Wild Pesto Recipe

May 5, 2015 ~ jeannemeeks ~ 3 Comments

Try this yummy pesto made from wild ingredients. I love the idea of collecting nature's bounty and making something delicious. The main ingredients are chives and ramps. What is a ramp, you ask? Ramps are a delicacy in some NY restaurants and the first green popping through the forest floor in the woods behind my … Continue reading Wild Pesto Recipe

A Walk in the Woods

June 5, 2013October 13, 2013 ~ jeannemeeks ~ Leave a comment

Early June sunshine and pleasant temperatures brought people out to the Hickory Creek forest preserve walking path. Many bicyclists zoomed past and didn’t stop to chat or sample the strawberries just beginning to ripen in the sunny fields. Dog walkers and joggers nodded or smiled, but didn't stop either. Everyone had their their job to … Continue reading A Walk in the Woods

Wild Food – Ramps. What’s a Ramp?

June 1, 2013October 13, 2013 ~ jeannemeeks ~ 3 Comments

In early April the woods behind my house look dead and hopeless. I wait for the day when a patch of brave lime-green leaves poke through the damp forest floor to signal life amid the ugliness. I thought perhaps they were a non-flowering variety of lily-of-the-valley until a fellow hiker on Manitou Island pointed out … Continue reading Wild Food – Ramps. What’s a Ramp?

Wild Food – Morel Mushrooms

May 30, 2013October 13, 2013 ~ jeannemeeks ~ Leave a comment

I’ve detested mushrooms all my life and cringe at the memory of the slimy buttons in chop suey. That is until two years ago when I fell in love with morels. On a backpacking trip to Deem Wilderness in southern Indiana, Doc, a fellow hiker spotted a few of the honeycombed fungi at the base … Continue reading Wild Food – Morel Mushrooms