By Elizabeth Enslin on June 11, 2010
With all the rain out over the last few weeks and the challenges of getting the summer garden in, I’ve been grateful for food that sprouts with no effort on my part. I might not want stinging nettles in my cultivated garden, but I like having a patch on a distant corner of our property.
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Posted in Recent, Sustainable Food, Sustainable Gardening, Wild Plants | Tagged food, Homesteading, nature, Sustainable Gardening, wild |
By Elizabeth Enslin on May 23, 2010
I’m ecstatic to be back on our property in Northeastern Oregon. There’s lots to do: organizing inside the yurt to make cooking and storage more convenient, building a spring box and laying pipe to get potable water into the yurt, putting in the garden. And there are many challenges: a muddy road, cars that get
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Posted in Images, Recent, Sustainable Food, Wild Plants, Yurt Living | Tagged beauty, Homesteading, photography, Sustainable Gardening, wild |
By Elizabeth Enslin on January 6, 2010
Moss growing behind my ears, moss for brains, hiding under moss….
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Posted in Around the Northwest, Images, Recent, Wild Plants | Tagged moss, photography, winter |
By Elizabeth Enslin on December 28, 2009
I’ve spent most of my life among Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga sp.) Although I love other trees and plant communities, Douglas fir forests still speak to me of home. In the Pacific Northwest, they’re ubiquitous from the Cascades to the coast. Douglas fir and other conifers of the region are why I’ve never felt at ease in the deciduous forests of eastern North America (as lovely as they are), where bare branches in winter make me especially homesick….
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Posted in Around the Northwest, Biodiversity, Recent, Species of the Week, Wild Plants | Tagged Pacific Northwest, photography, wild |
By Elizabeth Enslin on December 25, 2009
I used to be the Christmas tree enthusiast in the family. I’d drive around Seattle for hours looking for the perfect tree, set it up, decorate it….
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Posted in Recent, Sustainable Gardening, Wild Plants | Tagged holidays, nature, Sustainable Gardening, wild |
By Elizabeth Enslin on November 20, 2009
It was hard to leave our yurt in northeastern Oregon with Western larch (Larix occidentalis) in full copper-yellow glory. But when the flanks of the mountains there blaze with what looks like a procession of candles, it’s time to get ready for a harsh winter or move to lower elevations….
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Posted in Around the Northwest, Recent, Species of the Week, Wild Plants | Tagged inland northwest, inspiration, seasons |
By Elizabeth Enslin on October 27, 2009
This time of year, I’m one of many throughout the West enthralled by – and worried about – one of our most striking fall color trees: Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides ). Utah and Colorado have acres and acres of aspens. In northeast Oregon, we have smaller groves dotting the more prevalent bunchgrass slopes and ponderosa
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Posted in Around the Northwest, Seasons and Rituals, Species of the Week, Wild Plants | Tagged beauty, climate change, land stewardship |
By Elizabeth Enslin on August 14, 2009
I’m excited to try my new steam juicer on this first crop of wild elderberries. Mixed with a little honey, the juice disappears pretty fast in our home. But later batches may make it into jelly, wine, or apple pies.
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Posted in Biodiversity, Sustainable Food, Wild Plants | Tagged food, photography, wild food |
By Elizabeth Enslin on August 9, 2009
Here’s a small taste of Saturday’s hike on Zumwalt Prairie, the largest Nature Conservancy reserve in Oregon and the last remnant of bluebunch wheatgrass/idaho fescue-dominated prairie in North America. Thanks to the Wallowa Land Trust for organizing a great outing and to the local Nature Conservancy office for leading it. Looking east over section of
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Posted in Around the Northwest, Pacific Northwest travel, Travel, Wild Plants | Tagged photography, wild, wildflowers |
By Elizabeth Enslin on July 22, 2009
One of the things I like about writing regular posts on various species is that it challenges my own tendency to overlook or take for granted species that are common, mundane, or unpopular. Last week, I had the good fortune to take a brief vacation in the high desert country of Central Oregon. I decided it was time to learn more about a plant I see everywhere throughout the Great Basin but know little about: Artemesia tridentata, or sagebrush.
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Posted in Species of the Week, Wild Plants | Tagged desert, exploration, nature, photography, plants |
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