is our first time finding chicken of the woods and I was so excited as I’ve heard for years how much they taste like chicken […]
Whether you have buckets of wild mulberries or an excess of peaches that you can’t possibly eat in time, fruit leather is a fabulous way to make use of it. Fruit leather is wonderfully simple and you can customize each batch with whatever fruits you have and flavors you’re craving. Not only is fruit […]
If you’d like to forage your own elderberries later this summer, now is the time to start looking because elder flowers are blooming (or are just finishing) and the elder shrubs so easy to spot. Here’s everything you need to know to find elderberries and elder flowers. Whenever people find out that our family harvests […]
If you’ve been following the royal wedding (or even if you haven’t), you’ve probably heard about the spectacular elderflower cake that pastry chef Claire Ptak designed for the much-anticipated wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. The wedding cake is to be served at the Reception. It was designed by Claire Ptak and features elderflower […]
Daryl has made dandelion syrup several times with our kids and it’s always a big hit. Not only is it fun, but the syrup tastes delicious and it’s full of vitamins from the dandelions. It’s also a great vegan substitute for honey, with a similar color and taste. Although it’s the dead of winter right […]
Daryl and I have been faithfully checking our elder patches for the past few weeks and he brought home a bag of our first elderberry bounty for the year this week. This particular clump of elders is bordering a nursing home that has given us permission to pick their pears and elderberries. He harvested them […]
My elderberry book is now available in a paperback edition! We heard from many people who wanted a physical copy of the book, especially to make use of it while foraging and for the cookbook section. I worked over the past couple of months to create the best possible paperback version, with black and […]
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 […]
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 in paperback). This is a beautiful, deep purple schnapps that is so simple to make with either fresh or frozen elderberries. See the directions at […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 even the coldest gardens every spring, where it […]
Motherwort is a commonly found plant that is excellent for treating heart issues, menstrual problems, menopause symptoms, stress and anxiety, among other issues. It has been historically used extensively in China, Europe and North America, and still offers exceptional benefits for a whole range of issues today. Motherwort, whose latin name is Leonurus cardiaca, is […]
(Note: This post was originally published many years ago in my green living column on examiner. I’ve since published a book with lots more information on finding and processing acorns via hot water processing and cold water processing, tips and tricks, and with 70+ recipes to use acorn flour. You can read more about the […]
Here’s a wonderful video where famous herbalists such as Rosemary Gladstar, Susun Weed and Matthew Wood teach why they love nettles, how to harvest it and use them, their many health benefits and more. The video begins and ends with herbalists David Hoffmann and Isla Burgess talking about why nettles are their favorite plants. During […]
July is a fantastic time to forage for wild edible foods. Whether you’re in the country or the city, there are wild foods all over that are tasty and nutritious. This is a good month for wild fruits, such as black raspberries and wild plums. Wild greens are still plentiful, such as purslane and lamb’s […]
Mulberries are some of the greatest wild edibles to forage. They’re nutritious, delicious and easy to gather. Most kids find them irresistible too. Mulberry trees can be found in parks, woods and neighborhoods all over the U.S. and the berries and trees are easy to identify. When you find one tree, you’ll start seeing them […]
(Note from Daryl: This was originally shared in my urban foraging column on Examiner many years ago.) I shared how to easily harvest mulberries with your kids last week. Now, here are ten great ways to use your haul. A little about mulberries: You can use them in any recipe that calls for berries. If […]
I took my children to Lake Shetek State Park in southwestern Minnesota today, and while chatting with the Park Ranger she mentioned there was a plum tree in the park, but she didn’t know where. We had a quest! We drove along the gravel roads, and I happened to look over at the right moment […]