This trip was intended to be easy. We were supposed to be going into a part of the province where game was rampant and our pockets burst with big game tags. Do a little fishing. Set up camp. It only ended up being a handful of those things. One reality that didn’t make the edit but had a big impact on the … Read More
Summer Forage Workshop 2012
I’ve been asked to do workshops for years, and resisted for an equal number of years. Last night, however, was the inaugural ‘workshop’, and it went really well. Folks left having learned a thing or two, got to have a nice evening out, everyone took home some edible mushroom, ask some questions, all at a low price point. Works for … Read More
Mushrooms For a Salad
My, mushrooms are pretty. It so happens I was chatting with my buddy Travis yesterday about an unexpected advantage of the urban greens growing project – that it pushes us both to get our act together and do stuff far more diligently than we otherwise would. Turns out that applies again today. Ryan at BTV Edmonton asked me to be on morning … Read More
Excavating Shaggy Parasol Mycelium
When we bought the property we’re now on I started digging up lawn almost immediately. What once was 99% lawn is now maybe 5-10% lawn. I’ve become pretty adept at destroying lawn. 5 years ago, when I started digging up soil that looked like that in the photo [currently excavating for the big-ass wood oven project] – white, granular, entirely … Read More
Mmmm…pesticides.
Dear whoever will read this, [this letter has been sent to the mayor and a number of city councillors] I would like to add my voice to all the others asking the city for a non-essential or cosmetic pesticide ban. I’m a local food writer heavily involved in the urban agriculture and foraging communities. I lead groups of Edmontonians to … Read More
The Evening Walk
I’ve written about foraging so much lately, I’m not sure what to say anymore other than: do it. A couple notable things about tonight: First, I was *this* close to staying home and doing nothing, really. Maybe read stuff online. Maybe watch a movie. But I couldn’t do it. I had to go do some more exploring. Yes, I was … Read More
Foraged Fruit, Veg, Mushrooms, Herbs + more
I love how exciting foraging can be. Again, free couple hours in the evening, so went for a walk in the river valley. Found some Agaricus Campestris [meadow mushroom] in nice shape. Spent a fair bit of time seeing a lot of not much, then found some nice, plump saskatoons. Again, not much for some time, then came across a … Read More
Shaggy Parasol Giants & First Amanita
This is a rare find. I’m wondering whether it’s one in a lifetime. I had a free evening, so figured I’d go check to see if any more Agaricus Campestris had showed up where I found them last – in the river valley only a couple km away. No dice. So I picked a few sad looking saskatoons. Deciding that the … Read More
Fairy Ring Love
If the dandelion holds #1 spot in our lawn culture’s ‘Most Misunderstood Plant‘ category, fairy ring mushroom must win an equally prominent award in the ‘Most Misunderstood Fungus‘ category. Fairy rings are the bane of a lawn perfectionist’s existence, if one is present. Pure evil. They put that unsightly curvaceous scar upon the utopically manicured monoculture of grass. I’ve heard … Read More