Author: Alison Meehan
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White Clover Iced Tea
White Clover is a common garden and lawn “weed.” However, it is edible and makes a tasty, nutricious, and medicinal tea! Identification: Leaves: 3 elliptical leaflets together on one stalk; occationally a 4 leaf clover can be found Flowers: Bloom from March October. Flowers are white and turn brown over time. They are 8 mm…
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Poisonous Dogbane
Dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum), also called Hemp Dogbane, is a very useful wild plant, but also very poisonous. It can be deadly to pets, so you really don’t want it in your yard. However, it can be used to make very strong, very thin string, so it’s a great survival plant to know. Habitat: Wetlands, ditches,…
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Wildcrafting Lion’s Mane
Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus) is a mushroom that grows wild throughout much of the United State, Europe, and Asia. It can be found on decaying hardwood trees, such as oak and hickory. Generally, when you find Lion’s Mane, it will be far up the side of a tree, but occasionally you can reach it. This…
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Maitake Risotto
Maitake Mushrooms, or Hen of the Woods, are commonly found in the deciduous, mature woods in North America, Japan, and China. It grows at the base of oaks, elm, and maple trees. It can be cultivated at home, though the wild one usually fair better. They are usually found in the fall. This is also…
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Foraging Hen of the Woods
Hen of the Woods (Grifola frondosa), also known as maitake, is very common in North America and easy to identify. One mushroom can be quite large, giving you enough to last a few days. You can find Hen of the Woods at many Asian stores, Wegman’s, and many other grocery stores, especially fancier ones. The…
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Identifying Poison Hemlock
Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum) is a critical plant for any gardener or forager to know how to identify for safety reasons. I encourage all of my students to learn how to identify all poisonous plants that grow in the area before starting to forage because there are fewer poisonous plants than edible ones, making them…
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Foraging for Cat’s Ear
Cat’s Ear (Hypochaeris radicata) is a common, perennial weed you’ll find in gardens and lawns, along with dandelion. The funny thing about Cat’s Ear is at first glance, it looks just like dandelion especially when in bloom. But, upon closer inspection, the leaves are fuzzy and lack the pointy teeth on the leaves. There also…
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We did a crazy thing. My husband had been wanting to hike False Cape State Park with kids for a decade, since before we had kids. I remember it being tough in the heat and all the bugs even without kids. False Cape State Park is in Virginia Beach, Virginia and its one of the…
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How to Bring Play Back to Childhood
We are experiencing a massive PLAY deficit among children. This means that kids are more likely to become anxious, depressed, and have poor emotional regulation, be less creative, able to problem-solve less well, have lower IQโs, have reduced social skills, and more. Iโm not just talking about play in the streets, in backyards, and parks.…
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Foraging Winter Cress
Learn how to forage wild cress! There are many different types of cress, all in the family Brassicaceae, commonly referred to as brassicas or the mustard family. The Brassica genus includes many well-known vegetables like cabbage, kale, broccoli, and mustard, but some species have parts that are tough, bitter, or even mildly toxic in large…