I am occasionally guilty of paging through plant books to find humorous epithets for my better half. For example, he has been called "bristly hawksbeard," "spiny cocklebur," "Western sticktight," and "Mexican sprangletop." Today, however, he took a page out of my book and … [Read more...]
Lamb’s quarters pesto
The other day we tore ourselves away from our computers and headed out into the forest in the fading light to sneak in a brisk walk before bed. I have mushrooms on the brain, always, these days, so I was hoping to find some. Our neighborhood at 10,000 feet on the mountainside … [Read more...]
Colorado’s wild blueberries
If you’re looking for blueberries like the kind you buy in the grocery store, look elsewhere. The Colorado high country “blueberries” I’m talking about are not those, but several related species of Vaccinium that are smaller, and grow not on a bush but in the groundcover under … [Read more...]
Leaves of three, strawberry!
I bolted upright at 2 a.m., awakened by loud, forceful hail pounding down on the roof. It was June 28, just a week into summer. I got up and walked across the dark living room to peek out the sliding glass doors. Despite the cold, hard nature of those icy pellets, the hail meant … [Read more...]
Purslane chilaquiles
Chilaquiles are a favorite way to use leftover tortilla chips in my house, and the wild vegetable purslane (Portulaca oleracea), or "verdolagas" in Spanish, have long been used in Mexican cuisine to accent them. If you don’t know purslane already, you should. This garden weed … [Read more...]
