It’s been a good year around Western New York for fruit. It seems that everything that CAN bear fruit is doing so in abundance. Some of the berries you can eat. Some you can’t. And I was surprised when I looked them up… More are edible than I knew. Mountain Ash (Sorbus americana and P. […]
After reading Seabrooke’s post about her most popular posts for 2009, I decided to check my WordPress stats, just for the heck of it… Here are the top ten searches that drove people to my blog over the 365 days ending today (January 16, 2010). The number in parentheses is the number of searches. currant […]
While searching for the perfect shot of Yellow Mandarin, I found these leaves that looked similar: But wait a minute! Is that a PINK flower underneath? Indeed! Another new flower for me: Rosybells or Rose Twisted Stalk or Rose Mandarin. Again, Latin names seem to be changing. My Newcomb’s calls it Streptopus roseus. The USDA […]
I had half an hour between appointments and while it was a tad breezy, the light was perfect. I headed to College Park to see if any new spring flowers had popped open. Yellow Mandarin is also known as Fairy Bells. The Latin name I found in the most places was Disporum lanuginosum which is […]
The last Friday in April is officially National Arbor Day. In honor of the day, I give you Amelanchier arborea. “What’s that?” you say. Well… Let me tell you! In the middle of the sidewalk approach to the Nature Center building there is a little landscaped garden box. In the middle of the garden box […]
Every spring I decide that I’m going to try some of the wild edibles or wild medicinals that I read about… I rarely follow through. After a cough that lingered for three weeks, though, I’m seriously considering trying to make up some Coltsfoot cough syrup and drops for next winter! The instructions are simple and […]
I let the dog out at 4:15am and it appears we got a dusting overnight. Yesterday I spent over 2 hours in the woods sans snow and took around 120 photos… enough to last for a handful of posts, anyway. When my daughter reviewed them with me, she asked, “How can you find so much […]
A few weeks ago, a friend introduced me to Elderberries. Oh, I knew what they were… but I had never harvested them, or prepared them for the freezer, or made them into jam, or baked them in a pie. Now, in case you are reading this thinking, “Ooh, I’m going to do that, too,” let me just […]
In yesterday’s post, I re-posted a posted picture from spring (I love the word post) of the Jack-in-the-Pulpit flower. Last night I went hiking to the same spot and found what I believe is the same plant, now with berries. According to the Peterson Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants, the corm (underground root-like structure) can […]
The trail I walk so easily in winter and spring is a tangle of brambles at this time of year. Yesterday was hot and humid – what better day to walk a brambly trail? I would be hot and sticky even if I just sat on the porch. And after all, a cool shower would […]
