Foraging Wild Plants in a Human Dominated Landscape

Ramps in early spring. UWExtension In April, my friend Laura brought me some ramps—not just parts, but the entire plant, broad, smooth leaves, small, shallot-size bulbs, roots and all. I know she wouldn’t go out in the local forest preserves and dig them up, foraging or poaching, depending upon your perspective. So where did she get them? Her CSA has begun growing them. Because they were intact, neither of us ate them, but planted them in our respective gardens, watered them in well, and are hoping for the best. I did remember to mark where I’d put them, luckily, because the leaves soon faded away and disappeared, as happens with many species of spring ephemerals. I’ve never eaten ramps that I know of, though I hear they’re delicious. I know where they grow, at several undisclosed locations, but they are on forest preserve land, and a strict no-poaching policy is in place. As such I would not go harvesting against the rules, partly because, as a volunteer steward, I have engaged to fol...

Guest Post at Beautiful Wildlife Garden

Carole Brown, at Beautiful Wildlife Garden, has put up a guest post I wrote about reconciliation ecology and its importance as a first principle for gardeners. I feel honored to have been invited to post at such a well-known and popular blog. You can find "Reconciliation Ecology and the Beautiful Wildlife Garden" here.

Comments

Gail said…
Loved it Adrian, gail
Don Plummer said…
Congratulations on being a guest blogger!

Tallamy's book is one of my favorites, too. I got to meet him last year. He was the keynote speaker at the Ohio Botanical Symposium. I would have loved to have him as a teacher.
Hi Don,

Lucky you. He has really popularized native plant gardening.
Anonymous said…
Adrian, I was delighted to see your guest post earlier today at Beautiful Wildlife Garden. Like all your posts, it was thoughtful and so well written. I am in the middle of reading Tallamy's book and finding it very engrossing. -Jean
hi Jean,

Thanks. Yes, Tallamy's book puts everything in such good perspective. I really like the pictures, too.