Tagged: Foraging

edible ferns / Edible Plants / Ferns / Fiddleheads / Food Forest / Foraging / Garden Design / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Heirloom plants / Native Plants / Poisonous Plants

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Can I Nibble the Fiddleheads?

Fiddleheads Perfect little green, tightly curled fiddleheads will soon push through the damp earth and begin to unfurl themselves into delicate fern fronds. They might look tasty, and you might wonder whether you can pluck one to nibble as you hike through the woods. Coastal Virginia hosts almost 30 native fern species, and fern-loving gardeners plant dozens more introduced species.  Quite honestly, unless you are a Pteridophile, or fern-o-phile, they probably look much the same.  You will find fiddleheads in...

Birds / Carbon Garden / Edible Plants / Fall / Food Forest / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Heirloom plants / Larval Host Plants / Native Trees / Sustainable Gardening / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Diospyrus virginiana, the Divine Fruit

  A sadly spindly ‘mystery tree’ grows on a steep slope in our back fern garden.  I first noticed it six or seven years ago.  Its top was broken off in a winter snowstorm a while ago, and its odd growth pattern, plain looking leaves and immature bark left me clueless about its identify.  My best guess was that perhaps it was a paw paw tree, since the leaves are similar, and we have a stand of those nearby. But...

Edible Plants / Fall / Food Forest / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Native Plants / Native Trees / Permaculture / Sustainable Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Foraging for Autumn Harvests

  Have you ever noticed how the strawberries you pick yourself on a warm May afternoon taste much better than the huge red berries you buy at the grocery store?  Everyone who has grown their own tomatoes, lettuce, or apples knows how much better homegrown food can taste.  You still need to be selective about what seeds you buy because some varieties of carrots and squash taste better than others, and some prove more resistant to disease. Putting in a...