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 

Farm Update

     Little Savannah (in Birmingham) will be featuring the herbs and wild edibles of Hollow Spring Farm at their Community Farm Table Dinner this Wednesday!  We look forward to tasting the wonderful creations from the chefs there!  Yesterday I went out to camp out at the farm in order to rise and shine early and do some much needed weeding out at the farm.  When the weather is especially dry like it has been, it is more important than ever to weed and mulch your crops.  Remember to conserve water during this dry time, too.  If you water your lawn, do it early in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid evaporation and water waste.  Today we also picked the garlic that will be used for planting next year's garlic as part of the "seed saving" efforts.  Summer foraging class dates coming soon; it has just been so hot, we are hesitant to put any dates on the books.  We will keep you posted.  Thanks again to all of you for your ongoing support!
Have a great week!
Elizabeth

Farm update

I hope everyone is ok from the awful storms of last week.  We lost one chicken tractor and one hen, but we are extremely lucky that there was not more damage and no one was hurt.  This week is shaping up to be a very busy one - a foraging visit with the Waldorf students, weeding winter savory and cutting garlic scapes, several hours of picking wild strawberries, picking up chicken feed and Jersey Greensand which is an organic source of potassium for soil.  I am also experimenting with letting the chickens out during the day so they are not so overcrowded and stressed.  During the day they were fine and seemed to enjoy themselves.  I am going to take out the roosters from the tractors and leave them outside so they will not bother the hens so much.