Book Review: How NOT to KILL Your Houseplant
Karen Meyers Veronica Peerless’ book, How NOT to KILL Your Houseplant, is a guide to successfully growing houseplants. With a unique format, the book offers basic information on growing plants indoors, profiles…
Plants for a Mary Garden: Quaking Grass ( Briza media) Our Lady’s Tresses
At the time of Christ, women’s hair fashions were determined by both cultural practices and religious laws. Covering the hair with a scarf, veil or other fabric was considered a…
Plant Profile: Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)
This clump-forming herbaceous perennial is native to woodlands of eastern US from Maine to Georgia and west to the Dakotas and Oklahoma. It is a member of the Geraniaceae plant…
Book Review: A Guide to Wild Food Foraging
David Squire’s book, A Guide to Wild Food Foraging, introduces readers to the possibilities and benefits of foraging and provides detailed information on over 100 wild edibles from meadowsweet, cowberry…
Edible Mushrooms: Common Morel (Morchella esculenta aka M. esculentoides)
Also known as sponge morel, haystack, may mushroom, yellow morel and Molly Moocher, this distinctive mushroom is found in Europe and North America where it grows singly or in groups…
Plant Profile: Old Man’s Beard (Clematis vitalba)
Also known as white Virgin’s bower and Traveler’s joy, this deciduous perennial vine is native to forests and woodlands of Eurasia and North Africa. It is a member of the…
Plant Profile: Hollow Root (Corydalis cava) Our Lady’s Hens
The link between Corydalis cava and the Virgin Mary rests on two features of the plant, its rootstock and its cluster of flowers. The rootstock consists of a hollow tuber…
Plant Profile: Common Spreedwell (Veronica officinalis)
Also known as heath speedwell, common gypsyweed, and Paul’s betony, this mat-forming herbaceous perennial is native to open areas in Europe and western Asia. It is a member of the…
Edible Mushrooms: Shaggy Parasol (Chlorophyllum rhacodes aka Lepiota rhacodes aka Macrolepiota rhacodes)
Found throughout Europe and North America, shaggy parasol is most common from the Rockies eastward in the US. It prefers light shade and rich soil and grows alone or in…
Book Review: Green Farming
Green Farming is an introduction to farming in an environmentally friendly way, written for children 8-10 years old in grades 3-5. It is part of a series that introduces young…