Today was hot, humid and horrible – the perfect weather to forgo cooking of any kind and eat healthified ice cream instead. With a lot of fruit, a little yogurt, and a dash of cream, it’s the nutritional equivalent of fruit salad. But it’s the taste equivalent of a creamy fruit gelato, and it takes just two minutes to make – which is … Read more
I was walking by the river near my house today and was delighted to see one of my favorite prairie plants blooming along the banks: Monarda fistulosa, also known as bee balm or wild bergamot. This charming flower is native to most of North America — and if you don’t have it in your neck of the woods, you might have one … Read more
It’s almost the end of June and I haven’t written about juneberries, my favorite foraging fruit next to blackcaps. Juneberries are small, round berries that look like tiny purple crabapples, but that are soft like a blueberry. They grow on shrubs or small trees. Where I live they are often called serviceberries or amelanchier (after their Latin genus name Amelanchier), probably because they don’t really … Read more
If I had to pick a favorite wild berry, the black raspberry would probably be the winner. Also known as blackcaps or Rubis occidentalis, they grow wild throughout much of the eastern and midwestern United States, but can be cultivated anywhere in USDA zones 4 through 8. If you have a some near you, brave the brambles and try a few. … Read more
“You can make wine out of anything but a rock!” So says Appalachian winemaker John Bulgin in The Foxfire Book of Wine Making, and my experience says he’s right. Being the frugal person I am, I’ve never been fond of paying beaucoup bucks for beverages. So when I’ve wanted wine, I’ve made it.* In spring, I’ve raced my neighbors’ lawnmowers … Read more
I ran out of cherries to pick on Wednesday — at least, the sweeter ones. The tree with the more bitter cherries still had plenty, but I decided that it might be best not to pick them, as I then would feel obliged to juice them, and that could very well mean a most unpleasant drink. With no cherries to … Read more
I am glad to report that I am finally done processing the 250 pounds of apples that Dekalb and I picked a week before my birthday. (I am sure that Dekalb would like me to note here that they were all free or he wouldn’t have found any thrill at all in harvesting them.) This is what 250 pounds of … Read more