A typical walk in nature can be slow. From an outsider’s perspective, it can be painfully slow. A 1-mile walk might take a naturalist 4 hours to complete — a pace 12 times slower than the average walking speed.
While it’s true that a turtle could probably outpace a botanist walking through a flowering floodplain, the point of any nature excursion isn’t momentum.
It’s observation, education, and integration.
On several walks this year, I’ve halted my pace in order to observe a particular wildflower. Known as false mermaidweed, this plant grows in floodplain forests along rivers and streams.
False mermaidweed is unlike other plants for a few reasons, one of which is the size of its flower. Only a few millimeters wide, this flower is among the smallest of any wildflower in nature. It’s rarely seen by people walking through the woods, which is why even a slow pace isn’t recommended for proper observation.
Rather, complete stillness is.
Despite its small size, false mermaidweed offers immense value. Its stems, leaves, and flowers are edible and can be harvested during the spring season.
To learn more about this inconspicuous edible plant, check out the brand new video!
Speaking of edible plants, Sam Thayer is releasing his 4th book on edible plants of North America. Sam is a renowned author, forager, and teacher who travels the continent in search of wild food. His brand new field guide features over 650 edible species and 1,700 color photos, as well as an innovative system for identifying plants during their edible stages. Anything that Sam publishes is brilliant, and this book will be no different. You can pre-order your copy here.
Thanks for reading and watching, and thanks for your continued support!
-Adam Haritan
From as early as I can remember, I have been completely smitten by the beauty and versatility of roses. As I have mentioned before, my father was a passionate gardener who loved heirloom roses. Being a trained biologist, he knew the value of gardening organically, and he promoted the benefits of mycorrhizal fungi in the late 70s to strengthen the roots of his garden plants. Instead of using fungicides and pesticides, he planted fragrant herbs among the roses, knowing that many common rose pests would be deterred by the essential oils that they released. He would always tell me, “Remember Beth Ann, feed the roots first and forget about the flowers, because if you feed the roots, the flowers will always be healthy and beautiful.” This is a piece of advice I have followed to this day with real success.
Like many artists for centuries before…
I love being able to step out into the garden and snip fresh herbs whenever I need them. Yesterday, I was making ham and bean stew in the crockpot. I was inspired to add thyme so I cut off a few sprigs from the thyme growing in the front of the house. I looked around and snipped even more herbs: cutting celery, oregano, sage, and rosemary. Except for the cutting celery, these are perennial herbs that should be in everyone’s garden. They can be tucked in the ornamental bed just like any other perennial plant. In the spring, you can purchase the small plants from a nursery or you can ask a friend for a cutting or division. Once you have them in your garden, you can enjoy them year-round and nothing will bother them, not even deer.
Botanically speaking, the cutting celery is a…
Paths I Walk 