Over the mountains

This morning while driving through the foggy mountains to Ashville to pick watercress, I spotted some mushrooms growing high up on a dead tree.  Colours really pop on an overcast, foggy morning.  There were three oak trees with oyster mushrooms on them.  I was almost too late.  A lot of them were weeks old and rotting.  I was able to cut several pounds of them.  It looked like the mycelia was filling these trees up by the shear numbers of rotting mushrooms.  It has been my observation that mushrooms grow the most near the base of the tree.

A new year

Some pictures from the past year.  You can find more pictures on my twitter account.  

My New Year's Resolution for this year is to write once a week!

Goldenrod

Goldenrod is in season right now.  Here's a link to some great information about Goldenrod and how to use it.

http://hollirichey.com/2010/08/22/prevent-colds-with-goldenrod/

Wild Foods in the City

A post about hackberries coming soon!!

Fall Foraging Classes

Fall foraging classes are here!  The dates are September 17th, October 15th, and November 19th.  We will be learning about acorns, black walnuts, hickory nuts, wild grapes, persimmons, crab apples pecans, and wild pears.  You do not want to miss out!

Foraging Inspiration

This article appeared in 2004 in Gourmet magazine.  It was one of my inspirations for getting into foraging.

Farm update

     Lately I have been doing a lot of foraging for wood sorrel, smooth sumac, wild blackberries and dewberries, elderberry blossoms, wild shiso, and loomis mountain mint.  From the blackberries I created some delicious jam, and I made a tasty syrup from the elderflower.  The garlic we recently harvested is now totally dry and ready to clean up for future planting.  I have also been starting the setup/construction of the high tunnel (similar to a greenhouse), but the heat has made the process a bit slower than anticipated.  I am thankful for the recent rain, but unfortunately the weeds have been thriving because of it.  It's especially difficult to stay on top of the weeds before they take over the plant beds, but it is a necessary part of farming. 

Have a great week!
Chris