The Tagetes Genus: Two Key Herbs in Mexican Herbal History & Tradition

by Atava Garcia SwiecickiMexican and Mexican-American communities have a rich and vibrant history of herbal medicine traditions. Mexico has incredible biodiversity, with ecosystems that include both Pacific and Atlantic coasts, deserts, jungles, plains, valleys, and...

Rocky Mountain Mushrooms: Hawk’s Wing (Sarcodon imbricatus)

Rocky Mountain Mushrooms - Hawk's Wings (Sarcodon imbricatus) by Dr. Marija Helt   With its brown cap layered with dark, protruding scales, this large mushroom does indeed resemble a hawk’s wing. As for the botanical name, sarco is derived from Greek for “flesh”,...

Anthropocene Apothecary

by Dara Saville Native Medicinal Plants That May Proliferate with Disturbance Events: . Recent news cycles have been dominated by stories of climate change including floods, extreme heat, and wildfires. Disturbance events such as large-scale and high-intensity fires...

Bokashi! The Fermentation That Builds Soil

by Donna O'Donovan The Ubiquitous Microbe Lactobacillus: . Cabbage leaves provide good habitat for air borne Lactobacillus. Lactobacillus also stars in a compost method known as bokashi, where food waste and scraps become "pickled" via the bokashi process. And,...

Rocky Mountain Mushrooms: A Lot About Artist’s Conk

Rocky Mountain Mushrooms - A Lot About Artist's Conk by Dr. Marija Helt   Artist’s Conk. People actually do create art on it. More on this momentarily. But first… A conk is a shelf fungus. “Shelf” because the fruiting body (aka. the reproductive bits) sticks...

Oaks: Acorns, Flour, Perspective

by Donna O'Donovan Acorns from Oaks + Making Acorn Flour + Oaks in Perspective The English words for flower and flour come from the old French word flor or flour. This means blossom or the finest thing. Such as a flower can be. The ground flour from wheat, rye,...

On Healing: A Gardener’s Perspective

In the author’s garden, mounds of Wormwood, Bee Balm, Sage and Lavender benefit from peripheral shade and dense plantings; the Pollinators have a buffet of nectars and pollens to choose from.On Healing: A Gardener’s Perspective by Asha Canalos A couple of years ago, I...

The Normalcy of Nature in Otherwise Odd Times

The Normalcy of Nature in Otherwise Odd Times by Dara Saville Some people say they fell in love as their eyes met with their partner’s across a crowded room. They describe it as love at first sight. I know what that is like. Stopping at a roadside pullout in the...

Artemisia: Excerpt from The Ecology of Herbal Medicine

Artemisia/Sage: The Ecology of Herbal Medicine The following is an excerpt from Dara Saville's new book The Ecology of Herbal Medicine: A Guide to Plants and Living Landscapes of the American Southwest from the University of New Mexico Press (2021).  Artemisia...

Rocky Mountain Mushrooms – Puffballs 101

Rocky Mountain Mushrooms - Puffballs 101 by Dr. Marija Helt   Did you know that mushrooms are more closely related to animals than to plants? Or, that what we generally refer to as a “mushroom” is actually the reproductive apparatus of the fungus? We don’t...
Rocky Mountain Mushrooms: Hawk’s Wing (Sarcodon imbricatus)

Rocky Mountain Mushrooms: Hawk’s Wing (Sarcodon imbricatus)

Rocky Mountain Mushrooms – Hawk’s Wings (Sarcodon imbricatus) by Dr. Marija Helt   With its brown cap layered with dark, protruding scales, this large mushroom does indeed resemble a hawk’s wing. As for the botanical name, sarco is derived from Greek...
Anthropocene Apothecary

Anthropocene Apothecary

Anthropocene Apothecary by Dara Saville Native Medicinal Plants That May Proliferate with Disturbance Events: . Recent news cycles have been dominated by stories of climate change including floods, extreme heat, and wildfires. Disturbance events such as large-scale...
Bokashi! The Fermentation That Builds Soil

Bokashi! The Fermentation That Builds Soil

Bokashi! The Fermentation That Builds Soil by Donna O’Donovan The Ubiquitous Microbe Lactobacillus: . Cabbage leaves provide good habitat for air borne Lactobacillus. Lactobacillus also stars in a compost method known as bokashi, where food waste and scraps...
Rocky Mountain Mushrooms: A Lot About Artist’s Conk

Rocky Mountain Mushrooms: A Lot About Artist’s Conk

Rocky Mountain Mushrooms – A Lot About Artist’s Conk by Dr. Marija Helt   Artist’s Conk. People actually do create art on it. More on this momentarily. But first… A conk is a shelf fungus. “Shelf” because the fruiting body (aka. the reproductive bits)...
Oaks: Acorns, Flour, Perspective

Oaks: Acorns, Flour, Perspective

Oaks: Acorns, Flour, Perspective by Donna O’Donovan Acorns from Oaks + Making Acorn Flour + Oaks in Perspective The English words for flower and flour come from the old French word flor or flour. This means blossom or the finest thing. Such as a flower can...
On Healing: A Gardener’s Perspective

On Healing: A Gardener’s Perspective

In the author’s garden, mounds of Wormwood, Bee Balm, Sage and Lavender benefit from peripheral shade and dense plantings; the Pollinators have a buffet of nectars and pollens to choose from. On Healing: A Gardener’s Perspective by Asha Canalos A couple of years ago,...
The Normalcy of Nature in Otherwise Odd Times

The Normalcy of Nature in Otherwise Odd Times

The Normalcy of Nature in Otherwise Odd Times by Dara Saville Some people say they fell in love as their eyes met with their partner’s across a crowded room. They describe it as love at first sight. I know what that is like. Stopping at a roadside pullout in the...
Artemisia: Excerpt from The Ecology of Herbal Medicine

Artemisia: Excerpt from The Ecology of Herbal Medicine

Artemisia/Sage: The Ecology of Herbal Medicine The following is an excerpt from Dara Saville’s new book The Ecology of Herbal Medicine: A Guide to Plants and Living Landscapes of the American Southwest from the University of New Mexico Press (2021).  ...
Rocky Mountain Mushrooms – Puffballs 101

Rocky Mountain Mushrooms – Puffballs 101

Rocky Mountain Mushrooms – Puffballs 101 by Dr. Marija Helt   Did you know that mushrooms are more closely related to animals than to plants? Or, that what we generally refer to as a “mushroom” is actually the reproductive apparatus of the fungus? We don’t...