Best Truffles

This season, take note of rich, dark purples, or almost black and brown-colored plants known as garden "Chocolates"" Chocolate plants have steadily increased in popularity since they were first promoted by chocolate plant pioneer Karen Platt in 1995.

Some of the most notable new-style, small mushroom farmers do both, and derive significant portions of their income from collecting and cultivating their mushrooms. When I was growing up in California, I knew one kind of wild mushroom I felt safe eating,...

Clean them by wiping them carefully with a dampened towel; dousing them with water will wash away flavor. Read more of Locavor e Recipes » Tags Hungry Locavore , Judith Hausman , locavore , mushrooms , recipe

Morels have a cap that flares out from the top of the stem and almost immediately begins to taper to a rounded top.Examine the distinctively identifying irregular honeycomb, latticework structure covering the entire cap of the mushroom.

They are ascomycetes or Sac fungi, making them related to Morels but Tubers vary in featuring anthat develops underground. Thank you both for the contributions.Arkive: Images of life on Earth - Rhizanthella gardneriInstitute of Cell & Molecular Biology,...

We hope this spotlight on some of our members' favorites is a nice change of pace for your Saturday morning. Each plant has a detailed description, a list of uses, cultivation instructions and a notation on the parts of the plant that are used.

The ramp is a wild leek, smelling strongly of garlic, and people either love 'em or hate 'em. The Menomini tribe referred to the area near the southern shore of Lake Michigan where ramps were abundant as "shikako" meaning "skunk place".

Humans have a mixed relationship with fungi. Karyogamy produces a spore that has double the normal number of chromosomes. For land-based fungi, the mycelium grows underground and can extend for miles.

Bath Tea: Make a relaxing bath tea that can be used to calm down a baby before bedtime. (For extra help on making extracts, check out the Mountain Rose Herbs blog.) Herbed Sugars & Salts: Herbed sugars and salts are fun for adding easy flavor to any simple...

Find a local source of fresh milk. Test your products out on family and friends. See how many other producers are making the types of products that you want to make. There are numerous sites in the Internet with recipes for the beginner.

The organism causes the corn's kernels to swell and discolor, and connoisseurs of the corn smut fungus will recognize its distinctive appearance immediately. The flavor is often described as earthy or smoky.

Organize your favorite farmer's records for the upcoming growing season. There are many moments in a farmer's life that are solitary—and maybe we like it that way—but we are also part of a bigger picture.

Try adding a few bits to your coffee filter basket, teacup, or potpourri. Handle it with care, as undiluted cinnamon oil can burn and even blister your skin. Harvest involves pruning, rather than cutting down the trees.

Established in 1862, Leaping Lamb Farm in Alsea, Ore., was a working farm the very beginning. “You may or may not get some additional help, but just seeing the wide eyes of the kids (and their parents too) the first time they collect the eggs or brush...

Illustrations of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" do not show the sleeping children with anything other than a bed until the 1906 edition. This was the almost certainly the first time the words "sugarplum" and "fairy" had been used together in history,...

Types of Growing Mediums Plant Chicago/Flickr Most U.S. commercial growers produce button mushrooms in tiered beds of compost that are housed in climate-controlled rooms. Mushroom farming is a lot like making cheese.

CALL A FIRST MEETING: Explain the purpose of a community kitchen, and solicit feedback from prospective members about their interests. Within hours, a small group wearing green aprons and wielding kitchen knives has chopped the fruit and greens and mixed...

Zeus, the head chief of the gods, had of course adopted the oak. Their minds created nymphs and dryads. The plants were also seen as living links to the gods. The Romans burned it in bonfires in celebration of Midsummer day.

A single teaspoon of fertile soil can contain a half-mile of fungal hyphae. The hardest-to-break down bits of organic matter, like the fragments of durable waxes and resins from leaves and wood, accumulate in soil as humus.