How to Hang Herbs and Forage Free Foods

Went for a foraging walk on a sunny saturday. Now that summer is here, all the local vegetation is growing green! As I walked through the village I visited several spots for finding herbs and more.... From free pantries in community gardens and wild plants by the wayside, to herb gardens meant to be shared, there are many foragable foods in the city. You just have to know where to look. I highly recommend visiting fallingfruit.org a website that shows where to find plants on the map.

There is an area at the top of Art Museum drive where the homeowners graciously allow passerby to harvest herbs. I found a beautiful bunch of fresh basil there! Mint and parsley were also available. Go around the corner to the Remington neighborhood to find a free farm where they have a pantry filled with takeable harvests. I was able to get a few radishes and some cilantro there.

Lavender and rosemary can be easily found growing along the slopes of Guilford Avenue. Not only did I find tons of herbs and vegetables on my walk, this is the time of year when all the college students are graduating and moving out. Boxes of free stuff are left outside almost every lawn and porch. I was able to find a brand new fermenting kit and a brewing bottle!

I took all my herbs home and sorted them into piles...Then I used twine to tie them into bundles and strung them up on a garland to hang and dry. I plan to make lavender tea to help me relax, red clover tea for cramps, and honeysuckle tea for sweetness. After the herbs are dried I will put some of them in jars to use for cooking. 

Recipe: Forest Foraged Wildberry Pie

Wyman Park is ripe with raspberries!  We found a swath of wild berry bushes in the Dell and greater woods stretching from Remington to Roland Park!  In just about a week or so, these fruits will be ripe and ready to be picked and made into jam or baked into a pie!

Look for sticky raspberry burrs in the bushes on the southwest wall of the park.  When they are ripe, the raspberries unfurl.

There are also wild blackberries of the rubus genus in the park!  Wait until they turn a deep purple before picking..

Recipe for Forest Foraged Wildberry Pie:

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup coconut oil

5 tbsp cold water

2 cups berries

3 tbsp water

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

To make the pie crust:

Make sure your coconut oil is still solid, as you want to cut it into cubes or crumbles to mix in to the flour, water and salt.  If you lack coconut oil, substitute butter.  Cut the source of fat into cubes or crumbles and combine with flour and one tablespoon water at a time until dough forms a ball.  Refrigerate one hour.  Roll dough out and put in pie tin.  Bake 5 minutes to prep shell for filling.

To make wildberry filling:

Rinse and strain the berries, add 3 tbsp water, cinnamon, cornstarch, sugar and salt to a pot and heat over stovetop.  Add berries and stir until well combined and sticky.

Pour filling into pie shell and bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Week of Woodland Wonders

It's been a wonderful week in the woods.  I 've been spending a lot of time cleaning, donating unwanted items, and getting everything in my apartment just right.  I am embracing a minimalist look: sleek modern black furniture, antiques, dark wood, zero waste, plants and leafy greens...

Playing Blossom Tales on the Nintendo Switch while eating fun forest foods is a nice distraction on a cloudy day.  The game is inspired by old school Legend of Zelda games like Link to the Past.



I was walking up the street when I saw a pile of free stuff on a neighbor's porch.  I found a brown patterned dress that seemed slightly 60's and took it home.

Another free find: this cute vintage children's book Into the Forest by Marie Hall Ets that I found in a little free library while on a walk around the city.

I repurposed some wood to make a "futon" out of my bed" and keep with the black minimalist theme.  It's been so nice feeling like I live in a real apartment with a real living room now.



Leafy Links

What a wonderful week in the woods it was, forest friends!  Here are some of the things I've been working on and loving this week:

 I have always wanted to create a ForestFinder mobile app, which would allow users to locate and tag any forested area, not just major national parks.  Eventually this program could spread through the country allowing people to easily locate forests.  I recently discovered the Baltimore Greenspace initative, where they locate and protect forest patches.  Since I found out about the patch protection program, I have been experimenting with tagging forest patches based on the Baltimore Forest Patch Atlas. Download the ForestFinder app at the Amazon Marketplace.

 photo by Izzy Lawlor

I met Blackbird and Magpie at the Faerie Faire, they recently opened an etsy shop and will be at Faeriecon in November! 

Burpee Gardens Summer Camp is going on from June 20th to the 24th.  Sign up to complete activities and get a free pack of garden pollinator seeds! 

Found a fun little blog this week by a girl who loves foxes.  There might be Coffee, she is cute and loves video games just as much as I do!

 photo by Anria Grothe

Tomorrow is the annual Clothing Swap in Baltimore.  I'm hoping to drop off some things I don't need anymore and find some new treasures!  Have a great weekend everyone!

Forest Freebie Forager

Hi forest friends, I've decided to start a new feature on this blog dedicated to roundups of free samples I scavenged on the internet.  I am an extreme free samples and get many.  You can be sure that each offer is handpicked by me, and are eco-friendly and green.  

Free samples for the week of 6-17 to 6-24

Free Seeds from Burt's Bees - to help bees thrive, a free bag of wildflowers will be sent to your home

Free Bird Identification Kit - a small kit that will help you identify and observe urban birds

Free Reusable Bag at Staples - a printable coupon (or show on your mobile device) for a free eco-friendly bag.  Better use it if you get it!

Free Peta Kids Kit- a vegetarian and animal rights kit that has a magazine and some stickers.

Freebie Forager Pro Tip: Download an autofill app on your computer browser or smartphone, it will make filling out forms as easy as the click of a mouse!