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Archive for the ‘Edible’ Category

Well, not exactly. But I am lucky enough to get the beautiful lion’s mane fungus coming back this year. Hericium erinaceus is an edible fungus that looks out of this world. Maybe ‘lucky’ is not the word I should use as it is living on the timbers that hold together a stairway alongside the house, […]

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I have to confess that this plant is more of a native neighbor, despite it also being known as Atlantic camas. It’s natural distribution hugs the Atlantic coast line from Florida north to Baltimore but then it extends north into Ontario, bypassing New England. I got some bulbs of this Lily family member from Prairie […]

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I have had two Aralia racemosa (american spikenard) in an area that benefits from a bit more sunlight than does the rest of my tree covered woodland garden. Too much sun, I feared at first. The young plants did not do a whole lot of growing, that is until this year. While I thought I […]

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Cukes, anyone?

Every now and again, animals and plants wash up on the beaches in great quantities. Aside from the seasonal cycles which land huge quantities of seaweed on the shores, and cyclical die-offs (e.g. mole crabs), there are the storms that dislodge anything from scallops to surf clams and cockles. I guess this weekend it was […]

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This fall season has been excellent for clamming and oystering on Cape Cod. However, the usual Linguini with Clams and Clam Chowder had been served in our kitchen quite enough and needed some spicing up. Luckily for us, a restaurant we frequent serves something like this excellent dish that follows.  Although I had an inkling of the ingredients, […]

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Nodding mandarin is another interesting native neighbor (meaning it does not occur naturally in Massachusetts – it is found in a few eastern states from Michigan down to Georgia). This member of the Lily family displays strongly veined light green leaves – it is somewhat similar to Uvularia grandiflora from afar. The flowers are beautiful, […]

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In the fall of 2011 it seemed like you couldn’t go very far on Cape Cod without running into an Eastham Turnip. Workers at various small grocery stores urged me to purchase one and cook it up for Thanksgiving, praising the Eastham Turnip’s merits again and again. Due to a combination of being a bit […]

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It makes sense to discuss these two plants in the same blog, as they are both very common, look very much alike, and can often be found next to one another… Both forms of chickweed have leaves that are elliptical in shape and alternate on the stem. Common chickweed leaves are hairless while the mouse […]

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Local surf and turf

There are many good reasons to shop locally, preferably for local goods and services – you’ll keep your neighbors busy and happy and when it comes to food items you can be reasonably sure that the produce is fresh and free of such nonsense additives like the much mentioned “pink slime”.  Taking it a step […]

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Polypodium vulgare is a cosmopolitan fern found in North America, central and northern Europe, and eastern Asia. The plant is quite hardy in sub-zero temperatures. It prefers acidic, well-drained and sandy soils and should do well in a Cape Cod woodland garden. The fern is edible and is used as a spice in cooking. You […]

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