Limoncillo is a native lemon-y flavored plant that can be a useful addition to you herbs and spices. Preppers say you need to stockpile herbs – but really, there is such an abundance of flavorful Southwestern herbs that virtually no stockpiling is necessary. Another tasty […]
In April we shared that sunflowers are a native plant to forage, or perhaps grow in the homestead garden here in the Southwest. Savorist Jacqueline shared how to grow sunflowers on her gardening site. About now the flowers are getting ready to harvest, so here […]
The tea industry has declared June to be “National Iced Tea Month.” I’m not going to debate the “sweet tea/ not sweet tea” issue. Instead I am going to look at one herbal tea that you might be able to forage right out of your […]
Barrel cactus? Yes! It is one of the easiest Southwest plants to use. Mind you, the flesh of the fruits is full of the potentially problematic oxalic acid – so just start with the seeds. Barrel cactus fruits offer us a plethora of seeds that […]
Palo verde trees are blooming! And you can use the bountiful blossoms in many ways. The O’odham name for this April-ish month is Uam Masad which roughly translates to the “yellow month.” Across the Sonoran Desert, this is certainly the case – with palo verde, […]
Sunflowers are native Southwest plants, used for centuries by the Native peoples. If you plant the right varieties – and plant them in the spring – you will have a gorgeous garden full of bright sunflowers. Or you can forage some of the 70 […]
Now is a wonderful time to forage some wild rhubarb – but how can you use it? This weeks post investigates many ways to use this wild vegetable. Wild rhubarb in the Southwest is in a genus called Rumex. This tasty wild plant that only […]
Desert mistletoe fruit is the only mistletoe fruit that is edible by humans. BUT – only when harvested off specific trees according to Native lore. Mistletoe is Edible?! NO. Not mistletoe itself, and not most species! There are many species of mistletoes around the world. […]
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with some oxalis – better known as the shamrock. Did you know that shamrocks are edible? Not only edible but tasty! Be sure to read the cautions tho….. Purchasing Caution! Don’t eat oxalis just purchased from a store or plant […]
The common name “oreganillo” is applied to a number of different plants. And before we get too much further in this article, I am referring to the species I grew up with here in the Tucson area – Aloysia wrightii. Common Name is all too […]
