Plants that are found and often not grown intentionally. Edible weeds, homemade fertilizer, and other concoctions.
In my world, foraging goes hand-in-hand with gardening. Maybe it’s because the compulsion to do both comes from the same place in my brain (a fascination with the natural world and an interest in knowing how things work). Or maybe it’s because I am thrifty and can’t stand the idea of so much good stuff …
Another spring and a new crop of garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is setting up camp for the season. We found a few small plants in the street garden cleanup last week and several at the community garden, many that were already much larger and lusher than any of the other cold hardy perennials growing there. …
Homesteading — the kind that involved living in tents and no machinery — was terribly difficult. I’m sure of it. Of course I already knew this, camping merely drove that point home in a new way. Simple tasks take longer, requiring more planning. Who wants tea? Well, first you’ve got to make a fire. This …
I took these pictures while foraging for blackberries just around the corner from our campsite in Massassauga Provincial Park. The park is a Unesco World Biosphere Reserve. The second biosphere I have visited this year! That smush on the right Polaroid is the remains of an unfortunate mosquito. I like nature, I really do. But …
The garlic mustard population is really getting out-of-hand at the community garden this year. I’ve discovered loads of it in unused areas of disturbed, lousy soil and it is expanding rapidly into the edges around plot beds. I was diligent in removing much of it last year so the population isn’t big enough yet to …
In the spirit of Be Nice to Nettles Week, we tried our hand at a batch of nettle soup using the site recipe as a basis. Let me tell you that a half pound of nettles is a whole lot more than you’d expect. I harvested enough young nettles (stems included) to fill a small …
I first discovered stinging nettle one day while book shopping on Harbord Street, a popular used book area of Toronto. One of the stores had a selection of herbs sitting out front. Anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for herbs and am impulsive about touching them. You should see me at the …
A photo I took for World Pinhole Photography Day, an event that just happened to coincide with my first stinging nettle foraging expeditition of the season. I am an accomplished multi-tasker.
I went out foraging stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) last weekend. I harvested young leaves for eating and have set aside most to be made into a liquid fertilizer for my plants. Stinging nettle is very high in magnesium and iron making it good for both your bod and your plants’ too. I went out partially …
Davin and I went on a dandelion picking mission at the community garden the other day, harvesting what we thought was enough to make the dandelion Hortopita recipe. As we picked, I repeatedly muttered that I didn’t think we had enough. I went to the garden without reviewing the recipe for amounts but I was …
My new plot at the community garden has been a revelation. I have enjoyed my time there and am thoroughly bummed that it will all be done in a month — I don’t want this gardening season to end! The plot is in the sun and has not only opened up new in-ground growing opportunities, …
Guest post by Amy Urquhart This article in today’s Toronto Star is interesting. It’s about people harvesting from neglected or owner-less trees in the city. It made me think about an apple tree that is sitting off the side of the exit ramp I take every day on my way home from work. It’s just …