Yips and Howls
A Writer's Reflections on Nature and Culture
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When Life Gives You Weeds…Eat ‘Em

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 | 5 Responses

Domestic Challenges, Wild Beauty

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 | Leave a response

Mossy Thoughts

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 | 2 Responses

Douglas Fir: Species of the Week

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 | 3 Responses

Our Live Christmas Tree

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 | 2 Responses

Western Larch: Species of the Week

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 | 3 Responses

Quaking Aspen: Species of the Week

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 | 2 Responses

Wild Elderberries

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 | Leave a response

Images From Zumwalt Prairie

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 | Leave a response

Sagebrush: Species of the Week

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 | 4 Responses

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About Elizabeth Enslin

A writer based in Oregon, I look for inspiration and distractions in nature. An anthropologist, I ponder the places where nature and culture meet. A kitchen gardener, I promote biodiversity and learn from farming traditions around the world. A recovering academic, I try to do all with compassion and humor.

Find out more about me here, or at elizabethenslin.com.

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Recent Comments

  • Elderberry Bloom 
    • suzi smith: our flowers are fading in the uk… i love the elder, especially the older trees. An elder orchard...
    • Mike B.: You’ve got a great site! Unfortunately, we have tons of RED elderberry which are poisonous- but the...
    • Patricia J. O'Brien: I feel like I took a stroll through your woods and learned something new and wondrous. Thank...
  • When Life Gives You Weeds…Eat ‘Em 
    • Jennifer (ponderosa): You have clover among your miner’s lettuce. Can people eat clover? My guinea pigs love...
    • arati: ver y cool :)
  • Photos 
    • Nicole Raisin Stern: Hello Elizabeth and greetings from Kyoto, Japan. I found your website via a Pacific Yurts...

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Tweets

  • Our new farm website is up and running. Guess that makes it official: I am now a professional garlic farmer. http://ow.ly/2yCWD #profood
  • Grilled Walla Walla Sweets are becoming one of my all-time favorite foods.
  • Survived the city & big box stores. Happy to be back in #yurt with crickets chirping and rain pattering on roof.
  • is in the big city ... of Lewiston, ID fortifying herself with a cappuccino and sandwich before tackling the big box stores.
  • Didn't expect a day of thinning ponderosa pine to be so satisfying.

Blog Bling

Thanks Erin, Carole, and
Irene.

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