Kudzu is a fairly recent addition to the Southern landscape. We all know it’s invasive, but how exactly did it get here? Ironically, kudzu is a rare and treasured plant in its native Japan. It’s cultivated as an ornamental vine in gardens and prized for its purple blooms.
Read moreWild Edible Wednesday 8/19 - Staghorn Sumac
This week’s plant for #WildEdibleWednesday is Rhus typhina, or Staghorn Sumac. Dramatic and exotic-looking with its bright red fruiting bodies, sumac is part of the Anacardiaceae family of plants that includes cashews, mangoes, and pistachios, as well as Brazilian pepper, poison ivy, and poison oak.
Read moreInstructor Corps Pro Tip 8/18 - Water From a Vine
“Need water but can't locate a good source? In certain areas (rarely in the Eastern Woodlands, but it happens) you might be a good ways away from a creek or stream, or it might be a time of drought and sources may be dried up. If that's your situation, consider the vine.”
Read moreWild Edible Wednesday 8/12 - Mountain Mint
Today’s plant for #WildEdibleWednesday is Pycnanthemum incanum, or Mountain Mint. This is a powerhouse of a plant that’s one of the “universal medicinals” – it’s one of the few plants that’s at least somewhat useful for nearly every illness or ailment… even, as we’ll see, allegedly raising the dead.
Read moreInstructor Corps Pro Tip 8/11 - Brown Baggin' Your Carving Projects?
“One of the most maddening things about a finishing up a woodcarving project is the wait for it to cure out. Will it crack? Will it stay intact? Who knows?”
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