November 8, 2021 | By Matt Millage
After a brief email exchange with a colleague last fall around this same time, I set off to collect some fallen treasures from the forest floor …
September 27, 2021 | By Amy Forsberg
I had what seemed like a simple question: How and why did cardamom, the spice native to southern India, become such an essential and beloved …
August 9, 2021 | By Keith Howerton
Making baklava, or baklawi/baklawa/ba’lawa, as it’s generally called in Arabic-speaking cultures, is a real pain in the…well, everywhere. Pain …
May 24, 2021 | By Paris Wolfe
A Book Review
Mike Krebill, now in his late 70s, has been foraging for more than 70 years. In his second book, A Forager’s Life, he reflects on …
April 12, 2021 | By Shaila Gupte
Betel nut (pronounced bet′-al) palm trees (Areca catechu) are grown in different parts of India, as well as elsewhere in South Asia and in …
March 8, 2021 | By Susan Belsinger
(Adapted from her article, “Exploring Rainforest Spices at Villa Vanilla,” featured in the 2019 issue of The Herbarist, the annual journal of …
February 22, 2021 | By Susan Belsinger
(Adapted from her article, “Exploring Rainforest Spices at Villa Vanilla,” featured in the 2019 issue of The Herbarist, the annual journal of …
January 7, 2021 | By Jen Munson
Chocolate: food or medicine? For centuries, chocolate was consumed primarily as medicine. Cacao, from which chocolate is derived, was the basis …
December 28, 2020 | By Katherine K. Schlosser
The season of lights is upon us. During this darkest time of the year, we gravitate to earthly sources of light to keep things merry and …
December 14, 2020 | By Amy Forsberg
I was visiting my mother just a few weeks before Christmas in 2017. She had recently moved to a wonderful small family-run assisted living home. …
December 7, 2020 | By Maryann Readal
Cinnamon is the name for several plant species in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is a small tropical evergreen tree with aromatic leaves and …
August 24, 2020 | By Andrea Jackson
I love weeds. There, I said it. Don’t worry, I do pull them (there’s a reason why they’re called weeds, after all), but I am much more likely …
June 29, 2020 | By Amanda Dix
(Blogmasters’ note: Experiencing craft beer is a high point for many connoisseurs these days. While beer in its various forms has been around …
July 15, 2019 | By Kathleen M Hale
Once upon a time, about 1098 to 1179, there was a little girl named Hildegard. She was the tenth of ten children. Her parents were “minor …
September 4, 2018 | By Susan Belsinger
Reposted with permission from www.vegetablegardener.com.
For centuries, Italians have made pesto with a mortar and pestle, hence the name …
July 2, 2018 | By Paris Wolfe
Like the original Jägermeister composition, the new herbal liqueur derives flavor from a mixture of herbs, blossoms, roots and fruits.
December 8, 2016 | By Paris Wolfe
I learned about tea as a young child, My lessons weren’t sophisticated, but they were an essential part of my mixed-European (and English) …
August 1, 2016 | By Paris Wolfe
When I was four or five I’d pick dandelions, violets, clover, whatever was in season to make tiny bouquets for my mom. She would trim the stems …