Native Foods Blog

Spring into Gardening

Spring into Gardening

This year’s winter here in the Pacific Northwest has been an interesting one for sure. Relatively mild and dry weather had me outside hiking through most of the early winter season, then the surprise…
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Violet Jelly

Violet Jelly

You may remember my excitement when I found violets popping up on my Mid-Winter walk a few weeks ago. I have been absolutely thrilled to see even more every day since, and decided it was time to dig o…
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Mid-Winter Garden Walk

Mid-Winter Garden Walk

Merry Mid-Winter and Blessed Imbolc to all who celebrate the visible return of the Sun at the midpoint between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox! This is the point of the year that we suddenly see…
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Lemon-Sage Lomatium

Lemon-Sage Lomatium

Fernleaf Biscuitroot, or Lomatium, is a drought-tolerant native plant with edible roots, leaves, and seeds, and many medicinal uses.Fernleaf Biscuitroot has a unique earthy/spicy flavor that can be ra…
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The Gift of Living Things

The Gift of Living Things

As I walk through the nursery today, things are quiet. The mornings have been misty and cold, but the sun is just starting to lift the moisture from the Earth and break apart the white-gray sky. The…
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Cardamom Hazelnut Cookies

Cardamom Hazelnut Cookies

These cookies are a delicious and easy to make not-too-sweet treat that can make a great addition to Holiday dessert tables. With only a few ingredients, and a simple to follow recipe, you can whip th…
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Falling into Balance

Falling into Balance

Here in Oregon, we're just finishing up some of the last harvests of the season. On the farm, it's the last of the tomatoes, carrots and beets. On the hillsides, it's the last of the acorns, chinqua…
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Elderberry Oxymel

Elderberry Oxymel

An oxymel is a traditional medicinal preparation made by combining vinegar and honey, often with the addition of herbs or fruits. The combination creates a well-balanced elixir that can be used for…
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Honeyberry Jam

Honeyberry Jam

Honeyberries make a delightful, rich, slightly tart jam with a beautiful deep color. Honeyberries are naturally high in pectin so there is no need to add any for this recipe! This jam was so delicious…
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Fall is the Best Time to Plant

Fall is the Best Time to Plant

Fall in the Pacific NW is the perfect time for planting native plants. As the days shortens, the weather cools, and the humidity increases, the growing conditions become perfect for perennial plant e…
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Return to the Garden

Return to the Garden

Life has truly taken a series of wild turns over the past several years. During early Covid, people around the world began to truly appreciate just how important our outdoor spaces are. In 2020 t…
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Honeyberry Ice Cream

Honeyberry Ice Cream

Say hello to our latest culinary creation: Honeyberry Coconut Ice Cream!Honeyberries are the star of the show with creamy coconut milk and cashew butter. No ice-cream maker required! Honeyberries, als…
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Nodding Onion Vinaigrette Recipe

Nodding Onion Vinaigrette Recipe

There’s not much better than getting to create a dish for yourself that is almost entirely sourced from the garden. Salads are a great addition to any meal, or they can stand alone as a main dish. The…
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Intro to Composting

Intro to Composting

A while back, while teaching students about the importance of building soil, I came up with this simple handout about making compost. It breaks down the key aspects to consider when tending to the de…
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Sauteed Silverweed Greens

Sauteed Silverweed Greens

Pacific Silverweed, when given the proper conditions, is a prolific ground cover. Our Silverweed at the nursery has been happily spreading out of its designated area, so I decided it was time to harve…
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Wise-Water Gardening

Wise-Water Gardening

As Summer quickly approaches, water is naturally on a lot of our minds. Even though this Spring in Oregon was the wettest and latest we've had in 40 years, on the whole, the trend is moving the other…
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Huckleberry Lingonberry Pie!

Huckleberry Lingonberry Pie!

This Black Huckleberry pie is the herald of summer- sun soaked fruits, juice filled and heavy, falling from the stem. Lingonberries and Black Huckleberries make a great pair- a blend of cranberry-like…
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Healing Gardens

Healing Gardens

Spring is finally fully here in the Northwest. The cold kept us all moving in slow motion, and in now seemingly in a blink of an eye, the flowers are all blooming and all the weeds are sprouting. In…
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Earth Day Reflections

Earth Day Reflections

Earth Day is a time to collectively honor our extraordinary planet. Since the picture of the Earth taken from Apollo 17 in 1972, it's become easier for us to feel that we and all of life are part of…
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Blue Camas Dip

Blue Camas Dip

At the Museum of Natural and Cultural History in Eugene, there is a beautiful exhibit showing how the local indigenous tribes made ground pits to slow roast Camas bulbs in the summer. Looking at this…
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Native Hazelnut Nutella

Native Hazelnut Nutella

  For this Chocolate Hazelnut Butter, I was able to source all organic ingredients. I discovered local Pacific Hazelnuts from My Brother's Farm at our local Farmers Market in Eug…
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Spring Gardening Basics

Spring Gardening Basics

You might not believe it with all the snow and cold weather lately in the Northwest, but signs of Spring are quietly emerging. The buds of the Indian Plum (the earliest flowering shrub) are silently…
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Designing Your Food Forest

Designing Your Food Forest

Here in the Northwest, we can feel the first signs of Spring emerging. The first terminal buds swell on native branch-tips; the first calls of Spring birds echo through the stark forest; the first sw…
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Savory Rosemary Yampah

Savory Rosemary Yampah

Yampah is the West's own wild carrot, and a prized native food (Queen Anne Lace is from Europe). The roots, leaves and seeds of Yampah are all edible. The tuberous roots can be eaten raw and have a…
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Coming Back To Our Roots

Coming Back To Our Roots

Day by day, the light returns. But for us in the Northwest, the change is barely perceptible. Clouds and drizzle still blanket the landscape on most days. For most of us here, the gardener within h…
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Winter Wellness

Winter Wellness

As we enter the colder months, keeping our immune systems strong becomes of utmost importance. If you’re like us at the nursery, your family has probably already experienced a round or two of the sn…
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Preparing for Winter

Preparing for Winter

Another Fall is fading into Winter here in the Northwest, and for us gardeners, it's good to be prepared. Especially this Winter, because it's supposed to be a doozy. La Nina is back for a second ye…
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Can Polycultures Save the World?

Can Polycultures Save the World?

In sustainable agriculture, "polyculture" refers to the practice of growing multiple species in the same area. While this concept is just being reintroduced into modern agriculture, it is a staple pr…
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Blue Elderberry Lollipops!

Blue Elderberry Lollipops!

Blue Elderberry is a deciduous fruit tree native to Western North America. Elderberries have been an important food and medicine source for thousands of years - but only the blue and purple-berried sp…
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Wild Onion Pasta!

Wild Onion Pasta!

from the Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook There are dozens of wild onions across the United States and the world. From ramps to chives to nodding onions - they come in many sizes and shapes and from…
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Taking Refuge in our Gardens

Taking Refuge in our Gardens

"The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul." – Alfred AustinWhat is your garden to you? A place to…
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Nettles Galore!

Nettles Galore!

In our nursery, we offer various wild greens. Nettle, Miner's Lettuce, Redwood Sorrell, Violets, Checkermallows, and more!Nettles are a native food so nutritious and delicious (and medicinal), they ha…
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Gardening with the World

Gardening with the World

The newest resident in my garden this year is Quan Yin, the goddess of compassion. She sits in a reclined posture, gazing at a lotus flower held in her open palm. Her expression is soft & relaxed, b…
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Sheet Mulching

Sheet Mulching

Are your garden beds full of weeds and grasses after a season of annual gardening? Try these techniques.Fall in the NW is the perfect time to prepare your annual garden beds for Spring planting using…
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Wildflower Bake

Wildflower Bake

Have you met the amazing NW wildflowers that are not only beautiful, but delicious? Rice root, Yampah, Fool's Onion, Harvest Brodiaea, Indian Potato, Tiger Lily... These…
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Fall Compost 101

Fall Compost 101

A while back, while teaching students about the importance of building soil, I came up with this simple handout about making compost. It breaks down the key aspects to consider when tending to the de…
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Madrone Berry Compote

Madrone Berry Compote

Madrone Berry CompoteSpecial thanks to Dogville for some inspiration. Thank you!INGREDIENTS:1 cup Madrone Berries1/2 cup honey1/8 cup Apple Cider Vinegar1/2 cup Water1tsp Allspice powder1tbsp Cinnamon…
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Camas Acorn Cakes

Camas Acorn Cakes

We have the amazing privilege to live in the foothills of the Oregon Cascades...amidst a dense Camas Lily meadow.  The Camas blooms are incredible every year, and we've worked to add to it b…
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Water-Wise Gardening

Water-Wise Gardening

As Summer quickly approaches, and record heat and drought visit the West, water is on a lot of our minds. The years are getting progressively warmer, fire seasons longer, and water shortages increas…
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Mindful Gardening

Mindful Gardening

Spring is here, and many of us are venturing out to uncover our gardens. As we do, we not only encounter the natural world, we encounter our own minds and hearts. And the way we relate to ourselves…
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Nettle Pesto w/ Miner's Lettuce

Nettle Pesto w/ Miner's Lettuce

Nettles are so nutritious, deliciousand medicinal, they have been cherished for thousands of years - in cultures all across the globe! That’s right, nettle leaves are a high-protein (up to 2…
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Nature's Design

Nature's Design

The human mind is amazing in it capacity to imagine and invent.  In the realm of gardening, many landscape designers imagine & implement designs with a wide array of colors, patterns, and tex…
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Medicinal Elderberry Elixir

Medicinal Elderberry Elixir

The coronavirus has brought unprecedented changes to our lives as people practice social distancing to ‘flatten the curve.’ Many people are turning to the health benefits of native plant medicine to s…
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The Wisdom of Native Bunch Grasses

The Wisdom of Native Bunch Grasses

Not so long ago we understood each plant and every animal as a living, breathing, interconnected part of the earth. The way I heard it from the old people, the grasses on the Earth are like cilium, th…
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Acorn Pâté

Acorn Pâté

Take a look at our Salt-Brine Fermented Pickled Acorns for use in this recipe!For a few months now, I have been making acorn pâté for a friend who is a fellow acorn processing collaborator. It has bee…
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Winter Gardening Tools

Winter Gardening Tools

Telescoping ShearsThese shears allow flexibility to get those hard to reach areas that are not worth lugging the ladder out for. The long, wide blades are great for leafy foliage and smaller stems - m…
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How to Plant Bare Root Plants

How to Plant Bare Root Plants

Once your plants have arrived: what do you do next with your bare root plants or bulbs?Things Needed: ShovelCompostBox your plant arrived in and collected cardboard to cover the area around each bare…
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Wild Huckleberry Jam

Wild Huckleberry Jam

Enjoy the sweet taste of the wild with this easy and delicious Wild Huckleberry Jam!  Courtesy of Daring Gourmet; published on 08/21/2018. OVERVIEW INGREDIENTS…
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Sauteed Fiddlehead Ferns

Sauteed Fiddlehead Ferns

This simple sautée is an easy way to bring out the fresh flavor of fiddlehead ferns. The savory richness of golden garlic, should you choose to use it, highlights their naturally grassy flavor. &…
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Acorn Cookies!

Acorn Cookies!

Acorns from the Oregon White Oak are often sweeter than other species, and once leached, have a mild potato-like flavor, and can be used whole or ground in a gluten-free baking flour for breads, pa…
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Indian Celery Chips

Indian Celery Chips

Indian Celery, or Cow Parsnip, is a native, perennial herb with edible young shoots and leaves - as well as roots, flowers, and seeds! While Indian Celery tends to be treated like a weed these…
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Lemon-Sage Lomatium

Lemon-Sage Lomatium

Fernleaf Biscuitroot, or Lomatium, is a drought-tolerant native plant with edible roots, leaves, and seeds, and many medicinal uses. In this post, we’ll be sharing one way to enjoy it’s edible and…
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