Wild Chamomile (Pineapple Weed) Keto Muffins w/ Cream Cheese Filling — Gather Victoria

OH, MY GODDESS – you’ve got to make these Wild Chamomile/ Pineapple Weed muffins! Their unique aromatic flavor ( a cross between zingy pineapple and soothing chamomile) just permeates these moist fragrant muffins which are made doubly scrumptious by the cream cheese filling. These are one of my favorite summer treats and my poor pre-diabetic…
Wild Chamomile (Pineapple Weed) Keto Muffins w/ Cream Cheese Filling — Gather Victoria

How To Find Pawpaws In The Wild

Good food is bestowed upon those who scout.

This is especially true when we consider what it takes to harvest pawpaws.

Pawpaws are incredibly delicious fruits that are produced by pawpaw trees (Asimina triloba). Green and kidney-shaped, these tropical-tasting berries are considered to be the largest edible fruits produced by any native North American tree.

Many people are interested in finding pawpaws for the first time this year. Some people will wait until the fruits are ripe in September to begin their search.

I would suggest another approach: begin your search right now.

Scouting the land in advance is an essential part of harvesting wild food. When preparatory work has been done ahead of time, successful harvests are much more likely to occur. Such is the case when we understand what it takes to find pawpaws.

What does preparatory work look like? How do we begin our search for pawpaws? What kinds of habitats are worth exploring?

I answer all those questions in a brand new video. If you are interested in harvesting pawpaws this year, check it out!

I was a recent guest on the Silvercore Podcast hosted by Travis Bader. In this conversation, we chat about foraging, the importance of learning trees, and why money is necessary to protect land. You can listen to the interview here.

Click to listen

Thanks for reading and watching, and thanks for your continued support!

-Adam Haritan

Learn To Identify 100 Trees In All Seasons

Greetings,

I am very excited to announce that registration for my brand new online course will be open on Monday, May 23rd.

Trees In All Seasons is a four-season online video course designed to help you successfully identify over 100 trees in every season — spring, summer, fall, and winter. Additional topics that are featured in this course include tree ecology, physiology, anatomy, and taxonomy.

This course is presented entirely online and it features over 75 exclusive videos that lay the groundwork for successful tree identification. If you are interested in identifying trees but are finding it difficult to learn through field guides and apps, consider enrolling as a student in Trees In All Seasons.

Please note: Trees In All Seasons will be open for registration for two weeks only from Monday, May 23rd to Monday, June 6th. Upon registration, you have immediate access to all course content and you can watch the videos at your own pace.

To register for Trees In All Seasons, mark your calendar for Monday, May 23rd and visit this link.

All additional information (including course structure, outline, and cost) will be posted on Monday.

My good friend Aaron Watson recently invited me on to his podcast to discuss my work with Trees In All Seasons and Learn Your Land. To learn more about the course, as well as my motives in creating the course, check out the recent interview:
Part 1
Part 2

I look forward to seeing you on Monday!
-Adam Haritan

How Do I Deal With Ticks?

Greetings,

Before I share a new video with you, I want to provide some exciting news regarding the upcoming online tree identification course.

After many years of diligent work, I’m happy to announce that the brand new course — Trees In All Seasons — will be released in May. This online video course is designed to teach students how to confidently and successfully identify over 100 trees in every season — spring, summer, fall, and winter. Additional topics that are featured in this course include taxonomy, ecology, physiology, and general natural history.

If you are interested in identifying trees but are finding it difficult to learn through field guides and apps, consider enrolling in Trees In All Seasons this May. To receive updates regarding the initial release of the course, simply remain a subscriber to this newsletter.

And now on to the brand new video…

It’s no secret that I spend a lot of time in the woods. It’s also no secret that the woods in which I spend my time harbor some of the most reviled organisms on Earth.

Ticks.

Because I share many of my outdoor adventures on video, and because I live in a state (Pennsylvania) whose Lyme disease cases are extraordinarily high, people naturally want to know how I deal with ticks.

What precautions do I take? What repellents do I recommend? How much duct tape do I wrap around my socks? What does diet have to do with all of this?

Questions regarding ticks are among the most common questions that I receive. To compile my thoughts and concerns, I decided to film a video in which I discuss my 6-part strategy.

To learn how I deal with ticks, check out the brand new video!

In addition to harboring ticks, the woods in which I spend my time are home to beautiful wildflowers. Pictured here are 15 wildflowers that blossom during the early weeks of spring in the northeastern United States. Have you seen any of these flowers recently? To view a larger image, check out the latest Instagram post.

Click to view post

Thanks for reading and watching, and thanks for your continued support!

-Adam Haritan

Gather Ye Redbuds While Ye May – A Colorful Harbinger of Spring…and Edible, Too!

The Herb Society of America Blog

by Karen Cottingham

Eastern_Redbud_by Dan Keck via wikimedia Here in Texas, there’s a saying: “We have two seasons – summer and winter.” That’s not quite true; but if you’re not paying attention, spring can slip right past. And the last thing I want is to miss a single day of our glorious, but ephemeral, spring.

The nights here are still cold – sometimes approaching freezing – but the robins have arrived, so I know springtime is near. It’s time to listen for a hushed prelude to seasonal change, time to look for intimations of life beginning to stir. Every few days, this calls for a visit to the two redbud trees in my Houston neighborhood to check the trunks and bare branches for any evidence of tiny pink flowers. Nothing to see for weeks on end; then suddenly, here they are – scattered crimson buds emerging straight from the furrowed bark, swelling with life, and…

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Hawthorn Berry Brownie Cake w/ Hawthorn Berry Buttercream Frosting — Gather Victoria

What more appropriate treat could there be for an occasion of the heart like Valentines Day? After all, many herbalists consider hawthorn berries the ultimate heart tonic and every kitchen witch knows that bewitching hawthorn opens the heart to love. Heart-warming.& heart-strengthening, hawthorn heals, protects and uplifts heavy hearts, supporting us physically, emotionally and spiritually. …
Hawthorn Berry Brownie Cake w/ Hawthorn Berry Buttercream Frosting — Gather Victoria

A 21st Century Wheel of the Year: Reskilling at Imbolc

The Druid's Garden

Imbolc–the first signs of spring (artwork by myself and my father, Mark Driscoll)

In a traditional neopagan Wheel of the Year, Imbolc is the holiday that offers the first signs of spring. Most traditionally, this is when the ewes began to lactate, and the snowdrops appeared on the landscape in the British Isles. In the age of climate instability, traditional seasonal interpretations become challenged for many reasons–not the least of which are climate disruptions. So how might we bring the holiday of Imbolc into the 21st century and think about what this holiday means to us today?

As I’ve discussed in earlier posts in this series, the 21st Century, the Age of the Anthropocene, offers us a set of unprecedented challenges and yet opportunities. As a permaculture designer, I think it’s important to recognize that while the problems we already face are unavoidable, these problems give us a…

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An Incredible Herb Right Under Our Feet…or Above Our Heads

The Herb Society of America Blog

By Katherine Schlosser

For most of us, our garden tools are cleaned and stored, the holidays have passed, and we have a little more time to simply enjoy what we find in meadows, forests, fields, and even in our own backyards. Lichens can fill a part of the void we may be feeling. Their curious forms and means of growing and spreading, with which many of us are unfamiliar, can fill our minds with the wonders of things we normally pass without notice.

There are more than 5,000 species of lichen and lichen-dependent fungi in North America, with colors ranging from blues, lavender, yellow, red, orange, and gray to many beautiful greens. Color in lichens can depend on whether they are wet or dry. A major paint company even created a color they call Lichen to mimic the natural, earthy beauty of the organism. Perfectly described by Ed Yong in…

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Mother Holle Cloud Tart w/ Cranberry & Hawthorn Berry Curd — Gather Victoria

Happy Winter Solstice! I’m sharing this recipe from the Gather Victoria Winter Magic ECookbook because it encapsulates the archetypal drama of the season – the rebirth of the light. And that meant plenty of cakes, cookies, and confections for the old winter witches like Frau Holle! Their symbols are very much alive in our holiday…
Mother Holle Cloud Tart w/ Cranberry & Hawthorn Berry Curd — Gather Victoria

American Chestnut — Questioning Its Former Status As A Dominant Tree

What did the land look like before you were born?

This is a good question to ponder, but it’s a difficult question to answer unless clarification is provided.

How much land are we talking about? And what is the time frame in question?

Even with such clarification, answers do not come easy. The original question often persists and we are prompted to further refine our inquiry.

What did the eastern forests look like 300 years ago? Which trees were present, and what was the composition of the trees in these earlier forests?

American chestnut, it turns out, can help us answer those questions.

American chestnut (Castanea dentata) is a tree whose numbers have dwindled over the past 100 years. A fungal disease known as chestnut blight has been the major culprit, but other factors have contributed to the decline of mature American chestnut trees in eastern forests.

When we study accounts of American chestnut, we routinely hear the same thing: “American chestnut was a dominant tree in eastern North America prior to the introduction of chestnut blight.”

We also hear this: “One in every four hardwood trees in eastern North America was an American chestnut.”

Believing both statements to be true, we might imagine an unbroken expanse of chestnut trees in eastern North America. The proverbial squirrel might have been able to travel from Maine to Florida on chestnut tree limbs without ever touching the ground.

But was that ever the case? Was American chestnut really the most dominant tree in eastern North America?

Or, have the claims been exaggerated? Could it be possible that American chestnut was not so dominant of a tree in these earlier forests?

That’s the topic of this week’s brand new video. If you are interested in learning what the land might have looked like in the not too distant past, check it out!

Most maples are leafless this time of year in eastern North America. Fortunately, bark features are still available and very useful for proper identification. Check out these side-by-side images of 8 different maple trees to assist you with your winter identification skills.Click to view post

If you are eager to pursue educational opportunities during the winter months, check out Foraging Wild Mushrooms. This 4-season online course is designed to help you safely, successfully, and confidently forage wild mushrooms from the forest, from the field, and from your own backyard.Click to learn more

Thanks for reading and watching, and thanks for your continued support!

-Adam Haritan