When I teach a foraging class, I like to talk with my students first, to get a feel for how much they know and what they hope to learn. I ask if they’ve ever foraged before, and most people say no. But when I push a little harder, and ask if maybe they picked blueberries at summer camp, they almost…
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Whenever I hear the word blancmange I think of the Monty Python sketch where a giant blancmange (from the planet Skyron) turned everyone in England into Scotsmen, so it (the blancmange) could win Wimbledon. Which is only one of the reasons I smile whenever I eat this melilot blancmange. The other reason is because it’s delicious.
When a plant name includes the word “weed,” it’s hard for some people to think of it as anything but an unwelcome visitor in the garden. Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is, indeed, a roadside weed. But baby, it’s so much more.
Don’t be fooled by the common name of this plant. This is not the low-growing clover you find in your lawn with round pink or white flowers. Melilot is a tough, drought tolerant, biennial plant that can grow to be four feet tall. It’s a common roadside weed that thrives in dry, neglected spaces. Melilotus officinalis has yellow flowers and…
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What would we do without lemon juice? It’s an essential ingredient in both cooking and mixology, two of my favorite activities. Unfortunately, many of us can’t forage for lemons. Fortunately, those of us who don’t live in citrus-friendly climates, can probably forage for wild grapes, and the juice of unripe grapes makes an excellent lemon juice substitute called verjuice.