Well, the season is now upon us… what season, do you ask? Elderberry season! This extremely important wild edible and medicinal plant starts getting ripe berries any time from July to September, depending on your specific location and elevation. Here in southern Oregon elderberries are perfect from mid August to early September. Before the berries,…
Forage
Foraging and wildcrafting for your own food and medicine is a great way to get outside and reap the benefits of being out in wild areas. It gives you access to some of the most nutrient rich and healing plants, all while getting some much needed exercise and fresh air. Foraging is good for your body as well as your mind and soul! I love teaching others about the benefits of wild food.
Learn about foraging through the seasons, with guides on fall foraging, winter foraging, and spring foraging. If you want to learn about wild mushrooms, then read about these 5 easy to identify edible mushrooms.
Foraging Plantain: Identification and Uses
Even if you don’t know this plant by name, you’ve almost definitely seen plantain growing in the wild before! Typically dismissed as a weed, plantain has a long history of use as a healing plant, often called “nature’s band-aid.” From varieties of plantain to its edible and medicinal uses, here’s everything you need to know…
Dandelion Foraging: Identification, Look-alikes, and Uses
I don’t think I need to show anyone what dandelions look like. But I bet you don’t know all the wonderful uses that they have! They truly are the perfect Grow Forage Cook Ferment plant, and then some. They are so incredibly versatile, yet also plentiful. You know what I mean as I’m sure that…
What to Forage in Spring: 20 Edible and Medicinal Plants and Fungi
Spring is the season of new beginnings and new growth. As the temperature starts to warm up and everything begins to thaw from the winter, spring foraging options increase! This is the time of year for fresh salad greens, tasty spring flowers and shoots, medicinal plants, and a few edible mushrooms. This list of what…
6 Reasons You Don’t Need to Save Dandelions for the Bees
This may come as a surprise for many, but the truth is that you actually don’t need to save dandelions for the bees! Read on to learn why, and what plants and flowers you should be saving for bees instead. Do we really need to save dandelions for the bees? With all of the posts…
Foraging for Purple Dead Nettle: an edible backyard weed
Purple dead nettle is an easy to forage edible and medicinal plant that is most likely growing in your backyard or somewhere nearby! You’ve probably seen this “weed” and didn’t even know that it has edible and medicinal uses. Wildcrafting Weeds If you want to learn more about the edible and medicinal weeds that surround…
How to Identify Conifer Trees: Pine, Fir, Spruce, Juniper & More
There are hundreds of different conifer species in several families, so it can be hard to know which is which. Learn how to properly identify conifer trees, including pine, fir, spruce, hemlock, juniper, cedars, and more! Wildcrafting Weeds If you want to learn more about the edible and medicinal weeds that surround us and how…
Winter Spice Pine Soap Recipe
Learn how to make an ultra-conditioning bar of all-natural Winter Spice Pine Soap to help moisturize your dry winter skin! With an amazing sweet-spicy evergreen scent it will be your new favorite seasonal bar! Be sure to share your love of soap making with your friends and family because this Winter Spice Pine Soap makes…
12 Best Books on Foraging and Wildcrafting
For beginning and more advanced foragers alike, it’s important to have some guidebooks on hand. I often get asked what my favorite foraging books are, and there are so many good ones to choose from! I’ve narrowed it down to what I think are the 12 best books about foraging and wildcrafting for you here….
Fir Needle Forest Chai for Respiratory Wellness
Sometimes herbal medicine is right in your own backyard, and you often don’t need to go much further than that. But if you venture out to the woods, be sure to collect some conifer needles, as they have benefits that not everyone knows about! Fir needles are especially nice, and can be made into a…
